These BAD Driving Habits Are Ruining the Road

Driving Don'ts: The Most Common Mistakes on the Road

As a driver, it's easy to fall into bad habits behind the wheel. One of the most common driving don'ts is going too slow for the lane you're in. Everyone knows that slower drivers should stay out of the fast lane, but there's another problem even more prevalent: people driving fast in the slow lane.

The slow lane gets congested because of all the merging that happens at on-ramp exits, making it wildly dangerous to drive quickly through it. In contrast, the passing lane is a straightaway with many obstacles, including merging cars, pedestrians, and cyclists. If you're driving too fast for your own safety and the speed of those around you, think about the potential crash.

Another common mistake is driving on the shoulder – which we'll call "cheating" because it's an emergency stopping lane, not a magical shortcut. Shoulder drivers often drive at normal speeds, sometimes even faster than usual, and are often distracted by their own personal issues. And of course, there's the infamous "poopspeed" – a term used to describe the absurdly slow speeds some drivers reach when nature calls.

But one of the most insidious driving don'ts is distracted driving. With the prevalence of smartphones, texting while driving has become an epidemic, and the consequences are staggering. According to statistics, texting drivers are 23 times more likely to be in an accident than non-texting drivers. In fact, texting leads to over 100,000 car crashes each year and is six times more likely to cause an accident than driving drunk.

Distracted driving encompasses far more than just texting or talking on the phone. Other common distractions include trying to retrieve something that fell, putting on makeup, reading a book, eating, drinking, rubbernecking at accident scenes, and even swerving through crosswalks. These habits put not only the driver but also pedestrians, cyclists, and other drivers at risk.

Road rage is another driving don't that can have serious consequences. This includes verbal or physical aggression towards other drivers, often sparked by minor infractions like being cut off. While it's frustrating to get cut off, road rage incidents are a criminal offense in many jurisdictions.

So what's the solution? The first step is making a commitment to not use your phone while driving. It may be difficult, but it's a crucial step towards avoiding one of the most common and deadly distractions on the road.

