The Good Driving Skills Thread

[gajagfan]

Originally Posted by Gillis

Did you learn that from Marrisa Tomei?

Great Movie!

[Evergreen6]

Originally Posted by McRat

For RWD without posi:

You can sometimes get unstuck in sand, mud, or snow by following this procedure:

Air down rear tires to 15-20PSI.
Apply parking brake.
Increase throttle until you start to move and keep it at that setting.

The parking brake applies load to both tires. It will stop the spinning tire and distribute the torque to both sides.

Airing out the tires helps get out of the rut the spinning tire made.

Genius. This is also an old 4-wheeling trick.

Jeep actually has a standard feature on the non-Rubicon Wrangler models called "Brake Lock Differential" (BLD). Using the stability control module, it will automatically apply brakes to a tractionless wheel to get power transferred to the wheel on the opposite side of the axle.

For those that have never heard about the parking brake trick on vehicles that don't have programs like BLD, or maybe want to learn more about how an open differential applies power to the rear wheels, here's a great video:

[Jim968]

Evergreen6 described rev matched downshifting very well in his OP. You can add braking to the process with heel & toe. This comes in handy when you need to simultaneously brake and downshift in preparation to accelerate through an upcoming corner. A heel & toe downshift is accomplished as follows:

Brake with ball of the right foot solidly on the brake pedal
Clutch in
Blip the throttle using the outside edge of the right foot. Ball of right foot remains solidly on the brake pedal and your heel is the pivot point.
Downshift to lower gear
Release the clutch
Brake off
Accelerate as needed

[McRat]

Originally Posted by Gillis

Did you learn that from Marrisa Tomei?

No, I learned it on an algae covered boat ramp with a Ford van that was sinking further and further every time I hit the gas, circa 1990. A fellow boater mentioned it, and it worked.

[Gr8ride]

1) Know where you are going before you leave, plan out your route as much as possible, don't just rely on GPS because sometimes they can be really distracting.

2) If you know you have to exit the freeway soon, then start changing lanes, it really pisses me off when people cut through 3-4 lanes within a few meters of their exit...(kind of related to #1.

3) When changing lanes, triple check your mirrors, situational awareness pays off, watch out for that idiot who feels its his/her duty not to let you change lanes. Make sure cars behind you know what you intend to do and keep an eye on cars ahead of you, they might decide to hit the brakes all of a sudden.

4) Whenever some asshat decides to tail gate me, especially when Im 3 car lengths or more behind some other car I gently tap the break pedal a few times, (not hard braking ) just enough to signal with the brakelights for them to back off...they usually get the message.

5) So the turnpike looks empty? think again there is probably a police car somewhere down the road, under the overpass or just around the corner, I usually wait until I see 1 or 2 cop cars (usually pulling someone over) before I give it a little gas

6) A brown paper bag and a large rock in the middle of your lane might look the same from a distance, an cardboard box and a cardboard box full of books might look very familiar from a distance...

That last one might seem like common sense, but I had a friend that thought it would be awesome to run over that cardboard box just up ahead...he needed a new bumper and radiator shortly after...I ran over (in a go-cart) what seemed to be a plastic bag that turned out to be a rock the cart in front of me had displaced when it went off the track. I bruised my ribs up pretty bad.

One more; 7) If you are driving along I-95 and a motorcycle flies past you at mach 3.2 , stay put (dont change lanes, brake or accelerate) for a few seconds and check your mirrors there are probably a few more of his buddies coming through...Its happened to me a few times first two times were pretty scary and totally unexpected

[McRat]

For California drivers:

CHP's operate in pairs. If you see one, his buddy is somewhere close by.

For driving through Texas: Their radar works in both directions, and they WILL ticket you if they are going westbound and you're going eastbound. If you see one coming head on, slow down. Learned that one the hard way.

[Rjgreen2]

If you are turning right onto a two lane road, stay in the right lane as you make your turn, accelerate, use your blinker, and then get into the left lane when its safe to do so.

I've seen it way too many times that people want to turn right and think they are ok with using the far left lane to get into.

