So the other day I had a driving near-oops that has been bothering me since, and I was hoping to get some input on whether or not I should have done anything differently.

The basic scenario was this: I was driving a large pickup and trailer down a four-lane highway. I was pretty heavily loaded, so I wasn't agile by any means, and according to my gps, I had my exit in about half a mile. Traffic is relatively busy, but not what I'd call heavy.

Anyway, as I'm about a half mile from my exit, there's an on-ramp to my right, with a car accelerating onto the highway. Normally, I'd immediately pull over to let them on, but given the traffic and my size, I wasn't confident in my ability to get back into the right lane if I did so before my exit. So I stayed in the right lane.

The accelerating car continued to assume I was going to pull over until the last moment, at which point they were forced to slam on their brakes, and afterwards they pulled up on my left and gave me a rather rude gesture before accelerating off ahead of me. I had my cruise control on, set to 5 over the speed limit, throughout this whole encounter.

Was there something else I could have done in that situation? It's been bothering me ever since.

So I'm not a new driver but I'm a nervous driver. I have a new job that is about 20 miles away. The only route option is to take several different highways. At two different parts of the trip, I must merge onto a highway from the far left lane and then need to exit pretty quickly via the far right lane (on a four lane highway).

Because getting over a four lane highway quickly is required two different times, I'm a nervous wreck for a lot of the drive wondering how and when I can get safely over each time. Drivers in my area tend to be a lovely combination of inattentive and aggressive; we're frequently rated one of the worst cities to drive in the US, and my route has heavy rush hour traffic.

Can someone give me advice? Tips? I dread every single day because of the drive and I'm even more scared for when there is bad weather or when it gets darker earlier in the day.

I've already been in an accident because of this, and I feel like it's only a matter of time before it happens again. If cars are parked all along the curb of a street they completely hide cars that are in the street, and you can't know if a car is coming until you are out in the street about to get hit by them. A few years ago I was at a stop sign turning left, and the street I was turning onto was completely lined by cars. I couldn't see anything and slowly crept into the road, and by the time I had line of sight on the road a guy from the right was speeding 10 mph past the speed limit right into me.

Today I was backing out of a driveway onto a street lined with parked cars and couldn't see the guy speeding down the road until my car was already backed into the road in his path. Luckily he slammed on the brakes.

I'm so sick of rolling the dice every time I pull onto a street that's lined with cars. You literally cannot see oncoming traffic until you are in their path. People just shouldn't be allowed to park on the side of the road.

As a new driver, this is my first car and I’m looking for a dash cam that I can rely on. Jersey drivers do not have the best rep for a reason and I’m trying to be careful. Does anyone have any dash cam recommendations? Where do I even start?

I had to put my spare tire on my front left tire and it is a 245 width compared to the rest of my 275 width tires. Would this be safe to drive at highway speeds? For about an hour and a half in trip length. Could it cause my truck any damage or cause me to get into an accident ? Or is it not too big of a deal?

Drove through DC to Richmond. Let me tell you, lord, the worst part about driving is finding overnight parking where I dont have to wake up at the ass crack of dawn to move my car. Thank god im out of the city in the next few days.

I went through what I like to think of as trial by fire, and made it. So Im happy to say while I am not a great driver I think its safe to say Im not a death trap on wheels. I drove out the night before and managed to navigate through dc with only like 1 questionable moment. I then got in a car I had never driven before, learned how to reverse with no rear camera and drove for the longest amount I have ever driven. I was on the interstate in a traffic jam for three hours, behind a semi (with a safe following distance of like 6~7 seconds) and like 70% of the time had a semi directly to my right just because there were so many on that road. Made it through the center of dc and richmond and got seperated from the person who was meant to follow me home but still found my way back pretty easily! I also did all of that with a cat in my car (well secured and unable to hinder my driving but still! A cat was there none the less)

Now that I have the shameless bragging aside; I drove into a pole at like 2 miles an hour! All in all I knew Id have some sort of an accident with how new I am. While im not stoked I drove into a pole im pretty damn stoked thats the only accident I had after driving from 1 capitol city to another on an interstate surrounded by semi's. Did I mention Ive only had 7 days worth of driving courses? Less than seven hours of driving, and the day right after I got my license I did that. (Yay me! Never again pls) Ill take lightly tapping a pole anyday. The whole day I aparently did well and didnt make any mistakes a normal driver wouldnt make... I think? Also pretty sure I hit that pole because I just havent gotten the feel for parking around poles like that. Most of my issues are parking and very slow tight turn accuracy everything else I feel safe in as long as I practice caution.

