(Newswire.net — August 22, 2022) — Everybody wants to be “that guy”. Even the girls want to be that guy. You know the one. Takes turns fast, maneuvers like a knife through a birthday cake, and never looks nervous or loses their cool. Everyone wants to drive like a movie star. But how do you go about doing that?
It is not easy, but here are 10 ways to get more confident while driving.
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Know Your Car
Cars have weight. You know this, you can feel it every time you start it up. But if you drive around without ever thinking about it, you might not really know how that weight feels.
Knowing your car means knowing it inside and out. Its weight, its tires, the turns it can take before it flips, everything. Once you know this, you can push its limits more comfortably.
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Know the Roads
After you know your car, learn the roads. You might find that there isn’t a single road between your house and your work that requires you to turn sharp enough or fast enough to flip over.
You might also find that there are routes where you have more room to the sides of your car, which can make it easier to get comfortable driving a car. Look for routes that help you practice.
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Practice Deliberately
Generally speaking, you do not need to make a plan to practice driving constantly. You will already be practicing driving just by going to and from work. What you need to do is make sure that when you are doing these everyday drives that you are consciously choosing to practice.
You can’t know your car or the roads without making an effort to know them.
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Choose Caution
One of the worst things you can do in a car is be indecisive. People are often put into a position of having to choose between convenience and caution. But if you choose caution and the person behind you chooses convenience, you are going to get yelled at. That can cause panic.
But that doesn’t matter. Make the choice ahead of time to prioritize caution. Accept that some people are going to be inconvenienced, and that inconvenience beats danger.
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Apply the Breaks
If you need to stop, then stop. People often worry about getting rear ended. But experienced car accident lawyers agree that getting rear ended is always less of a problem than rear ending someone.
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Pretend Other Cars Have No Drivers
When you are on the road you are surrounded by heavy metal objects. These are dangerous things. And even more worrying, they have people in them. You can panic from wondering what an angry person might do. And if you panic while driving, you can get hurt.
The best practice is to act as if those other people aren’t there. The cars are—but the people inside them that could get mad at how you drive? They are not.
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Drive in Silence
Listening to music or talking on the phone can make you literally deaf to the world. Keep things quiet when you want to focus.
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Get Your Eyes Checked
There are people walking around right now who are legally blind and don’t know it. You might not be one of those, but you also might have worse vision than you think. Get your eyes checked to be safe, and get them rechecked if it’s been a few years since your last check.
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Take a Break
If you are stressed or angry, pull over and take a break. It doesn’t matter the reason. Driving calmly will save your life. Driving angry will see you losing it.
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Get P Plates
This is a great way to let people know to be patient with you. P plates indicate a practicing driver, and they are usually used by young people. But don’t be afraid to get them to elicit some sympathy from potential road ragers.
Conclusion
The greatest dangers of the road are panic and other people. Keep a cool head, know where you are and what you are doing, and you will grow into a smooth driver in no time.