Driving

For someone to have an interest in driving a car seems, well, rather mundane, don't you think? I mean, you just get in your car and you go! We all jump in our cars everyday and we go anywhere, anytime, day or night, rain or shine.

We all go! But we don't all return. The latest figures indicate there were 42,636 motor vehicle (MV) fatalities in the U.S. during 2004 - the latest year for which compiled statistics are available. That equates to over 116 people each day who needlessly die in MV accidents. Canadian statistics are somewhat better, but still take a dreadful toll in human life. If you want to read the report, view it here.

There is no outcry over these deaths because they happen in ones and twos and threes in disparate regions of the country. But to put these unnecessary deaths in perspective, the deaths approximately equate to the fatal crash of a domestic airliner every day across the U.S.

If that were the case, the industry would be shut-down until the issues were resolved!

What I find astounding is the incredibly sloppy way in which people operate their vehicles! Rolling stops - or no stops at all at stop signs. Pushing the yellow at controlled intersections. Rolling across the stop line. Reading a paper. Fiddling with a cell phone. Listening - serious listening - to a car radio or iPod. I saw one man holding a game controller on his steering wheel while a laptop computer sat on the front seat, playing games as he drove down the highway! And now we have to check the map on our GPS. And there is almost universal disregard for the speed limits.

We all learned that we should adjust our seat and adjust our mirrors. Here's another tip: adjust your attitude. The best safety officer is inside your head. Driving is not a contest. Let the tailgater or aggressive driver by - the farther away he is the better off you are! Don't let your mind wander. Stay focused and drive.

Driving a car has become the most dangerous occupation many will ever undertake. And so it becomes necessary to defend yourself on the road! Enter defensive driving: one definition - defensive driving is operating your motor vehicle in such a way as to prevent collisions in spite of the actions of others and the conditions around you. Defensive driving has a good deal to do with understanding the laws that govern your vehicle. Not the highway laws - although those too - but the laws of physics. One of the best books ever published in this regard is called Motor Vehicle Driving Practices, by J. Willard Lord. It was written for "Bell System" drivers and is long out of print.

While much of the book is common sense, the author addresses some issues not covered in any driving handbook I've ever seen. For example, forces acting on a wheel during cornering, braking coefficient of friction on various surfaces, weight transfer during skidding, relationship of tire and road surfaces to braking effort, stopping distances under various conditions, how centrifugal and centripetal forces impact a car when cornering, etc. The author uses the laws of physics to illustrate each of these situations, and how braking, steering, and other driver actions contribute to safe operation of the vehicle, or not. The author illustrates how the majority of accidents - from first realization of a threat to impact will take place in under two seconds.

Here's one interesting snippet: pedestrian visibility at night - all things being equal, the author found the color of clothing worn by a pedestrian makes a dramatic difference in visibility at night under equal conditions. Unlit street at night, no approaching headlights, clean windshield, straight-and-level road: very dark or black clothing, pedestrian first visible at 75 feet (23 meters); grey clothing, pedestrian first visible at 370 feet (113 meters); white or bright clothing, pedestrian first visible at 480 feet (146 meters).  So what? This is the lesson to learn - watch out for pedestrians on those dark rainy nights when you're tired and can't wait to get home! NEVER let your guard down.

We often say he (or she) is a good driver, or a bad driver. What does that mean? Is a good driver one who just obeys all the rules of the road or is there more to it than that? Here's my definition of a "good driver."

A "good driver" is a driver who possesses (at least) a basic understanding of the laws of physics as they relate to objects in motion, and who uses that knowledge in the operation of his or her motor vehicle. He (or she) operates his or her vehicle with due regard to the comfort and safety of his passengers and other users of the road, and constantly makes allowance for road and weather conditions including his own limitations and the limitations of other drivers, so as to avoid a collision in spite of their actions.

Understanding the forces on a vehicle and how they affect the performance of the vehicle can make one a safer and more courteous driver. Although the book was written over 40-years ago the physical principles governing moving objects have not changed. Newton's Laws of Force and Motion are still true! The book, however, does not address things like anti-lock brakes, vehicle stabilization systems, air-bags, and the like, but even these still operate based on the laws of physics and so the book is a very effective instrument in helping one to understand what's happening between "the rubber and the road" - and everything that happens related to control of the vehicle happens right there!

