How could I drive safe on freeway?

Adrian

Driving is 5% physical, 95% mental. Driving on the highway is fast paced and requires a lot of brain power. The biggest thing, really, is to be able to analyze what is going on, fast enough to allow you enough time to calculate your next move. Work on your concentration, and work on using your peripheral vision to consciously analyze everything that is coming into your visual cortex. You dont even have to practice this all the time while driving, you can practice this anytime, at home, or especially, playing sports or high paced video games.

Here is an example. Say you are driving on a highway you've never been on before, looking for an exit. There are seven lanes, and the traffic around you is traveling 60 to 70 mph. You are on the right most lane, and there are merging lanes coming up from traffic entering the highway. Several cars ahead of you are zig zagging in and out of lanes, and you have to switch to the lane to the left of you, while looking out for the highway signs that tell you which exit you should take to get to your destination. On top of that, it's raining a light drizzle which reduces your visibility by 6%.

Now this is trully alot of information to take in, not only do you have to keep an eye out for the car in front of you, but for the cars that are around you, and at what speed you should be going. Some people can barely keep their attention on the car in front of them. A good driver, has the mental capacity to analyze and calculate all this information at once, and make their move accordingly and are prepared for any minute change that could provoke a hazard, like say a car suddenly shifting lanes without warning.

This isnt necessarily an issue of one's driving experience, it has mostly to do with one's IQ. One could have 20 years of driving experience, but not have the driving capabilities of a younger person who has only 6 years driving experience but has a much better IQ. See the person with the better IQ has a more nible and flexible mind allowing them to do things the other driver cannot. It is also interesting that those who do have alot of driving experience, have over the years, indirectly developed the very mental skills I am talking about.

So if you can raise your IQ, you will find that driving will be a lot easier for you. Start by doing peripheral vision exercises where you try to be consciously aware of EVERYTHING in your peripheral vision. Try to see how many pieces of data you can hold in your short term memory. These two abilities right there are very important when driving, especially at high speeds. Make sure you have near 20/20 vision. Good peripheral vision will make it easier for you to keep constant check of your mirrors for traffic around you. The bigger your short term memory is, the more thoughts you'll be able to have at once, and the easier it will be to analyze complex data (such as driving on the highway).

eric

Stay in the right or a middle lane as much as possible. Leave a safe following distance (about 500 feet) between you and the traffic ahead. Avoid having cars travel on the side of your car in the next lane. Normally, they should pass quickly, but if they don't and stay on your side, slow down or speed up so there won't be any cars around your vehicle. It's safer that way.

As I said, stay in the right or a middle lane and when you creep up to slower moving vehicles, move over to the left lane to pass. When you are done passing, move back to the right lane. Pass in a timely matter. And of course before changing lanes, always check your mirrors and blind spot and signal. You should also always keep an eye on your mirrors every 10 seconds or so and look far ahead. You should know what's far ahead, what's behind you, and what's on the sides of your vehicle at all times.

It's usually safer to go with the flow of traffic than to go the speed limit. Going the speed limit can get you run over.

Always move over to the left lane if possible to allow traffic to merge and for someone (especially a cop) stopped in the break down lane to give them more room.

Lenoy

calling a parent to pick you up is one way to keep from driving impaired.

Franchucko

seatbelt (=

Mom and Dad of Two

Best advice is to find and leave yourself some room in all directions.

Front - Following distance of 4 seconds.
Sides - Choose lane of least resistance. Usually middle because no one is exiting and speed is usually okay.
Rear - Check your mirrors every 5 - 8 seconds and watch for tailgaters or fast approching vehicles. Move over if safe to get spacing back in rear.

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