Backing Up Is Hard To Do!

Listen to the Oldies stations and you'll hear Neil Sedaka complain about this all the time. Oh, I'm sorry. He sings about breaking up. Well they're both difficult, but once you get the hang of backing up, you can scratch that off your worry list.

Actually, reversing is not tough, however reversing in a straight line often frustrates most beginners and their parents.

Why? Well maybe because the correct backing stance is uncomfortable, or the view out the back window seems weird, maybe the car is moving too fast, or perhaps someone believes that one has to steer in the opposite direction of where one really wants the car to go. The latter misconception thwarts most new drivers.

Follow these steps to ease the burden of backing:

1. Find a nice quiet intersection where the streets join at a 90 degree angle. Have your teen pull into the curb (about a foot or two away from the vertical portion). Make sure your vehicle is parallel to this curb as it's much easier to back up in a straight line if you're already set up for it by driving straight forward. You're going to have her back straight along the curb and stop just before the cross walk.

2. Have your teen pivot her upper body to the her right so she can look over her right shoulder and out the back window. The rear view mirror should not be used for this maneuver. She should grip the steering wheel at the 12 o'clock position with her left hand. Make sure she doesn't succumb to the natural tendency to tilt the steering wheel to the left while in this stance. Initially she'll have to take extra care to separate left-hand movement from movement of her right shoulder and her head.

3. Reverses should be executed slowly. Speed should be controlled with the brake almost exclusively. Your teen should rarely have to use the accelerator for this. Her right foot should always be covering the brake.

4. Tell her to steer in the direction she wants the back end of the car to go. Make this even easier by eliminating all references to right or left. Instead she will now steer towards either the curb or the middle of the street. Steering corrections should be minuscule. The bigger the corrections, the harder it is to maintain steady course.

Just remember - have her keep her eye on the course, move slow and steer straight. She'll pass this event on the road test with flying colors.

The Instructor's Brake

I hate using my instructor's brake.

I hate it because when I was 15 years old my driving instructor absolutely loved to use his. He used his brake the same way a dog-handler uses a choke chain. I'd be driving along and out of the blue the car wouldn't respond to me anymore. When that happened I'd think I was not pressing on the gas pedal correctly, so I'd press harder and rev the engine a bit more than Mr. Nuccio liked. Then he'd get upset. Then I would get even more upset.

Thus I use my instructor brake only to keep my students from hitting things when it appears that they are on a collision course. I use it quite a bit, but never as gratuitously as my instructor did back in 1971.

Yesterday afternoon was rather warm - over 80 degrees. You know how you get kind of sluggish and dopey when the temperatures jump, especially when you're acclimated to 65 degrees.

The higher temps just put Devlyn, my first student, into a torpor. Well not exactly a torpor, but she wasn't really at her best. She was slow in spotting a few dangerous situations and slow to react once she recognized them.

I ended up using my brake about 4 times in 90 minutes with her behind the wheel. That's not something I usually do even with the worst of my drivers. With Devlyn this was even more extraordinary because up until yesterday she was always on the ball.

"What's wrong with you today kiddo? I'm helping you out a bit too much."

"I'm sorry. I'm just so tired. This heat is killing me."

"That makes sense. Did you know when you're tired you tend to look down and to the right? You need to force yourself to look through the upper half of that windshield. Pick up on those cars stopped up ahead so you can slow down softly and I don't have to do your braking for you."

"OK. I'm sorry."

"Don't sweat it. Now you know why "Aim High In Steering" is so important. And you know how it feels to drive when your tired. Now you know what you have to do to compensate. You've learned some important lessons today."

Really a good session. I'm glad I could point these things out while she was training with a safety net.

Yep, a safety net beats a choke chain any day.

A Moment in Automotive History

When did motor vehicle accidents and traffic safety become part of our culture? Who crashed the first car? Who became the first fatality? Who first thought of stop signs?

I don't think anyone can give a definitive answer to all these questions. The first recorded crash has been credited to Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot who drove his steam-powered "Fardier" against a wall in 1770. He survived the collision, but the crash put an end to his experiments with self propelled vehicles.

The earliest recorded motor vehicle fatality was Mary Ward who died on August 31, 1869 in Parsonstown, Ireland after being thrown from an experimental steam car built by her cousins.

Many of the earliest innovations in road safety are credited to a man who never drove a car himself, William Phelps Enos. He is sometimes known as the "father of traffic safety". Enos is credited with conceiving the stop sign, the traffic circle, and the one way street.

