To date, you have seen articles addressing Driving or Car Control; Safe and fit to drive and Are you seated comfortably? This time we are back on the road. It's a big and very dangerous world out there. All vehicles are faster than they were, When I grew up, 80 HP was a lot of power, and now SUV's are appearing to get bigger with their drivers [?]. Seemingly intent on intimidation, mixed with cell phone usage and liberal amounts of machismo they have convinced themselves of their own immortality. The fact is they usually are not good multi-taskers and certainly are generally extremely poor when it comes to using turn signals. So what are we dealing with while driving to work or out over a weekend with your new or lovingly restored car?

Some statistics to consider:

Driver error accounts for greater than 90% of all road traffic accidents Corporate drivers have a significantly higher risk of being involved in accidents - they drive more miles 38% of deaths among those aged 16-19 years occurred in car crashes At almost all ages, males have higher vehicle death rates than females Passenger deaths represented 77% of motor vehicle deaths in 1999 Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) have a higher center of gravity and the possibility of a higher rollover rate Middle aged drivers develop bad driving habits and may not realize it. They do however, have the experience to reduce their risk through training. Older drivers are more likely to get traffic citations for failing to yield, turning improperly, and running stop signs and red lights

Source Documents:
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety et al - December 2000
US Department of Transportation - Various

There are two statistics that always register with me. They are the percentage of passengers that are killed and that greater than 90% of all accidents are driver error. Staggering and very sobering statistics.

As you know from Driving or Car Control I am a believer in feet per second rather than miles per hour [mph]. I believe feet per second conveys more about the energy you are carrying, and the time it will take to dissipate that energy. It is absolutely true that it is always easier to gain energy, than it is to lose it Put another way, at 70 mph, and with ABS capable of 0.9g of deceleration, with an alert driver, anything within one football field length of the front of your car is going to be hit. If you observe traffic on freeway off ramps, they are always far too close. The only thing that saves them plowing into each other, is that they all have the same 'thinking" distance. In terms of thinking, if one was even slightly faster than the other there would be an accident. Reflecting, you will have seen more 3 or 4 car accidents on off ramps than you have 1 or 2 car incidents. Correct? In the same article, there was a quiz on speed differentials. If two cars, one travelling at 70 mph, the other at 90 mph are parallel, and brake with the same efficiency at the same time, what speed will the 90 mph car be doing, when the 70 mph car is stopped? The answer was 57 mph. This is the "squared" rule in action. As you increase your speed you increase the vehicle's energy by the increase in speed squared, and the braking (not thinking) distance is proportional to the vehicle's energy. The figures here do not exactly follow the squared rule because "thinking" distance does not square with speed. To make another comparison, take the same two cars doing 30 mph and 40 mph and braking per the criteria above. What speed will the 40-mph car travelling, when the 30-mph car has stopped? The answer is 26 mph. Put this into the context of driving down a street in your home town - it's "only" 10 mph faster, but think of the consequences when you come to stop. To reiterate, speed does not kill, inappropriate use of speed kills

Feed this type of information into your now daily use of the running commentary addressed in my third article. It will remind and heighten your consideration of speed and energy. How are you doing on this new "tool"? With practice you will be a better, smoother and safer driver.

So we have faster, more powerful and some heavier vehicles on the more densely populated roads. But you can say we have ABS, and yes, that is good. It allows you to turn and brake without skidding. By the way, have you all engaged your ABS so that you will not be distracted by the steering wheel feel and the braking sounds when you do need to use it? If not, please do engage this system, but check the mirror, try it on a nice dry road with a good surface, and before you do it check your mirror again. But if the ABS system failed would you know what to do? Those living in more northerly climates certainly know about the old fashioned ABS - cadence braking. Please practice it when you can, so that when it is needed, you will remember how to do it. The other braking method I frequently use is threshold, or some call it tapered braking. With positive pressure on the brake, think of it as wiggling your toes individually while braking, and using that toe action to progressively and firmly increase the pedal pressure. The objective is to brake as hard as you have to without locking up the wheels - it is very effective under all conditions. I know we have all the safety systems, but I also believe that these can lull us into a false sense of security. Practice the "old" way just in case it is needed.

Safe controlled driving to you all. Talk yourself into talking, and you will be safer.

This is the fourth in a series of five articles that deal with defensive driving techniques. Contributed by Gordon Booth, Team Corvette member and Chief Instructor of Drivetrain Inc. based in San Jose California.