A-Max Driving Tips

General Driving Safety:

Watch out for school zones, and slow down to 20 mph. Fines for speeding in Texas school zones average $211.
Don’t talk on your cell phone or text while driving, especially in school zones. Cell phone violations in Texas school zones can cost you over $300.
Before beginning a long drive, always get enough sleep and eat something before you go. Highly caffeinated beverages are not necessarily the best way to stay awake while driving. While initially you will feel more alert, the effects can recede with time, and your attention may wander although you remain awake.
Pull over and take breaks every couple of hours, even if you don't feel sleepy. Grab a snack, get some fresh air, and stretch your legs by walking around. If you need to, take a quick nap.
If you can, share the driving responsibilities with someone else. This will allow you to keep an eye on each other while driving and also enable you to nap without losing time. If you’re driving alone, turn on the radio or put on some music, and keep your window cracked open. You may also want to refrain from using your cruise control if you're driving alone at night -- having to concentrate on maintaining your speed can help you stay awake.
Familiarize yourself with local traffic laws, which vary from state to state and especially overseas. Is it legal to make a right turn at a red light? What are the rules on yielding to pedestrians?
Before setting off on a long car trip, be sure your vehicle is in prime condition – tires are properly inflated, all fluids are at their proper levels and you have a full tank of gas. (For particularly long road trips, you may want to have your mechanic do a more thorough check.)
Don't wait until your gas gauge is sitting on E to refuel. On an unfamiliar road, you never know when the next gas station will appear. As soon as you hit a quarter of a tank, start looking for a place to fill up.

Driving Safely on Icy Roads:

Decrease your speed and leave yourself plenty of room to stop. You should allow at least three times more space than usual between you and the car in front of you.
Brake gently to avoid skidding. If your wheels start to lock up, ease off the brake.
Turn on your lights to increase your visibility to other motorists.
Keep your lights and windshield clean.
Use low gears to keep traction, especially on hills.
Don't use cruise control or overdrive on icy roads.
Be especially careful on bridges, overpasses and infrequently traveled roads, which will freeze first. Even at temperatures above freezing, if the conditions are wet, you might encounter ice in shady areas or on exposed roadways like bridges.
Don't pass snow plows and sanding trucks. The drivers have limited visibility, and you're likely to find the road in front of them worse than the road behind.
Don't assume your vehicle can handle all conditions. Even four-wheel and front-wheel drive vehicles can encounter trouble on winter roads.

Driving Safely in the Rain:

First and foremost: slow down! It takes longer to stop or adjust in wet weather.
Stay toward the middle lanes – water tends to pool in the outside lanes.
Maintain proper following distance. This needs to be increased in wet weather.
Drive in the tracks of a car ahead of you.
Don't follow large trucks or busses too closely. The spray created by their large tires reduces your vision. Take care when passing them as well; if you must pass, do so quickly and safely.
Be more alert when driving in wet or slippery conditions. Watch out for brake lights in front of you.
Avoid using your brakes; if possible, take your foot off the accelerator to slow down.
Turn your headlights on even in a light rain, or in gloomy, foggy or overcast conditions. Not only do they help you see the road, they'll help other drivers see you. If your car has daytime running lights you still should put them on, so vehicles behind you can see you better.
Before it starts to rain, replace old or brittle wipers.
Avoid off-road driving: it's hard to judge the actual depth of puddles and you can easily become stuck, even in an SUV.
Never drive beyond the limits of visibility. At night ,rainy roads become especially treacherous. The glare of oncoming lights, amplified by the rain on your windscreen, can cause temporary loss of visibility while substantially increasing driver fatigue. In rainy conditions pedestrians, livestock, and wildlife are extremely hard to spot and even harder to avoid.
Never drive through moving water if you can't see the ground through it; your car could be swept off the road.
When driving through a puddle of uncertain depth, go slow. If it's deeper than the bottom of your doors, turn around and find another route. Deep water can cause serious damage to a modern car's electrical system.
Avoid splashing pedestrians.
If possible, stay off the road during heavy thunderstorms. Large flashes of lightning can temporarily blind and disorient drivers, and the accompanying high winds and heavy rain can create deadly driving conditions.
Check your tires on a regular basis. Bald tires significantly reduce your traction on wet roadways, and offer little resistance to hydroplaning. When your tires run over water, the water is displaced and it needs somewhere to go quickly. The best place is between the treads of your tires. If your tires are bald, the water has no place to go and you end up riding on a layer of water, like a boat.

Save Money on Gas:

If you can cut your vehicle miles traveled by just 5% through combining trips, walking, biking, or taking public transportation, you can save on gasoline costs. Walking and biking are good for your health too!
If you own more than one vehicle, drive the one that gets better gas mileage whenever possible. If you drive 12,500 miles a year, switching 10% of your trips from driving a car that gets 20 mpg to one that gets 30 mpg will save you money per year.
Avoid carrying items on your vehicle’s roof. A loaded roof rack or carrier increases weight and aerodynamic drag, which can cut mileage by 5%. Place items inside the trunk whenever possible to improve your fuel economy.
An extra 100 pounds in the trunk cuts a typical vehicle‘s fuel economy by up to 2%. You can save up to 12 gallons of gasoline per year by removing an extra 100 pounds of unneeded items from the trunk.
Speeding costs! Gas mileage usually decreases rapidly above 60 mph. Each five miles per hour over 60 mph is like paying an additional 24 cents per gallon for gas.
If available, use your vehicle‘s overdrive gear to reduce engine speed, which will enable you to save gas and reduce engine wear.
Cruise control cuts fuel consumption by maintaining a steady speed during highway driving.
Carpool with other passengers, even just a few times a week, and share the cost of gas.
Keeping your tires properly inflated is simple and improves gas mileage by around 3%, saving up to 20 gallons of gasoline.
Idling gets 0 miles per gallon. Cars with larger engines typically waste more gas at idle than do cars with smaller engines.