In conclusion, driving don'ts are everywhere – from going too slow for your own safety to reckless speed in no-lane areas and even rubbernecking at accident scenes. By being aware of these mistakes and taking steps to avoid them, we can all become safer drivers and reduce the number of accidents on our roads.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(upbeat country music)- It's easy to feel invinciblewhen we're in the driver'sseat, it's my car, my rules.But there's another set ofrules, the rules of the roadthat drivers sometimesfeel don't apply to them.Today we're gonna go throughsome of the worst driving habitsfrom the mildly irritatingto the downright dangerous.Are you a bad driverand don't even know it?Can't wait to find out howmany I'm guilty of, it's a lot.(upbeat country music)(fast paced country music)Thanks to Omaze for partneringwith Donut for this episode.Omaze is giving away a brandnew BMW M8 Competition Coupe,including taxes and transport feesplus 20 grand in cold hard cashto spend on anything you want.The M8 Competition is one ofthe sickest new cars out there,it's got a zero to 60 timeof three seconds, xDrive,all-wheel-drive with arear-wheel drive option,and an 8-speed Steptronic transmissionwith manual shift option,guys this thing is fast.(engine growling)You can't beat that.Oh wait, yeah you can,when you donate for your chance to win,you're supporting the RonaldReagan Medical Center at UCLAand helping them to buymore ECMO heart machines,the same machine thathelped save James's life.So head on over to omaze.com/donutand enter to win a BMWM8 Competition Coupeplus $20,000 in cold hard cash.Thank you very much Omaze.First up let's talk about parking.Parking is the easiest part of driving,yet we still find ways to screw it up.Real talk, I'm horrible at it.Oh (bleeps) that's way too much.- He's gonna swerve.(man laughing)(engine growling)- Look at that guy.(gear cranking)- This was the massacre.Whether it be squeezing ourwide boys into compact spots,blocking others in,a lot of people park like entitled bozos.I'm not sure what bugs me more,egregiously sparkers orjust an efficient ones.The ones who take up three good spotsby parking like an a-holeespecially in big citieswhere street parking can be a nightmare.This sort of thing drives me nuts,don't do that to your neighbor.Look, I'm not talkingabout those instanceswhere the spot madesense when you pulled in,and then everyone who isparked around you drove off,and now you look like a jerk.I'm talking about when there'sa wide open stretch of curband you slap that baby in the parkjust like an absolutemaniac just to feel alive.Okay, let's talk about theworst person you can encounterwhile parking, a spot saver.We all hate them and we hate to be them.There's just something so ridiculousabout someone standing in a car spotwaiting to save it fora car that's not therewhen you, in an actual car, are there.This isn't grade school,there's no tap tabs,or savesies, or sevens, orwhatever, this is road life.No by pad tells me whereI can and cannot park,I will run your ass over!Even worse, are people who put up conesto reserve spots on public streets,you don't own that spot.Plus, those aren't even real cones,those are from your kids soccer practiceI will also run them over.(upbeat music)Okay, we all know pollution is bad,but what about noise pollution?Yes, also bad, blastingmusic, revving engines,honking toot toots andpilling out are all super fun,but there's a time anda place for it, okay.And that time is not at 3a.m on a residential street.(car revving)(bleeps) Look I get it,I used to be that guy,pressing the overdrive OFFbutton in my automatic Mustang,turning up crash control, anddoing a Bernie a stop sign.But I've also been at the other end of it.And it sucks to be woken upby clapped out G-35 burningrubber down my street.And as long as we're onthe subject of noise,one beep of the horn is enough.If another driver pissesyou off, laying on the hornwill only piss off theinnocent people around you.And that's just the big piss party,and everyone has to get out of the pool.Some of the most annoying driving I seehappens at stop signs.A more common infractionis the rolling stop,a.k.a the Californiaroll, we've all done itin this case (chuckles),it is bad driving.I actually got ticketed forCalifornia roll a few years ago,and it cost me $225 (chuckles).I did it right in frontof a police officer.(crew members laughing)I did not see him.If people actually docome to a complete stop,they usually completely disregardthe proper right of way.How hard is this to understand?At a four-way stop, the right of waygoes to whoever showed up first,unless you arrive at thesame time, in which case,the right of way goes tothe person to the, huh?Let me hear it, the right.Look how easy they made it to remember,seriously, it's not that hard,person on the right, okay.What kind of stoplightperson are you, let me know?The kind who creeps into theintersection on a red lightwaiting for it to turn green?Or the one who zonesout, and gets honked at,and tries to save face by peeling out?Been there, because eitherway you're doing it wrong.Look, everyone knowsif you want a head startat the green light,you just hold down the acceleratoron the second beep ofkey two's start signal.Here's a rule of the roadyou may not even know aboutif you've never gotten a flat.It concerns your temporary spare tirewhich is also known as the donut.Donut spares are designedlighter, narrower,and less durable than a full sized tire,they have to be in orderto fit in your trunk.But this means they have lesstread, meaning less traction,meaning decreased stoppingand handling ability,which can make prolonging drivingon one of these super dangerous.If you find yourself on a temporary spare,make sure you stayunder 50 miles per hour,and don't travel over 50 miles.But we've all seen that personwho's had that spare onthere for a long time,don't be that person.