Scariest part of driving?

[J N Winkler]

The highest-risk maneuver I have to make routinely is backing out of a space in a crowded parking lot.  It's not "scary" as far as personal injury to me, but the possibility of hitting another car or, worse, somebody who's walking whom I fail to see, makes that pretty risky.  When practical, when spaces are head-to-head without any barricade in between, I'll pull through to the second one so I can exit the space by going forward.

I haven't actually looked up the statistics, but I've long intuited that the highest risk for PDO collisions is in parking lots.  This is why I park nose out whenever possible, even when I have to reverse in:  visibility is better backing in than backing out because sightlines are longer and there is less likely to be a person or object in a space being backed into than in the aisle.  If you can park by driving past the space and then reversing through a 90° angle, you also minimize tire scrub and wear and tear on hydraulically assisted power steering.  The advantages do tilt back toward nosing in if the lot requires it (common with meter parking) or you are being closely followed (a common problem in parking garages where all parking is accessed from a path that does not branch).

Oh, another piece of advice that hasn't been covered yet: never follow too closely!

Pretty much every driving system I have seen stresses the importance of maintaining a space bubble not just for collision avoidance, but also better visibility.  I also find it helpful for limiting use of my brakes to modulate speed.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Scariest part of driving?  Suddenly noticing the black Dodge Charger sitting in the median break when you're tooling past at 85 in the left lane.

Yes.

Just having a cop behind you even when you're not doing anything that could get his attention can be nerve wracking.

[US 89]

Making a left turn onto a busy high-speed expressway without a traffic light.

[Scott5114]

I find the most anxiety-prone areas to drive through for me are construction zones, due to Oklahoma DOT's inclination to put substantial lengths of temporary Jersey barrier right up next to the edge lines, which, along with the narrower lanes common to work zones, induces a "Luke Skywalker attacking the Death Star" feeling no matter how many times I go through it. ODOT work zones also tend to feature alarmingly short merge areas, where you have a few dozen feet to either merge or plow into the wall.

I have gotten into two accidents in such work zones, mercifully both PDO, and only to my car (both involved me rear-ending someone ahead of me making a false start when attempting to merge).

Just having a cop behind you even when you're not doing anything that could get his attention can be nerve wracking.

That's the situation that led to the last time I pulled over. Notice very obvious OHP cruiser driving behind me...look down at speedometer to check to make sure that I was under the speed limit...look up to see myself coasting through a red light...whoops...

Fortunately the trooper thought it was the most hilarious thing ever.

[1995hoo]

Regarding driving on the highway, my dad had me on the Beltway and I-395 within a week or two of getting my permit, and we were in his 1982 Accord with a 5-speed to boot. He insisted I should NOT strictly adhere to the speed limit on there lest I get blown off the road. (I used that example once in law school when the criminal law professor doubted whether there could be a conspiracy to commit something as trivial as speeding.) The experience of being on the highway didn't scare me at all, but the first time I tried to downshift from 5th to 4th did because I almost went into 2d instead, which would have been a very bad thing (I shoved it back into 5th when that happened).

That makes me think of something else I think is scary for new drivers but becomes second nature with experience: Learning how to start moving on an uphill without rolling back uncontrollably when driving a manual shift. (My dad didn't teach me the "handbrake trick" until after I'd learned how to get moving without it because he didn't want me to rely on that as a crutch. Good thing, too, as my first car had a manual with a pedal-operated brake, and I've also driven a rental car with a 5-speed and a button-operates brake. Both of those brakes were useless for the "handbrake trick.")

[jmacswimmer]

Definitely agree with what others are saying about merging onto a freeway at full speed, and following the freeway's prevailing speed versus the speed limit.  The scariest merges for me are always the ones where I'm stuck behind a car lumbering down the onramp at 40 mph while traffic is flying by in the right lane at 70+!

As for passing on 2-lane roads, it is inherently a bit dangerous, but just don't do it unless you're double-triple-extra sure you have the space, and don't be afraid to hit the gas while passing.

