Examples: E36 (90s models) BMW 3-series. Older Volvos. Slap on a wide panoramic mirror ($5.99 – 15) and you’re done.

I’ve even stopped doing all that looking over my shoulder while backing up crap because I literally get better rear visibility through my mirror. I literally see cars behind me and to my sides all the way until they enter my peripheral vision.

Side mirrors? What are those for?!

I look over my shoulder twice: once to look, and the second time specifically for motorcycles.

Fog lights: DON’T use them all the time. It’s just as blinding as driving with your brights on. And it’s a dead giveaway that you are NOT looking down the road for hazards.

Drive conservatively. Even if you’re doing 80 mph, if you give the other drivers plenty of room, you probably will not draw the attention of the police. (This does not apply where there is camera speed monitoring!)

How not to get a ticket when pulled over: Be nice to traffic cops! (Think what the roads would be like without them!) Admit you were wrong – even if you think you weren’t. Don’t say stupid stuff like “you should be out catching criminals!” In 99.99999% of cases, they pulled you over because there was something wrong.

Good driving and good manners = 41 years of driving and only 4 tickets; three accidents and not at fault for any.

bucslim – good comments. Ifeel the same way, or did for yeas. I drove for a living for a while and commuted across Atlanta at various times. I firmly believe that the police should be authorized to issue citations for HUA (Head Up Ass). Some of the things I saw people do beggar belief.

xave69 – you got it almost right. To properly adjust your side mirrors: While in the driver’s seat. Lean your head against the window and adjust the mirror so you can just see the side/rear fender of your car at the edge. Then lean the same distance toward the passenger side and adjust the mirror on that side ditto. Adjust your rear-view mirror so that you are looking straight behind your vehicle.

With the mirrors adjusted thus, any vehicle coming up on either side will show in the side mirror before it can no longer be seen in the rear view mirror.

jfrater – it is NEVER a good idea to turn your fully away from your line of travel, as you advocate with in nr. four’s “…a quick glance over the shoulder…”. As others have stated in different ways, you should practice what aircraft pilots call “situational awareness”, in other words be aware of what’s going on around you at all times. That includes paying attention to cars you’ve passed and those approaching going faster than you. Slightly turning your head to the side and using your peripheral vision to double-check beside you should be sufficient and is much safer.

Someone, I don’t remember who and can’t be arsed to go back and try to find out, replied to a rant about not stopping at “Yield” signs with a pretty good explanation of how they’re meant to control traffic and how to act when approaching one, except for one glaring error. A “Yield” sign means exactly that, YIELD to all traffic, not just to cars that are at or near the same point in their lane that you are in yours. If they’re behind you in the lane you want to enter you still must yield the right-of-way if they’re too close or are approaching too fast for you to enter the lane without causing them a problem. “Causing them a problem”, by the way, includes having to apply the brakes to allow you to pull out in the lane.

Continuing in the vein of that last – keep in mind that the car occupying a lane has the right-of-way in that lane at all times. It doesn’t matter that you “need” or even “have” to turn RIGHT HERE!, that you don’t know the roads and don’t want to miss your turn, that you want to move over a lane for whatever reason. If there’s a car in a place that you want to go, he has the right-of-way there, period.

And last – regarding the “zipper” method of merging I’ve seen mentioned. There used to be signs posted at expressway on-ramps (in Georgia, where I live) that read “Take Gap/Give Gap”, and everyone knew what they meant. Now when I mention them to people in discussions like this or in person I get blank looks and the occasional, “What does THAT mean?”

1) End active call.
2) Turn your cellphone sideways.
3) Shove your cellphone up your ass.
4) Watch your driving improve dramatically and immediately!

I made a toddler cry when he saw me.

So Leah, you were saying something about pent up angst? You’re the one typing in all caps.

“BUCSLIM, YOU’RE TROLLING RIGHT? PLEASE TELL ME YOU ARE, YOU IDIOTIC, RUDE-ASS, SMALL-DICK, PIECE OF *****.”

Yes, Leah, I’m trolling. I’ve been trolling here since this place opened. And I’m trolling now. Judging by your comments above, I don’t think anyone reading it will have any problem spotting who the friggen troll is. And since you can’t seem to make an intelligent argument against what I’ve said, you resort to typical Junior High behavior. Although no one will mistake me for Ron Jeremey or Peter North, I don’t think my Johnson size should enter into the conversation.

“PLEASE TELL ME YOU DON’T ACTUALLY HAVE A *****ING LICENSE.”

Ok, I don’t have a *****ing license. But I do have a driver’s license. And just so you know, I haven’t been in an auto accident for over 15 years, my first speeding ticket was when I was 24 and my last speeding ticket was 5 years ago. Any more up close and personal information requests will need to be handled by PM.

“REALLY, MAN, WE’LL ALL GET WHERE WE NEED TO *****ING GO. DON’T HAVE A *****ING ANEURYSM WHILE TRYING.”

I’ve never had an aneurysm, driving or otherwise. However it looks like from your all caps message, you’re about to have one. Really, that vein on your forehead looks like it’s going to pop. Calm down. And since you mentioned, ‘we’ll all get where we need to *****ing go,’ you can go to hell.

YEAH, YOU MADE SOME OKAY POINTS, BUT IT’S *****S LIKE YOU WITH YOUR PENT-UP, NOT TO MENTION UNNECESSARY ANGST, THAT MAKE DRIVING A HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE FOR EVERYONE ELSE.

Yeah, I did make some good points didn’t I? I’m really insightful, but it’s *****s like you that show their ass with all caps replies to my trifle of a comment or two that make reading a horrible experience for everyone else. Go blow it out your enlightened ass.

TAKE SOME VALIUM OR SOMETHING.

Having never done valium because I’m perfectly calm behind the wheel and other times in my awesome life, I might suggest you taking an entire bottle before you start typing. Perhaps then you’ll see that the caps lock is stuck and you look like a screaming ass monkey. Better yet you’ll just fall asleep so the rest of us won’t have to read your stupid, weak, ridiculous *****tardery.

Even a loose nut in a high-performance car will slide/flip off the road when speeding in poor conditions.

My point was simple – slow down in adverse driving conditions (night, rain, snow, wind) – regardless of speed limit or car or driver.