The roads off the highway are where you will probably spend most of your time on and this article will be devoted to this part of your driving. Of course for some the urban roads are not the biggest part of their lives if they live in major cities like Atlanta, New York, Chicago and Los Angles to name a few.

Those drivers seem to spend over half of their life sitting in traffic on highways going to and from work! But for now we will review how to best drive on these road conditions, away from the highways. Just so I get your attention studies show that rural roads are the most dangerous for all drivers and not just for teens. On the back roads are where we tend to get distracted or get cocky and decide to speed and that often times leads to trouble.

Excessive speed when you are entering curves on a road you think you know are many times where accidents will happen as you learn to drive.

Careful of Road Curves

The Department of Transportation has done a great job of trying to give you hints or warning signs that trouble could lie ahead. Take for example on roads that have big rounding curves well they often times have yellow signs posted that say “Curve Ahead — Reduce Speed” so my advice to you is pay attention and slow up!

road curveOther times you will be approaching a curve in the road and see a yellow sign that reads “Curve Ahead — 35 MPH” now if let’s say the road had a posted speed of 45 mph and you see this well do know it is a warning and is not a change in the speed limit but again their advice to slow to this speed to maneuver it safely. Windy/curvy mountain roads are not a good place to either speed or to be distracted on so when you find yourself driving in these conditions it’s best to pay attention!

Your antennas also need to go up when approaching a steep hill so that you are prepared for what might lie ahead or over it.

A good example of what might just lie ahead is someone pulling out of a blind driveway/side street that you are not prepared for as you crest the hill. Just as importantly when driving on the back roads is when you find yourself traveling through neighborhoods/subdivisions as danger lurks here as well even though you should be driving at slower speeds.

These areas most often have speed limits of 25 mph or less and you must be prepared to do this for a number of good reasons. Kids are playing all kinds of games and are prone to jump out into the street with zero notice. Remember you did this too when you were little so always be ready to brake without any warning! Kids on their bikes and skateboards is another time to pay particular attention to so when passing near them always be prepared to make sudden changes.

Then of course there is the “Pet Factor’ with dogs and cats darting in and out of the road with no regard to your presence.

Backing Out of Driveway

Backing out of drivewayOf course you have the classic idiot who backs out or pulls out of their driveway without ever looking for you and you find yourself slamming on the brakes to avoid them.

Another thing I was taught in my high school drivers education class was if you see an empty cardboard box out in the street don’t be a funny guy/girl and decide for fun to run it over. You never know what is in it such as a heavy object that could damage your (or your parents) car or worse yet what if a child is playing inside of it which the thought of that was enough to keep me from doing it and you too!

So just a heads up for what lies ahead of you on what you think are safe quiet roads in and around your neighborhood.