True story. I was coming up behind a car doing 47 (limit 55) on a two-lane road, parents in the car. I pulled out and had plenty of space, and pushed it to around 65 - not even that fast - and my parents freaked out - "drive the speed limit!"
Pretty sure if I ever drove the speed limit while doing a pass like that, I'd either die from another car's grill or from all the electric impulses yelling "faster!" being ignored while I toodled along at 55.

Had the exact same reaction from my parents the very first time I did a 2-lane pass
I also agree with the "get it over with as fast as possible" approach to 2-lane passing - even if I can clearly see that no one is coming for a while, spending any amount of time in the other lane always has a disconcerting feel to it.  Usually my approach is I fall back slightly from the car I'm following when I know I have an opening coming, then gun it while still behind, pulling out once I've caught back up and going at a speed fast enough to get it over with quickly (and then afterward, ease off the gas and gradually come back down to whatever speed I want to cruise at).

Regarding driving on the highway, my dad had me on the Beltway and I-395 within a week or two of getting my permit, and we were in his 1982 Accord with a 5-speed to boot. He insisted I should NOT strictly adhere to the speed limit on there lest I get blown off the road. (I used that example once in law school when the criminal law professor doubted whether there could be a conspiracy to commit something as trivial as speeding.) The experience of being on the highway didn't scare me at all, but the first time I tried to downshift from 5th to 4th did because I almost went into 2d instead, which would have been a very bad thing (I shoved it back into 5th when that happened).

Conversely, I was told to "not exceed 55" the first time I was taken out onto the beltway.  As you'd expect, I was quickly getting blown off the road, and pushed it closer to 60-65 despite parental protest

That makes me think of something else I think is scary for new drivers but becomes second nature with experience: Learning how to start moving on an uphill without rolling back uncontrollably when driving a manual shift. (My dad didn't teach me the "handbrake trick" until after I'd learned how to get moving without it because he didn't want me to rely on that as a crutch. Good thing, too, as my first car had a manual with a pedal-operated brake, and I've also driven a rental car with a 5-speed and a button-operates brake. Both of those brakes were useless for the "handbrake trick.")

My dad took the opposite approach, and taught me the handbrake start from the getgo when I was learning manual on a 5-speed 1999 Accord (mostly because I was petrified of rolling backward and not hitting the gas in time).

Most newer manual cars (if you're lucky enough to find one anymore!) that no longer have a handbrake (including my 6-speed 2018 Civic, which has an ebrake button) have a "brake hold" button you can toggle on/off.  It basically does the handbrake start for you, automatically holding the brakes until you give enough gas, then releases automatically.

[J N Winkler]

Definitely agree with what others are saying about merging onto a freeway at full speed, and following the freeway's prevailing speed versus the speed limit.  The scariest merges for me are always the ones where I'm stuck behind a car lumbering down the onramp at 40 mph while traffic is flying by in the right lane at 70+!

If I have to follow a slow driver down an on-ramp, I generally hang back to give myself more room to maneuver.

I've long suspected the slow-driver problem results partly from a spread of opinion as to how to address failure to merge.  For example, one of my mother's old college friends told me that when she was coaching her children on how to drive, she told them that if they could not merge by the time they reached the end of the on-ramp, they were to stop.  This made sense for their local neighborhood, where the nearest freeway interchange was (at the time) a partial cloverleaf at the point where a freeway segment with full paved shoulders gave way to a four-lane divided boulevard with barrier curbs at the edges of the traveled way.  But, as a general rule, I consider the shoulder to be recovery area if it is full-width and continuous.

I also think a contributing factor is lack of comfort with wide throttle openings.  I don't have that problem, but then I actually perform regular oil changes (you realize how few people do so when you see how black the oil spots in parking lots can get), and I use the thickest in-spec ATF I can find so that the transmission will shift under heavy load without banging.