And don't pull out in front of someone and slow down? I dont understand that part with some people??? You are in such a hurry to pull out and then you slow down? Use your head.

[2xSSRS]

Originally Posted by Gillis

Yeah but most of the time there are douchebags driving the speed limit or slower in the left lane when there's no traffic in the middle or right lanes.

Left lanes are for passing not for some douch nozzle to tool along in. How many asshats do you see that merge onto the freeway and immediately just get in the left lane when there's nobody in the middle or right lanes? Can't stand people that have to drive in the left lane all the time no matter what.

This, This, This........... Move over.....

[jshaf]

i'd be happy if people turned there damn phones off when they drive, nothing more frustrating than being behind someone slow poke that is distracted and weaving all over the road!

[McRat]

Airbags giveth, and cell phones taketh away ...

I honest believe there are more accidents per 1000 cars today than there were 40 years ago. The enhanced safety equipment of today just reduces the body count, so they claim safety has improved. There are no statistics on crashes or injury accidents, just deaths.

[Camaro EMT]

Never tailgate an ambulance or other emergency vehicle, especially if it's running code (lights and sirens).

[McRat]

A note about handless cellphones.

It's not the handling of the phone that reduces your reaction time, impairs your decision making process, and disrupts your speed perception.

Both of my daughters did a Cell Phone Reaction Time science fair project, 8 years apart.

I remember that one of them was 25 students. They had an average reaction time of .22 seconds when concentrating uninterrupted. When they were forced to answer questions during the test, the average jumped to over .35 seconds? A huge difference. All they had to do is release a button when a computer screen changed from green to red. A very simple task that could even be automated by your subconcious. I imagine somebody running a red light in front of you would have even a larger difference in reaction time.

OK, in our modern world, completely giving up cellphones while driving is not realistic. Nor is pulling over every time you need to answer a call (which has it's own dangers).

But, it is OK to say, "Hello, I'm driving, will call you in 10." and hang up when you are in traffic.

It's not the people driving on an empty freeway that are the issue. It's the lunatics who can't stop a conversation long enough to deal with traffic. I drop the kids at school daily. 10 miles of crowded city streets. It is rare that a day goes by without someone driving like their eyes are closed. Blow stop signs, weave like a drunk in heavy traffic, blow through crosswalks while pedestrians are walking across.

Every Day. Not kidding. I can spot a Texter or Caller without even seeing them on a phone. Their speed is off. They can't stay in a lane. They ignore signs. There CANNOT be that many drunks at 8:00 am, nor do I think they are falling asleep.

Recently, I even watched a guy run right over a fire hydrant in a small SUV for no apparent reason. His kid was in the passenger seat. The 30mph road curved gently to the left, and he didn't even try to steer or hit his brakes. He wasn't speeding.

Most of those rear-enders you are seeing today are cell callers. And it's getting worse. Because the Hands Free laws that are popping up everywhere, people think they can safely drive because they have 2 hands on the wheel.

Honestly, any of you have trouble driving 1 handed at slow speeds? If hands free is a solution, they need to abolish stick shifts. Just wait.

[Evergreen6]

Originally Posted by Camaro EMT

Never tailgate an ambulance or other emergency vehicle, especially if it's running code (lights and sirens).

Yes, also please pay attention to emergency vehicles approaching from behind. MOVE RIGHT FOR SIRENS AND LIGHTS

[Evergreen6]

Something else they don't teach in driver's ed, or isn't a law of the road:

STEERING!

Dry steering is when you turn the wheels while the vehicle is stationary. This causes a lot of unnecessary stress on the power steering pump, steering rack, front tires, and all the linkages.

Instead, whenever possible, allow the vehicle to move just a little bit while you turn the wheels. If you've ever driven a vehicle without power steering, you know that this greatly reduces the effort to turn the steering wheel.

Also, don't turn the steering wheel to lock position, either left or right (all the way left, or all the way right). In vehicles with hydraulic power steering pumps, you will hear a noise or a whine. This is bad! Instead, back off the steering wheel just just a little bit (sometimes just 1/4") so the noise stops. You'll still get the tightest turning radius, but the power steering pump won't be struggling against where the steering rack can't be turned any further.