Teaching Your Teen To Drive: Objective # 3 - Taking Turns

"Knowledge is gained by learning; trust by doubt; skill by practice; and love by love." ~ Thomas S. Szasz

How does a parent go about teaching a brand new, inexperienced driver how to make proper turns?

Here are the step by step instructions:

#1 - Get behind the wheel to show and explain the proper steps for turning corners. Tell your student when and where to start turning and how to straighten the front wheels for coming out of a turn. Have the kid watch your hands as well as the road.

For a left turn you might use the following script while you demonstrate:

Check your rear view mirror and signal your turn at least 100 feet (about two houses) before the intersection.

Slow down as you approach the intersection and position your car next to the center line as you get closer to the corner.

Look left for cross traffic, look right for cross traffic, look across the intersection for oncoming traffic, and look to your left a second time.

When it is safe to do so - drive to the point where your steering wheel is even with the left corner curb (that straight line of concrete to our left), look out the drivers side window, and begin steering into the lane just to the right of the yellow (center) line.

You should move your eyes towards the right (out the front windshield) as the car progresses into the turn.

Just before the front of the car is perfectly straight begin begin steering back to the right until the car is moving forward in a straight line.

By the way, you're going to have to take very slow turns if you're going to coordinate the words with the actions during the demonstration.

#2 - Find a good place to turn the car over to your new driver. If you can find an empty parking lot, mark out a 200' by 200' rectangle and mark the corners with orange safety cones (or sand filled bottles). If you can't find a parking lot, find a quiet neighborhood with straight streets and 90 degree intersections.

#3 - Review the lessons from Starting and Stopping. Afterwards have the student demonstrate the hand-over-hand technique while the selector lever is in park and engine idles. Then have the student start making left turns very slowly. You can coach by telling him where to start steering, when to hold the steering wheel in place, and when to start straightening. You should be ready to assist his steering with your left hand.

#4 - After making the first few turns begin emphasizing proper eye habits. Learning to visualize the proper turn path and "looking into and through the turn" are essential to making smooth and precise turns.

#5 - Practice right turns in the same manner. Remember to keep things slow.

#6 - If you've been working in a parking lot up to this point, move the lesson out into the streets. It's time to start practicing proper positioning and signalling in a quiet, low traffic area. Your job just became more complicated because now you have to watch the traffic in addition to coaching. Take an aspirin or two.

#7 - You can begin to gradually speed up the maneuvers. The timing of the steering and braking is closely tied to the speed of the car. The faster your student drives the more difficult the turns become.

#8 - Your teen should learn that the time to begin the straightening process is when the front wheels, not the hood, start to point down the street being turned into.

#9 - Progress to areas where you can take a variety of turns. Your teen should learn how to turn from the halt, while moving, when positioned on a hill top, when positioned at the base of a hill, at corners with both sharp and rounded curbs, and from narrow streets to wide streets.

Have fun. And remember this takes time.

See also:

Help! My Teens Are Taking Killer Turns!! Part I

Help! My Teens Are Taking Killer Turns!! Part II

Drivers Aren't The Only Ones Who Are Tuned Out

Yesterday afternoon I posted my account of a spaced out driving student. Last night Chicago's ABC7 ran a feature on distracted pedestrians. Coincidence? Or are we just both impressed by a problem of epic proportions?

ABC7 noted in its report Tuned Out, that 4500 people were struck by vehicles in Chicago last year. Police say there is no telling how many of them were using iPods, Blackberrys or cell phones at the time -- but safety experts warn that too many people are "tuned out" on bustling crosswalks.

In just one afternoon, ABC7 saw hundreds of people who were "tuned out" at intersections with PDAs, mp3's and cell phones. ABC7 found one woman ignoring a "don't walk" sign as she crossed Michigan Avenue on her cell phone.

Two people listening to headphones at intersections recently died in New York City, so one New York state lawmaker is proposing a law to fine pedestrians $100 for crossing streets while on a cell phone, PDA or mp3.

Personally, I don't think we need any more laws limiting our freedoms. If people want to walk around in a daze that's their prerogative. Don't pass any laws banning electronic devices or fining the users. Let the law of natural selection take over.

However, I would propose legislation that would absolve drivers of any fault should they strike pedestrians who committed unsafe actions while engrossed in the operation of electronic devices.

#1 Driver Error

Recently, I've been working with an eighteen year old student. Here in Illinois she is considered an adult and therefore no longer needs to take formal instruction to qualify for a driver's license.

Nevertheless, she hired me to instruct her as she had already failed the state's road test twice and wanted to figure out what she was doing wrong.

