Sooner than you realize, you will be driving through school zones and seeing school buses transporting students to and from school. Many drivers are confused about when the 20-miles-per-hour speed limit can be enforced and when it is or is not permissible to pass a school bus.
Families have started making plans to spend some vacation time together, which might include highway driving to visit relatives or amusement parks. This means that the newest drivers in these families might get some driving time on the highway to relieve their parents during a long journey.
At the driving school, one of our instructional drives is a highway drive—which may be the student's first time on a highway. Many students are obviously apprehensive. So, I try to get a student to relax by comparing the anxiety he or she feels about entering a highway to the anxiety I feel about getting on a roller coaster.
The warm weather we all have been looking forward to comes with some "obstacles" in the form of two-legged little people, commonly referred to as our children. These precious beings will be out of school and playing outside, assuming mom or dad can pry their children's fingers from computers and such!
While children are on summer vacation, you as a driver cannot be. In fact, you should change your driving habits - more attentiveness and more defensive driving.
As spring weather puts forth an effort to make our days happier, road crews will be constructing vehicle obstacle courses throughout the area. Given our past winter, you can bet there will be a lot of orange barrels placed out as construction workers and road crews return to their outdoor employment.
Road signs indicating "road work" or "construction area ahead" will be placed before an actual working areas and should be taken seriously. Also, there will be a reduction in speed, usually a drop from the normal speed limit to 50 or 55 miles per hour.
We all have our opinions about cell phone use by the driver of a car. Personally, I believe it is a very dangerous distraction and a contributing factor to road rage. Many people see the cell as a big convenience, which it can be at the appropriate time and place. However, I know of drivers who use their cells - while driving - to enter contests!
Fortunately, I'm not skilled enough to text, driving or not, but I'm apparently in the minority. It amazes me that people actually believe that texting while driving is not a deterrent to their driving skills. I’ve observed vehicles weaving in their lanes, traveling left of the center line, or going off the right side of the road.
Drive Time! Having retired from a satisfying career in law enforcement and currently working as a driving instructor, I'm taken aback by some of the bad - and dangerous - driving habits I see every day.
So I had an idea. My thought was to try to make our roads safer by keeping the public updated on driving laws and by sharing safe driving tips. My idea was to have potential and current drivers submit questions or observations that I would answer or comment on.
The Rockport Observer has afforded me the platform and opportunity to do this.