Driving in general

In the UK most drivers are polite and simply need to be asked, by the use of your indicator, to let you in front, it is permissible to use an indicator to almost ask for permission to change lanes. The car behind will often flash once to allow you to change, unfortunately, we do have some drivers who are not quite so obliging or simply not concentrating, so be careful, wait until you see a clear space use your door mirrors, and remember: 

MIRROR, SIGNAL, MANOEVER 
and 
Its nice to be nice especially on the roads 

When driving remember the matra, LEFT IS BEST. and keep to the left unless you have a good reason. This includes motorways 

When traveling on major roads and dual carriageways, traffic merges onto your road from the left. If necessary you should move over one lane to the right and speed up or slow if necessary to allow them to filter onto your road, adjust your position and speed slowly, whilst unofficial, you can flash the headlights once to announce you are letting them in.

Adjust your speed NEVER travel closer than two seconds behind the car in front of you, You should be able to count, one banana two bananas before getting to the same space in the road as the car in front, increase this to at least four bananas in wet and 10 in icy conditions. 

When traveling big distances know what road numbers you will be using and if on a motorway what junction number you intend to leave, this will be displayed in the bottom left corner of every motorway sign.

If you use GPS or Google (always have the phone mounted)  Make sure you correctly spell the name of the city of your destination.  Use postcodes when possible as there are many places with the same name, double-check what you have inputted, and always check the rough distance with someone. Do not blindly trust the GPS unless you are 100% sure of your destination always check its routing is correct.

RULE OF FIVE 

Navigating 
Over the years including traveling before the introduction of Gps, I developed a rule of five which I still use when I am traveling somewhere new.

When traveling somewhere new I needed a score of five to ensure I was on the correct road. 

A road sign with the name,  I need, either as a destination or part of my route gives me a score of three.

The sun being in the approximate right direction gives me a score of one ( it rises in the east and sets in the west and  I am traveling north it should be behind me.

Asking someone on the side of the road for directions gives me a score of one.

The GPS gives me a score of one ( unless you can categorical confirm you have the right final location, ie you have been there before and have inputted a way point then it's a score of 4 or 5).  Remember treat the GPS like a drunk friend who can sometimes get it so very wrong.

So if I am leaving a town and have no sat-nav and can't see the sun and have only one road sign, I will ask two different people for directions giving me a total of five.

If I use the sat nav and have inputted a city I have never been to and cant confirm it's the correct one the sat nav gives me a score of one and I need to boost this with either a road sign and asking one person or checking I am traveling roughly the right direction. If you are traveling to a small address like a small village it's perfectly acceptable to initially travel towards a larger town nearby and recalculate when you are closer. Never travel more than 50 miles (80kms) without rechecking you are on the correct route.

This SYSTEM has worked for me in many countries many times it has saved me unnecessary hassle.  And I only go wrong when I break the rules of this system/

  





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