It's a great book. Drive with care! By the way, if you drive an SUV, click here.

If you understand very little about the physics of moving objects, just remember this one fact: The four patches of rubber on the road are about the size of a man's hand... and all your starting, stopping, and cornering is dependant on those four patches of rubber. Ideally, we would have different tires for winter and summer driving, but if a compromise is necessary, select a good touring or performance tire. They are quieter than all-season or winter tires, they provide better directional stability and deliver shorter stopping distances with less anti-lock intervention. They also offer less rolling resistance (better gas mileage) and provide a comfortable ride.

If you can, increase your tire size. Enhancing your tire and wheel improves vehicle performance without upsetting the delicate handling balance. Keep the overall tire diameter within 3% of the original equipment tires. Increasing the width of the tire by 10 millimeters and dropping the aspect ratio by 10 points (the difference between a 65 and 55 tire size) allows the wheel to be upsized by a full inch - say from 15 to 16 inches. The advantage is more rubber on the road which increases all of the previous advantages.

A tire's ability to provide grip can be overloaded when the application of braking force results in the tire locking up, too much power causes it to spin , or cornering forces tend to make it slide sideways. Sideways forces can cause rapid loss of control and are usually evident by the onset of oversteer (the rear end begins to slide out from under you) or understeer, in which the car pushes toward the outside of a corner. [Tip: if you exit the highway and find the off-ramp much sharper than expected, brake very hard while still going straight (to the point of almost locking the wheels or activating anti-lock braking), then release the brakes and steer through the curve - gentle acceleration as you exit the curve will improve traction]. It's much easier to maintain control if you brake hard while going straight - brake hard in a curve and you'll end up off the road - or worse.

Anti-lock brake systems (ABS) solve the wheel-lock and steering issue, and all wheel drive (AWD) solves the wheel spin issue, but understeer and oversteer require more advanced systems that are starting to appear on some higher-end cars. When cornering, the speed of a vehicle's outside rear wheel is less than the average of both front wheels which prevents the transfer of power to that wheel. Electronic controls that integrate with ABS and AWD can actually accelerate this outside wheel and increase its speed relative to the front wheels, which significantly improves cornering stability, which creates an inward yaw moment (remember your college physics?). During deceleration in a curve torque to the outside wheel is regulated to change from an inward to an outward yaw moment, maintaining stability.

Do something nice for your car - put nitrogen in your tires! There's a whole lot of good reasons your car will thank you. Go here to learn more.

You may never drive a car to it's limits, but other drivers may test your limits - so driving a car that can remain stable and controllable under emergency conditions can help you maintain your composure.

For a great driving experience, try driving a school bus! You will get some excellent defensive driver training and it will truly change the way you drive any vehicle. With up to 72 kids perhaps as young as 6 years of age on your bus, in heavy traffic with (some) cars cutting you off (nobody wants to be behind a school bus!) you really will learn to be calm, cool and collected and protect "your kids" no matter what happens outside the bus. Every school bus driver I know regards their passengers as "their kids" and would tackle a grizzly bear to protect them. You will be truly blessed if you have good bus monitors, as I do.  I have three monitors on my bus and one of them in particular - a young lady of 12 or 13 - along with her bus-monitor peers has done an outstanding job of organizing the kids into a seating plan, controlling the behavior of the kids, and enforcing the rules on the bus. This leaves me free to focus entirely on driving safely and getting the kids to and from school each day. Although driving a bus is not difficult, it does require constant attention to little details. The bus company I work for (Laidlaw Transit - now First Student Canada) provides training that is nothing short of outstanding, holds monthly safety reviews, and conducts periodic driver proficiency check rides. This company puts safety way up there as the top priority.

The drivers of some vehicles on the road wear bullet-proof vests and carry guns to protect their cargo of cash and valuables. We too wear vests - they're not bullet-proof like the Brinks Armored Vehicle drivers wear; they are yellow with reflective tape on them, and we too are armed - but not with guns. Our weapons are our defensive driving skills and we use them every moment to protect a cargo far more valuable than you will ever find in an armored vehicle.

If you like kids and you like driving, this is a great job!

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