[webny99]

For me personally, I rarely find it difficult to find an appropriate spot to merge. Lack of confidence tends to snowball, so if you just (a) make your intentions clear from the outset, and (b) don't be afraid to use the entire merge area, even when others don't, you shouldn't have major problems with merging beyond the first few tries.

[kphoger]

I don't have a license quite yet, but merging onto the freeway seems the scariest.

I got my learner's permit in rural Kansas, so traffic was no big deal.  However, my first introduction to real city driving was Denver at rush hour.  At an on-ramp, I saw the traffic and came to a complete stop on the ramp.

One word of advice:  Keep moving.  Merging from a dead stop is a LOT harder than merging from even 30 mph.

[kphoger]

Definitely agree with what others are saying about merging onto a freeway at full speed, and following the freeway's prevailing speed versus the speed limit.  The scariest merges for me are always the ones where I'm stuck behind a car lumbering down the onramp at 40 mph while traffic is flying by in the right lane at 70+!

If I have to follow a slow driver down an on-ramp, I generally hang back to give myself more room to maneuver.

I've long suspected the slow-driver problem results partly from a spread of opinion as to how to address failure to merge.  For example, one of my mother's old college friends told me that when she was coaching her children on how to drive, she told them that if they could not merge by the time they reached the end of the on-ramp, they were to stop.  This made sense for their local neighborhood, where the nearest freeway interchange was (at the time) a partial cloverleaf at the point where a freeway segment with full paved shoulders gave way to a four-lane divided boulevard with barrier curbs at the edges of the traveled way.  But, as a general rule, I consider the shoulder to be recovery area if it is full-width and continuous.

I also think a contributing factor is lack of comfort with wide throttle openings.  I don't have that problem, but then I actually perform regular oil changes (you realize how few people do so when you see how black the oil spots in parking lots can get), and I use the thickest in-spec ATF I can find so that the transmission will shift under heavy load without banging.

I accelerate more gradually than most drivers, so I usually enter the mainline of the highway at around 5-10 mph under the speed limit.  Some people following me can't handle that and barrel around me at the first opportunity.  Funny thing is, my cruising speed is usually 5-10 mph above the speed limit, so I often end up passing them later anyway.

When I'm behind a slower-moving vehicle on an on-ramp (such as a heavy truck), I hang back doing 20 mph for a while, letting the gap between us increase.  Then I accelerate on the last half of the ramp, so that–assuming traffic is clear enough–I can merge at a normal-ish speed and even pass the truck right away.  This avoids two things:  (1) multiple slow vehicles entering traffic at the same time, and (2) passing someone at well below the speed limit.

[renegade]

The scariest part of driving?  Being on the same roads with people who would rather play with their cell phones than pay attention to what they're supposed to be doing.

[Roadgeekteen]

The scariest part of driving?  Being on the same roads with people who would rather play with their cell phones than pay attention to what they're supposed to be doing.

As someone just learning to drive, I can't imagine ever being confident enough to text and drive.

[kphoger]

The scariest part of driving?  Being on the same roads with people who would rather play with their cell phones than pay attention to what they're supposed to be doing.

As someone just learning to drive, I can't imagine ever being confident enough to text and drive.

It's easy.  You just have to resign yourself to one of the following:

  (a)  Not knowing what's in front of you while driving, or else...

  (b)  Your text message having wacky, unintended words in it because you weren't looking at your phone.   

[1995hoo]

The scariest part of driving?  Being on the same roads with people who would rather play with their cell phones than pay attention to what they're supposed to be doing.

As someone just learning to drive, I can't imagine ever being confident enough to text and drive.

I'd say the same and I've been driving since 1989.

[Flint1979]

Wondering if you're going to get the hell outta Cincinnati alive.

[kphoger]

Looking at Google Maps while driving, on the other hand...........  All right, everybody, fess up!

[1995hoo]

Looking at Google Maps while driving, on the other hand...........  All right, everybody, fess up!

