Intro
Every single experienced, confident driver is a complete novice who made lots of mistakes at some point. This can include stalling the car, not checking mirrors or checking mirrors too late, braking late, and being too cautious at an intersection. It’s normal!
The difference between a driver who makes many mistakes and one who makes few or no mistakes is not necessarily avoiding the mistake or even recognizing it at first. The difference is simply how quickly they correct it and how quickly that correction becomes a habit in their regular driving.
1. Trying To Over-Understand Everything Before Acting
Beginners tend to try to understand everything before acting rather than act on what happens in front of them. That’s what leads to hesitancy, delayed reaction, and a general feeling of stress at the wheel.
Why it Happens:
You’re thinking too much about the mechanics of the actions.
How To Correct It:
Trust that practice makes perfect and remember that driving is a rhythm, not a mathematical problem. The more you practice driving, the more you’re not thinking about driving and just doing it instead.
2. Not Handling The Wheel Consistently
This means not holding the steering wheel right, steering too jerky, or using way too much force while steering. These are all common habits of beginner drivers who get nervous.
How To Correct It:
Focus on relaxing your hands and shoulders when driving and try to make your movements smooth, not jerky. Remember that the smaller the correction on the steering wheel, the less likely you will end up going in the wrong direction.
3. Neglecting Checking Mirrors Regularly
The issue here is checking mirrors when you should, rather than checking when you remember to, which causes you to be blind-sided to the traffic coming from behind.
How To Correct It:
Establish a rhythm where you check mirrors before signaling before acting. Repeat this until it becomes a habit.
4. Not Being In Tune With Speed
It’s a common beginner problem to not drive at the right speed, which means that beginners will either be driving too fast or too slow when they need to, which is often because their speed is emotional.
How To Correct It:
The first step to getting a better sense of appropriate speed is to move from thinking about driving at the safe speed to driving at the right speed for the current road and situation. For example, drive slower where there’s lots of traffic and faster in less congested situations.
5. Panicking Because Of Confusing Situations
Roundabouts, merging into another lane of traffic, and even entering an intersection can become confusing for many new drivers. It’s overwhelming when you consider all the other traffic around you.
How To Correct It:
Break down your actions in that moment. Focus on a task at a time, not all of them at once: What is happening in this situation and what is my next safe action that I can take right now without thinking about what I might have to do after that? You can worry about the next situation later.
6. Late Braking Or Accelerating
Beginners often find that they don’t respond to a traffic situation fast enough.
How To Correct It:
The only real fix for this one is to start thinking ahead of the situation in front of you to predict what may happen instead of reacting when it does. Start thinking about the traffic that is further down the road, not just the vehicle right in front of you.
Conclusion
So don’t feel bad if you have made these mistakes before, because the difference between a driver who makes a lot of errors on the road and one who makes almost none is simply how fast can you correct that mistake? Remember, the goal here isn’t to never make a mistake, but simply to become a safe driver who can handle the road calmly. It may take some practice but this is how you will eventually learn to not make those common mistakes so often and how you will start doing it automatically.