Driver Safety Education Blog

Happy New Year!

This is a great time to say to yourself, let's try to be better at driving, parking, reacting, making decisions, looking ahead, reading road conditions, etc. Or, are you going to do what you have done the the day before, nothing. Well, life will ensure you get "experiences", whether you want them or not. So why not be better prepared for them before they happen and when they happen?

Driving? Think! No, not about the game that was lost last night. Not about your friend you want to text to, but instead think about what is in front of you as you drive down the road.. Hmmm, is that a new concept? Keeping you eyes on the road and your mind on driving? For some, maybe.

Some might say, "well you know, I've been driving for 20 (30,40) years and nary an accident". Well, what about the near misses? Do you put others at risk? Ok, so let's revisit one of the signs you see every day, the STOP sign. When you come up to a Stop sign, you must stop. Not take a quick look for right-of-way traffic when you are going to make a right turn, and then just slow down and roll through - what's known as a rolling stop. STOP means stop. That's it - period.

So, what else have we, you, forgotten? or ignore? My guess is, if you have been driving for 20-30 years, plenty.

Grab a copy of the Drivers Handbook (online and link to a pdf copy on this Alberta Transportation page) and revisit the symbols (there are new ones!) and have a good read of the rest of the handbook. You might be quite surprised at what you 'learn', again.

Good driving...Good learning...

Cheers - Mike