Whether you are driving a manual stick shift (which, in my opinion. is a rare skill nowadays) or an automatic transmission, driving in the conditions of our everyday streets can be a taxing proposition.
But driving the right way should always make you feel rewarded especially when you demonstrate it to people with less knowledge about the road. Plus, the way you drive can actually affect your car and its components – not to mention make you more or less susceptible to fender benders and worse.
While we all surely have some less-than-ideal driving habits, that doesn’t mean we can’t correct them. Here are some habits we should drop this 2020 so we could be less of a douche (and be more safe) on the road.
- Browsing social media while driving
Let’s be serious here. We are all guilty of this. Can we all just concentrate on driving? Keep your eyes on the road — even if traffic is stopped. If you need to make a call, make sure to use hands-free mode to avoid any accidents or hassles. Remember, if you get caught, that’s P5,000 out of your pocket.
2. Stomping on the brakes
You don’t want to know what I had the previous meal. So, if I’m a passenger, this bad habit will surely annoy the heck out of me. Not only will this cause the passenger to maybe throw up, but lessen the life span of your brake pads. Ease off on the brake pedal and put your ABS or anti-lock braking system to good use.
3. Resting your hands on the gearshift
Because why? Keeping your hand atop gearshift while driving means putting the synchronizers and bushings of the tranny under constant pressure. And when done on a daily basis, the internals of your vehicle will slowly deteriorate. Besides, it doesn’t look cool at all. When driving an automatic or a manual, set both your hands on the 10 and two o’clock position of your steering wheel.
4. Riding the brake pedal while driving down an incline
Guilty. While to most people, resting your foot on the brake pedal while going downhill is safe habit in order to be ready for any unexpected situation, switching to a lower gear is the preferred way to slow your car down. Being overly familiar with the brake pedal lessens the service life of your brake pads.
5. Switching from Reverse to Drive while the car is still moving
This is a very common mistake among drivers. Yes, it lessens the time of maneuvering, but take note that this put your vehicle’s drivetrain under unnecessary pressure when it is being forced to shift to the opposite direction. So be sure to switch from reverse to drive only when you have come to a complete stop.
Although bad driving habits are hard to let go of, always remember that there’s still time. The new year should give you more reason to change them, don’t you think? New year, new you, yeah? It won’t hurt you to make a few adjustments. They’re for your own good.
