As a student driver, taking the car out for a trip around town is one of the easiest parts of learning to drive. Your driving instructor may need to remind you to use your turn signal or have you adjust your parking once or twice. Highway driving, on the other hand, is one of the hardest and most stressful skills to learn. Thankfully, the experts at Sure-Drive Driver's Training in northern Kentucky have plenty of tips on how to make driving on the highway easier.

How to Drive on the Highway for the First Time

1. Give Yourself Plenty of Room

High speeds and volumes of traffic can make highways feel cramped. Avoid feeling boxed in by other cars by maintaining a healthy distance from the car in front of you. Where you would normally give the car in front of you one or two car lengths on city roads, lengthen that distance to three car lengths on the highway.

2. Choose the Right Time to Drive

Highways can be packed with traffic or relatively free-flowing depending on the time of day. Try not to head out when other drivers will be commuting to and from work; having to interact with heavy traffic can create a more difficult and stressful drive. Instead, hit the highway during mid-day, when commuters are already at work, and the roadways will be clear.

3. Take Your Time Merging & Changing Lanes

Merging from a ramp onto the highway can create a sense of pressure, especially as cars speed by on the left. To avoid feeling overwhelmed, gradually increase your speed to match the vehicles on the highway. Take your time checking your mirrors and blind spot. Use your turn signal and ease your way into the lane.

4. Focus on Maintaining Your Speed

Generally, it’s a good idea to keep up with the flow of traffic on a highway within reason; speeding up to match traffic can definitely prevent accidents. Keep your speed steady to avoid making other drivers wary, prompting risky behavior. 

5. Keep to the Right

Generally, slower traffic keeps to the right, and left lanes are used for passing. Staying in the right lane while on the highway can give you an accurate sense of how fast other cars are driving without having to interact too much with other drivers or make any quick decisions. During driver’s ed, chances are that your driving instructor will have you keep right.

Whatever happens while you’re driving on the highway, try to take it with a grain of salt. If a driver mistakenly cuts you off or you’re exposed to another driver’s road rage, keep cool and keep driving. If you feel like having a driving instructor in the car would help, call Sure-Drive Driver's Training at (859) 331-0007 to schedule your own driver’s ed lessons. Visit their website for further contact information and more details.