1)Don't tailgate. That would be one car length for 10 mph, please. Doesn't that get taught in Driver's Ed any more?

2)Use your turn signals. Always. From the looks on the faces of those not using them, I often get the impression that they're intentionally trying to demonstrate their nonchalant deftness behind the wheel. They look stupid.

3)There is more to the road in front of you than the car in front of you.

4)Always be aware if someone is following you too closely. Get out of their way if necessary, by moving to the right lane.

5) The person behind the bus in the right lane? When the bus stops, they want to turn left in front of you in the left lane. As long as everything is cool with people not following too closely behind you, give them a one-count gap to enable them. If they don't take it, keep moving.

6)The example above is a very special case exception. Be polite, but keep the "after you, Alphonse" business to a strict minimum. When you have the legal right of way in turn, take it. (Legal right of way = first in the intersection, to the right. Typically, there's only one right answer. Also- left turns yield.)

7)In merging traffic, move as far to the front of the merging lane as possible. It may look rude to some people- but counterintuitively enough, it's the most efficient way to utilize rod space; in stop-and-go traffic, there will always be a space for you to get in, without having to guess; and if everyone follows the same rule, no one has to be under the false impression that going all the way to the front is "cheating." You aren't cheating, you're keeping the traffic behind you from backing up prematurely. That helps to prevent gridlock in congested traffic.

8)Speaking of gridlock- if you enter an intersection before the traffic in front of you clears it, you better know your lights, your traffic pattern, and your business. Otherwise, sit there at that green light. When traffic is heavy, you stand to lose nothing by doing so- or almost nothing. But if block the intersection on green and you're still there when the light changes and you can't move, your action may play out in traffic snarls for blocks behind you and around you- and the accidents that pile up behind them. Sap.

9) You might as well stop when that light turns yellow. The next one will almost certainly catch you.

10) You know that person who's weaving in and out of traffic, trying to take every advantage to get ahead? They might be an aggressive jerk- or they might have received word that their daughter is in the emergency ward at the local hospital, or something similar. Not everything that's happening to the people around you is necessarily as ordinary as your dull day. Pay attention to what's coming up behind you in traffic. If you see them coming, get out of their way. Try not to curse them when they pass. They may have a lot more trouble than you do on their mind.

11) If you need to crane your neck and turn around to keep track of your blind spot (and lots of new cars have bad ones), do so. Points will not be deducted.

12) Give it a one-count before you start out on a green light. Red light-runners are far from uncommon.

13)Keep the music down in city traffic and on surface streets. I like to keep my windows cracked open, too. You need to use your ears as well as your eyes.

Combining the last two tips once saved me from getting broadsided in a collision, by a car running a red-light full-bore at what I estimate as 80mph. I didn't see that car coming. I heard the acceleration.

14) Don't believe the turn signals- or the not-turn signals. Pay close attention to the two tons of gadgets they're attached to.

15) Avoid weaving cars at all times.

16) All other things being equal, keep as much distance as you can between yourself and other cars- including laterally. Cars can jump lanes, spin when they get hit, all kindsa thangs. You don't want to be in their way.

17) If possible, never change lanes in another person's blind spot (i.e., ahead of their rear bumper and behind their side view mirror.) Really, you know how that gets.

18) Pay attention to every possibility, including the rare ones, the tough ones- cars driving without any lights on, cars going the wrong way down the freeway, cars without any lights on going the wrong way down the freeway...undifferentiated weirdness like that. You can still duck them, but only if you're on top of it.

That's enough of me, for now. But I hope it helps. Drive defensively!

Spot on. I have wondered the same thing. Aimless cruising by teens. The girls are a menace behind wheel.

Enough about that. Try driving in England. For the love of Pete, what a nightmare. Nothing in US compared to that! We were on vacation and friends who live in London rightly advised us to not even think about renting a car and attempting the city behind wheel. Good advice! No need with the public transport.

But oh...we drove in Cotswold country and never have I been so terrified. I love roller coasters, sky diving, jumping horses, etc. But those goat paths they call roads are something else. Lanes of hell. Everyone blasts around at 60-70. Trucks take up half your lane, only dodging back at last second. The roads all have curbs so you can't run up on the shoulder for an extra inch. Watch out for the roundabouts! I just about busted all my fingernails off clutching the dash.

However, it was most beautiful place ever visited. Next time, we hire a driver!

In Chicago a potential car buyer often asks, how many miles left on the horn. American drivers do NOT want to get from point A to point B; they want THE ROAD!! How many car commercials (there are seventeen every hour, every network) show any car IN TRAFFIC? No; they are ALWAYS on a coastal or mountain highway, ALL ALONE. Behavioral science should have enough grist here for a century of sociological studes. We are not only WHAT we drive, but HOW we drive. No one thinks driving is a PRIVILEGE any more. I wait eagerly for the day when there is NO oil. Watch all these fatties try to walk!! And take us back to the days when a man's ranch was bounded by how far he could ride his horse in a day. Throw in a ton of impatience plus three pounds of narcissism, and you've got the makings for a type "A" society. One going nowhere.