In addition to the required driver education courses, there are other ways for Louisiana drivers to get training.

Consider these methods:

• Study the Louisiana Class D & E Drivers Guide, available online using the free Adobe Reader.

• Practice driving with an experienced, licensed driver and ask for feedback.

• Take practice tests.

• If your school offers a driver education course, take it.

• Take the time to become familiar with your vehicle.

15 Tips to Safer Driving

Ready to start driving? Not so fast. Read these 15 tips to safer driving:

1. Wear your seat belt. Make your passengers buckle up, too. You're the one driving, right?
2. Check your gas, seat adjustment, headrest adjustment, and mirror adjustments. Make sure your windshield is clean―both outside and inside.
3. Get complete directions when driving to an unfamiliar place.
4. Obey the speed limits. If caught, you could be issued a traffic ticket, increasing your insurance. Even worse―Mom and Dad could take your license.
5. Follow the color rules: green means go, yellow means slow to a stop, and red means stop. Period.
6. Be prepared at all times. Carry a cell phone, calling card, or some extra change for a payphone with you. You never know when you're going to have car trouble or possibly an accident. It's also a good idea to keep some extra gas money stowed away, too.
7. Be on the lookout for pedestrians, motorcyclists, and bicyclists as well as other vehicles, and drive defensively.
8. Maintain your car. Tires, brakes, oil―everything. Unless you're an auto whiz, this can probably be left up to Dad or Jiffy Lube.
9. Pay attention to weather conditions, use your headlights when necessary, and check your exhaust pipe for mud clogs.
10. Don't carry more passengers than you have seatbelts for.
11. Keep the music volume low. You might be dying to jam that new CD, but you don't want to miss hearing a siren or a horn warn you of possible danger.
12. If talking on the phone, applying makeup, fixing your hair, or eating is that important, pull of the road first.
13. Pay attention to objects in the road.
14. Don't race trains, or try to cross a track when a train is in sight. If you're late for work, leave earlier next time.
15. Never, under any circumstances, get into a vehicle with a person who has been drinking or using drugs. If you're under the influence of alcohol or drugs, find a sober driver or call your parents for a ride home.

Finally, don't drive like you own the road. You don't. Drive like you own the car and your life.

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