What Women Drivers Should Know

We need to be attentive when we are driving our vehicles at all times.

Way back in the beginning of time our skills were multitasking, doing more than one thing at a time. We were not the bread winner so we didn’t develop hunting skills as how big, wide or far something is, but this is something you should know when you are driving a vehicle.

There are some things that we aren’t told when learning to drive, because it’s assumed that you will learn them. It’s better to learn them before you need them, that is how we can help protect ourselves and become better drivers. To some people these come naturally, but not to everyone.

Every person (male or female) who drives should check out every vehicle you drive. By that I mean, when it’s safe and you are out of the driveway and on the road and there are no cars, kids or anything around that you could hit, stomp on the gas, then quickly let up and hit the brake.

1. This tells you just how your vehicle acts then you do this.
2. Did your tires squeal?
3. Did it wait a second before accelerating?
4. Did you notice a pause than a big escalation?
5. Did you notice your brakes, did you have to push them all the way down to the floor?
6. Did they immediately brake or did they kind of slide to a stop?
7. Check the wheel, is there a lot of play in it or is it tight?

A lot of play means you can turn the wheel a ways before the vehicle reacts, being tight means that as soon as you turn the wheel it turns the car immediately.

You need to know this in case of an emergency. If the wheel is tight, you really have to watch and don’t overreact by jerking the wheel.

If you did not get all the answers to these - do it again.

Why? Because in an emergency you need to know what your vehicle will do when you stomp on both the gas and/or brake and how much you have to turn the wheel.

I do this on every vehicle I’m unfamiliar with, with few exceptions.

You need to know your vehicle and it’s little quirks. Every vehicle is different; find out what you are driving, how it reacts when you accelerate, when you brake and how tight your wheel is.

Women are notorious for not knowing how big, wide or long their vehicle is. To be a good driver you should know all this. The reason this is important, there are so many different sizes of vehicles and we aren’t as good with our proportional skills, but we can learn this and it’s not hard to learn.

To find this out go to a mall, church, supermarket parking lot, one that is stripped with parking lines.

To find out where your tires are will help you to find out how wide and long your vehicle is.

1. Drive in an empty spot; park where you think you are in the middle of both lines and stop when you think the front of your bumper is on that middle line. (picture right car)
2. Put your vehicle in park.
3. Now imagine in your mind exactly where you think your tires are in that parking space. Do Not Get Out Of Your Vehicle Until You Do.
4. When you can picture them in your mind, get out of your vehicle and check to see if your left front tire is where you think it is.
5. As you go in front of your vehicle, are you right up to the middle line?
6. Go over to the right front tire and see if it is where you think it is.
7. If you imagined your tires more forward or backward and you did not stop right at the middle of the white line get back into your vehicle and drive around and park in a different parking spot. Redo numbers 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 again. Continue to do this until your tires are exactly where you imagine them to be in your mind.

Once you have the front tires exactly where you think they are, now do the same thing for your back tires.

1. You park in an empty spot, only this time you drive through and park between the parking space lines and where you ‘think’ your back bumper is right at the middle white line. (car in picture is left car)
2. Put your vehicle in park and once you have pictured in your mind where your back bumper is, do the same thing go around and take a look at your bumper and back tires.
3. If your bumper is not where you think you thought it was, you need to adjust your thinking and get in your car, drive to a different place, drive through and park and picture it in your mind.

Keep doing this, until you know ‘for sure’ where your back bumper is in relation to the middle line. Only then will you know how long your vehicle is. Finding where your bumper is will help you to find out where your back tires are.

This teaches you find out how long and wide your vehicle is and it’s important to know exactly how long your vehicle is, and where your tires fit on the road.

It’s not hard to do, but it is important for every driver to know.

There are some things that you should not be doing while driving. And Yes, I know we are multi-taskers, but when you are driving that is the only thing you should be doing – and since most people value their life – do not be doing anything else but driving!

‘Driving itself is multitasking’!

One: you are looking at signs, other drivers and all road conditions.

Two: you control: your steering wheel, signal lights, wipers, mirrors and usually the radio.

Three: you are controlling your speed: gas and brake pedal, and you control that speed.

No matter how good you think you are, no one can do more that three things at once. This is one thing that you should be concentrating 100% of your thinking.

Why 100%? Because while you are driving, your eyes should always be moving forward, left side to right side of the road and looking in your mirrors at all times.

You need to know where all the other vehicles are, check to make sure how they are driving or you should be checking to see if there are hazards.

Because you can’t determine what that other driver is going to do you need to keep alert.

This is driving defensively and this takes all of your concentration.

If you want to be a good careful, reliable driver, pay attention and do not any of the following things.

Do not put on your makeup while you are driving. There are just too many things that can happen if you aren’t paying 100% on your driving.

Do not be talking on your cell phone, you aren’t paying attention when you are talking on your cell. When we multitask, this does not mean you can do 4 things all at the same time. Driving is already multitasking!

Absolutely do not text! Unless you prefer to maim, kill someone else or yourself.

Do not be reaching in the back seat for your child or for anything else.

Do not be reaching for something that you dropped on the floor.

Do not reach for something in the glove compartment.

Do not be smoking; talking on the cell, putting on your makeup and trying to drive, you aren’t doing any of those things competently.

One of the most annoying and dangerous things is watching someone on their cell phone turn a corner. When this happens you invariably wander over into the other lane, and there are other vehicles in that other lane. If you want to talk – pull over and stop! Don’t endanger the rest of us! This is very dangerous.

Don’t take chances with someone else’s life!

If you see that it’s raining, snowing or foggy, always check the road as soon as you can. By that I mean when you get in your car and you are out of your driveway, step on the gas and then brake, you can see by this whether the road at your place is icy, slick or there is a possibility of hazardous road conditions and this tells you need to slow down and be cautious. Under any of these conditions you need to use caution, and above all – don’t overdrive your vehicle.

There could be icy spots and you won’t be able to stop.

If it’s foggy and you can’t see ahead if someone stopped – you don’t want to hit another vehicle. Fog can cause icy spots.

Black ice is a very real condition and can happen at a moments notice under certain conditions.

If it’s raining, slow down, your vehicle can plane. This means it can float on top of the water, when this happens you won’t have control of your vehicle. The way to control this condition, is to slow down where you can feel you have control of your vehicle.

Most accidents are driver’s error.

• Not knowing how your vehicle works; acceleration, braking or the driving wheel.
• Not paying attention to what you are doing; daydreaming or over multitasking.
• Not knowing the road conditions; wet, icy, snowy or foggy.
• Over driving your vehicle; thinking that you can handle anything that happens and thinking that you are invincible.

When you are driving, concentrate on your driving, this isn't a plaything. This is an important task, one that will cost you your life or someone else's, if you don't pay attention.

I wish you;

• good driving
• be safe
• enjoy the experience of driving
• but concentrate 100% on your driving.