Driving Etiquette: Top Ten Ways Not to Be a Jerk on the Road

Recently over the Thanksgiving weekend, my boyfriend and I took a 750 mile road trip from Red Wing, MN to Elizabethtown, KY to visit my family. We ran into, thankfully not literally, several problem drivers and this list is to help some realize that there are things you shouldn't do on the Interstate. Some of these entries are quite obvious to some, but problem drivers everywhere are still doing them. Don't become a Problem Driver!

10. You shouldn't drive the speed limit in the left lane. The left lane is usually considered the 'fast lane', hence the signs telling slower traffic to stay in the right lanes. To avoid being honked at, or making other drivers angry, if you are intending to go exactly the speed limit, stick to the right lane.

9. You shouldn't be unaware of the weather. Especially in heavy rain, a lot of water is kicked up by your tires, leaving the person behind you lost in mist. If you are merging in front of someone in the rain, make sure you give them enough distance for vision if possible. Some situations can't be helped, especially around large semi-trucks that kick up a kiddie pool of water on your windshield. Just be extra careful and give yourself enough room to see clearly with as little mist as possible.

8. You shouldn't flash your brights in someone's rear-view mirror. It's dangerous enough having an SUV behind a compact vehicle but it's just rude to flash your brights in someone's mirrors. If someone is in front of you, going too slow or what have you, pass them, or if absolutely necessary, tap your horn. You shouldn't need your brights when someone is in front of you, and you wouldn't want to be blinded either.

7. You shouldn't brake-check someone behind you. If someone is tailgating you, especially if you are already going ten to fifteen miles over the marked limit, do not 'brake-check' or hit your brakes to get someone off your butt. This is dangerous and could cause a major accident. Some drivers don't want to pass and want you to move to the right lane before they do. If that is their goal, just to annoy you into passing, and if there isn't too much traffic behind them or in the right lane, slow down to the speed limit. Chances are this will frustrate them enough to go around you. You feel satisfied that the person is no longer tailgating you, and they'll be able to speed their little hearts away in front of you.

6. You shouldn't merge without signaling. Especially semi-trucks! Give the traffic in the lane you're merging into enough time to adjust their speed to allow you into the lane. Don't just flop in willy-nilly, merging without signaling is extremely dangerous to both you and the person you're merging in front of. Even if there is no one in the lane you are merging into, it's still a good thing to do to keep in practice.

5. You shouldn't cut right in front of someone's bumper. This kind of goes hand in hand with signal-less merging. Make sure you have enough room to merge. If you don't and you are signaling, chances are the person next to you will slow down to let you in (they should at least). This is extremely dangerous and you can cause yourself and the other drivers harm. Make sure you look and give yourself and the other driver plenty of distance when you merge lanes.

4. You shouldn't speed above 15 miles over the limit. Speed limits are a touchy subject. When I was on my trip, the listed speed limit in some places on the Interstate was only 55 and people were going about 75 to 80 mph. I agree with going with the flow of traffic but in a 65 speed limited area, if you are going 80+ miles an hour, it's way too much and you're putting yourself and other drivers at risk. I would consider 15+ miles over the limit reckless. The only reason you should speed up to 15 mph over is to pass someone with ample distance between you, then slow back down to 10 over if you still want to go fast.

3. You shouldn't tailgate. Ever. Not only is it rude but it's incredibly dangerous. If you are tailgating and a deer jumps in front of the car in front of you, they hit their brakes, and you end up with your hood in their back seat. It's especially stupid to tailgate semis because the can't see you when you're so close to their backs. You run the chance of becoming street pizza under one of them if they decide to merge or if the previous happens. Just don't do it.

2. You shouldn't play 'Chicken' with oncoming traffic. I think this goes without saying, but some people still do it on two lane highways. Chicken is a 'game' where a car pulls into oncoming traffic and stays in that lane with oncoming cars until they pull away. Whoever pulls away first is the loser. This is a stupid game and has caused many deaths, and in my experience horrible injuries. A boy in my sister's class in high school is now paralyzed from the neck down because he and his buddies thought it would be fun to play Chicken with an oncoming semi. The semi won.

1. You shouldn't try to talk to your buddy in the other lane. Honest to goodness, I saw this happen when we were leaving Louisville. A car started honking at another, revealing the two drivers knew each other. They rolled down their adjacent windows and started having a conversation on the Interstate. This was the dumbest and most reckless thing I had seen in a while. Don't be an idiot and pay attention to the road. If you really want to talk to your friend, use a cell phone.

I hope this list has given you a few good ideas on how to be safer on the road when traveling on the Interstate. These are purely from my own experience and I don't claim to be an expert in Vehicular Laws. Most of these things are probably illegal. So keep safe, keep smart, and keep out of jail when you're on the road!