3 Things You Need to do Before You Drive Again

As we all get ready to head out onto Hudson Valley roads once again over the course of the next few weeks, you may notice that when you get in your car and start to drive, you might not feel like you're at the top of your driving game.

I noticed the other day when I was driving from Poughkeepsie to Newburgh for a doctors appointment that since all of the COVID-19 stuff has started my driving skills have deteriorated. Now not totally, I can still drive but I have noticed that my sharpness and awareness seem to be a bit off.

If you haven't driven in a while you might experience some of those same feelings when you get behind the wheel again and before you freak out like I did, we thought it would be a good idea to try and talk to a driving expert to see if there is anything we can do to brush up on driving.

We talked to Matt Meltzer from Meltzer's Driver Training Center in Wappingers Falls and he gave us a few tips that could help us all out before we hit the roads soon. He told us that the number one rule he gives new and old drivers is to "trust BUT verify". For example, when a light turns green, before you drive through the intersection, make sure you "verify" that any other cars are not coming in any other direction before you drive through.

Matt also told us that breaking out some old video games can be really helpful in sharpening your driving awareness. He suggested that we try and play a few older video games like Pac-Man or Space Invaders. He said those games help with dealing with things coming at you from different directions.

When you do get back behind the wheel please do us all one favor, let's all try to have some patience with other drivers as we all try to get back to some sort of normalcy.

Listen to the Wakin' Up With CJ and Jess Show weekday mornings from 6AM to noon on The Wolf. Stream us live through the website, Alexa-enabled device, Google Home or The Wolf mobile app.