DriveSmartBC

I am occasionally asked about using the left foot for braking instead of the right foot. The usual justification given for this is that the brakes may be applied more quickly because the left foot is ready while the right foot is busy with the accelerator pedal.

It's that time of year again, winter is coming to British Columbia and you should start thinking about getting ready, both mentally and by preparing your vehicle so that you are ready to cope with poor driving conditions or a breakdown. It's too late to prepare after something happens!

If you insist on "do it yourself" when your teen needs a driving instructor, be prepared to do the job right. After all, safe driving is a life skill well worth learning properly from the beginning. Your teen trusts you, but are you really prepared to do a comprehensive job as a teacher?

Young Drivers of Canada and State Farm Insurance have created an interactive video test of your driving skills. You are required to observe a developing driving situation, assess it's level of risk and identify the specific risk by clicking on the video itself.

This video is produced by the Michelin Tire people and illustrates four topics: shorter stopping distances with winter tires, control difficulties with mis-matched tires, braking with and without ABS and steering while braking with and without ABS. All of this is conducted on snow covered ground.

There is such an incredible shortage of common sense about the practicalities of driving, as well as so many people who seem unable to think clearly any more. You cannot get people to drive better just by saying "drive better".

The Royal Auto Club Foundation asks "Are we getting it right?" Is education in road safety a good thing? In the paper Professor McKenna argues that, ―Educational interventions are often designed in the absence of theory or any formal body of evidence.

Volume 45, Number 3 of the IIHS Status Report looks at two subjects in this issue, motorcycles and graduated licensing of new drivers. For motorcyclists, the wearing of helmets, the use of anti-lock brakes and the fact that mandatory training for new drivers does not seem to reduce crash rates form the bulk of the content.

"You don't care about safety! All you guys want to do is suck money out of my pocket!" Here was a speeder that was very definite in his opinion and not afraid to state it. He was wrong, I did care about safety, but my traffic cop toolbox didn't contain many officially sanctioned options for dealing with it.

The video explains when not to pass, when it's okay to pass, and how to determine if you have time to pass safely. There is one fault with it as it shows passing on the right after crossing over a solid white line. This pass would be illegal in British Columbia. Otherwise, the advice is worthwhile.