Driving Mastery

Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 2:10 pm

I do not remember where I heard or read this, but it makes perfect sense to me – “The mastery of the driver seems to be in inverse proportion to the frequency of emergency braking he makes”.

And I believe, this is very true – good driver constantly foresees how road situation is unfolding, and constantly keeps himself prepared to the most probable outcome. The driving mastery is not only in steering, braking, and accelerating proficiency (although they all have their place, of course), it is in strategic thinking mostly.

Just a very simple example may clarify this. Imagine, you are approaching a crossroads, following another car along the one-lane road, and its blinker just went off. Majority of the drivers, who have at least just a bit of experience, will move their foot from the gas to brake pedal and start braking slightly – they know, most probably the car in front of them will turn, and will slow down significantly before turning. Someone who just graduated from the driving school might not be experienced enough to think along this path, and a few seconds later he will be forced to apply his brakes in emergency, in order to avoid an accident.

Driver Joined: Dec 25, 2009 Posts: 100

Pre assessing surely helps and create awareness for when to apply brake and thereby avoiding last minute emergency braking. If emergency brakes are applied , it may cause a panic to other drivers.

Site Admin Joined: Jan 06, 2010 Posts: 485

I agree, and one way of anticipating what the driver in front is about to do is by keeping an eye on the signal and tail lights of his cars.
At the same time, one should avoid sudden movements like lane changes, turns, and stops as they are one of the major causes of accidents.

Member Joined: Jan 12, 2010 Posts: 41

The most important one is to maintain a constant speed while driving in highways because if it one doesn't maintain then he going to end up in some hospital

Member Joined: Feb 03, 2010 Posts: 18

Always being ahead in your thoughts while driving helps you assess the driving environment around you. Who knows you may even live to see a huge pile up in front of you.