I asked her why she had not passed the road tests, and she explained that a car approaching from the right had nearly smashed into her and the examiner as she was attempting a left turn to leave the test station parking lot.

"Did you see that car coming?"

"No, I looked that way once. Nothing was there so I moved out, and then all of the sudden it came around the corner and nearly nailed us!"

"Oh. Why did you fail the second time?"

"I forgot to check my blind spot before making a lane change."

So we immediately went to work on observing intersections, using proper head and eye movements when taking turns, and of course lane changing drills so she would get in the habit of looking into those blind spots.

We also went over the road test events so she could execute all maneuvers with confidence when the time came. I worked with her once a week for four weeks. During those sessions she never had any problem in physically maneuvering the car.

However, she had a tendency to "zone out" after conquering whatever we had set out to accomplish for the day. Whenever the stress or novelty of the situation disappeared, the mental errors would manifest themselves in various ways. She would try to pull away from the curb without checking her left mirror or blind spot. She would have run through several stop signs had I not intervened.

"What's the problem? Tired?"

"No I'm just spacing out. I do that alot. How do I fix that?"

I did not have a ready answer for her outside of telling her to just stay focused. How do you give advice on how to pay constant attention to dangerous circumstances? You think that it would come naturally. You'd think the survival instinct would kick in and that she'd just do it.

Evidently not. Spacing out is the #1 One Driver Error these days. Everybody seems to be doing it.

Why can't people concentrate anymore?

Lists

No fancy prose today. We'll merely look at lists. Perhaps this light reading will cause you to do some heavy thinking.

List #1 - The Top Ten Causes of Accidental Death in America (In Reverse Order)

10. Machinery - Deaths per year: 350

9. Medical & Surgical Complications and Misadventures - Deaths per year: 500

8. Poisoning by gases - Deaths per year: 700

7. Firearms - Deaths per year: 1,500

6. Suffocation - Deaths per year: 3,300

5. Fires and burns - Deaths per year: 3,700

4. Drowning - Deaths per year: 4,000

3. Poisoning by solids and liquids - Deaths per year: 8,600

2. Falls - Deaths per year: 14,900

1. Motor vehicle crashes - Deaths per year: 43,200

Compiled by soyouwanna.com

List #2 - Top 10 Driving Mistakes

On May 27, 2003, the newly formed coalition "Drive for Life: The National Safe Driving Test & Initiative" cited the following as the 10 most common driving mistakes:

1. Failing to pay attention -- "zoning out"

2. Driving while drowsy

3. Becoming distracted inside the car

4. Failing to adjust to weather conditions

5. Driving aggressively

6. Making assumptions about other drivers' intentions

7. Speeding

8. Changing lanes without checking blind spots and mirrors

9. Driving while upset

10. Ignoring essential auto maintenance

For more on the initiative, or to take the Safe Driving Test, visit the Web site at http://www.safedrivingtest.com.

List #3 - Top Driving Distractions

1. CD/Cassette Players and Radio
2. Children
3. Pets
4. Eating
5. Drinking
6. Smoking
7. Cell phones
8. Personal grooming

http://www.safedrivingtest.com/moredistractions.html#tdd

What Do You Do If...Objects Are Thrown From An Overpass?

Believe it or not there are those that don't think that driving is risky enough. They want to spice up the experience by throwing objects from overpasses onto unsuspecting drivers and their passengers. We've been hearing about this more often. Just Google "Objects Thrown from Overpass Hit Cars" and you'll get a slew of headlines - here are a few:

Rocks Thrown From Overpass Hit Cars on Beltway - Southern Maryland ...

Orlando Sentinel - More vehicles hit with thrown objects by ...

ROCK THROWN FROM OVERPASS PUTS TEEN DRIVER IN HOSPITALIT WAS THE ...

Parkway West Thrower Targets Driver - News Story - WPXI Pittsburgh

Projectiles range from AA batteries to 20 lb frozen turkeys. Given the force of impact at higher speeds even the little batteries can wreak havoc on vehicles and human flesh.

So what can you do to protect yourself from this menace?

Well, if you're lucky enough to see the thrower before you reach the overpass you can reduce speed, change lanes, and head for the shoulder.

While heading for the shoulder take extra care if other traffic is attempting evasive action. What happens when you have 5 to 10 vehicles scattering to avoid bricks raining down on them? Don't get caught in the melee.

Once you make it to the shoulder you can call 911 (hopefully you have a cell phone) and bring the police to the rescue. Keep an eye the thrower(s). Once he hits a car or disrupts traffic he'll usually flee. It may help the police if you can tell them which way the bad guy went.