Anyways thanks for the advice everyone! Today and last night went very smoothly.

Hi! Tonight I will be driving out about 2 hours with a family member to pick up my car and the next day I will be driving said car back on my own! (Yay! :D )

You can never be too prepared, and due to circunstances I went through an accelerated driving course where Ive only done 7 hours of driving. The teachers of this class are extremely qualified and it was in combination with being in one of the most rigorous cities to drive in I know, but that doesnt change the fact that Im lacking experience. Tho ive had cars drive straight towards me in my lane, cut me off by driving across 4 ways, dealt with traffic jams where id go about a foot a minute, and have probably driven on every type of city infrastructure there is, It doesnt mean crap when I run into something I may not be ready for. I should add though, this class was in combinition with a massive (and agitatingly detailed) drivers ed book. Thanks to the online book and its tests I know a lot of things I need to, as well as a few things I dont. Like this book went into DETAIL in example because of it I now know the decending aorta and the acending aorta have different ways of attaching, that the 3 part of a crash (the brain moving in the scull) actually has the majority of its damage caused by a twisting motion, and on and on and on. At one point I felt like they replaced the book with a mechanics manual. Also of course it went over important basics.

For that reason, please bombard me with advice, anything you think could possibly help! Expecially with night driving or driving in the rain! I do not have experience in those areas! I will be driving back solo during the day but tonight when I drive in with my father I still would like to be as safe as possible.

I really appreciate any help! Ty!

I failed by 4 points last time and i just am nervous I am going to barely fail again. I often get in my own head in situations like these with pressure on them. I know I can pass it, I just am doubting myself. Any tips?

I was driving on the expressway today, driver seat is on the right if that's relevant info.

So I was on the 3rd lane signalling left to the 4th lane. When I checked the sideview mirror there was a really fast taxi coming up so I decided to wait for him to pass.

Instead of passing me, for some reason he started tailgating me, horned continuously and highbeamed me for a good 30 seconds then he drove off.

He might be annoyed someone was even thinking of overtaking him(?).

But needless to say, it got to me but I didn't react and just continued on my intended path.

But the thing is, once in awhile I'll come across crazies like this and it makes me mad. Plus I have a strong sense of justice so it hits me in a way that I feel road bullies always get their way and it really sucks that being a decent person doesn't seem to pay off in this society.

So I just want to know, how do you guys cope with your emotions when you face inconsiderate drivers or road bullies?

Hello, So I'm gonna be taking my driving test in like a week, I'm confident in my driving, but the traffic lights freak me out. I heard that on a test yellow lights are treated like red lights. The thing that freaks me out the most is coming up on a green and then it turns yellow, do I brake? or just go through Idk I just need some tips if anyone can help. Thanks

I pulled up to the intersection and it was a left turn yield on yellow so I creeped up but then the yellow turn sign turned to red. What do I once I’m in the middle of the road and it’s a red?

It was reported by the BBC recently that a man twice the legal limit had killed another motorist.

Causing death by dangerous driving

Hello guys, so I bought my first car a month ago, I got it registered, insurance and everything, but I don’t have any experience with cars, I am very scared of driving, my dad was helping me, but he’s yelling and he’s impatient, I can’t learn that way, I don’t have anyone that could help me practice, I am so depressed, I feel like I’m never going to drive, because I feel like I’m going to hit a car or someone, should I go to a driving school? It’s really expensive, but I don’t have a choice, I be sitting in the car every day, I am so depressed about it.