When driving in the city, you will be dealing with all new sets of challenges:
- There are more pedestrians, and you will need to be more careful, drive slower and be prepared to stop and to give the right of way to pedestrians.
- There is usually a shortage of parking spaces, and there are a lot of activities relating to parking and parked cars. There are distracted drivers trying to find a parking or blocking the lane in order to park, car doors are suddenly opening, and people are getting in and out of their parked cars.
- Most of the streets are one-way, so you will need to be careful about not driving the wrong way.
- Traffic is congested; there is a lot of stop-and-go traffic, and there are impatient drivers who suddenly change lanes or cut in front of you.
- There are more frequent buses, trolleys, and trains. The buses have frequent stops, and they are required to stay on a certain schedule, so when a bus needs to get back into a lane, be careful and give the courtesy right of way.
- There are a lot of delivery trucks, and they may park in the right lane if that is the only option to make deliveries.
When driving in the city, try to follow these general rules to decrease the chances of accidents and have a nice, less stressful drive:
- Give yourself plenty of time to get to your destination; you may be dealing with congested traffic, a lot of stops and go traffic and parking problems, so plan ahead and get to your destination safely and in a good mood.
- Slow down to the flow of traffic, but never drive over the speed limit.
- Try driving in a lane with the least amount of traffic activities, obstacles or obstructions - this is usually the middle lane.
- Constantly scan far ahead and scan your surroundings and anticipate any traffic light changes and other traffic situations way ahead so you can react effectively.
- Keep a safe distance between your vehicle and other vehicles and provide enough space for other vehicles to change lanes.
- Plan ahead and be prepared – it is not as easy to change lanes on the city streets, so if you need to make a turn, try to move to the appropriate lane for turning one or two blocks before approaching the intersection where you need to make the turn.
