on and off school buses – and don’t run into the school buses, either.
- Go slow.
- Don’t leave valuables like wallets, shoes, leather jackets or sports equipment in your cars where they can be seen. They invite break-ins.
- Always stop for school buses with flashing red lights. The flashing lights mean that students are either getting on or off the bus - and may be crossing the street. Their safety depends on cars obeying this law.
Driving Around Town
- Avoid making left hand turns across busy intersections that don’t have turn signals. It takes a while to learn how to gauge the oncoming traffic. Better to go down a block or two until you come to a light, or plan a route that doesn’t need this turn.
- Don’t make assumptions about what other drivers are going to do. The only thing you can assume about another driver with a turn signal on is that he has a turn signal on. He might not be turning at all and forgot to turn it off the last time he used it or has changed his mind.
- When there’s an obstruction in your lane, wait for oncoming traffic to clear before you pull around. Just because someone’s blocking your lane doesn’t mean you have the right of way in the next or oncoming lane.
- Watch out for aggressive drivers and try to stay out of their way. They are the cause of a lot of accidents – especially on the beltways.
- To avoid fender benders, watch out for anything that is connected to the U.S. Mail or city services – they make frequent stops.
- Don’t do anything that will cause another car’s driver to slam on the brakes such as pulling out in front of him or swerving into his lane.
Driving in the Country
- Watch out for deer and other animals, large and small. If you see a deer approaching, slow down and flash your lights repeatedly. Often, the deer will run away.
- Also, if you see one deer, watch out for others close by – they often travel in pairs or groups.
- Watch out for pigs, chickens, cows, possums, and skunks, too.
- When driving in the desert, watch out for animals like burros, wild horses, mule deer and coyotes.
Driving in Bad Weather
- Turn your headlights on anytime you need to turn your windshield wipers on – in rain, fog, sleet, freezing rain, and snow, as well as during twilight and dusk. It will help your visibility – and also help other drivers see you.
- During winter, keep an ice scraper with a brush in your car in case it snows or sleets. Also check that you have wiper fluid/de-icer in your car. If it gets messy while you are out, these will come in handy.
- Double the space you normally leave between you and the next car. You’ll need more space to stop on slick roads.
- Brake gently.
- Make sure your exhaust tail pipe is clear if you’ve had to dig your car out of snow or ice or if you’ve backed into a snow bank. If your tail pipe is blocked you could get sick or die from carbon monoxide poisoning.
- When driving on slippery surfaces like ice or snow use gentle pressure on the accelerator pedal when starting. If your wheels start to spin, let up on the accelerator until traction returns.
- Check that windshield wipers and washers work - you may need it in snow and sleet.
- Keep windows and windshield clear. Make sure wipers are working.
- Leave a window open a little bit to keep windshield from fogging up and to give you fresh air.
- Watch for danger spots ahead. You've probably heard that bridges and overpasses may freeze before the roads do.
- When starting out in bad weather, test your brakes to see how far it takes you to stop. This tip was sent in by someone who didn’t do this and ended up wrecking her car. She also called her dad on his car phone to tell him about the accident–and he was so upset, he wrecked his car, too. So her second tip is not to tell your parents that you’ve wrecked the car while they are driving.
- If you are stuck in ice or snow, try putting your floor mats under the edge of the tires to give them traction.
- Braking in bad weather can be tricky. When braking on wet roads:
- If you have ABS (anti-lock) brakes, do not pump brakes.
- If you skid with non ABS brakes a