For New (and old) Drivers: Top 10 Driving Mistakes

1) Use your turn signal (3-parts)
a) You’re getting ready to pull onto a road like Mission while patiently waiting for the on-coming car to pass. It suddenly turns onto the same street you’re waiting to exit without using their turn signal and is extremely annoying. Don’t do this – It’s very rude!
b) You’re in the left lane and approaching an intersection with a stop light and there isn’t a left turn lane. The light turns red and you slow to a stop. Sometime after that, the driver directly ahead of you decides to put their turn signal on – too late for you to switch lanes so you’re stuck. This annoyance also applies to a green light and a driver turning on their left turn signal right when they hit the intersection. This happens frequently on Isabella Road. Don’t do this – It’s very rude!
c) Always put your turn signal on before you hit your breaks. So many times I’ve driven on Mission and the driver ahead of me for seemingly no reason, hits their breaks and I have to guess what their plans are. Don’t do this – It’s very rude!

2) Understand how to use a round-about. I am talking about the only true round-about in Mt. Pleasant, located downtown – not the one on Bellows near campus, which should be dismantled. The concept of a round-about is not difficult, but appears many drivers still don’t have a clue as to how they work. On many occasions, I have to come to a complete stop while approaching the round-about while following another car. I’m only talking about the times where there are absolutely no other vehicles in the round-about and no vehicles even approaching the round-about from one of the other 3 entry points. The beauty of a round-about is the use of yield signs which means that you should rarely need to stop. For those who believe a yield sign and a stop sign are the same thing, please get yourself a bicycle and ditch your car! This especially goes for the young man I followed just a few days ago that put his left turn signal on and almost went the wrong way into the round-about.

3) Follow the speed limits. Speed limits are put in place for a reason – well, maybe a few reasons. First of all, traffic flow. If every vehicle drove exactly the posted speed limit, we would all have so much less stress when trying to get from one place to another, and we’d get their faster! Occasionally, I have been in a hurry and exceeded the limit slightly – maybe 5 or 6 mph over the limit. Conversely, I rarely drive 5 or 6 mph below the speed limit. On Mission Street, the speed limit is 40 mph and has been for a few years now. I am amazed at how many still drive at the old speed limit of 30 mph. It’s really frustrating for me and many others to get to the other end of town. Don’t do this – It’s very rude!

4) Stop at stop signs. We all do rolling-stops at stop signs on occasion and it is a bad habit to even start. My biggest complaint is when people approach a 4-way stop thinking that the rule is whatever car gets to the crosswalk first, goes first, regardless of if they ever come to a complete stop. I believe the law as well as common courtesy, is for the car that stops at the crosswalk first is the first vehicle to proceed! Don’t do this – It’s very rude!

5) Learn the difference between, red, yellow and green lights. We’ve all ran through “orange” lights on occasion, but that slightly illegal distinction is being pushed well past the limits of common sense! I see so many people continue into the intersection at full speed well past the appearance of the red light. Technically speaking, if the light is yellow, and you are able to safely come to a stop, it is illegal to enter an intersection, although this is a technicality and mostly just an annoyance. The scary thing is that when drivers run through red lights at full speed, someone will get hurt! Don’t do this – It’s very dangerous!

6) Consider others when playing music annoyingly loud. I grew up in Royal Oak, and when I started driving the original “Dream Cruse” on Woodward avenue back in the 70’s, it was fun playing my music loud with the windows down and the wind blowing through my long blond hair. Of course, my hair is now long gone along with much of my hearing. Believe me when I say this, you are the only one enjoying the loud music and absolutely nobody thinks much of your music. I know, it feels good and the music seems so great, but again, you’re alone on this, and you will definitely have hearing issues some day! Don’t do this – It’s very rude!

7) Chatting on your cell phone. I know you all have important friends that can’t afford to miss more than 10 minutes without talking to you but really, put yourself in the shoes of us casual observers. We see you as moving through town and life in general without observing anything going on around you or the world in general. This especially applies to driving a car. I have sat in my car behind you at lights or stop signs more than a few times, chatting on your cell phone and not paying attention to breaks in traffic while a long line of cars are parked behind you waiting for you to make your move. Don’t do this – It’s very rude!

8) When you have a small fender-bender in a parking lot, stop and leave contact information. Last winter, my wife and I enjoyed a good movie at the Celebration Cinema. It had snowed while we were inside and when we came to our car, I couldn’t open the driver side door. It was wedged against the front fender because of a big dent that wasn’t there earlier when we parked. We had just bought the car about a month earlier and it made me sick to see the damage. I understand that accidents happen and this is how we learn and as time goes on, we get better. However, the decent response would be to leave some sort of contact information under the windshield wiper as well as an apology. It’s also a serious violation to leave an accident without notifying anyone. Don’t ever hit and run – It’s very rude!

9) Pay attention to traffic behind you almost as much as the traffic in front of you. Many years ago while driving late at night with my family on an expressway down state, we found ourselves sliding on black ice. The car ahead of me decided to drastically slow down from about 70 mph to about 20 mph and they also stayed in the left lane. I focused on my rearview mirror and saw a car fast approaching not realizing that black-ice was present. I immediately moved to the right lane and then to the side of the road and watched the approaching car smash into the slow moving car and missed me by inches. Always pay attention to things happening behind you as well as in front.

10) There are many ways to let other drivers know your intentions. When I took drivers-ed in 1973, my teacher said that we should always look to our left when approaching an intersection. It didn’t occur to me why this simple instruction was so important until a few years later. Now that I’ve been driving for many years, I get nervous if the driver approaching my roadway from a side street and isn’t looking in my direction. I’m not certain what his or her intentions are and I’ll slow down and keep my foot near the brake pedal to be prepared for the oncoming driver to pull out in front of me.