If you are unable to take evasive action because you spotted the thrower too late, sound your horn. Perhaps it will divert or even deter the goofball.

Help! My Teens Are Making Killer Turns!! Part I

Dear Mr. Driving Instructor:

I'm having all kinds of trouble getting my son John-Boy to take left turns correctly.

John-Boy has trouble staying out of the oncoming lane when he makes left turns. He always ends up straddling the yellow line and then has to slide back to the right. We've almost had a few head on collisions. Driving with John-Boy makes my hair stand on end! I really dread those left turns of his.

How do I get him to do it right every time?

A Scared and Desperate Dad


Dear Scared and Desperate Dad,

It would be better if I could be in the car with your son before I diagnose his driving problems, however from what you describe it sounds like John-Boy might be suffering from one of the following:

1. He could be initiating his steering too soon. Does he begin to turn the steering wheel for these left turns before your vehicle's front end has entered the intersection? If so he is beginning the turn too early. He ought to wait until his steering wheel is even with the the near curb of the road he is turning into. This ensures that his vehicles nose has entered the intersection and gives him a better angle of approach on that right lane.

2. It could be that John-Boy is approaching the turn at an excessive speed. The target speed for most turns is 10 miles an hour. If he's not slowing down as he approaches the turn, he's probably rushing his steering. (See paragraph above) Make sure he's tapered the car's speed down to 10 mph by the time the front end of your car is even with the cross walk before the intersection you're turning into. (Assuming there is no stop sign, pedestrians or vehicular traffic in his path of travel.)

3. If John-Boy is not guilty of either of the first two infractions, it could be that he is simply over-steering. You can help him cure this by reminding him to turn his head to the left and look into his intended path of travel before he starts moving his hands to steer into it. He's got to be aiming at the right lane before he can take the car there. Remember people tend to steer towards where they are looking. Have him look at the right place and the car will go there. Too many new drivers just fixate on the area directly in front of them by looking exclusively over the hood. Make him move his head and eyes to the left before he moves the steering wheel and that should cure his over-steering problems.

Happy Motoring,

The Driving Instructor

What Do You Do When...Your Engine Overheats?

"We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret and disappointment." ~ Jim Rohn

It's vacation time and you're on the road. You're visiting your sister Anna in beautiful Chicago. It's mid-morning on the third day of your visit and you're both on the Kennedy Expressway enroute to enjoy a Cub's game in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.

It's a beautiful day for a ball game. The sun is shining in a cloudless sky. The temperature is 82 degrees, and the A/C is on keeping you and Anna cool and comfortable. When you began your trip to Wrigleyville the traffic was light and you made good time. But now you're closing in on your destination and the traffic is becoming more congested. You're slowing down. About a quarter of a mile ahead you can see traffic has stopped. Then your pace slows to a crawl.

You are now ensnarled in a traffic jam. But that's OK. You've planned your excursion wisely and you're not worried. There's plenty of time to get there, park and find your seats before the first pitch.

Hey. What's that funny smell? Something sickly sweet is wafting through the air. You vaguely remember that smell from the time your Dad's car overheated on that family trip to Disney World way back in ... '99 wasn't it? Oh! Oh! Something is not right. Oh, No!! The temperature warning light just lit up.

What do you do now? Can you still get to the game? Can you do it without destroying the engine?

Here's what you do:

1. Turn off that air-conditioner immediately! The A/C makes the engine work harder, give it a bit of a break right now.

2. Turn on the heater. Yes, turn it on right away. I know it's going to make you very uncomfortable, but you need to draw the heat away from the engine and this is how you do it. Flip the climate controls to vent, turn the heater all the way up, and turn the fan all the way up. Open all the car windows or you will roast .

The heater in most cars works by using extra heat from the engine to heat the incoming air. (This is why it always takes the heat a few minutes to "come up" in the winter.) So turning the heat on full-blast pulls as much heat as possible off the engine and blows it into the passenger compartment of the car.

3. Turn off your engine, but only if you are sitting in traffic and not moving for more than a minute. Keep a lookout ahead for when the traffic will move and turn your engine on and put it in gear before everything gets moving. (This will help a lot because as soon as your engine turns off the cooling system gets a break.)

Keep a steady, slow pace in stop and go traffic. This beats moving so fast that you catch up to the vehicles ahead and have stop again. This stop and go cycle contributes to the overheating. (Don't worry about people cutting you off. Everyone is stuck in the same situation.)

4. Pull over if you think your car will break down in stop and go traffic. Turn off the engine and wait for the traffic to start moving normally. Once the traffic starts flowing again, it is better for you to drive faster than slower as more air will come in and cool your engine.