Not I, but then the two cars we take on longer trips have built-in sat-navs. I have sometimes panned the map around when stopped at a red light or in heavy traffic (such as on I-70 between Hancock and Breezewood to see if any of those back roads would get us to Bedford in time for our dinner reservation....and they did).

[csw]

A few weeks ago I was heading back home from a day hike on a secondary highway - the type that's wide enough for two-way traffic, but not by much, and that doesn't have a centerline or shoulder. About 200 feet from a solid left-hander (maybe 35 mph cornering speed), as I'm tapping the brakes to get through the corner, two logging trucks come barreling around the corner, driving right down the centerline instead of on their side of the road (lots of folks in trucks or larger vehicles do this, which annoys me, but the part that terrifies me is that they still do it around blind corners). Normally it's not an issue, but the trucks were FLYING - as in, I'm pretty sure half of the trailer wheels became airborne, and the trailers were definitely leaning quite heavily towards me. And I was in the perfect position to get crunched by a tipping trailer full of timber if they had tipped over. I dove off the right side of the road into what little shoulder there was and spent the next ten minutes breathing heavily...

I also nearly spun my car out last fall going over a blind hill on a secondary road - I braked for the hill but not enough (was probably only going 40 mph entering), and I got some air because the hill had a ridiculously tight radius and I couldn't see how tight it was on approach. Laid a lot of rubber trying to slow the car down and control it.

So I guess my answer is blind corners and hills. And deer.

edit: Location #1 - https://goo.gl/maps/m3tFP7oLDNcsSgxSA and location #2 - https://goo.gl/maps/hfzm8t1dYHpeDg5g8

[jeffandnicole]

A scary part of driving - and I bet no one here is thinking about it now due to the calendar - is driving on snow or ice.

You may think you know what you're doing, but chances are you'll drive too fast or too slow for conditions.

Driving too fast is obviously an issue - you get on a slippery section of roadway and you can't control your vehicle.  You will overreact, hit the brakes, and slide into something.

Overall it's better to drive slower, but this still presents an issue if someone is coming up behind you and doesn't realize how slow you're driving, and the same result happens.

You will also think that everyone else is driving too fast or slow for conditions, and become annoyed. And being annoyed while driving doesn't do you or anyone else any favors either.

[Roadrunner75]

Regarding ice, I was heading home from college for winter break in the mid 90s on the NJ Turnpike and my '79 Pinto Wagon was all over the road with the ice every time I went over a bridge.  I was taking it relatively slow and cars were zooming past me.  When I finally got to the bridge over the Rancocas Creek, I found the results of that overconfidence.  Cars were scattered in every direction across the bridge and people were out walking around inspecting damage.  The little brown Pinto slowly weaved around all the cars and I was on my way.

[Scott5114]

Looking at Google Maps while driving, on the other hand...........  All right, everybody, fess up!

Google Maps, no. Paper maps, I've done a few times.

A scary part of driving - and I bet no one here is thinking about it now due to the calendar - is driving on snow or ice.

I have a surefire method for handling driving in snow and ice. I have a contact saved in my phone that I dial, then press 0 for an operator, and say "Hi, this is Scott Nazelrod. I'm not going to be at work today..."

[Flint1979]

I would say driving on an interstate highway and taking a picture and posting it on this site. So without further ado.

[Flint1979]

I think the scariest thing about driving is driving around all these semi truck drivers that don't know how to drive on a highway.

[Bruce]

Looking at Google Maps while driving, on the other hand...........  All right, everybody, fess up!

I have a mount for my phone at eye-level that allows me to go hands-free with Google Maps. Very helpful when doing delivery runs around the city (in ever-shifting traffic).

[webny99]

Looking at Google Maps while driving, on the other hand...........  All right, everybody, fess up!

Mostly just as a passenger, not a driver. Lesson learned on that score!
I've done it to find my way around a neighborhood, especially big, confusing ones, but usually while stopped at an intersection.