8 Important Driving Tips for Beginners

Driving is an exciting activity that looks so easy when someone else does it. However, for beginners, it can be challenging and frightening. Generally, trying to learn a new skill can seem very challenging and a huge struggle at first. It is one thing to have a driving license and another to be a good and responsible driver. If you have just acquired your driving license, you must go through the following vital driving tips for beginners before you hit the road.

Common Mistakes That Beginners Often Make When Driving

Even the acknowledged drivers were once learners who - at some point - made some poor driving decisions. However, as time goes by, through endurance and practice, the drivers were able to sharpen their driving skills to be courageous and well-skilled drivers. Are you interested to know about the most frequent mistakes beginners make when driving? Let us find out below.

1. Not Signaling Right

You should avoid speaking to other road users on the road using your mouth. Signaling and honing are the required modes of communication with other road users. While on the road, you should also understand that signaling is everything.

As a driver, ensure that you always use the correct car signals when the need arises. Beginners often fail to use the signs correctly because they have their concentration on other things. Try and be focused while driving, and you will have an easy time throughout your journey.

2. Poor-Fitting of Mirrors

Both the rear-view and the side mirrors are useful while driving - they are not just for decoration purposes: They are your eyes on the road. The mirrors have requisite functions that assist you to view what lies behind you and what lies on the sides of your vehicle. Beginners often play around with the mirrors by not positioning them correctly. Wrong positioning of the mirrors makes you strain a lot while trying to figure out what is happening on your side. Sadly, this mistake can cause an accident.

3. Poor Seating Ergonomics

While driving on the road, you must set a comfortable sitting position for yourself that will enable you to use the mirrors and other adjustments properly as well as have proper car control. Unfortunately, an incorrect sitting position may cause you to have no car control, or you may delay in reacting in the event something occurs suddenly while on the road. Driving calls for prompt and proper reactions in case of anything.

4. Driving Continuously on High Beams

Beams are useful on roads that do not have street lights. However, if other road users are around, it is vital to switch them off and use low beams. That is because a high beam can result in temporary blindness to oncoming drivers or even distraction, causing them to go off the road.

For these reasons, you should drive on low beams when there are other motorists around you. As a new driver, you may not be aware that you're navigating on a higher beam. If you want to find out whether your beam is high, check your dashboard: the bulb on your dashboard will turn to light blue. When you see this indication, switch to the low beam, and you will save the lives of other road users.

5. Halting Abruptly

Avoid stopping suddenly on the road without warning. That is among the biggest causes of accidents reported in recent days. As a beginner, try to be conscious of the vehicles behind you. Make sure that you always exercise caution. Also, be careful when stopping your vehicle; do it slowly with care, allowing other road users to make the right move.

8 Smart Driving Tips for New Drivers/Beginners

A good and responsible driver should bring sanity to our roads. With that said, let's look at eight driving tips for beginners while using the road.

Tip #1 Get To Know Your Car

Vehicles are built in different ways, depending on the manufacturer and sometimes country of origin. As such, you must get to acquaint yourself well with your vehicle before hitting the road. Get to understand what the work for each button is. Check your pedals, gears, and their positions and get used to them. When you don't accustom yourself to your vehicle, you can end up meddling with buttons and knobs while driving.

Tip #2 Get the Right Seating Position

A good number of new drivers have no idea that cars come with a feature that allows you to adjust the seat position. And those who know about it often ignore this feature. The seat positioning mechanism enables the driver to access the control areas of the car while being comfortable. With a proper sitting position, you can view your side mirrors and rear mirrors with so much ease, allowing you to have a good view of what is happening around your car. So, before starting your vehicle, you should always adjust your seat well.

Tip #3 Drive at Slow Speeds

Before babies learn to run, they first discover how to walk. It is a similar scenario with newbies in driving. Much as flooring the accelerator can also be very tempting, get used to driving while on slow speed first. In turn, this will enable you to have a strong sense of reaction as well as perception. Hone your driving skills at lower driving speeds first before driving at high speed.

Tip #4 Learn How To Use the Indicators Properly

Indicators and horns are the only way to communicate with other road users. Every time you are planning to make a turn, remember to put the right one. You should also apply this when changing lanes. Usually, when you are indicating, the driver behind you will keep distance accordingly and understand that you are moving in a new direction.

Tip #5 Avoid Distractions

Concentration and focus is everything. When you pay full attention while on the road, you are likely to make fewer mistakes, thus being more responsible. As a beginner, it is advisable not to have a talkative passenger with you. That is likely to affect your level of concentration while driving on the road. You can also stay focused by avoiding using your phone, switching off the radios, and turning up the windows to have fresh air circulating. You should also avoid eating or drinking while driving, as just one single mishap may have a terrible turn of events.

Tip #6 Venture in Your Area

As a beginner, do not be hungry to hit the highways. Although you will get there one day, beginners should venture into areas and roads they are accustomed to every day. Most people panic when they are in strange places. To begin with, drive around your neighborhood to get the grip of proper driving.

Tip #7 Have Confidence in Yourself

When driving, try to be calm and confident. Avoid being nervous, as a worried driver is never safe. Be confident in yourself, and do not mind what other road users might say or think about you. Only focus on driving and doing what is necessary. In the same breath, avoid being overconfident in yourself. Remember, you are just a novice and not an expert yet.

Tip #8 Use the Valuable FamiSafe Mobile App

Review your first driving with your parents or friends. Use FamiSafe to record your driving details. FamiSafe has newly released a new feature called Driving Reports. You can check driving reports and driving routine with this feature. Because driving is a dangerous activity, killing more than 1.20 million people every year worldwide. Using this app will make you a responsible driver and avoid accidents.

The Drive Safety feature gathers and analyzes important information about the way you are driving. You will get details such as how fast you often drive and how many sharp brakes you make when driving. This information is important because it will allow you to know your performance on the road and help you stay safe on the road. So if you want to improve your driving, you should use the FamiSafe app.

Luckily, as a beginner, you can learn from the mistakes of those that have gone ahead, but you do not have to repeat them. These driving tips for beginners will help improve your driving. The mistakes aforementioned in this article will go a long way in helping you avoid making errors as you prepare to hit the road. Remember that Formula-1 great legends such as Michael Schumacher started as beginners before they became the great drivers that we know today.

Always be careful to ensure that you have adjusted your sitting position properly before starting your car. You should also ensure that you familiarize yourself properly with your vehicle to know where every item is and its function ahead of time. However, before making any move while on the road, be careful to use the right indicator to notify other road users and allow them to prepare for their next move. The FamiSafe app will go a long way to help you become better at driving.