If your car does overheat and steam starts to come out from under your hood, you'll have to pull over. You can add coolant (or water if you don't have coolant) to the radiator, but be careful opening it. When you take the cap off, steam will pour out and scald you. Instead, place a towel over the cap and radiator, grip the cap through the towel, twist and pull away quickly. It is better to open the radiator cap while the engine is idling rather than turning it off. Do not turn the engine off to add water. If the cold water you are pouring in comes in contact with the very hot engine it will crack the block and it's then time to replace the engine! It ensures that no steam will pour out when you twist open the radiator cap because hot water is still circulated by the water pump.

If your coolant is leaking somewhere, then you will have to continually replenish it. Pull into locations likely to have a garden hose that they won't mind you using. Churches are usually a good bet.

5. Take your car to a mechanic ASAP.

Sorry you missed the game. Maybe you can go tomorrow.

Another Way To Monitor Your Teen Driver

"Never mistake knowledge for wisdom" ~ Sandra Carey

Once your teen has that license it's important to keep tabs on her driving. I mentioned how one father remedied his children's poor driving behavior. James Winfield put his foot down, established rules and guidelines, and monitored his teens' driving both in person and with GPS. He got some good results.

I also noted that Drivecam looked like a good way to keep an eye on your new drivers , but at present that system is available only in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Indiana.

But no fears - for those of us who live outside of those three states there is Tell-My-Mom.com. Here we have a program similar to the trucking industry's "How's My Driving" program.

Tell-My Mom.com was founded by Jay S. Van Zeeland an Emergency Medical Technician with a rescue service in Wisconsin. He had seen first hand many teen accidents and was looking for a way to help reduce these collisions. Studying the program for the trucking industry, he discovered that they had achieved over 20% reductions in accidents and ticketing. The trucking companies found that in most instances, drivers were making proactive changes in their driving, because they did not want to be called to the boss' office to justify their actions. Teens react in much the same fashion.

By placing the How's My Driving sticker on your car, other drivers now have an easy way to provide feedback about your teen's driving. When a report is received, you are contacted via mail or e-mail with information regarding your teen's driving behavior.

Now you can use the entire driving population as your eyes and ears. Check out Mr. Van Zeelands program. You just might save your child's life.

Hey Kids : The Secret to Making Your Parents More Mellow on Training Drives

"Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends." Shirley MacLaine

"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper." ~ Robert Frost

Does it make you nervous when Mom's right foot presses on that imaginary brake pedal on the passenger side of the car?

Maybe you're tired of hearing your parents scream: "STOP! BRAKE!! BRAKE HARDER!!!"

Well I have the secret that will turn your folks from terrified onlookers to friendly partners. In fact I have several secrets. Here check them out:

Secret #1 - When your parents start acting jittery, it's probably because you're closing in on traffic to your front way too rapidly. Try this little experiment. Next time you're approaching an intersection where traffic is backed up, make note of how quickly those little cars in the distance start getting bigger and bigger in your windshield. The faster they grow the more shrilly your parents will scream.

Secret #2 - If you tried the experiment mentioned above you'll see what I mean. Wasn't that fun? Only problem is those old kill joys won't let you drive for another week now. Bummer. You're going to have to find a way to calm the folks down. That means approaching other vehicles and objects on the road more slowly. You gotta learn to be more gentle with your parents and the brake. They can only take so much punishment.

Secret#3 - If you haven't already, learn to use your right heel as a pivot point. Plant it on the floor board between the brake and the gas pedal (aka the accelerator). The ball of your foot should be able to reach either one of these pedals easily. I know it seems awkward and unnatural to some of you, but you have to master this because it makes it easier and faster for you to swing over to the brake when you need it. If you have to pick up your entire right foot all the time it makes you tired and less likely to have your foot on (or even near) the brake at critical times.

Secret #4 - When you see a situation ahead that appears to call for a slow down but you are uncertain, take your foot off the gas pedal and pivot it so that it hovers over (or even rests on)the brake pedal. Your classroom instructor may have told you about this trick. It's called covering the brake.

Covering the brake will save you valuable time and space if you end up needing to slow down or stop. Remember - merely lightening up on the accelerator is not good enough. When you're trying to figure things out, your automatic reaction must be to immediately pivot to and cover that brake. At 40 mph this will give you an additional 40 feet of braking distance since you've saved the time needed to move your foot over from the gas to the brake.

