Highway driving is an essential part of learning how to drive a car, but it can be a little scary at first.
Steps
Step 1. Choose a street and time
It's best to start when you know the street won't be crowded. Weekends and evenings are the best times. Pay attention to traffic news in your area. Make sure you know exactly where to go and have enough free time.
Step 2. First learn to use the car at slow speeds
Make sure you know all the traffic rules and signs, for example you need to know the different lane types and local speed limits.
Step 3. Make sure your car's brakes, lights, indicators, steering, shifter and all other parts are working properly
Have your car inspected and repaired if necessary. The highway is the worst possible place for a breakdown.
Step 4. Start on a day when the sky is clear and it is not raining
Darkness and inclement weather make driving more difficult, especially for beginners.
Step 5. Leave your house and head for the highway
Don't take the slip road too fast, but when you get onto the freeway you should be about the same speed as the other vehicles (whatever that section is).
Step 6. Once on the ramp, use the arrow, pay attention to the blind spot, check the mirrors, look ahead again and enter the main road
Pay attention to the other cars on the freeway and adjust your speed accordingly. While many people will change lanes, moving left to give oncoming vehicles more space, they are not required to do so. Once on the highway, adjust your speed according to the flow of traffic.
Step 7. Practice lane changes as you drive along the highway
Use the arrows, look in the mirrors and pay close attention to the blind spot (i.e. the one that is not visible from the mirrors) every single time. Remember that when driving on the motorway you should always stay in the far right lane, unless you need to overtake. If everyone followed this rule, traffic congestion would be much less problematic. If you are in the "fastest" lane (the left one) and you have no one in front of you, but there is a long line of cars behind you, you are in the way of traffic. Change lanes, moving to the right, to allow faster vehicles to pass. It's not your job to enforce speed limits by obstructing traffic on the freeway.
Step 8. Once you are comfortable changing lanes, try to overtake the other cars
Make sure you give enough space and never cut a vehicle off the road.
Step 9. When you are ready to exit the freeway, find a suitable ramp and get into the correct lane using the lane change procedure
As soon as the ramp leaves the main road, it begins to slow down.
Step 10. Once you are off the freeway, you can go home or look for another ramp to practice more on the freeway
Advice
- Always wear a seat belt. No exception. If the car is in motion, it is better to be protected.
- If you are not good at orienting yourself, have someone who already has experience take you on the highway before you go there alone. This way you will know exactly where to go and how to proceed.
- Never change lanes without signaling the movement with the arrow and without first checking the blind spot. If not, you may collide with another car you haven't seen. A small round mirror for the blind spot, attached to the lower corner of the side mirror (where it would otherwise only reflect your car), can help you in this situation, but remember that everything that is reflected is actually much closer than it looks and you should always take a look anyway.
- Don't drink alcohol or caffeine before you start driving. In fact, in many places it is illegal to even have an open container of an alcoholic beverage in the car.
- Practice a lot! In a short time, all the indications contained in this guide will become a simple habit.
- Train the first few times with an experienced driver in the car. Better to have a partner in case something goes wrong; it can also give you driving advice and warn you that you are about to hit something.
- Make sure you have adequate insurance (all that is required by law) before driving. It goes without saying that the driving license must also be valid.
- It may be easier to drive an automatic transmission vehicle. If you have a low-powered automatic car, you don't need to be afraid to step on the accelerator hard, the automatic will shift down to a lower gear to accelerate faster and louder when needed. This is expected to work to generate the maximum power the machine is designed for.
