INTERSECTING IS NO FUN
WRECK-LESS DRIVING ©
by Gunther Doerfert, Auto Safety Columnist
INTERSECTING IS NO FUN
PONCA CITY, OK.: Driving in the big city scares Geraldine L. because most of her driving is rural. Especially confusing to her are intersections such as she encounters visiting the grandchildren in Tulsa. The worst are those downtown where so much happens at once that she has difficulty handling the simultaneous messages rushing at her senses.
But sense she must, as well as deciding and then acting on the decision or canceling it as more messages are sensed. Intersection crossings are a frequent place of collisions. Left turns are even worse. This is an excellent site for drivers to determine honestly whether they need to relearn some skills or to just find easier intersections even if somewhat out of the way.
Further, Ms. L. writes that she has difficulty merging into heavy traffic from the Interstate ramp. We all do. This is a difficult decision on when to keep moving and at what speed. Ideally one looks for a break in traffic and accelerates to the speed of the traffic. Easier said then done. Sometimes it is a long wait for the hesitant driver and the reluctance is heightened by some impatient horn blower behind. Also one must be vigilant for the discourteous driver who speeds up or changes lanes to fill an obvious break which s/he knows some driver coming off the ramp intends to occupy.
Our standard reply to find some other route may be bad advice here. Interstates and other controlled access roads are safer than regular roads despite the heavy use and faster speeds. They have lower fatality rates than do the regular roads which have many intersections and no dividing barriers.
Practice your Interstate skills on highways and at times that are less busy. As you learn new driving techniques and feel more confident move up a notch or two until you have conquered the most trying situations. Other suggestions from our readers are most welcome.
GHD96 all rights reserved
by Gunther Doerfert, Auto Safety Columnist
INTERSECTING IS NO FUN
PONCA CITY, OK.: Driving in the big city scares Geraldine L. because most of her driving is rural. Especially confusing to her are intersections such as she encounters visiting the grandchildren in Tulsa. The worst are those downtown where so much happens at once that she has difficulty handling the simultaneous messages rushing at her senses.
But sense she must, as well as deciding and then acting on the decision or canceling it as more messages are sensed. Intersection crossings are a frequent place of collisions. Left turns are even worse. This is an excellent site for drivers to determine honestly whether they need to relearn some skills or to just find easier intersections even if somewhat out of the way.
Further, Ms. L. writes that she has difficulty merging into heavy traffic from the Interstate ramp. We all do. This is a difficult decision on when to keep moving and at what speed. Ideally one looks for a break in traffic and accelerates to the speed of the traffic. Easier said then done. Sometimes it is a long wait for the hesitant driver and the reluctance is heightened by some impatient horn blower behind. Also one must be vigilant for the discourteous driver who speeds up or changes lanes to fill an obvious break which s/he knows some driver coming off the ramp intends to occupy.
Our standard reply to find some other route may be bad advice here. Interstates and other controlled access roads are safer than regular roads despite the heavy use and faster speeds. They have lower fatality rates than do the regular roads which have many intersections and no dividing barriers.
Practice your Interstate skills on highways and at times that are less busy. As you learn new driving techniques and feel more confident move up a notch or two until you have conquered the most trying situations. Other suggestions from our readers are most welcome.
GHD96 all rights reserved
posted by WRECK-LESS at Saturday, December 10, 2005
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