Secret # 5 - The car is not going to come to a screeching and immediate halt the very second you put any pressure on it. That only happens in cartoons. After you've decided to stop in a non-emergency situation immediately apply enough pressure on the brake so that you can feel the brake pedal push back. That's right. Get rid of all the slack. You should be able to feel a slight slowdown.

As you get closer to the point where you must be stopped - press harder. The closer you get, the slower your car has got be going. Focus your eyes on where you want the car to stop.

Secret #6 - If there's a vehicle in front of you, plan your stop so that you'll be far enough behind it to see its back tires touching the ground. I'll say it again. Focus your eyes on where you want the car to be stopped.

If you learn and actually use the secrets above, your stops will be much smoother and safer - and your parents will be less tempted to raise their voices.

Bonus Secret - Don't accelerate towards red lights.

I Don't Care If It's April: You Still Have To Clean the Snow Off Your Car!

"Idleness is sweet, and its consequences are cruel" ~ John Quincy Adams

Global Warming indeed! Is that why we had snow in Cleveland on Sunday and snow in Chicago today?

Anyway, the Global Warming has really snarled traffic here in Chicagoland. Seems everyone has forgotten how to drive in it. The snow is that wet, heavy kind that can give you a heart attack if you try to shovel it off your driveway too energetically. I guess that's why so many folks forgo cleaning the snow off their vehicles. They're merely trying to avoid cardiac arrests. Some people are in such bad shape they don't even bother to clear it off their windshields.

I can see moving mounds of snow on our roads - vans in snow camouflage! The drivers are guiding their vehicles by looking through tiny slits. What are they doing? They're totally blind - cut off from all knowledge of what the traffic is doing around them.

Others have taken a little trouble - they've at least cleaned off their windows. But the snow remains on the roof and hood. The snow on top flys back on the vehicles behind when these guys accelerate. It slides forward and down the windshield when they brake. The snow on the hood blows onto the windshield during acceleration, thus negating the initial cleaning effort.

People, it's not that hard to take a brush and a scraper to the car. Come on. Clean the snow off before you move out.

After all, we're not trying to avoid detection like the troops on the Russian Front back in the 1940's. We actually have a better chance of survival if we're plainly visible these days.

See and be seen.

Should You Teach Your Kid to Pump The Brake Pedal During Emergency Stops?

"The wise man avoids evil by anticipating it." ~ Publius Syrus (Roman Author, 1st Century B.C.)

The answer to that question is:

It depends...

It depends on the vehicle you're driving. Is it equipped with an Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) or the old disc and drum brake combo.

The ABS does the brake pumping for you. It monitors each wheel's speed and keeps them rotating very rapidly, changing the pressure in the vehicle's brake lines to maintain maximum braking just short of locking up the wheels. This means you can steer out of trouble while braking. You can take evasive action at the same time you are slowing down.

The older disc and drum brakes that we old-timers grew up with required skillful cadenced braking during emergency stop situations in order to maintain steering control. Wasn't that fun... press the brakes until just before tire lock up, then back off a little and then deploy pressure again until near lock up, then let up slightly, then press down again, then...etc.

Geez, I'm glad they invented ABS. I get tired just writing about pumping the brakes. Anyway, if you try that with ABS you'll reduce its effectiveness.

Most newer cars have the full, four wheeled ABS package. If this is what you are driving then you'll want to teach your kid to keep that right foot firmly pressed on the brake pedal, without pumping, to let the system work for her.

Make sure she's ready for the sound, feel, and braking results as well. When she presses hard on those anti-lock brakes maybe she's going to feel a weird pulsing/vibration sensation. Or maybe the pedal will suddenly drop. Or perhaps the clicking and grinding noise will freak her out. Tell her that these things mean the system is at work. Tell her not to back off the brake until she gets down to the speed she needs to avoid the collision.

On the other hand, if she's lucky enough to be sitting behind the wheel of a 1966 Mustang or a 1956 T-Bird, then go ahead and teach her the old, cadenced braking technique.

You're going to have to teach her to work with whatever you're driving. Caution her about the other type of braking system.

Excellent Source of Studies Concerning ABS
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=2006

Random Musings Of A Driving Instructor

"Patience is passion tamed." ~ Lyman Abbott

Every now and then I get compliments such as:

"You must be a very brave to take people you don't even know out on these roads and teach them to drive. That's so dangerous. I'd never do that!"

"How can you be so calm? You just steered him back on course and told him how to do it right - just like nothing ever happened! He almost killed us!"

"You're so patient."

I won't deceive you with any false modesty. Here's the deal. I'm not that brave. I just manage the situation to reduce risks, stay alert and take whatever action is necessary to survive. Plus I have that instructor's brake pedal on my side of the cockpit.

