Defensive Driving Tips for the City

The Big Apple is famous for many reasons, and aggressive driving and bumper-to-bumper traffic are just a couple of them. There is a reason that 55 percent of households in New York don’t own a car, after all. Whether you’re a passive or aggressive driver, there is only one kind of driver your passengers need when they get in your car: a safe one. To keep you, your passengers, and your Bronx TLC rental car safe on the wild and wooly streets of the City That Never Sleeps, here are some essential defensive driving tips for the city.

What Is Defensive Driving?

If you’ve gotten your TLC license, you’ve heard this term before in your required defensive driving course. Defensive driving means driving with the mindset of saving time, money, and lives despite the surrounding circumstances. A defensive driver proactively considers their environment and strategizes how best to keep themselves, their car, and their passengers safe. This tactic is essential in the ever-changing landscape of a city street.

Keep Your Eyes Ahead

The first time you ever got behind the wheel of the car, someone probably told you to keep your eyes on the road. But “keeping your eyes ahead” is more than keeping your eyes on whatever is directly in front of your car. It means continuously scanning everything going on around your vehicle. That includes what’s happening several cars ahead or on the sidewalks. From here, a defensive driver should keep in mind possibilities of what might happen because of what they see.

Imagine your car is approaching a crosswalk about a hundred feet away ahead. Even though you aren’t close to the crosswalk yet, you should be scanning the sidewalks for pedestrians. A pedestrian you notice from a hundred feet away will probably be in the intersection by the time you arrive.

Avoid Aggressive Lane Changes

Taxi drivers in the city often get a reputation of doing whatever they can to get their passengers to their location quickly, even if it means dodging in and out of traffic. However, this practice is impractical and far from safe. Going back and forth between the lanes will typically only save you a few seconds. And that few seconds comes at the expense of making the passenger feel unsafe and increasing your likelihood of getting into an accident. When it comes to defensive driving in the city, it’s best to pick a lane and stick to it.

Be Wary of Parking

Parking can be a risky maneuver, especially when you’re dropping off passengers in the city. It is often better to drop passengers a short way up the road than directly in front of their location if traffic in the area is too heavy. And when parking between rides, be wary of where you choose to park. Some places have hidden fees or won’t let you park at certain times of the day.