Welcome to Driver Courtesy Month! This blog is part two of our month-long series on Driver Courtesy. Check out Part 1 Here! Don’t forget to take the online quiz Are You a Courteous Driver?

This week I will take a deep drive into Driver Courtesy. Hopefully you will know most of this but it’s always a great idea to refresh yourself on courteous driving techniques because many of them are also now the law.

The basic concept of courteous driving, though, is quite simple—the Golden Rule of Driver states, “Drive like you want others to drive.”

Here is our list of driving courtesy and we’ll discuss each one in this blog:

Lane Courtesy

Simply put, lane courtesy is the practice of yielding to or moving over for faster moving traffic. The concept of lane courtesy has also been called lane discipline. It evolved with the development of the US Interstate System, but the idea of slower traffic yielding to faster traffic is even older. Basically, lane courtesy means to drive right, and pass left.

Benefits

Using Turn Signals

This is probably the easiest of driver courtesy ideas to remember. Always use your turn signal –it indicates to other road users what your intentions will be in the near future so that they can plan their actions as well.

Steady Speed

For years and with many reviewed studies, the safest traffic is one with a flow of steady speed. It is dangerous for vehicles to weave in and out of traffic. Maintaining a steady speed also saves on gas.

Tailgating

Don’t do it! The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration classifies tailgating as a form of aggressive driving. Some of the reasons motorists tailgate are aggressive driving, road rage, careless driving, distracted driving, and speeding.

Following another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent than road conditions warrant is never safe under any circumstances—it causes concern for the driver that is being tailgated and has been the cause of many accidents and road rage incidents. It’s distracting and irritating being followed too closely. Tailgating is a contributing factor in more than one third of all accidents. Most driving manuals recommend the following:

Distance of one car length for every ten miles per hour of speed to allow a safe stopping distance if the car in front of you brakes suddenly. Another rule of thumb is at least two to four seconds behind the car in front of you.

What to do if someone tailgates you?

Stoplight Multitasking

It is tempting to put on makeup or look at your phone at a red light but don’t do it. Stoplight multitasking is still distracted driving. Important to stay alert with your eyes on the street and aware of what other road users are doing. Otherwise, if you are startled out of your distraction, you can easily make a mistake. Instead, keep your hands on the wheel and your mind on what is going on around you.

Distracted Driving

Don’t do it.

Don’t text and drive. Don’t mess with your radio, AC, Heater, etc. Concentrate on driving—most drivers cannot multitask even when not driving. If the kids are becoming a distraction—pull over a moment to sort it out. Same with other passengers in the car. If your pet gets loose, pull over and sort it out. A bee gets in the car, stay calm and pull over. Don’t answer that phone and don’t fiddle with your podcast app. One second with eyes off the road can be all it takes to cause an accident.

Zipper Merge

This driving technique is a difficult one for many Americans. They have this notion that if other drivers wait until the last moment to merge that they are discourteous. Zipper merging, though, can keep traffic moving and traffic experts agree that this is the best way to combine two busy lanes of traffic into one. Drivers use both lanes until before one ends, then merge just like the teeth of a zipper coming together: one from one lane, then one from the other and hopefully all this is done with a minimal slowdown.

Pull Over and Move Over

We were all taught in driver’s ed to pull over to the right side of the street if an emergency vehicle needs to come through but it is now the law in many states to move over to the left lane when a disabled vehicle, a traffic stop, or some other issue on the right shoulder is a factor. Pull over and move over make the road safer for every road user.

Bright Lights

During night driving, dim your headlights when another vehicle approaches in the other lane. This is driver courtesy and the law in many states.

Yield Right at a 4-way or 3-way stop

Here are some rules for stopping at a stop sign

At a four-way stop:

At a T-section (3-way) stop:

Road Rage

You might have experienced road rage in one form or another in your driving lifetime. It might have been a gesture, a shout, or even a more aggressive action by another driver or even by yourself. Road rage, though, is a choice and one of the biggest ways to stop is stop raging yourself while driving.

Road Rage Factors

Most Common Forms of Road Rage

How to Avoid Road Rage

If Another Driver has Road Rage

Thanking other Road Users

Best thank you is a wave at another driver if they helped you in some way.

If you have another road courtesy idea, let us know by commenting below or write us at nma@motorists.org.

Thank you for your support of Driver Courtesy Month and the National Motorists Association!

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