Pre-driving procedures are the safety checks and adjustments you complete before putting a vehicle in motion. They cover everything from inspecting the outside of your car to positioning your seat, checking mirrors, and confirming your own physical readiness to drive. Whether you’re preparing for a driving test or building good habits, these steps take only a few minutes and catch problems that could become dangerous on the road.
Walk Around the Vehicle First
Before you get in, do a slow lap around your car. You’re looking for four things: tire condition, fluid leaks, light damage, and obstacles in your path. Crouch down and glance under the vehicle for puddles of oil, coolant, or transmission fluid. Check that no children, pets, or objects are behind or in front of the car, especially in driveways or parking lots where visibility is limited.
Look at each tire for obvious damage like bulges, cuts, or low air. The federal minimum tread depth is 2/32 of an inch, the point at which tires rapidly lose traction. You can check this with the classic penny test: insert a penny headfirst into the tread grooves. If you can see all of Lincoln’s head, the tire is at or below the legal minimum and needs replacing. Some states, like Pennsylvania, set their own threshold at 3/32 of an inch for an extra margin of safety.
Test your lights while you’re still outside. Turn on the headlights, then walk to the front and back to confirm both brake lights, both turn signals, and your emergency flashers are working. The California DMV’s pre-drive checklist specifically requires operational turn signals on both the front and rear, plus both left and right brake lights. A burned-out bulb is one of the fastest ways to fail a driving test or get pulled over.
Adjust Your Seat and Steering Wheel
Once inside, your first job is getting the seat right. Sit with your back flat against the seatback and slide the seat forward or backward until you can fully press the brake (or clutch, if driving a manual) without locking your knee. Your hips should be level with or slightly above your knees. If you drive with a locked leg, you lose the ability to modulate pressure on the pedals, and in a collision your straight leg absorbs far more impact force.
Next, adjust the steering wheel height and reach. You should be able to hold the wheel at the “quarter to three” position (hands at roughly 9 and 3) with a slight bend in your elbows. A quick test: rest your wrists on top of the wheel. If your elbows are locked, you’re too far away. If your arms are sharply bent, you’re too close. You also want a clear sightline to your speedometer and other instruments over the top of the wheel.
Set Your Mirrors After Your Seat
Mirrors always come after the seat and steering wheel. If you adjust mirrors first and then move your seat, every angle changes and you’ll have blind spots you don’t know about.
For the interior rearview mirror, position it so you can see as much of the rear window as possible with a quick glance, without moving your head. For each side mirror, angle it outward until you can just barely see the edge of your own car. This maximizes your view of the road behind and to the sides. Many drivers tilt their side mirrors too far inward, which duplicates what the rearview mirror already shows and leaves large blind spots in the adjacent lanes. Even with well-set mirrors, a quick shoulder check before changing lanes is still necessary.
Buckle Up and Check Restraints
The shoulder belt should cross the middle of your chest, between your neck and your shoulder, and lie flat without twists. The lap belt sits low across your hips and pelvis, not across your stomach. Never tuck the shoulder belt under your arm or behind your back. Your pelvis and rib cage are the strongest parts of your torso, and correct belt placement directs crash forces there instead of into softer tissue.
If children are riding with you, check their fit every time they get in, even if they rode in the same vehicle yesterday. A child is ready for an adult seat belt only when they can sit without slouching, keep their knees bent naturally over the seat edge, and rest their feet flat on the floor. The lap belt should sit snugly across the upper thighs, not the stomach, and the shoulder belt should never cross the face or neck. If the belt doesn’t fit this way, they still need a booster seat.
Read Your Dashboard Warning Lights
When you turn the ignition to “on” (or press the start button), every warning light on your dashboard should briefly illuminate. This is a self-test. The lights cycle through to confirm each system’s sensor is working, then turn off one by one as the car confirms everything is normal. Pay attention to two things: any light that stays on, and any light that doesn’t come on at all. A missing light could mean a burned-out indicator bulb, which means that system can’t warn you later.
The lights that matter most before you drive:
- Check engine: shaped like an engine silhouette. Could indicate anything from a loose gas cap to a serious engine problem.
- Oil pressure: looks like an old-fashioned oil can. If this stays on after starting, do not drive. Low oil pressure can destroy an engine in minutes.
- Battery: shaped like a battery. Signals a charging system problem that could leave you stranded.
- Brake system: often a circle with an exclamation point. Check first that your parking brake is fully released, since that’s the most common cause. If the light stays on with the brake released, your braking system needs attention before you go anywhere.
- Tire pressure (TPMS): looks like a horseshoe shape with an exclamation point. One or more tires is significantly low on air.
- Coolant temperature: resembles a thermometer in water. If it lights up immediately, your engine may already be overheating from a coolant leak.
- Airbag: normally illuminates briefly at startup and turns off. If it stays on, the airbag system has a fault and may not deploy in a crash.
Assess Your Own Readiness
The vehicle is only half the equation. Drowsy driving, impairment, and strong emotions all degrade your ability to react. NHTSA data links aggressive and impulsive behaviors, like anger at other drivers or willful disregard of traffic rules, with higher rates of violations and crashes across every age group. If you’re furious, grieving, or otherwise emotionally overwhelmed, your judgment and reaction time suffer even if you’re completely sober.
Fatigue is especially dangerous because people consistently underestimate how impaired they are. If you’ve slept poorly, feel drowsy, or catch yourself yawning repeatedly, those are signals to delay the trip or hand the keys to someone else. Drowsiness doesn’t improve once you start driving. It gets worse. Drivers with untreated sleep disorders that cause daytime drowsiness are considered unfit to drive until effective treatment is in place.
Alcohol and other substances are straightforward: if you’ve been drinking or using anything that affects coordination or alertness, you should not be behind the wheel. But also consider over-the-counter medications. Antihistamines, sleep aids, and even some cold medicines cause drowsiness that compounds with fatigue.
Weather-Specific Checks
In winter, pre-driving procedures expand. Clear all snow and ice from every window, mirror, headlight, taillight, and the roof of your car. Snow left on the roof slides onto your windshield when you brake or blows off onto the car behind you at highway speed, both serious hazards. NHTSA recommends keeping a snow shovel, broom, and ice scraper in your vehicle during winter months.
In rain, check that your wiper blades clear the windshield cleanly without streaking or skipping. In fog or low-visibility conditions, confirm your low-beam headlights work (high beams reflect off fog and make visibility worse). In extreme heat, a quick check of your coolant level and tire pressure is worthwhile, since heat increases tire pressure and accelerates coolant evaporation.
Final Steps Before Moving
With your seat, mirrors, belt, and dashboard all confirmed, handle a few last details. Make sure your phone is stowed or mounted so it won’t be a distraction. Set your GPS destination now, not while you’re driving. Adjust climate controls and music so you won’t be fiddling with them in traffic. If you have cargo, confirm it’s secured and not blocking your rearview mirror or any windows.
Check that your parking brake is fully released, your transmission is in the correct gear (park for automatics, neutral for manuals), and your foot is firmly on the brake before you shift. Take one final look at your surroundings through all three mirrors and over both shoulders. Only then should you begin to move.