What driving concept you feel that most drivers don't understand?
I’ll start. Stopping distance.
My commute is 95 miles one way to work, so I see a lot of the highway, in the rural part of the US. This means traveling at 70+ mph (112km/h) for almost the entirety of the drive. The amount of other drivers on the road who follow behind someone else with less than a car’s length in front of them because they want to go 20+ over the speed limit is ridiculous. The only time you ever follow someone that close is if you have complete and absolute trust in them, and also understand that it may not even be enough.
For a daily drive, you likely need 2-3 car lengths between you at minimum depending on your speed to accurately avoid hitting the brakes. This doesn’t even take into account the lack of understanding of engine braking…
What concepts do you all think of when it comes to driving that you feel are not well understood by the public at large?
Your turn signal is a courtesy to let others know not to pull up behind you in the turn lane if they wanna go straight. It should be on once you approach a red light, not when you realize you need to tell the person behind you why you aren't going through the intersection. This leads to frustration in others and can cause dangerous driving.
Failing to activate a turn signal before a light turns green should be a punishable offense. I know there's no good way to enforce it, but you should have escalating repercussions; begin with a fine, escalate the value of the fines, eventually suspend the license.
This is especially important during lane changes on the highway. I mean it’s one thing to turn at a light, it’s another to pull right in front of someone going at high speeds with no reaction room