Driving is a skill that most adults have had for years. Once this skill gets engrained into your neurology and muscle memory, you likely drive without even thinking about it. Effortlessness is nice, but it means that you also aren't learning valuable skills that can improve your driving abilities. Read on to learn more about how a basic driver improvement course can be one of the best investments you can make.
What Are Some Reasons That You Might Take a Driver Improvement Course?
Learning new driving skills and refreshing old ones increases your conscious competence. You'll become a safer driver, which benefits you and everyone you share the road with. Many drivers take these courses to get strikes or points removed from their driving record. This keeps your insurance rates low and prevents further penalties, such as license suspension. A basic driver improvement course is helpful if you've been hit with a reckless driving charge.
What Should You Look For in a Driver Improvement Course?
Make sure that your driving school is Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) accredited. This is especially important if you're looking to remove demerit points. This accreditation lets you know that your driving instructor is expertly trained and able to share some actionable, practical skills. Read through the course syllabus to see what you'll learn in the classroom and on the road. Set aside some time and money to complete the course so you can get your certificate at the end of it. You might pay upward of $100 for a defensive driving course.
How Can You Apply What You Learn to Your Regular Life?
Resolve to use these courses to legitimately improve the way you drive. This might mean incorporating the push-pull steering style instead of the hand-over-hand approach. Your driving instructor might also suggest gripping the wheel at 8 o'clock and 4 o'clock, rather than 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock. Consider making improvements to your vehicle that make you more visible and help you see the road better such as upgrading to quality LED headlights. You might spring for a backup camera or blind spot awareness system to help you stay safe. Expect to pay $250 or so for a professionally installed blind spot monitoring system. Practice your newfound skills until they are completely engrained, and don't hesitate to let go of old habits if they are unhelpful.
Use these tips to help you start looking into drivers improvement classes.
Share1 November 2021
I come from a small town. It's so small that there is no public bus service—you can walk everywhere within city limits. People drove their cars if they wanted to leave town. At home, I rarely saw a taxi, and subways were something I only saw in movies. Moving to New York City was a shock in many ways, but learning how to get around using public transportation was one of the biggest hurdles that I faced. I didn't know how much to tip a taxi driver or how to find my way around on the bus. However, I did eventually learn. I know that there must be many people who are facing the same learning curve that I was facing a few years ago. I started this blog to help other small town natives like me learn how to get around in the big city.