5 ways to be a better driver

Like most of us, Julie Emerson sees bad driving every day. "I see people eating their breakfast, distracted by their phones," she says. "The other day I was driving up the M1 and I saw a truck driver clearly watching a movie on his phone."

89 per cent of Australians describe themselves as confident drivers, according to a survey conducted this year on behalf of tyre and repair company mycar Tyre & Auto. But Emerson, a driving instructor and president of the Australian Driver Trainers Association, believes in some cases that confidence is misplaced.

"There are a lot of very capable drivers out there," she says. "But sadly, there's a lot of drivers that drive along distracted by other things."

Here are her top tips for being better driver.

Be well rested

"Too many road incidents are a result of sleep deprivation," Emerson says.

"It's Friday, and a friend says come over and have dinner. You go and have one glass of wine, which we're allowed to do. But now you're driving home at 10 o'clock at night, and you've got sore eyes. You started off tired and now you're more tired. And we just don't make the best decisions when we're tired."

Going 17 hours without sleep is the same as having a blood alcohol reading of 0.05, according to the website Don't Trust Your Tired Self, which has a test you can take to see how your fatigue levels are affecting your reactions.

If you're tired, pull over, Emerson says. "Have a power nap, or call an Uber and get your car tomorrow." Even better, plan ahead, so you don't have to drive tired at all.

Focus on driving

The one time Emerson was in an accident, she was rear-ended in a school zone. Hers was the third car to be hit, in a chain reaction.

"We all got out of our cars, obviously a little bit shocked. The driver who caused the accident said: 'My baby was screaming in the back seat and I just turned around for a second.'

"You just can't do that. Pull over, put your hazard lights on, get out carefully and deal with your child."

It's really important that you focus on driving, and don't allow yourself to be distracted, Emerson says. "That's no eating, no drinking, and no putting on your makeup."

Look around and ahead

"A good driver is someone who is aware of things around them," Emerson says. "Don't just look where you are, look where you're going.

"Don't just look at the car in front. Look as far up the road as you possibly can. And then you'll see that crazy driver that's weaving a bit, you'll see that traffic light turn red, you'll see those kids on the footpath and you'll think, I wonder if they're going to run across the road because there's a dog on the other side. You get a better perspective."

Expect people to do the wrong thing

"The only thing you can control on your road is yourself," Emerson says. "You can't control what anybody else does. So you have to drive expecting people to do the wrong thing."

It's important to be aware of L plates, P plates and R plates, Emerson says, because these might suggest that the driver might need some extra space. But every driver should be treated with caution.

"If someone is in the next lane, just in front of you, expect them to change lanes without indicating. If they do the right thing, that's unreal. But all too often people don't."

Leave a three-second gap

"When the back of the car in front of you goes past a line or a shadow or whatever, you should be able to count to three before the front of your car goes past that same shadow or line," Emerson says.

"The reason we say this is because it actually takes you one and half seconds to say, oh, that car in front of me has stopped, which only gives you another one and half seconds to stop."

Leaving at least a three-second gap applies at all speeds – from school zones to freeways. "Everyone can count to three, but not everyone knows what 20 metres or 100 metres looks like," Emerson says.

If you, or someone you know has been impacted by road trauma, please visit mycar.com.au/rplates for more information.

And if you see an R Plate on a car, know that someone is bravely returning to the road and treat them with empathy, respect and extra care.