Welcome to the Driving in the Real World® blog, where I share my thoughts on street driving and related road safety issues, and occasional reflections.
Few types of motoring test one’s patience and nerves as driving in a city. If it just weren’t for those damn pedestrians and other cars, city driving would be a whole lot more fun. Cities can be downright petrifying, because there is just so much more of everything to watch out for. A city has […]
One problem I see constantly on the road are drivers not knowing how to smoothly and safely navigate their lanes. This is such a ubiquitous issue, one that involves safety, timing, traffic flow, road rage, constant near-misses, and accidents, that it warrants explanation on what the different lanes are for and how to drive in […]
Several times a year I travel to the Midwest to visit family, and instead of booking a flight, I pack up the car and hit the road, all 3,800 miles from Seattle to Minnesota and back again. By myself. People always look at me like I’m crazy when they hear I am driving alone. Aren’t […]
Big changes are on the horizon for car technology and drivers. So big, in fact, that a sea change is coming in how drivers and their vehicles will adapt to real-time traffic congestion and rapidly changing conditions in ways that are scarcely imaginable today. (More on this in future posts.) To this end, the German […]
Don’t try what’s depicted in the photo above while on the move, like I’ve seen some people do. Scary. This week, I am in the middle of both packing for an impending move and getting ready for a long road trip to the frozen Midwest. So this post will be short and sweet, but hopefully, […]
In no particular order, here are some random thoughts about cars, driving, and life on the road in general. 1. In 2010, 50 officers were killed in traffic collisions, including 16 killed by a vehicle while they were outside of their vehicle, and many more injured. Many of these fatalities and injuries were caused by […]
Lest you think that this blog is all about what-you-should-and should-not-do finger-wagging, let’s remember that driving and cars can be FUN as hell. As I related in my first post here, I have always simply adored the sensation of being in motion, particularly from the driver’s seat (not so much as a carsick backseat passenger). […]
A typical street in Lille. No Navigators or Escalades allowed. I just returned from an 11-day business trip to France, where I was able to get a glimpse of what roads, cars, driving, and transportation are like in a couple of European capitals. There is nothing like traveling to a different country to make one […]
The cornerstone of all good driving is situational awareness, or SA. It is what can make the difference when an oncoming car suddenly swerves into your lane and you react safely to avoid it in a split second, or panic blindly and plow into someone else. If you don’t have SA, you may not notice […]
Today marks a time that I have been imagining for nearly a decade now, when I first began thinking about writing a book about driving techniques that are truly practical in the real world. The idea began, innocently enough, with questions. Why are people turning left on a red arrow? Can they really do that […]
