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Show MOTOR MAIDS fe'fi '. Cab Driver Lists City Driving Tips By Jeanne Smith, Dodge Safety Consultant ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN when you're driving in city traffic and often does. In fact, while driving from your home in the city to the super -market or beauty parlor perhaps just a few blocks away you may have to make as many decisions and responses as you would in driv- jng 60 miles on the highway. The reason, of course, is that urban traffic is heavier and much more unpredictable in its movement move-ment than rural traffic. Yet driving driv-ing in the city need be no more taxing than a pleasant afternoon drive in the countrv. The secret lies in the art of "defensive" driving as practiced by most bus, truck and taxi drivers. driv-ers. Phil Feld-stein, Feld-stein, a New York City cob driver, has .1 ,r J ft "wiiiim- Mttm offender in city traffic is the driver driv-er who carelessly switches from one lane to another, passing on the wrong side. "Observe the 'one-lane' 'one-lane' habit," he urges. "Keep to the right. Always signal when switching lanes, and pass only on the left." Traffic violations most frequently fre-quently reported by city police are speeding and right-of-way offenses. And the contributing causes of practically all urban accidents, besides insufficient attention, are errors in judgment and indecision. "Defensive" drivers, like Feldstein, follow a few simple rules to avoid tickets and accidents. They keep a suspicious eye on every intersection, alley, side street, car and pedestrian. When approaching an intersection, they reduce speed and watch for cars on the right which may abruptly turn left across their path. They watch too ftft vehicles on intersecting inter-secting streets that continue against the "stop" light; for those on either side that may cut in ahead of them by beating the light; and for pedestrians who cross against the signal, outside the crosswalk line or diagonally. Finally, safe drivers always leave their tempers at home. "Anger and driving, like drinking and driving," Feldstein says, "just do not mix." Hiss Smith that city's busy streets for ten years and is rated by the AAA as one of New York's top cab drivers. "Driving in New York, as in any city," Phil says, "is simply a matter of being careful and being prepared for emergencies. "The most common error that I witness daily is bumper-riding. What happens when the first driver driv-er stops short? Two smashed cars, two angry drivers each blaming the other and a traffic jam !" By allowing a "safety margin" ahead of your car, Feldstein suggests, you won't have to "stop on a dime" or turn out sharply to avoid bumping bump-ing another car. In Feldstein's opinion, the worst |