There is one skill rarely taught and also rarely seen on the roads and that is, awareness of vehicle size. When you are learning to drive, be it in a car, a motorcycle, or even a truck, understanding the size of your new ‘body’ is an absolutely essential and an under explained concept.
Spatial awareness is where you are mindful of the world around you and the how your physical presence impacts it. Some people – such as those who dawdle in the middle of a grocery isle – have no concept of this. Some people are too spatially aware, which can be almost as damaging as not being spatially aware at all.
Picture this: there is a car parked on the left side of the road up ahead of you. You are driving towards it and about to pass. Do you:
A) Swerve over into the opposite lane, leaving plenty of room between your car and the parked one.
B) Judge how much space you have to work with and stick as close to the left as safely possible.
C) Turn around and go a different way.
If you picked A, then you are also probably the kind of person who clogs up the grocery isle. If you picked C, you’re not wrong, but you’re also not right. B is the safest, most spatially aware way to drive safely on the road.
When passing another vehicle, try to keep a 30cm distance between the body of your car and the body of the other. Neither your side mirror nor the other should touch within this distance, and there’s no need to join the other lane going the opposite direction and risk a head-on crash. You can practice keeping this distance very easily by keeping an eye on your vehicle’s position with your side mirror and slowing down as you pass a parked car, watching your progress.
Some people’s spatial awareness is impacted by factors out of their control, such as mental health conditions and disabilities (https://www.healthline.com/health/spatial-awareness#causes-of-deficits). If you’re such a person, no doubt you already know what hurdles you must jump in order to keep yourself and others safe on the road. Don’t let your differences keep you from your freedom, though! It’s perfect possible to master spatial awareness regardless of your individual needs.
Video games (https://acerforeducation.acer.com/education-trends/education-technology/how-gaming-can-improve-spatial-memory-and-attention/), board games like chess, simple resistance training (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24832975/), and creative activities like drawing are all easy ways to improve your general spatial awareness.
In theory, you should be confident that your car will fit between the white lines on the road. However, in the new age of over-large cars, unsafe drivers, and unpainted roads, the heavy burden falls on everyday people. Keeping each white line in sight within your side mirrors is the best way to stay safe, and keeping your wits about you is even better.
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