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" Looking hot behind the wheel starts with driving smart. Use these tips to help you drive safely and feel confident every time you put the pedal to the metal. Obey the speed limit Okay, it seems like a no-brainer: You know that if you take a corner too fast you&amp;#039;re at risk of losing control of the car (and the privilege of driving if you get a ticket!). But going the legal speed is actually an essential way to protect yourself from other drivers. If someone else makes a mistake and swerves into your lane as you fly by, you won&amp;#039;t have valuable time to correct and avoid an accident. Not to mention the fact that speeding tickets significantly up the insurance premiums for new drivers (but enough of the lecturing!). Roll right Matt Stone, executive editor at Motor Trend magazine, clued us in on one of the most surprisingly important ways to keep your car in great shape and you safe. &amp;quot;The best ABS brake system in the world is not going to work if the tires are bald and flat, and one has 12 pounds of air and the other one has 50,&amp;quot; he said. So make sure you check your tires&amp;#039; air pressure once a month. (Bonus: Evenly filled tires actually help you conserve gas and save money!) And knowing how to change a tire if you get a flat isn&amp;#039;t just impressive -- it could be a lifesaver. Make sure you know the location of your spare tire, jack, and lug wrench and that you&amp;#039;re able to change it in a pinch.  Learn basic maintenance Owning a car is like owning a pet -- you wouldn&amp;#039;t just rub its belly once a week and expect it to survive, would you? Go beyond pumping your own gas and find out how to do the following simple checks that can save you cash and headaches down the road: \u2022 Check your oil once a month and add it if necessary. (You can leave the full changes to the pros, if you want. Most experts recommend you do them every 3,000 miles or six months, whichever comes first.) \u2022 Check the brake fluid and make sure there&amp;#039;s enough in the reservoir. \u2022 Add windshield-washer fluid. \u2022 Check the car&amp;#039;s coolant. \u2022 Jump-start your car if your battery dies. \u2022 Remove and replace windshield wipers.  Be prepared Even if you belong to a road safety club or have fancy OnStar emergency service in your car, no car should hit the pavement without a fully stocked safety kit. There are some great premade packages out there (check out barbarak.com for a nicely equipped $30 version), but you can make your own with the following must-haves that may already be sitting around your house. For your glove box: \u2022 A good mini flashlight -- Matt Stone recommends Maglite brand. \u2022 A list of emergency phone numbers, including any auto club you or your family belongs to, in case your cell battery dies and you need to reach someone. \u2022 Registration and proof of insurance for quick reference if you&amp;#039;re pulled over. For your trunk: \u2022 Jumper cables. \u2022 Four roadside flares or light sticks. \u2022 A gallon of water. \u2022 A first-aid kit. \u2022 Snacks like an energy bar, nuts, or dried fruit to keep you fueled if you&amp;#039;re stuck somewhere for hours. \u2022 Kitty litter or road salt in the winter. \u2022 A larger flashlight with extra batteries (or a version that can be hand-cranked). \u2022 A quart of motor oil and a funnel. \u2022 Basic tools like a wrench, flat and Phillips head screwdrivers, and pliers. \u2022 A warm blanket. \u2022 Paper towels and clean rags. \u2022 Duct tape. \u2022 An ice scraper (if you live in a cold climate). \u2022 A help sign. \u2022 Extra fuses.  Keep distractions to a minimum There are so many cool interactive audio and video systems available for cars now that they could fill an entire network just with Pimp My Ride episodes. But don&amp;#039;t spend so much time playing with them that you forget to drive. Unless you&amp;#039;re a regular bungee jumper, driving is likely the most dangerous thing you&amp;#039;re going to do in any given day. Your number one obligation is to keep the car under control -- and react quickly to road events that are out of your control. So respect the power you have at the wheel by giving it your full attention -- always.  Consider a driving course Between mandatory in-car sessions and your parents&amp;#039; nagging you with &amp;quot;tips,&amp;quot; you may be driver&amp;#039;s educationed out. However, taking a course at a driving school that goes beyond parallel parking basics is a great way to feel more secure with your skills. Plenty of high-performance driving schools offer half- and one-day courses just for teens -- Matt Stone likes the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Arizona. &amp;quot;They kind of invented the teen-driving course and they have fun with it,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;You learn how to safely spin out and then catch the spin, and use ABS brakes while driving a real machine.&amp;quot; These programs will run you $1,175 to $3,095, but where else will you be able to cruise around a racetrack in a Mustang or a Cadillac? If you don&amp;#039;t have the cash for a fancy school, check out Toyota Driving Expectations, a free program in partnership with the National Safety Council to help tune your driving skills, which is taking place in several locations throughout the country from April to October this year. By the way, every driver should be able to make left-hand and three-point turns. If they still intimidate you, ask for help from an experienced person you trust! Get your z&amp;#039;s... Ever found yourself yawning a ton while driving and barely able to keep your eyes open or concentrate on the road? Those are all signs of sleep deprivation, something that can be just as dangerous when you&amp;#039;re behind the wheel as being drunk. (The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that tired drivers are a factor in more than 100,000 car crashes annually!) Make sure you&amp;#039;re well rested before every road trip, and know the signs of serious sleepiness, such as: \u2022 You can&amp;#039;t remember what happened in the past few seconds or minutes... \u2022 You keep jerking involuntarily as if you&amp;#039;re nodding off to sleep... \u2022 You&amp;#039;re closing your eyes for even just a few seconds... \u2022 You let your car veer into the next lane or off the road. If any of those happen to you, you&amp;#039;re putting yourself and others in danger. Slow your car and pull over to a safe spot where you can call your parents or a friend for help. You may have heard that blasting the radio and singing along, or rolling down the windows and cranking up the AC to get fresh air, may help. These are only temporary fixes -- what you really need is rest. The National Sleep Foundation recommends taking a 15-to-45-minute nap to recharge, but if it doesn&amp;#039;t seem safe where you are, at least go to a gas station to buy a caffeinated soda or coffee. It&amp;#039;ll take about 30 minutes for the buzz to kick in, so you may need to wait it out for a bit before hitting the road again. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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