We are going down the freeway, there is a gap between us and the car ahead of about 50 yards. Lots of traffic. And we are directly in the blind spot of the car on our left. Like you could draw a diagonal line.

"probably a good idea to close that gap and get out of the blind spot of the car next to you."

Is it even possible to teach without just getting into arguments? Or whatever kind of driver you are after 20 years on the road, that's the kind driver you will always be.

Driving is a skill that is naturally present or not. There are "drivers" and then there are "people who drive". I have met very few drivers in my life compared to people who drive.

If only there was a mode in today's driving games to simulate real life so that drivers could see different scenarios unfold without harm...

Can she be taught? Probably.

Cab she be taught by you? Absolutely not!

+1
Good point...

Give her a list of sammiches you want by the time you get home

1. Why was she out of the kitchen?
2. Why was she driving with you in the car?

Gender change to Male is your only option.

Thier is an app that state farm has you can place you download it and set the phone in a cup holder or dash and it will rate her driving that way it will tell her she is bad not you.

YOu dont need to be a state farm client to use it.

I tell my clients to download it for thier kids.

just a thought.

Do

Not

Try!

Thank me later when you have another anniversary!

I would love to see your kitchen OP. I know my car doesn't fit in ours

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Can she be taught? Probably.

Cab she be taught by you? Absolutely not!

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THIS X 1000!

Buy her a "driving experience" day at a track and then also get her a basic MSF course. Why the MSF course? If someone is more aware of motorcycles, they're more aware of traffic all the way around!

Wear a helmet. Best advice I can give. Don't opt for one with 2 way radio, either. Full face is better. Try not to talk. Women already know virtually everything that men know. Men know nothing that women know. Did you not get this explanation when you turned like 13?

I guess I wasn't there, but in a "lots of traffic" situation, you often cannot control your position relative to other folks' blind spots, but you can control the distance between you and the car in front of you. 50 yards doesn't seem that excessive to me at highway speeds.

Glad I have a wife that can drive and cares for her vehicle.

robert

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50 yards doesn't seem that excessive to me at highway speeds.

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Lets play with this idea for a moment (with some really basic, quick and dirty reconstruction math).

150ft between your bumper and the bumper of the car in front of you. Assuming 70mph as a "highway speed" that's 102.62fps and when represented in regards to the 85th percentile reaction time of 1.5 seconds you're looking at 153.93ft.

So in the time it takes the majority of people to react to a stimulus while driving (1.5 seconds), before the required action is taken, you would have traveled nearly 4ft further than your following distance.

Assuming a coefficient of friction at .78 you're looking at the ability to stop in 150ft (for a skid) limited at 59mph. Now lets say that the car you're following has a better ABS system than you and high performance tires...

Ok, I'll stop there, this could go on for hours (and I would enjoy it), but the point is you're still looking for a minimum of 2 seconds following distance, 3-4 is better. At 70mph 2 seconds and 3 seconds would be 205ft to 307ft. Unfortunately we know that the majority of drivers aren't conscious about safety and will quickly fill the proper following distance you leave, especially in Houston!

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Can she be taught? Probably.

Cab she be taught by you? Absolutely not!

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Same goes for teaching wife to snow ski. DON'T DO IT

Get in the back seat, directly behind her, get a book, take Dramamine...

Sorry to say, I do not think there is a win-win situation in this case.

Tell her to always stay in the right lane.

[This message has been edited by #YESSIR! (edited 4/18/2014 3:36a).]

I tend to just go on TexAgs on my phone when she has to drive

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Can she be taught? Probably.

Cab she be taught by you? Absolutely not!

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+2

This thread

Speaking of annoying wife habits:

1 - Say we are in a 45 mph zone, she will accelerate normally up to 45-ish, then completely release the accelerator let speed drop to 35-ish, then repeat forever.

I have no clue why she does this, and when I asked about it, she denied any knowledge of doing it, yet she does it all the time.

2 - If we need to be somewhere at a specific time and are on pace to arrive early, she will drive slower.

ex. - One time we were out running around a decided to call in a to-go order at the Chinese place and pick it up on our way home. The place said the order would be ready in 15 minutes and we were 5 minutes away, so to correct this she decides to drop the speed to 20 mph from 45 mph in an attempt to narrow the time window rather than get there 5 minutes early and wait in the parking lot.

Blue star for DBSwooper!

Trying to get someone to "close the gap" is asking for someone to rear-end the car in front.

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1 - Say we are in a 45 mph zone, she will accelerate normally up to 45-ish, then completely release the accelerator let speed drop to 35-ish, then repeat forever.

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My grandfather did this. I figured it was because he learned to drive a stick shift and was just backing off the gas to change gears and continued to do that with an automatic.

Best bet is probably to pay for a high-performance driver's education experience. You don't have to own a fast car to do one of these. You could pay for a weekend for both of you to take part, treat it like a gift. I'm sure robertcope would be happy to tell you more, as he is an instructor for one of these organizations. I recommend the 2-day weekend approach because you learn so much more by having a night to soak things in and a second day to really start to wrap your head around what you're learning.

She'll learn far, far more than you could teach her on public roads (even ignoring the idea of you actually trying to teach her); the skills, knowledge and general AWARENESS gained from an HPDE will pay big dividends in everyday driving.

And a big +1 to DBSwooper. That sort of thing is why I always try to leave myself an "out" when on the freeway, and I never hit my brakes hard at freeway speed without first downshifting and lightly starting on the brakes. I always assume my car can stop much sooner than the guy behind me, so I try to be as gradual as possible to give him/her enough time to realize what I'm doing. Of course to drive that way I have to be paying attention to what's happening at least a few cars in front of me, which requires alertness, awareness, and actively working to give yourself the best possible sight lines...one of the benefits of driving a stick, I suppose. Forced alertness, at least to a degree.

[This message has been edited by madd_ag_05 (edited 4/18/2014 10:17a).]

You have a point about the blind spot. if you can bring that up without bring an @ss, then cool. the following distance is just your preference, nothing wrong with her being conservative. how pissed would you be if she hit someone?

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Is it even possible to teach without just getting into arguments?

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No