As we head into the festive season, more traffic aims for the coastal areas and the national roads see a heavy increase in traffic. With that in mind we thought we would come up with a list of driving rules that are often forgotten about.
The main aim behind our list is to remind road users to be considerate of others on the road and that the simplest rules are often the ones most neglected. The Arrive Alive website has some great road safety tips as well as statistical info if youre keen to up your road safety knowledge. If you have any tips of your own, leave a comment at the bottom and we could add them to the list.
Common Driving Mistakes in SA
1. Keep Left Pass Right
This is the most simple of rules but somehow its extremely rare to find anyone who obeys it. The idea is that you stay as far left as you can and only move right to overtake, then return to the left, this aids traffic flow. If you do happen to have a faster car come up behind you then do your best to let the faster through by moving to the left when safe to do so. Dont hog the middle lane either, the inside lane when clear is where you should always aim to be driving.
2. Traffic Circle Usage
This rule is seemingly impossible to fathom, and is a particular sore spot for me as there is one situated on my drive to and from work. Look at the graphic above, it really is that simple, plan ahead, get in the correct lane and indicate your direction. Traffic circles are an upgrade from stop streets as you shouldnt ever need to come to a full stop, thus traffic flow is better and you save a bit of fuel by not having to accelerate from a standstill.
3. The Solid Line
Theres no reason to cross a solid line, they put them there for a reason. The classic mistake is when entering a freeway to cross the solid white line before it ends so you can get a jump on the traffic ahead of you. All this does is then hold up the people who waited patiently and backs up traffic as they all have to slow down. Wait your turn and be a courteous driver, no point in infuriating a bunch of other road users for your personal gain.
4. The Flashing Red Traffic Light
We all know how stop streets work right? With all the load shedding at present, its quite likely youll come across a few out-of-order traffic lights. When this happens treat it as a stop street. Stop streets in themselves prove to be a bone of contention for most road users so heres a quick refresher: the first vehicle to arrive at a 4-way stop has priority, dont sneak through with the vehicle in front of you, thats just criminal. When arriving at the same time as someone else you can either take the initiative and go first or give the other driver safe passage, just dont do that awkward roll thing where you both end up trapped in the middle of the intersection upset at one another.
5. Tailgating
Not leaving enough space to the car creates a multitude of problems, worst of all, increasing the likelihood of an accident and increasing the number of casualties involved. Arrive Alive states that the human reaction time to recognise a potential hazard is 0.75 seconds. It then takes a further 0.75 seconds to react to hazard and press the brakes. The vehicle then takes 0.05 seconds to apply the brakes. Studies have indicated that when a driver follows another vehicle at 100kph and the vehicle in front suddenly applies the brakes, the driver following will need about one and a half seconds to react. So be patient and apply the two-to-three second rule by watching the vehicle in front of you pass a landmark and then counting off three seconds.