(upbeat music)I don't see a single turnsignal in there, which is cool.'Cause it's not like a blinking lightthat literally allows driversto anticipate each other's movementswould help everyone get onthe same page or anything,that would be stupid.It's so easy to use your blinkerjust a literal flick of the wrist, okay.Yet about half of driverssay they don't use them.Half, are you guys insane?No wonder the world's like this.Not using your signal at all is lame,but using it late can be just as annoying.You know what I'm talking about.You're driving along andthe dingus in front of yougives you know heads upthey're turning left,by the time that blinker's flashing,you have no room to get around them.Or this annoying scenario.You're turning left onto a busy street,and you finally have an openingbut there's one car speedingtowards you from your left.You wait because youdon't have a death wish.And then at the last minutethey flip on that right blinker,and turn onto your side street.Why, you couldn't havejust told me, you jerk!Now let's talk about tailgating,not the awesome kind where youeat wings in a parking lot.The annoying kind whereyou drive really closeto the person in front of you.Everyone's car needs alittle breathing room,especially manuals, which lurch and rollmore than automatics, particularlyin stop and go traffic.I will admit, I'm also guilty of this one,I do ride people's tails a lot,and I'm trying to change.Tailgating limits reaction time,it increases your chancesof having a collision,which nobody wants.And it can also lead to thesuper awkward experienceof blocking the box.And we've all been there,I did this two weeks ago.You're following too closely,you wind up in the middleof an intersection,the light turns red and you're stuck.And you're just in everyone's wayjust sitting in your shame boxtrying to avoid eye contactwith people in everydirection, and it's horrible.And I'm sorry, theyaren't even mad at you,they're just disappointed,which we all know is much worse.Okay, all the driving habitsI've talked about so farare inconsiderate, irresponsible,and frustrating to say the least.But let's dive into the stuffthat accidents are made oflike the last minute merges.It's a crappy thing to do,and I'm sure each one of us has done it.Whether it's cutting peopleoff to make your exit,merging at the last minuteto stay on the freeway,or doing some sneaky zip mergingto skip a line of waiting cars.I will say, however, thatthere's a special place in heckfor drivers who cut offthe person on their leftin order to avoid a lane of parked carsinstead of just waiting.Best case scenario, thesesort of last minute maneuverspiss off the drivers around you.Worst case scenario, someone gets hurt.So let's all try to be a little more alertand not so impulsive behind the wheel.I am very calculating behindthe wheel, I will say that.Another common driving don't,going the wrong speedfor the lane you're in.Everyone knows the slow folksare supposed to stay out of the fast lane.But a bigger and less talked about problemare the people drivingfast in the slow lane.I will explain, the slowlane gets more congestedbecause of all the mergingthat happens at on off ramps,so careening down themis wildly dangerous.There's way more going onin the straightaway of the passing lane.Think about it, if someone'strying to merge at 40and you're tearing through it at 80.Think about that crash,it's not gonna be pretty.I will say going the wrongspeed in the wrong laneis not as bad as goingany speed in no lane,and I'm talking about thosejerks who drive on the shoulder.I have never done this, I will say that.First off, let's call shoulderdriving what it is, cheating.That strip a pavementoutside the outer laneisn't a magical shortcut, okay.It's an emergency stopping lane.Also, no one who drives on the shoulderever goes a normal speed, right?They're always like ripping down at 90for absolutely no reason,maybe they have to poop.I don't know, I mean, that's the only,it's the poopspeed.Okay, here's a big one,the one that every single one of you,no matter how righteous, and upstanding,and law abiding you are,are absolutely guilty ofincluding me, distracted driving.One of the most commondistractions while drivingis of course, textingor talking on the phone.First, let me hit you withsome pretty messed up stats.Texting drivers are 23 timesmore likely to be inan accident, 23 times.Texting leads to more than100,000 car crashes a year,and is six times morelikely to cause an accidentthan driving drunk.Take an already terribleidea, then multiply it by six,that's 10 While driving.But what it really comes downto is making a commitmentto not using your phone while driving.Here, I'll do it with you.I, Nolan Juniper Sykespledge to put away my phoneand drive distraction free.God, that actually feelsgood to say that out loud.But there are tons of othernon-phone relating drivingdistractions as well.Trying to retrieve something that fell,putting on makeup, reading a book, what?Even eating and drinking at the wheelare considered distractions.I actually hate eating while driving,that's one of my biggest pet peeves.Pizza is the only foodthat's easy to eat while you're driving.Then there is rubber necking,my absolute least favoritething on the road.It's when people slow downto look at accident scenes,it gets its namefrom the way driverscrane their necks, right,to catch a glimpse as they pass by.Look, I get it's hard tocontrol our morbid curiosity,but rubbernecking can causecongestion and accidents,especially rear end collision.So try not to do it,just do whatever you can.Also remember, we don'tjust share the roadwith other drivers.We also share it with pedestrian,some are better than others.Drivers zip around corners,swerve through crosswalks,and slam on their brakesat the last minutewith no regard for human life.These are pedestrians,they don't have a metalcage surrounding them,they are but mere flesh.We ought to look out for each other.All right you did it,you made it to the acrossthe board worst thingwe as drivers subjecteach other to, road rage.Road Rage is that Hulk like fury we feelwhen another driverwrongs us on the roadway.It's that shouted expletive,the flipped bird, I've done that.But it's also way more serious stuff,like purposely hitting someonewith your car, it's happened.Road rage incidents don't haveto happen in your vehicle,however, if you assault someonebecause of a driving disputethat's considered road rage too.True road rage is a criminal offense,unlike aggressive driving,which is a traffic violation.Look, it sucks to get cut offbut it's not the end of the world.All right, so what's my count, Alex?Show me my number, howmany crimes did I commit?(counter beeping)Not good.- Driving well sequence.- Haven't you ever heardthe classic supreme song?No, I'm not gonna do that.♪ Stop in the name of sign ♪♪ Before you break my car ♪(crew cheering)- Very good.- No, that's horrible.Have you ever tried to eatin and out while driving,the Thousand Island sausageis like dribbling out.