- Accelerating through yellow lights
- Merging improperly
- Not using turn signals
- Forgetting to turn on the headlights
- Climbing traffic is a seriously bad habit
Do you drive safely? Most of us think we do, but nearly all of us are guilty of at least one bad driving habit that could eventually lead to an accident. It’s hard not to have some bad habits while driving. We often drink coffee, eat food, change the climate or volume settings, or talk on our phones (even through Bluetooth), impacting our safe driving habits. Here are five bad driving habits you must avoid if you want to enjoy driving safely on any road.
Accelerating through yellow lights
Close-Up View of a Yellow Traffic Light | Getty Images
How often do you try and beat the red light when you see a traffic light go from green to yellow? If most of us are honest, we attempt this more often than we should. Sometimes we joke about this, but racing through a yellow could get you caught in an intersection where you might get hit. This is a bad driving habit that needs to end immediately.
Merging improperly
Traffic Merging onto a Busy Road | Getty Images
Among bad driving habits, merging improperly is one of the worst. If you want to drive safely, you must understand how to merge into traffic. It’s just as important to take your turn as it is to allow merging traffic to enter the road. If all drivers do this correctly, it looks like the teeth of a zipper coming together.
Not using turn signals
Turn Signal Lever | Wikimedia Commons
The lever on the left of your steering wheel allows you to indicate to other drivers your intention to turn or change lanes. If you don’t use this device, how can you expect other drivers to know what you will do? Some modern cars even have a safety feature to move you back in the lane if you haven’t signaled, but that doesn’t stop many drivers from forgetting to use their turn signals.
Forgetting to turn on the headlights
Car Driving in Foul Weather With Headlights On | Getty Images
Your headlights are one of your car’s most important safety and visibility features. Driving safely at night requires the use of these lights. It’s easy to realize you haven’t turned them on when facing a dark road, but in a well-lit parking lot, at dusk, or in bad weather, some drivers forget to turn on their headlights, according to Geico. If your car doesn’t have an automatic headlight feature, you must remember to turn them on so other drivers can see you and drive more safely around you.
Climbing traffic is a seriously bad habit
One of the very worst bad driving habits is climbing traffic. This occurs when a driver weaves in and out of traffic in an attempt to get to the head of a pack of cars so they can take off and away from traffic. This is extremely dangerous, reckless, and hazardous to other drivers. Also, if you’re guilty of doing this, you might notice your stress levels increase when you weave in and out of other cars. Sit back, be patient, and practice some safe driving habits instead of being in such a hurry.
Hopefully, you’re not guilty of these bad driving habits, but if you are, please change your habits and drive safely the next time you get into your car.
Next, check out how blind-spot monitoring works, or learn more about some of the worst driving habits in this video below:
Related
Keyword: Drive Safely: 5 Bad Driving Habits You Need to Stop Right Now