TALK YOURSELF OUT OF TROUBLE

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30946, 30 December 1965, Page 7

TALK YOURSELF OUT OF TROUBLE

rpHE greatest killer on New Zealand roads is almost certainly inattention. It comes in a variety of guises: failure to give way, following other traffic too closely, failure to signal, careless overtaking, and approaching intersections and comers too fast. Every driver is prey to inattention. Concentration is one of the most important attributes of the good driver, and its importance to all drivers cannot be overemphasised.

The faster you travel, the more important concentration becomes. Racing drivers agree it is one of the most important aspects of their art. One of the main reasons Stirling Moss retired from racing after his crash at Goodwood was that he found he had lost the fine edge of his concentration.

There is no place on the road for distraction. Even at 20 miles an hour, half a second’s inattention can mean an accident, as too many Christchurch drivers have discovered by hitting the rear of another car stopped in a line of traffic.

Concentration rarely comes naturally. It is something all drivers must learn and practise.

OBSERVATION A driver should concentrate on all that is happening around his vehicle, to the front, at the sides, and at the rear. He must also observe his instruments. How, then, can one learn to do this? Actually the method is both simple and effective, and has been adopted by many driving schools, including the British high-perform-ance school. It is to maintain a running commentary as you drive.

You can practise this, preferably aloud, when driving by yourself, or better with an expert driver in the passenger seat to criticise. A typical commentary might go like this:—

“Adjust seat. .. adjust mirror , , , fasten seat belt. Start engine . . . signal I’m pulling out . . . check for other traffic .. . wait for cyclist to

Pass ... all clear . . . handbrake off, moving out. “Check indicators returned

• . . second gear, third, top. Hmm, 35 m.p.h. . . . ease back to 30. Taxi about 100 yards behind . . . parked car on the left there, but nobody in it, no feet showing on other side of it. CHILDREN

“Children playing on the footpath there . . . to brake, no they are behaving . . . dog standing in gateway . . . no, he’s not going to run across in front of me ... intersection 100 yards away. We’re going straight on . . . all clear behind . . . engage third . . . down to 20 . . . cover brake pedal with right foot . . . good open intersection, check right, check left, check right ... all clear, accelerate over intersection. ■ “Check mirror, all clear . . . j children on cycles there, watch them ... they’re swerj ving, cover brake and blip horn . . . one turning to look

at car, sure enough he swerves out, heavier brake pressure . . . passing now, clear, check mirror . . . all clear, accelerate to 30.

“Temperature and oil pressure O.K. . . . ammeter showing charge . . . “Limited speed zone coming up . . . motor-cyclist coming up astern . . . bus coming other way . . . I’m at 30 . . . motor-cyclist going to pass, not much room . . . move to left and brake slighly to give him more room to pass . . . he’s past, didn’t have much room though. . . . “A few pedestrians about, so 40 will do us . . . car backing out of gateway there . . .

slow and blip horn . . . see the white of his face, he’s seen us . . . right foot back on to accelerator . . . check mirror, all clear astern. NO SIGNAL

“Derestriction sign coming up, and car parked at side of the road . . . bloke in it and can see exhaust smoke,

so we’ll watch him ... all clear astern . . . that chap’s starting to move, no signal . . . help, he’s pulling right out in front of us, brake firmly, blip horn . . .frightened face, silly clot. “Perhaps I should have tooted and warned him a bit earlier ... car coining towards me half a mile away, all clear behind . . . coming up on a slowcoach, car coming other way still a good distance off ... 100 yards to slowcoach, we’re at 55 . . .

all clear astern, switch on right indicator . . . flash lights to warn him we’re coming, move out . . . 50 yards, all clear ahead for a quarter mile . . accelerate past, check mirror, we’re well clear, pull in , . . check indicator stopped. “Car passes going other way . . . crossroads coming up, there’s a notice . . . plume of dust on the left

. . . foot off accelerator, cover brake . . . slow slightly.

car at the intersection . . . he’s seen us and stopped, carry on . . . all clear behind still.

“Limited speed zone coming up .. . start to slow . . . check mirror, car 200 yards back, into L.S.Z., slow to 35 . . . check mirror, other car 50 yards behind . . . there’s a shop, we’ll stop . . . check mirror, other car 35 yards, about . . . wind down window, stopping signal, start to pull in . . . other car passes ... we pull in, stop ... out of gear, handbrake on, engine off.” By “talking” your way along you exercise both your concentration and observation, and with more experience the process will become natural, mental, and almost automatic.

School yourself in good driving habits, check your mirror frequently, and be courteous. Make allowances for other drivers, and above all pay attention!