I think aggressive drivers are the worst.

I know it sounds patronising, but try to anticipate- always expect the worst, expect someone to pull out on you, expect someone to pull on to your side of the road when there is a car parked on their side, expect someone on the motorway to indicate and swerve into the next lane at the exact same time, expect people to shoot up behind you when you're doing the speed limit because that isn't good enough for them- notice these aggressive drivers and be wary!

Yeah. Stupid cars!

When driving, consider applying more pressure to the accelerator to increase your speed, and less pressure to reduce your speed.

Thanks guys.

^^ This is a drunken post that will be regretted at a later time

I have a theory that it is better to try an *hit* rabbits and pheasants as that is what they think you going to try and do so will ZIG to avoid being hit which works out badly if you have double-bluffed them by ZAGGING to try and miss them.

This is what my driving instructor said to me. No matter how skilled you (think you) might be, there are always going to be particularly stupid people on the roads doing unpredictable things that put you and your vehicle at risk.

It's one of the reasons I try and avoid driving in the snow if I can help it.

Drivers erratically changing lanes with other cars directly behind them, and in the other lane. They also may not indicate, and I notice a new trend is to put the indicator on once you have 50% completed the move....I mean that's pointless.
I saw this three times yesterday on approach to the same roundabout within the space of 30secs.

Always check your mirrors to see how your actions will affect those behind.

Always use indicators as it ensures others know what you are doing.

Always give cyclists plenty of room when overtaking, and remain alert for bikers, especially when at junctions or changing lanes.

When in stationary traffic ensure you are leaving a gap between yourself and the car in front, meaning if you are rear-ended the impact won't be as bad.

Stay calm; you will encounter lots of idiots when driving, but every driver will make mistakes themselves.

…don’t attempt to drive through a gap that you ‘assume’ will exist by the time you’ve got there.

For example, if the car in front of you slows down and starts to turn left don’t assume that the road ahead of you will definitely be clear to proceed;…if the car that is turning left brakes suddenly you’ll have little time to react if you've already taken the decision to drive through a ‘non-existent gap’.

My nephew had an accident just like that just recently;…he hasn’t been driving long,..fortunately no injuries though.

He was adamant that the fault lay solely with the woman who’d stopped half way through the left turn manoeuvre,…even though it was a blind corner and there were kids playing in the street;…oh dear!

You can teach people to pass a driving test but you can’t teach ‘experience’.

A more common variation of that is when hopping past parked cars into a space to allow oncoming traffic through. Just because there is room for the car in front to duck back in does not necessarily mean there is room for you too.

PLEASE take your foot off the footbrake when waiting at a red light. Modern brake lights are so damned bright they can blind the driver behind at night. Just stick the handbrake on, that's what it's for.

I think driving defensively is the best tip out there. Give other drivers space and time, stick to the speed limits and try not to get angry at other road users. Don't change lanes aggresively and often, at the end of the day you'll probably only get to your destination a couple of minutes faster if you do try to push it.

when a bus indicates then stop immediately, bus drivers are not trained to wait for a gap, as soon as they indicate they are moving 10 tonnes of death into your path

Don't assume that, because someone is signalling a turn, they are actually going to do it. They may have simply failed to cancel it after the previous turn.

I've no wish to upset you Andy, but having had nothing but automatics for years, if I stop at a red that I'm unfamiliar with, I keep my foot on the brake until the light changes.
However, if I'm at a light that I KNOW will stay red for 20, 30, or 40 seconds, or if I'm not at the front of the queue at the light, I'll engage park.
I rarely, if ever apply the handbrake, anywhere, aside from parking up on a hill or slope.
It may sound selfish to you, but I drive my car in a way that suits me, but if I can do something that will make life easier for other drivers, I'll try to do it.

All I'm asking Tony, is that when stopped, drivers hold their car stationary in a way that does not shine about 10,000 watts of red light in my face, especially at night when it can take several seconds for my eyes to recover. Whether this is by use of 'park' or handbrake I don't mind, but the footbrake is a no-no as far I'm concerned.

little rude boys that walk across the street in a slow and arrogant manner, so much bowl they are begging for some fruit, don't plough your car into them, however much you are tempted

Similar to the other response,
If you stop at a red light or stop line for just a short period of time, i keep my foot on the brake pedal in my automatic car. Frequently shifting from Drive into Netrual (or park) and back again isn't not recommended as it results in extra wear and tear in the transmission.
Furthermore if I use park the reversing lights will flash as I move the shifter thru the reverse position and on into park and flash again when moving the lever back thru to Drive.
U can't rely on the handbrake holding the car with the transmission in Drive (or reverse), the power is still going to the wheels so u just end up binding your brake pads.

For longer stops, shift into Netrual and apply the handbrake.

Sounds like a poorly designed gear box. What make so I can avoid it?

Think you'll find all automatics have same recommendation.

Generally speaking you just leave it in drive unless your parking the car up.

And just to annoy some more people, low speed crawling in traffic may well mean lightly pressing the brake pedal to stop the car picking up speed - meaning the brake lights are on while moving. Automatics are getting more popular as I am seeing this happen quite a bit more now.

Electric cars have a re-gen braking system, where it charges the battery pack on rolling up to a junction, and the brake lights come on whenever this is operating.....which might be quite a lot.

One thing I learned that is really useful is to use the vanishing point of the road to judge how sharp is a bend and your speed ... If it's moving away from you, you're ok... If it's moving towards you then you need to slow down

I’ve had a licence for more years than I care to remember and I can honestly say I’ve really never had a problem with brake light dazzle.

I think it’s quite easy to get inordinately annoyed with all manner of relatively trivial motoring gripes if you really put your mind to it,… and getting worked-up behind the wheel is certainly not good for ones blood pressure, IMHO;

… “ don’t sweat the small stuff ” as the saying goes.

Unnecessary brake light dazzle is a useful indicator as to the driving standard of the person in front.

...brake light dazzle exists in the eye of the beholder,..it will annoy you if you let it,….and it will really annoy you if you try really hard, IMHO.

Using 'brake light dazzle' as a measure of someone’s driving prowess is a little tenuous to say the least.

First bold point - we had a guy at work who ALWAYS whined about people slowing down in bad driving conditions, complaining about them absolutely crawling along. The dumb f*** had several accidents due to his speed in bad conditions, and never made the connection.

2nd - yup. I was genuinely above average when I learned to do various exercises, but as soon as I passed, I avoided them (easy to do with the places I parked, though I never had problems doing turns etc). Ended up scraping my car. Moved to somewhere I couldn't and now I have got my eye in again.

3rd - yep, using gears is really satisfying when you're used to it. I wouldn't mind the advantages a self-driving car could bring in the future, but I wouldn't like the halfway house at all.