Yes, I am blessed with an extra bit of patience, but I'm not a saint. There are a few things that push my patience to the limits. The two big things that get to me are:

1. Impatient drivers who lay down on their horns at my students who are taking turns too slowly, thus upsetting my students' concentration and performance.
2. Teenagers who single out the driving school car for gratuitous and dangerous harassment.

The impatient drivers offend my sense of fairness and compassion. Seemingly they've never had difficulty learning anything new and feel no one else should have that problem either. Instead of helping the new guy or at least cutting him some slack, they get angry and pressure him.

There's not really too much I can do to stop that behavior, so I just suck it up and help the kid drive on safely. If you've ever seen the mini-series Lonesome Dove you may recall what Woodrow Call did to the cavalry scout who hit Newt with the riding crop.

That's what I'd like to do. And I'd finish up with Woodrow's answer to the funny looks from the ladies who passed by afterwards:

"I can't abide rudeness in a man."

As for the the newly licensed drivers who want to haze my students by tailgating us, then racing around to our front to cut us off with only inches to spare, they're threatening our lives and that really bothers me. Fortunately for them (and me) I don't carry a Winchester Model 97. I'd use all 5 rounds if I had one handy. Instead I just have my fledglings pull over to the curb and then the game is no longer any fun for the harasser.

If the troublemakers don't clear out before I can get their plate number, a call to the cops is the next step.

So you can see I'm no saint. I just keep a lid on my emotions and get the job done.

By the way - I scored a 22 on this Driving Personality Quiz. That means I'm one cool, calm, and collected guy even if I do curse under my breath and tap the horn to get inattentive drivers to move when the light turns green. How did you do?

Teaching Your Teen To Drive: Objective #2 - Starting and Stopping

"Tell me and I'll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I'll understand." ~ Chinese Proverb

Once you and your young driver have worked out a pre-driving routine, it's time to get the car moving. Right? Well, not quite. There are still a few key points you'll want to cover before you get rolling.

You should review some of the things he has learned in the classroom - for instance, the fact that one can start the car only if the gear shift selector lever is set on Park (P) or Neutral (N). The ability to start the car in Neutral comes in pretty handy should it ever stall in traffic.

You'll want to review all the warning lights, switches, knobs, and gauges on the dashboard. The windshield wiper switch, the headlight switch, and emergency flashers/warning lights should get special attention. When you need these three, you REALLY need them.

Before he ever inserts key into the ignition switch, remind him to let it go once he hears the sound of the engine. Otherwise you get the buzz-saw sound and your starter motor is one step closer to the junk yard.

Now we're ready to get moving.

Before letting your teen move the car for the first time take it to an off-street area, such as an empty or sparsely populated parking lot. If you can't find one that fits the bill, a straight stretch of level street (about 500 feet) in a quiet neighborhood will suffice.

Have your teen start the engine and shut it off a couple times before moving the car.

Have him drive in a straight line without using the accelerator. I've met so many kids that think the car can't move without help from the accelerator. I suppose old habits developed on the little "Bob the Builder" Jeep die hard. This is where he should learn that he doesn't have to hit the gas to obtain motion.

After he comes to this new understanding, you can have him cross the lot again (or drive down another straight stretch) with the gas pedal slightly depressed, going maybe 10-15 mph, so he can judge the relationship between pedal pressure and acceleration. Have him keep this up while changing the accelerator pressure until he's slowing down and speeding up smoothly.

Then you can teach him to control his speed with the brake. He can practice going forward and backward using only the brake pedal. Have him increase the speed incrementally and then work on slowing down from the higher speeds.

This is where emphasizing keeping that right heel on the floor will pay off. He has to pivot from the accelerator to the brake to do this properly.

You both might be a little nervous at the start of this session. Just stay calm and keep on practicing. Stop when either one of you begins to tire or loose patience.

What's Your Driving Personality?

"It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may we are never able to fully know ourselves as we are, especially the evil side of us" ~ Mohandas Gandhi

How does your personality shine through when you get behind the wheel? Are you the Dudley Do-Right of the the roadway who strictly obeys every rule in the book? Or did they base the movie Anger Management on your driving record?

Here's a nifty 60 question test to help you find your spot on the spectrum. Parents, this might help you see yourself through your teen's eyes. Remember, he's learning every little thing from you. You might want to see what you've been teaching him all these years.

