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The Driving test (before getting to the DMV)

Hello again. The driving test, sometimes easy, sometimes tuff, it really depends on how you get ready for it. Some of us, think it’s enough to know how to drive, and memorize a few signs, other try to prepare more theory than practice. Few of us, combine theory and practice.

I had a friend who failed twice, although he had three years driving experience, before coming to the USA. Reason, well, some details, such as looking over your shoulder before changing lanes is one of the tickers during the test; It is really a life saver and mandatory.

Preparing :

Here’s a link for reference and a few products which I personally find interesting.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/fast_facts/ffdl22.htm 

On the link above, the DMV site is full of guidelines and documents you might find useful.

Below, I will show you two programs, I personally prefer the first one, because it’s about driving Videos, to help you prepare for the driving test.

GetReadyToPass.com (an excellent source for Driving Test Targeted videos, check it out for more details. The price is less than 30 dollars)

great-info-products.com (an excellent source for preparing the written test).

combining both will give a good set of video tutorials as well as an eBook to follow up on.

Video training is still one of the great ways to grasp the theory of the concepts we need it to apply, for successful driving.

This is the third post of humble start. Stay tuned for more on real driving tips and sharing info very very soon.

Next posts coming up :

1) The rush and urge to get to the destination, what about it ?

2) Why would I stop, road is empty, it’s even deserted ?

3) Everybody’s speeding, why picking me for the speeding ticket?

4) it was not my fault ! The difference between guilt and responsibility

5) I’m Ok, I can drive.

6) DUI

Stay tuned. Hope this blog will be helpful. Reminder, this is a warm up to a ultimately writing my first book on driving, after years of research on driving behavior and us, drivers.

Drive safe !

The Mindset

Avoid, prevent, avoid, prevent.
As a driver, one of the major, and most difficult attitude to adopt, is, being preventive and cautious. But why is that, perhaps, before blaming ourselves, let’s analyze some of it.

First of all, we drive a vehicle, which has nothing to do with walking. A vehicle has a direct influence on our body’s physiological and emotional state (yes indeed). Not to forget, all the external influences on the road, starting from pedestrians, to measuring red lights, to handling drunk drivers at night.

So with all these influences, the real challenge, is, to drive from point A to B (ex : work to home, school to work, home to school, a nice trip), and arrive safely.

For example, If I start speeding, and get a ticket, then the driving path from A to B has been delayed, as it takes time to get a speeding ticket. On the other hand, If I keep a steady good speed, within the limit, I will actually arrive safely to the destination.

In both cases arriving to point B, we might arrive at an equal time, but with the least cost on our health, and pocket also.
Finally, I know that sometimes, following the speed limit, can really feel as if you’re running on eggs instead of wheels :) as some cars like V8 dodge vans and other’s are really hard to control. Believe me or not, I finally got to do it. How, throughout this blog, I’ll be sharing more on this, to give more details.

As I said, It’s really not a matter of tricks, but a Mindset = Driving safely from point A to point B, with a good timing, within the limits imposed by law.

It all starts with the driver’s license privilege

Getting that driver’s license, It feels so good, although, it’s really the beginning of a huge responsibility as a driver. Behind the wheel, we basically have a weapon, which, if used well, it can really come in handy.

Getting the license, is only the beginning. A good driver, would actually think that there still is a lot to discover on the road, in order to be safe, getting from point A to point B.

Everyday as a driver, is a learning day, a new experience, full of little to major surprises. It is not really, just about driving the car, driving the car is more like the medium or way, to use the vehicle.

My goal in this blog is really to share with people driving out there, my experience. Let me present my self quickly (Dinia). I have been a professional driver, from 1998 to 2004.

During those 6 years, I have driven in the state of California, about 500 000 + miles, with only one accident, in 1998, from which I swore it won’t happen again, and it did not. until now, in December 2009, I haven’t had a single accident. When it comes to tickets, I have had three tickets in that period.

During my years as a professional driver, I did a survey, with many of my customers, in behavior and concepts we all share about driving. That led me to start writing many concepts I have understood and grasped over time. I thought about a book at first, Although, I’d rather sharing the information through the blog for the moment, to get some more feedback, which will lead to a great, useful book hopefully.

I now, live in Paris, France, as an IT Consultant, which gives me some more time and ability to be able to actually write and explore the other end of my experience, the sharing side.