Playing nice on the road.

Okay, now we're going to talk about those extras that come with every car that help you figure out not just where you are, but where everyone else is on the road..

...Using your mirrors. Ah, mirrors. Mirrors on the car take away the necessity for receiving telepathic messages from other drivers. Rear and side view mirrors show us what's going on around us, and give us clues as to what the other drivers are thinking and doing. Take a second to process that information, and then look again before you act. Consider how the car in the next lane will have to respond if you pull into their lane. Is there sufficient room for you? Will that person have to put on the brakes? Swerve into another lane to avoid hitting you? Make sure you're avoiding, not creating, problems out there.

Here's the process: You want to change lanes. First, you look in the mirror. If the mirror says "no," don't change lanes. If the mirror says "yes," but the look over the shoulder thing says "no," don't do anything. If you use this process each time you're changing lanes or turning, you can greatly reduce your chances of merging into someone else's car instead of the next lane.

...Using turn signals. Signals, like mirrors, help remove the need for driver to driver psychic communication. When everyone uses turn signals to indicate his/her intentions no one needs a snap reading from Madam Linda, clairvoyant, to figure out what other drivers are thinking. It seems there are two schools of thought on this. One school thinks signaling to change lanes is an option, depending on one's mood, one's make of car, and one's astrological sign. The other school puts signals on before a lane change as a notice of intent to other drivers on the road. We would be most proud if you were to graduate from the second school.

It should be noted that simply USING a turn signal isn't enough, though. Make sure you are only changing lanes or turning when it is safe. Using your turn signal should not be a message that says "Hey, I'm coming over in your lane whether or not there is any room, so get out of my way." Also keep in mind that in bad weather or on crowded highways, other drivers may not be able to see your signals. Use them always, but don't expect they will always be visible. In fact, it's probably a good idea to always think no one else can see you (except the police, who can ALWAYS see you) and drive super cautiously when there's a lot of traffic around you.

...Proper following distance. Here's what you've all been waiting for: the world-famous THREE SECOND rule. When the car ahead of you passes an object, like a signpost, make sure you have three seconds before your car passes it (one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three). Let's say we give it a try and keep that space between you and the car in front of you.

The simple fact is that no one can ride up on the tail of another car and respond instantaneously to that driver's change in speed or braking. Can't do it, no way, nohow. This between-the-other-car allows time for a driver to think, respond, and the car to slow from warp factor two to 10 miles per hour. That being accomplished, a horrendous crash will be avoided. We know we're breathing easier, how about you? For all you math geniuses, the equation for factoring is 60 mph covers 90 feet per second. Now, try this thought out: if you are driving a car with anti-lock brakes on a dry road, and you're going 70 MPH anything closer than the length of an entire football field will be hit. Ouch. Makes me want to slow down and/or back off now.