My neighbour raised the subject of driving a couple of days ago in conversation at the community mailboxes. He observed that he often encountered drivers straying out of their lanes in our area, sometimes to the point where they were completely on the wrong side of the road. "Practice makes permanent" he said, "that's something my instructor told me when I was learning to ride a motorcycle."
Making Good Practice Permanent
My thoughts as he left immediately went to the training that I had received during my police service. We were taught over and over again how to use our firearms. We practised with them and if necessary we were corrected by our instructors until using them was second nature and did not require conscious thought.
The idea was that when faced with a sudden situation where we had to shoot we would do it quickly and correctly. The repetitive practice of the proper actions would be ingrained in our actions permanently.
This Applies to All Critical Skills, Including Driving
How does this apply to driving? It's just like any other task. Learn the correct actions, practice them over and over and eventually you will do them automatically. Staying in your own lane would be part of this, but so would scanning at intersections, following the speed limits and giving a proper signal to name a few of the common deficiencies in some drivers.
Bad Practice Can be Permanent Too
Bad practices can become permanent for the same reasons if you let them. Habits become difficult to correct once they are set, so don't let them become your default setting. They can also be difficult to identify simply because you have been doing them for a long time and have been fortunate enough that they have not caused a problem for you, yet...
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