Hitting The Interstate For The First Time As A Driver? Be Prepared With These Tips
If you have only ever driven on streets and highways in your own location, the idea of driving on the interstate for the first time can definitely leave your nerves feeling frazzled. Regardless of what state you are in or traveling through, driving on the interstate will mean you will likely be traveling at a higher rate of speed than usual, be dealing with a lot more traffic, and possibly experiencing multiple traffic lanes, exits, and off ramps for the very first time. The last thing you want to do is hit the interstate unprepared and end up having to reach out to roadside assistance services to help you out because you have been in an accident. Keep these tips in mind before you merge onto interstate traffic.
Eliminate all distractions inside of your vehicle.
Turn off the radio, quiet the kids, and clear any dangly things on your rearview mirror. Traveling on the interstate is serious business, and you have to be fully alert and focused so you can stay in tune with every other driver around you. When traveling at a higher rate of speed than usual, you will have less time to react, so even a slight interruption in your focus can mean you missing something important and ending up in a collision.
Be prepared to make lane changes without a lot of prior knowledge that you need to do so.
Sticking with traffic that is running at about the same speed as you on the interstate is important. There is less likely to be accidents when cars going in the same direction are moving with each other instead of constantly slowing down and speeding up. There will always be a lane of traffic to the far right that is moving slower than the other lanes. It is safer to stick to this lane for your first experience driving on this high-speed roadway.
Stay alert to traveling semi trucks.
Traveling around semis can be unnerving in a lot of situations, but in most daily driving around regular city streets, you will only encounter a few. On the interstate, however, you should expect to be sharing the lanes with multiple semi trucks and other vehicles much larger than your own. Expecting this will help you feel a little less nervous when you find yourself caught among several tractor trailers. But also, you should make sure you are aware of where truck driver's blind spots are and how to avoid them before you join a slew of them on an interstate.