Whether you are a new or experienced driver, it is important to know how to identify potential road hazards you may come across on your travels. Driver education courses and defensive driving courses online are an affordable and convenient way to gain this essential knowledge to keep you safe while traveling from point A to point B.
What Are Some Potential Road Hazards?
- Driving while Fatigued
- Nighttime Driving
- Blown Tires and Inclement Weather
- Aggressive drivers and road rage
- Blind Spots
Let’s take some time and expand on all of the potential road hazards that were mentioned above. By knowing and understanding these potential concerns, you can become better equipped to handle any situation you might come across.
Helpful Tips
Many factors are involved every time you get into your car and traverse the busy streets around your city. It is important to know what you should expect, while always expecting the unexpected. You need to learn how to look past what is right in front of you. A lot of drivers, myself included, spend most of their time focusing on the car that is directly in front of us. We need to look past that car and always scan our surroundings for potential hazards.
You also want to learn how to scan the road a good half a mile to a full mile in front of you. By doing this, you can anticipate certain road conditions and be able to plan ahead for turns or even stopping. Focus your vision outward and pay attention to others around you. If you feel like the car next to you is going to cut you off, then that is most likely exactly what they are going to do. Pay attention to their body language. Are they looking around like they are preparing to change lanes? Maybe you are in their blind spot, so while they are looking around and appearing to pay attention, they might have forgotten that there may be a car in their blind spot.
Fatigue
Driving while you are tired is also a potential road hazard. Not only for yourself but also for others around you. When you are tired, your reflexes are hindered, and your focus isn’t at one hundred percent. You are more focused on how tired you are and how badly you want to make it home that you are distracted from the actual driving.
Nighttime Driving
Driving at night can also pose problems for a lot of people. Always make sure that your headlights are in their proper working order and if possible, dim the interior lights in your car, so the lights inside are not distracting you from what is going on outside. While I am driving at night, I am always scanning my surroundings, especially the side of the road where deer like to hide before plunging into the road. If you look ahead and see the headlights reflected in their eyes, you will know this is probably a stretch of road that you need to slow down on and pay closer attention to. If they are on the right side of a two-lane road, perhaps move to the left. You never know when a deer or any other kind of animal is going to become scared and jump into the road. If you anticipate this and see them ahead of time, you have a better chance to avoid a potential disaster.
Blown Tire
Let’s say your tire blows while you are going over fifty on a highway. Do you know how to handle this situation? Our first instinct might be to brake suddenly and get to the side of the road as quickly as possible. Instances like this are when we need to dump our natural reactions and stop and further assess the situation. Instead of braking, slowly pump the gas pedal so that you can gain control of the car again. Slowly lift your foot off of the gas pedal and instead of turning in the opposite direction of the blown tire, turn into it. This will cause your car to begin slowing down so that you can safely pull off to the side of the road.
Aggressive Drivers
Aggressive drivers are always a hazard as well. Road rage is an everyday occurrence with a lot of people. When you see that you are in the range of an aggressive driver you should try to avoid eye contact, if possible. Catching their eye might just end up fueling their rage even more. Let them pass you if they seem like they are in a hurry, and just stay out of their way.
Blind Spots
Blind spots are an aspect a lot of people forget about when it comes to driving safety. To correctly adjust your mirrors you want to angle them away from your car. No part of your vehicle should be visible when you look into your side mirrors. Always be aware of your surroundings before you attempt to change lanes, you never know if there is a car hiding in your blind spot. Pay close attention and don’t lose your focus. This small mistake can cost you a lot of money in potential damages to your car or someone else’s, as well as a hefty increase in your insurance premiums.
Why Take Online Defensive Driving Courses
In this digital age, everything has become more convenient – even driving courses. Sure, you can take in-person defensive driving courses, but why would you when you can literally just grab your phone and do it online?
Unlike driving school, defensive driving courses are usually taken as refresher courses for when you need to scrap some points off your license or get rid of a ticket. The only advantage of going to a traditional in-person traffic school would be having a classroom setting, which very few are comfortable with because it’s such a hassle. The advantages for online defensive traffic schools, however, are many. Here are some of the best:
Convenience
As I mentioned earlier, convenience can be found anywhere these days. Online traffic schools allow you to take defensive driving courses wherever you want and whenever you want. You can use whichever device works for you – a phone or a laptop or a tablet. You don’t need an actual classroom. You can take your courses before heading to bed, when you’re waiting for the bus, or even when you’re riding the bus.
Support
If you take traditional defensive driving courses, you only get to ask questions for the duration of the class. This allows you to get feedback immediately, and fortunately, most online traffic schools offer the same quality of support. Not only that, many offer 24/7 chat support, which means that you can ask questions around the clock and get feedback for them.
Money-Back Guarantee
Not all schools offer this but a lot of online defensive driving courses do. Of course, there are certain terms to meet depending on the online traffic school, but it’s better to get a guarantee if you are going to spend your money.
More Affordable
Yep, you heard that right. Not only is online traffic school way more convenient, but it is also cheaper! And since you won’t need to travel to an actual school, you get to save money on transportation as well.
Defensive driver courses are a quick and easy solution to help you regain control over your driving or perfect your current skills. No one ever said that taking these courses would be fun but sometimes when circumstances are out of your control, it is something that must be done. So if it must be done, why not have some fun learning some tricks and advice to make you a better driver and in the long run avoid having to take the courses again.
TrafficSchoolCritics.com is a great resource to use when trying to find affordable and accessible classes. We provide you with reviews of the different driving schools at your disposal and even offer great discount codes to make the prospect of driving school a little less stressful.