Safety is everyone’s concern, especially when traveling from one place to another. With all the crazy cases on the road today, one needs to arm themselves with all possible tools to ensure a safe arrival at the desired destination. Having been involved in the transportation industry my entire life and having driven close to 4 million miles without an accident, I would like to share some of the training I received that enabled me to achieve this feat.
Early in my career, I was introduced to the Smith Accident-Free Driving System, the central focus of which teaches the Five Habits of Vision for Safe Driving. The following article provides a brief description of each. If followed rigorously, one can be reasonably sure of never having an accident.
FIVE HABITS OF SAFE DRIVING
1. Aim high in the direction
2. Get the big picture
3. Keep your eyes moving
4. Let yourself out
5. Make sure they see you
1. Aim high in the direction
This does not mean keeping your hands on top of the wheel! In short, he explains that one should not look directly in front of their vehicle, but rather look as far down the road as possible to discover important traffic information for making the right decisions.
Look as far down the road as possible, looking where your vehicle will be in 12-15 seconds.
Know your field of vision:
Peripheral vision (marginal vision) 98% or 177 degrees of our vision
Central vision (central vision) 2% or 3 degrees of our vision
2. Get the big picture
This doesn’t mean you should buy a big screen TV, it means maintaining proper following distance (at least one car length per 10 MPH), so you can comfortably determine the true hazards around your vehicle. Don’t follow others.
Be aware of all objects and obstacles (dogs, cats, deer, stairs on the road, etc.) Scan other vehicles to be aware of things that might cross your path. The road is going nowhere, once you know the direction of the road and any potential hazards such as potholes, look out for things that could move in your line of travel. After determining that something is not moving in your line of travel, ignore it.
In a town or city, scan 1-2 city blocks in front of your vehicle
In the field, scan ½ mile ahead of your vehicle on highways, highways and country roads
Scan from sidewalk to sidewalk in the city
Fence row by fence row in the countryside
Be aware of all areas and all things around your vehicle
Return only when necessary
When backing up, double check to make sure there is no one or anything behind your vehicle, get out of the car and physically check if necessary. When you walk to your car, be sure to look behind it. Return only after activating your 4-way flashers and sounding your horn to alert anyone who may cross your line of travel.
3. Keep your eyes moving
– Scan, don’t look. She constantly moves her eyes while driving, active eyes keeping up with changing traffic conditions.
– Check all mirrors every 5-8 seconds
– To avoid road hypnosis, scan the area in front of you every 2 seconds
– Never look at an object for more than 2 seconds, not even Brad Pitt or Angeline Jolene!
– Eliminate eye retention patterns.
– Adjust speed to existing conditions, speed up or slow down when necessary
Driving comes first, eating, changing the radio, air conditioning, talking on the cell phone, etc. are all secondary and should only be done, if at all, when there is no traffic around you.
If you get tired, turn up the volume on the radio, turn up the air conditioning, sing to yourself, or better yet, stop and take a break.
4. Give yourself a way out:
To be prepared. Surround your vehicle with space in front and at least to the side to escape the conflict.
Always keep in mind an escape route in case something unforeseen arises. Always drive like you have no brakes, have an escape route if necessary.
Leave a car-length gap between you and the car in front of you at stop signs and intersections (check your mirrors to make sure the person behind you is stopping, if not, use your margin of space, or change lanes if possible).
If the person in front of you stops suddenly, stop as soon as possible, but if you have time, check your mirror to make sure the person behind you can stop before hitting you, if not use your space cushion to give them both room and space. may be possible. Any time you rear-end someone, it is automatically their fault, the driver must be in control of their vehicle at all times.
Use turn signals
Stay at least 2 seconds behind the car in front of you (1 car length for every 10 MPH).
3 seconds in adverse weather
Slow down when it is raining heavily, your vehicle will hydroplan if you go too fast. Every vehicle is different, vehicles with wider tires and/or little to no tread will hydroplan faster than vehicles with narrower tires.
Check the movement of other drivers and vehicles, watch the movement of drivers’ heads, also check the wheels, remember, the wheels of a vehicle will be the first thing to start moving.
5. Make sure they see you:
Communicate in traffic with your horn, lights, and signals to establish eye contact with motorists and pedestrians. Be reasonably sure of other people’s intentions.
– make eye contact
– Honk (twice)
– Turn on/off headlights
– Tap the brakes several times in a row
– Use turn signals.
As you can see, driving is a full-time job. It can also be safe, many, many professional drivers drive for 20 or 30 years and never have an accident, if they can do it, you can!
Safety is NOT an accident!