Splash

Desktop Graffitist

BackgroundCMD

Math Quest

Of Freeware

Freeware Alternatives

Button Soccer

Driving Ideas

.........
.........
.........

Contact

• Blow soap bubbles. I keep a small canister of soap mixture and
  blow bubbles at nearby cars and passers-by. It really helps when
  you're stuck in traffic, and it never fails to attract smiles from
  grown-ups and children alike. It always makes me smile, too.
  • Note: bubbles can leave (an easily removable) residue.
  • Note: obviously only do this when you are fully stopped.
    (otherwise you'll spill soap mixture all over yourself ;))
    
    
• Occasionally go around a roundabout (traffic circle) more than once.
  Not only can it cause the person sitting next to you to feel stupefied,
  but it's also a lot of fun. When utterly alone, I sometimes go around five
  or six times or more. This is empowerment - unlike any other stretch of
  road, you *never* have to stop and you *always* have the right of way.
  • Note: be very careful not to get dizzy.
    
    
• Look at license plates and find interesting patterns. I guess this would
  fall under the category of road trip games, which include word games,
  counting car colors and finding US states (or EU countries) license plates.
  • For alpha-numerical plates, it's all about finding funny combinations.
  • For numerical plates, finding palindromes (numbers that
    read the same in both directions) can be very gratifying.

• A different signal or signaling pattern for signifying a U-Turn.
  
  
• A more communicative version of horn bells / honking / dimming lights.
  • Your lights are turned off.
  • Your lights are malfunctioning.
  • Careful, you're still in reverse gear.
  • Could you move a little, please, you're in my way to turn?
  • There's some serious danger - look out for the [danger]!!!
  • And maybe for less usual circumstances I've found myself in
    (requiring the good Samaritans to open a window and shout):
    • You left your spare keys in the trunk door.
    • You have a flat tire - how did you not notice?
      
      
• A mechanism that detects the accumulation of carbon dioxide
  inside the cabin and cracks open a window for children who get
  trapped inside. Should be combined with a heat sensor to allow
  for reduction of extreme temperatures as well.
  • As far as I can tell, this will not compromise security. As a
    car thief, you would need to find a way to inject CO2 into the
    cabin, but even then it will only afford you a crack, which you
    didn't even need in the first place, did you?
  • Come to think of it, cracking a window is just the simplest
    implementation, and would be harder to achieve in a car with
    manually operated windows. I suppose you could activate a fan
    that will let air in and cool the temperature down at the same time.

• Unnecessary horn abuse makes everybody more prone to error.
• Never place intersecting roads' signposts at the same height!
  This is how it's done around here, and it's very frustrating.
  You are never able to tell which street you are crossing.
  You can only see the name of the street you are on.

• When braking in an emergency situation, brake the hardest you possibly
  can. This applies even if you don't have an ABS system (in which case you
  should brake intermittently). Let's say you're headed straight for a truck:
  • You don't want to reach it and realize you didn't brake hard enough.
  • The person behind you will have to brake as hard as you no matter
    what. Braking gradually will not make any difference to him/her, as
    they're just going to brake gradually too, and if they didn't keep their
    distance they're going to hit you either way.
    
    
• Adjust your side mirrors to the point where you can barely glimpse the
  sides of your car. This way, you'll be able to see much more when you're
  changing lanes and driving. The sides of your car will always be there, so
  you don't need to be looking at them all the time. You get used to this setup
  fairly quickly and you can't realize how you've managed without it.
  • When parking, just tilt your head a little if you feel you need to see.
    
    
• Whenever you find yourself with two wheels on the asphalt and two wheels
  in the dirt, it's important to NOT panic. This can happen if you fall asleep for a
  moment or if someone forces you off your lane. You should NEVER slam the
  brakes in this situation, because the differing friction will cause your vehicle
  to swerve back onto the road, where it might be hit by another passing car.
  • You can continue driving in this condition indefinitely, so don't worry.
  • When it's safe to return to the road, make sure you slow down first,
    gradually, and come back at an angle of no less than 45 degrees.
    This will ensure both front wheels are on the road before the back
    wheels are, and won't cause any instability like I mentioned before.
    
    
• Remember your hand/foot brake when the regular brakes don't work.
  It's easy to write about, but you have to have fairly good reflexes to
  realize what's happening in time. A friend of mine saved us once
  that way, and I really admire him for thinking on his feet like that.
  
  
• Take a hands-on road safety course. The kind where they make
  you face real situations in your own car. It's never the same just
  reading about it, and it contributes a lot to your confidence. They
  have them for companies, too, which makes for a nice outing.