Once you have your license, you might feel like you can take over the world, one stop light at a time but the truth is you are super vulnerable in those early days. Up until now you have had someone in the car to keep you safe and help you avoid sticky situations. But, now you are out on your own what should you be on the lookout for?
Tires
Many new drivers forget, or simply don’t know, the importance of the tires. Sure you heard that they needed a certain amount of grip to be road worthy but what about the tire pressure? If you have an indicator on your dash, then you are in the lucky few who won’t need to check all that often manually. But low tire pressure can lead to blowouts and cost a lot in fuel. Use your car manual to check and get them pumps at your local gas/petrol station.
Mirrors
Cockpit checks. You had to do them every time you got into the learner vehicle, so you should keep doing it in your new ride. The inside mirror should give you a full view os the back window, and only your eyes need to move to see you-you should never need to turn your head. Both of the wing mirrors should be wide enough to see any blind spots and just the very edge of your car. The more you can see the better. The last thing you need is to be joining the highway and misjudge the proximity of the truck behind and end up in one of those truck accidents you hear about.
Speed
While you are getting used to this new freedom, there is a tendency to hit the gas a bit too much. But driving carefully is much more relaxed because it’s just safer. High-speed driving is reckless but in the early days you might not be 100% on all of your decisions and making them at high speed isn’t going to help your case.
Legs Room
You don’t need to have your chair positioned so far back; you are almost lounging. You will give yourself a lack of control without meaning to. The lack of control can cause a delayed reaction time too, so just adjust your seat, so your legs aren’t fully reclined, and that goes for your seat also. Sitting upright gives you a better view of your mirrors and much more control – so use it.
Overconfidence
Or a lack of. This one takes time to get right. When you are overconfident, you might find you are making risky decisions, but actually being too cautious can cause problems for other drivers also. There is a fine line between both of these things, and that is the safe driving sweet spot.
Get out on a range of roads as often as you can, smaller roads, quiet ones, busy ones and in no time you will find that you can comfortably and confidently be driving whenever you need to.