Don't Let The Gadgets Replace Good Driving Technique

"Why is it drug addicts and computer aficionados are both called users? ~ Clifford Stoll

It's always good to have back-up systems to keep you safe. Volvo's City Safety system for preventing rear-end collisions and it's Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) for helping the driver detect vehicles in his blind spot are outstanding safety innovations. Lane Departure Warning Systems are great too. Technology is a wonderful thing. It helps make life easier.

These systems produce impressive results. Prime, Inc, a North American refrigerated, flatbed and tanker carrier, has achieved an 85 percent decrease rate in run-off-road and rollover accidents since deploying Iteris' Lane Departure Warning (LDW) system.

Technology is a wonderful thing. It makes life safer.

But it is not meant to be used as a crutch. Theses gadgets were never designed to replace safe driving techniques or common sense. They were designed to aid the driver during occasional goofs.

Drivers still have to maintain adequate following distance. The gadget is meant to back you up when you when you're not on the ball. Drivers still need to make head checks to detect objects in their vehicles' blind spots. The BLIS is meant to back you up when you slip up. The LDW saves lives, but that doesn't mean you can sleep behind the wheel and still get home in one piece.

Drivers, if you're going to drive then drive. Even with the gizmos the car can't drive itself.

What About Blind Spots?

"More and more people are buying bigger and bigger, ... and the bigger the vehicle the bigger the blind spot" ~ Consumer Reports

When are you going to teach your teen driver about blind spots? And how are you going to approach blind spots so the kid remembers that they're important - even vital?

The time to address the subject is when you're establishing that pre-driving routine - just about the point you're explaining how to adjust the mirrors. By the way you'll want to do this on a nice day, if it's raining you will get wet. Do this in your driveway or an empty section of a parking lot to be safe.

Here's what you're going to do. Remember the side-view mirrors have to be adjusted so that in his regular seated driving position, your teen can see a only sliver of the vehicle in each mirror.

1. After the mirrors are properly adjusted, stand outside the car several feet away from the driver's side mirror. Your teen should be able to see your reflection.


2. Slowly, step straight backward while your teen watches you "disappear" from the side-view mirror.


3. Continue moving backwards until he reacquires you in the rear-view mirror.


4. Repeat several times on each side of the car until he knows where each blind spot begins and ends.

Now that the kid knows the meaning of blind spots and where they are, you'll have to teach him how to deal with them. While he's still behind the wheel of a non-moving car have him pretend that he is preparing to change lanes. Have him follow this sequence for a lane change to the left:

1. Check the rear-view mirror.


2. Check the left side exterior mirror.


3. Glance back over the left shoulder to ensure there is no vehicle in this blind spot.


4. If all is clear, activate left turn signal and steer left.

Repeat this procedure for both left and right sides. Repetition is the Mother of Learning. Build this procedure into his muscle memory. Checking blind spots has got to become automatic.

This will be his introduction to blind spots. There are some lessons you'll use to reinforce this knowledge, but this where he finds out that mirrors don't show everything and that he's got to move his head around to get the complete picture.

Bicycles Riding Against Traffic - How Smart Is That?

Yesterday Thelma and I were driving through a residential area on our way to pick up another student for driver’s education. Thelma is a pretty good driver - she's level headed, attentive, and an athlete with great reflexes. All these attributes stood her in good stead after we took a right turn into a quiet residential street and found ourselves on a collision course with a bicycle coming hard at us - against traffic.

This time it was no big deal. Thelma simply applied gentle brake pressure and steered slightly to the left. She evaded the bicycle and was able to return to our side of the road before meeting the car in the oncoming lane. She did a great job and everything turned out fine.

I just wonder what would have happened had the oncoming motorized traffic been any closer than it was. What kind of choice would we have made? Yes, the brakes would have been applied with much more force. Would that have been enough to stop before making contact with Mr. Bicyclist? I doubt it. How would we have evaded contact if braking was not enough? Beats me. Would we have steered left to evade the bicycle? Not on your life. Would Mr. Bicyclist have known that we had to hold our course or collide with another motor vehicle? He was oblivious. Could he have taken evasive action to avoid us? I don't think so.

Yep, that bicyclist was certainly putting a big burden on us and all the other motorist he was driving against. By riding against traffic (presumably so he could see and react to us in case we steered towards him), he was forcing us to make some tough choices.

What were we supposed to do to evade him when he unskillfully veered into our path of travel? Drive into oncoming traffic or just come to a dead stop and risk a rear end collision?

If we had come up against a tight situation while he was going with the flow, the only action required would be to slow down to his pace while we waited for the situation to clear up. He denied us that option by breaking the law.

So you bicycling, fair-haired children of the roadway, why don't you present us motorists with some better choices? How about choosing to play by the rules?