When my father was teaching me to drive, he gave me one piece of advice that has saved my butt more times than I can count; he said, "Drive like everyone else on the road is out to kill you."
Here we're talking about two-way traffic, parked cars, intersections, lights, and stop signs. In other words, many folks everyday experience behind the wheel. There are several other driving scenarios that you'll read about here, but for most of us, leaving home puts us in this first situation for a time. In many ways this is the most complex set of mental activities you will experience behind the wheel, so let's start.
INTERSECTIONS
There are two possible positions you can be in at an intersection, first or not.
If you're first - when your turn comes, check each point of the intersection before proceeding to make sure the other vehicles are stopped. Zipping through an intersection stops being fun when someone from the right or left decides to beat the red or run a stop sign, or the person in the approaching lane turns left as you are going by. If you're on a road with multiple lanes in each direction, you also have to pay attention to the cars on either side of yours as well as the rest of the traffic. Once when I was in the right lane proceeding straight ahead, a vehicle in the lane to my left decided to make a right turn and did, into the side of my car. Since I was already moving and past that car there's nothing I could have done to avoid the hit. However, I did not look to see if the vehicle was trying to make that turn.
Moral: it pays to make eye contact with drivers to either side if possible, so you are all on the same page when it becomes time to move.
If you're not first - In addition to all the stuff above, you have to pay attention to the vehicle in front of yours. Try to stop far enough behind it so you can see the rear tires at the point they touch the road. Sometimes on an inclined stop particularly, a driver may allow the vehicle to roll, you may be that driver. Your brain does a peculiar thing in this situation, it isn't sure who's moving but will invariably react as if you were and hit the brake. Not bad if you are the mover, but not much help if it's the vehicle ahead rolling toward you. By stopping where I suggest, and paying attention to those rear tires, you give your brain a better chance of reacting properly - horn rather than brake, reverse if there's no vehicle behind you perhaps.
More "not first" - When it's your turn to cross the intersection, make sure you have room on the other side before you enter; it can be embarrassing to be the person who starts a gridlock by getting caught in the middle.
BETWEEN INTERSECTIONS
Lots of things can come out from between parked cars: animals, people, toys followed by little people, etc. It's your job to be attentive to those possibilities. There's also the parked car itself: is someone in the driver seat; are they about to open the door; is the engine running; turn signal on; brake lights on? At some level you should be aware of the status of every parked vehicle you pass. You may also encounter bicycles. Bicycles are road vehicles like your car and as such are required to obey the same traffic laws that you are. Probably doesn't happen very often. However, give them a break and a brake. Remember you have tons of metal, plastic, glass,and rubber strapped to your butt; their bike weighs between twenty and forty pounds and provides no protection at all.
I'm sure I could add more stuff here, but I'm also sure things will come up in later posts that can be applied to this scenario, so I'm going to put this one out in the ether for interested folks to read.
Just to wrap things up a bit, you need to attend to everything around you all the time. Don't let your attention wander, and remember my dad's advice.
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