Helpful and potentially life-saving driving tips for beginners
Are you a beginner or feel you need to up your game when it comes to your driving skills? If you are not a frequent driver, the road can be a scary place. Refresh your driving skills with these tips from a professional driving instructor from Toyota’s advanced driving.
You have to drive with the right attitude:
Although exterior and interior checks of your car are vital, an attitude check is just as helpful in preventing accidents. A positive, pro-active attitude can help reduce collisions and make the driving experience more pleasurable.
Be very aware and vigilant
Constantly changing conditions demand frequent alterations in course or speed. Make sure you remain aware of all other road users, including the positions of pedestrians and other vehicles.
Night Riders
Driving at night comes with its own unique set of challenges. Good, clear visibility is vital, so make sure that your windscreen is clean and that your windscreen wipers are used in wet weather. Keep your windscreen free from mist at all times.
Not A Bright Idea
Sometimes a driver will be dazzled by the glare of lights from an oncoming vehicle, often because its lights (although dipped) are badly adjusted. On such occasions, don’t lose your temper and resist the temptation to retaliate by switching your own lights on to full beam. Two ‘blinded’ drivers hurtling towards each other in the night is a recipe for disaster.
Slow Down
At 20 kph a minor driving error can easily be corrected but at 120 kph the same error could prove deadly. Never attempt to drive over the speed limit as it leads to late reactions in an emergency.
Preventing Collisions
In South Africa, one person is killed every hour in a collision and approximately 15,000 people die on our roads every year. One out of seven South Africans living today has, or will be involved in a collision resulting in injury.
As the saying goes, ‘prevention really is better than cure’. In order to give us the time to prevent a collision we need to know and make use of the Standard Accident Prevention Formula which is:
Recognise the hazard: Think and look as far ahead as possible. Never assume everything will be all right and always expect the unexpected.
Understand the defense: There are certain methods of handling each traffic situation, know these and teach yourself to react positively when the need arises.
Act in time: Once you have seen the hazard and you have recognised the defence, never adopt a ‘wait and see’ attitude as you will be wasting valuable time and space.
For more advice have a look at these safety tips from Arrive Alive or contact Toyota Advanced Driving by phone (011 467 4040) or e-mail ([email protected]).