Over the years, you learn many tips and tricks to keep you safe on the highway. In NASCAR, they place a rookie stripe on the back of driver's cars indicating that they’re a newbie. As a professional driver, it’s easy to start knowing your surroundings to the most minute detail. This can make you oblivious to the fact that other drivers around you may not know how to react in such an exacting manner.
There are many signs and highway markings that are used to alert drivers of sharp turns, tight exit ramps, blind intersections, construction zones, and many more. Still, there can be someone driving around you in a vehicle or in an area that they’re not familiar with. The most defensive driver always drives in a manner that allows for “an out” if someone else makes an improper maneuver around them.
In addition to highway signs and road markings, there are many other “signs” that have kept me safe over the years. The first one is, if I see a large number of skid marks on the road surface... that’s a good indication to me that bad decisions happen in this area on a frequent basis. Another one is, any vehicle that’ pulling a camper, or for that matter, a motor home in general (as these are not the normal modes of transport for most drivers)... leaves a second extra margin of safety. These drivers may not have the experience to maneuver these vehicles properly in the event of an emergency.
Another sign I take notice of, are license plates that aren’t from the area that I’m driving in. Chances are these drivers, once again, are not familiar with the road ahead and could make an unexpected maneuver at any time. I would also add rental cars to the mix. One reason is that the driver is not familiar with the roadway ahead, and the second reason is that they are not familiar with the vehicle that they’re driving.
Tourist areas are also an area to add extra margins of safety, as there is a large number of drivers who are lost or just not familiar with the place that they’re driving in. In many cases, this danger is enhanced by children in their cars who are excited to get to their destination.
In the end, none of this is much different than the old trucker saying “You can go down a mountain many times too slow, but only once too fast.” That old saying applies to off-ramps, dense traffic, and many other aspects of our daily lives.
Leave an extra margin of safety. For now, that is all. Be safe and be profitable.