Courteous and intentional driving is about more than just good manners—it keeps everyone safe, too.
In my local weekly newspaper, the “Warren/Frederick County Report,” a popular columnist, Kevin Engle, wrote of a scenic road trip he made with his wife from Pennsylvania to New York. All went well until they got behind a “slow poke.” His wife advised him, “Be patient,” but as is the case with so many of us, patience flies out the window when we’re driving a car. Engle had just started around the slower car, even though the solid yellow lines on the road forbid passing, when an approaching car appeared on the horizon.
“I pushed down on the gas pedal,” he writes, “zoomed by the slow poke and got back in our lane.”
A couple of seconds later, the oncoming driver whipped by him and saluted Engle with his middle finger. When he complained to his wife, she said, “Well, you shouldn’t have passed.”
Engle concludes his account of his illegal act with some questions for his readers: “Did you know about that unwritten rule? The one about taking the scenic route, one-lane roads, and slow drivers? Should I have been more patient? Replies encouraged.”
I’ll never read those replies, but I can guess many of them will say, “Duh.”
And how about this question: Should the other driver have flipped Engle off? Answers might be more varied, but the fact remains that both drivers behaved rudely, and one of them, Engle, might have caused a serious crash.
Here are some standard rules of the road, plus some common-sense manners, that can get us where we’re going without an accident or an ulcer.
Obey the Law to Arrive Alive
When you’re steering 4,000 pounds of steel, plastic, and glass down the highway at 65 mph, you need to obey the law. Here are a few reminders:Avoid distractions. According to GJEL Accident Attorneys, the
leading cause of crashes is distracted driving. Get off your phone. Quit fiddling with the radio instead of looking at the highway. Do your makeup before leaving the house. Knock off giving those long, soulful looks to your girlfriend in the passenger seat. It’s the same old lesson we’ve heard over and over again since pre-school: Pay attention.
Don’t weave through traffic on a busy highway. We’ve all seen these folks, zipping in and out of traffic like Dale Earnhardt, and then getting stuck behind two side-by-side 18-wheelers. It’s amusing to watch, but it’s also dangerous. Reckless driving is the fourth-leading cause of traffic accidents in the United States. Speeding is second on that list. Blend the two together, and you have the recipe for a crash.
Don’t tailgate. You’re driving on a busy highway in the right lane, seven or eight miles per hour above the speed limit, when suddenly someone’s vehicle fills your rearview mirror. If the guy got any closer, he’d be in your back seat. Being a bumper-hugger is asking for a collision. It’s also discourteous and just plain dumb.
Mobile Manners
Good drivers fuse etiquette with the law. Below are three basic rules of road courtesy.Cut other drivers some slack. Years ago, one driver I know well got stuck during rush hour behind a car trying to enter the highway at 40 mph from an on-ramp, apparently unaware that on-ramps exist for the purpose of acceleration. Cursing, my friend was finally able to pass the slow driver and gave her a dirty look as he did so. What he saw was a woman who was the spitting image of his dead mother. Shame immediately put his anger to bed.
Put yourself to one side—that’s the fundamental law of all etiquette—and grant other drivers some leeway. If nothing else, it will help keep your blood pressure low.
Tap the horn. The light turns green, but the driver in the car ahead of you doesn’t move. He’s probably on his phone. Instead of laying hard on the horn, give him a wake-up call with a couple of friendlier beeps.
Don’t cruise in a passing lane. Most people exceed the speed limit. When you’re toddling along in a passing lane with traffic stacking up behind you, you’re either oblivious to the situation, which means you aren’t paying attention, or you don’t know the rules of the road. Pull your vehicle to the right and let the traffic pass you.
Park after pumping gas. You pull into a busy 7-Eleven, gas up your car, and then stroll into the store looking for some treats and coffee. Meanwhile, other drivers can’t get to the gas pump where you’ve left Old Faithful. Before you start that search for goodies and caffeine, move your car to a parking space.
In-Car Etiquette
We should take into consideration both pedestrians and passengers when we’re driving. Here are three tips for treating them with respect and courtesy.Clean up your car. If you know you’re going on a trip with a friend, it’s time to break out a trash bag and get rid of the junk in your vehicle. No one wants to take a long ride with fast food wrappers crunching underfoot or litter strewn all over the seats and floor.
Turn down the volume. Believe me, no one walking on Main Street or through their neighborhood wants to hear your window-rattling rap music. Show some respect and either roll up your windows or cut back on the noise.
Refrain from narration. Some people behind the wheel—I know two of them—offer a running commentary on other drivers when in heavy traffic. “Where are you going?” “You ever hear of a turn signal?” A few minutes of this critique become more tedious than listening to an insurance agent explain the difference between term and whole-life policies. Please keep your voice-overs inside your head.
Arrive Alive
Neglecting to say please or chewing with your mouth open is unlikely to result in dire consequences, but rudeness on the road can be deadly.From 2018 to 2022, traffic fatalities in the United States
grew by more than 16 percent to nearly 42,800 deaths from car crashes. In 2021, there were over 6,000,000 vehicular accidents reported to the police. Highway crashes are the leading cause of death among America’s teenagers.
Practice your manners while driving as if your life depended on it.
Because it does.
