For people who use their cars to get around, the time spent behind the wheel adds up to hundreds and maybe thousands of hours each year. In all that time, it’s natural that drivers experience all kinds of feelings, caused by the fact that they’re in a hurry, other drivers’ actions, or different things going on in their lives at that particular time. For that reason, it’s crucial to recognize the bad habits of aggressive drivers so we can avoid them on the road and, most importantly, not become one of them ourselves.
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Speeding
To say that speeding is one the worst things you can do on a road sounds obvious, but the huge number of accidents caused by it makes it an issue well worth mentioning. Most drivers press the gas pedal a little too hard from time to time while in a hurry, but constantly driving over the speed limit means you’re just one unforeseen incident away from a crash.
All it takes is a moment when you’re distracted or another car making an unpredictable move and all of a sudden, your high speed makes you unable to react in time, with potentially devastating consequences. The time you save is never worth it, and if you’re driving within a city, it’s often an illusion, as you’re only speeding to get to the next red light.
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Not Using the Turn Signal
Often when a driver is in aggressive mode, everyone else on the road becomes unimportant. Failing to properly signal before a turn or a lane change is a symptom of that, and the more aggressive a driver is, the less likely he or she is to signal their moves. You must always remember that the more unpredictable you are in traffic, the more chances you have of something bad happening to you. A good method to get yourself to always use the signal is remembering how you feel when other drivers around you fail to use theirs.
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Pushing Your Car to Its Limits
Aggressive drivers tend to have a very brutal style of driving. Pressing the gas pedal hard when the green light comes on, suddenly changing lanes in search of more space, taking corners at high speeds, and braking at the last minute; not only are all of these dangerous for you and everyone around, they also wear out your car.
As opposed to race cars that are built to give maximum performance over a limited period of time, most street cars are built with durability in mind. Even if the car is capable of all those hard accelerations and brakes, it doesn’t mean they won’t make its life shorter.
Driving in an aggressive manner is bad for the driver, the vehicle, and everyone around, from pedestrians to other drivers. Next time you see these signs in another driver, make sure to be alert. If you see them in yourself, remember how you felt when other drivers did to you what you do to them and realize that the risk is infinitely bigger than the reward.
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