Don’t get me wrong, nothing grinds my gears more than someone speeding past you like they’re not just swinging by Macca’s for a cheesy-b, but that hardly means they’re the only ones on the road that you need to be wary of.
From my experience, I’ve witnessed some truly baffling behaviour that straight-up makes me question whether they should add common sense to the school curriculum. In saying that, the truly baffling behaviour I’ve witnessed is mine, so self-own, I guess?
Whether you boil it down to forgetfulness, inexperience or just a blatant disregard for others, you’re gonna run into some interesting drivers out there – figuratively, I hope.
As a bit of a What Not To Do guide, here are some of the more careless things I’ve either done or witnessed while behind the wheel. If you reckon you need a lil hand with navigating the roads, you can also sign up for Ford’s Driving Skills For Life courses.
Oh-so-many blind spots
Okay, alright, there’s a chance that I was responsible for this careless slip of the brain so I may as well call myself out first. It’s only fair.
A couple of years ago, I was visiting my mate in my brand new set of wheels (new for me, the car itself was about 40 years old), and he lived in this tiny court. Granted, my car was an unnecessarily large 4WD that I had no business driving but who am I to discriminate against car size?
Long story short, when I was reversing out of my friend’s house, I reversed straight into a car behind me and totalled the side of it.
The kicker was that it happened on the very first day I got my licence, so it kinda ruined the rush.
You live and you learn, and that time I learned that you have to bloody check your surroundings before you drive. I also learned that your friends think you’re significantly less cool if you crash your car on your first day.
The ol’ ‘try to petrify your friend’ manoeuvre
I dunno what it is about driving with people in the car. When I’m by myself, I’m insanely paranoid about everything around me, but when there’s someone next to me, I seem to calm down a lot more.
The same can’t be said for when I first started driving around with friends who just got their licences. It was like one big game of who-wants-to-ruin-their-lives-first, with whoever was in the back seat making their mission to throw the driver off their game.
Just a friendly reminder, you’re all in the same car – if you distract the driver and something happens, it happens to all of you.
Phone addictions
I see this every. Damn. Day.
Next time you’re at a stoplight, or a stop sign, or hell, even a freeway, take a brief look around at the other drivers. My bet is that you’ll spot someone glancing down at their phone (which is never subtle, just quietly).
This time around, I don’t actually have to own up to doing this. Am I the only one who relishes the idea of having an excuse not to be contactable for a hot sec? “Oh sorry, I was driving” is always a legitimate excuse that people can’t argue with.
It’s also gotten me out of multiple reluctant conversations with my “concerned” “doctor” so thank you, laws.
The delayed reaction
Another one of my finer moments was a combination of not paying attention and wet weather.
Back in my big 4WD that caused numerous headaches and a coupla thousand dollars in damages, I was driving too closely behind another car in the pouring rain, and by the time I realised they’d stopped for a light, I was too close, my wheels locked and I very slowly slid into the back of them.
It was genuinely like watching a car accident in slow-motion except, I was just moving incredibly slow and I couldn’t do anything about it. Plus, because it was a much bigger car than the one in front of me, you best believe it destroyed their boot.
Always stay a full car-length behind the drivers in front of you, crew. You’ll thank me later.
Cyclist neglect
Research that Ford conducted showed that only 36% of drivers believe that cyclists should be on the road.
I don’t want to be that guy, but c’mon, what’re we doing here? Our roads are equipped to handle cyclists, more cyclists mean fewer cars on the road contributing to hellish peak hour traffic and in a pinch, it’s more environmentally friendly.
It’s really not that tricky to just, y’know, keep an eye out?
But because I’ve just proved that anyone can make mistakes (I’ve clearly broken a road rule or two in my day, nawty), there are Driving Skills For Life events popping up around Oz soon which uses professionals and VR to help drivers to get a better handle on things.
Activities at the courses include: wearing an impairment suit which mimics the effects of grog on your driving abilities; ABS braking testing and skid pan testing.
If you’re keen, here are the dates:
Geelong – Saturday 21st September, Geelong Go Kart Track
Melbourne – Sunday 22nd September, Todd Rd Go Kart Track
Adelaide – Sunday 27th October, Adelaide International Raceway
Newcastle – Saturday 9th November, Newcastle Showground
Sydney – Sunday 10th November, Sydney Motor Sport Park
Orange – Sunday 24th November, Orange Go Cart Track
Or head right HERE to register and get more info.
It’s been running for five years straight so clearly, people froth not being in car accidents.
Who woulda thunk it?
