As a new driver, nothing can be more overwhelming than having to adjust to the unfamiliar rules and regulations of the Road. From remembering all of the speed limit changes from road to road to knowing what is expected when merging into traffic, it can take time before driving becomes second nature. While there are many laws that govern safe driving, along with these official rules there are also plenty of unwritten ones as well.

In this blog post, we'll explore some of these unofficial yet widely accepted practices of driving on the road, according to these Reddit users.

1. Always Use your Turn Signals

According to one user, “Try to give other drivers as much information as possible. Always use your turn signals, even in a turn Lane. People have no way of knowing if you’re actually about to turn or not.” 

“Yes, it helps to reinforce the facts. Not everyone is paying full attention, simply seeing your blinker automatically informs them that you are in the turning lane and will be crossing their lane when able. It helps establish what's actually going on or about to happen,” one Redditor replied.

Another user answered, “Use your blinkers but don’t trust other driver’s blinkers.”

“[Using your blinkers] is not unwritten,” one user commented.

2. Don’t Cut Corners

One user posted, “Don’t cut corners. I’ve nearly had head-on collisions because people can’t just slow down a little and turn into the lane properly.”

Another Redditor then responded, “Thissss and if you’re on the outside of a double turn lane, turn WIIIIDE so the inner turn lane doesn’t have to crash into the median, or you, to make their turn.”

One user added, “Not entirely sure this is an unwritten rule, more of a ‘if you can’t turn a literal corner properly you shouldn’t be driving.'”

“Yeah if you take a driver’s exam this is a literal written rule,” a user answered.

3. Keep Your Cool: Road Rage Kills

One Redditor shared, ”Keep your cool. Road rage kills.”

Another replied,”I was a passenger during a road rage incident and the other car was shooting at the car I was in. Luckily, neither of us were hit. I’m still afraid of being in a car, sometimes.”

“Almost 20 years ago some dildo pulled a rifle on me over some road rage. The guy had done similar stuff in the past and ended up getting 7 years in prison. He got out after a few years and there was a solid 6 month period when I was paranoid AF just waiting for the dude to show up at my house or something. So yea I also know what it’s like to get ptsd from road rage lol,” another commenter added. 

4. Speed Up Before you Merge

One user posted, “Speed up to match the speed BEFORE you try to merge onto a highway!!”

A user replied, “Let me add one more thing. If you are in the last lane and you know the merge is coming up, don't get pissed off when cars are trying to merge and drive faster to not let them in.”

However, one user opposed and shared, “Zipper merging. It's even in the rulebook. In the UK when two lanes merge into one, people have this tendency to queue up early in the left lane and wrongly leave the right lane open, and then tut and seethe at anyone that dares take the right lane. You even see some blocking it in frustration during bad congestion.

This is WRONG. Guess what? That BMW driver nonchalantly disregarding the queue and nipping into a gap at the end of the lane is the only one doing it right. The correct thing to do is just flow both lanes right up to the cones/lines and ‘zipper merge' together.

If everyone did that and gave each other room more often then stand-stills would be far less frequent.

The rules are there to keep traffic flowing, not only is it faster but its safer if you keep everything ticking along. Stopping on motorways is dangerous. People's ignorant mentality to the rules gives our roads coronaries on a daily basis and causes so many accidents. Sometimes I can't wait for driverless cars to show everybody how it's done…”

5. Assume Everyone is a Terrible Driver

A user posted, “When I first passed my test, my dad said to me “assume that everyone is a terrible driver who is trying to kill you.”

One added,”lmfaoooo.”

“This is the greatest driving advice of all time,” another replied. 

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