Safe Speed Forums

From my Notes as youngster at Hendon... some of this stuff is in RoadCraft as well - but the instructor gave us a little more - in my opinion.


We wre told than enhanced observation stems from increased awareness. You need more than just seeing what coms into your immediate line of vision. You need to scan systematically to ensure you gain all the information available to you. How well you assess its value will determine the quality of your planning and the revision of your plan as the situation changes rapidly.

"(Taking control of the traffic around you! )"

You must continuously appraise what you see in the road ahead of you and relate it to your experience and known skill Add to that the image from your rear mirrors and a regular glance to the side.

The instructor actually said: "The combined whole governs your selection of a SAFE SPEED and position moment- to - moment "

You see a GOOD driver stop gently at the traffic lights and other crossings, choose the correct lane in good time. A busy street may see this driver covering the brake pedal and selecting a speed as low as 5 mph if the road is narrow and swarming with pedestrians. No way should an expert drive dead a t30/40 moph just because the sign says so! Many of these pro-active changes should be fractional and smooth.

Apart from the glaringly obvious we should observe and anticipate - such as road lay-out, road surfaces, road signs, other traffic, pedestrians - what other clues are there?

What would say - a cyclist pedalling fairly "furiously" on a racing bike tell you? (Clue - answer is NOT "numpty on a bike"! )

What other clues would set your "anticipation radar" humming?

How often should you be making mirror checks? (Matter of personal judgement ..and circumstance - but certainly we were told NOT to make them religiously at pre-ordained intervals - which is completely different to Wildy's and the Swiss mob's continental styles - which is more precribed in this respect. They are a bit clinical that way.)

I feel that this post describes exactly the way I drive and why I find it frustrating to be a passenger with many people. I am always scanning far ahead for traffic snarls/problems and choose a lane long before arriving at the point of congestion. I'm not sure how often I check my mirrors but it is quite often as about 98% of the time I feel I could change lanes without looking because I know what cars are where around me.

I ALWAYS do a quick look, just to be sure, and almost always confirm that I was correct and nothing is there. Unfortunately, as posted in another thread, I have sometimes spotted a motorcycle on the quick scan that either caught up quickly or was in a blind spot for some time prior to the lane change, so the extra check is mandatory.

I'm afraid that the main reason I have developed this automatic rear check so often is to see if anything is catching me. If it is then it might be plod and so slow down to avoid a ticket. But the benefit is that at least I also know what's there.

In fact this leads me to another point. I always try to travel 5-10mph faster than the cars around me because it means that if a problem develops it is most likely going to be ahead of me as the cars behind are dropping back. I don’t drive aggressively, just a little quicker and I feel that for the most part this method is safer than travelling in a pack.

Any thoughts…

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Ross

Yes I'm a hoon, but only on the track!!!!

I do a specific mirror check on the run up to a hazard or manoeuver, and under many circumstances (especially motorways) I'll give over 10% of my attention to the mirror.

But I've learned to monitor the mirror without looking in it at all. I find this hugely valuable. Irrespective of where I'm looking, any significant change in the view in the mirror (and it does have to be something fairly close - like 150 feet or something) and I know about it without looking.

This "peripheral vision" monitoring of the mirrors applies to both the driver's door mirror and the main interior mirror. I remember driving without a rear interior mirror a few years ago (it had fallen off) and it felt like being blind in an eye I didn't have. (This effect is nothing like as strong in an unfamilliar vehicle like a hire van.)

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

I do this as well although I'd say I drive 10-15 mph faster than "most" cars around me. This provides a reasonable speed differential (enough for reasonably brisk overtaking but not so much that speed cannot be lost quickly, if needed) and helps me to maintain concentration and alertness. This generally results in a speed of 80-85 mph on a free flowing motorway or d/c. However, I'm also quite happy to follow another car at that speed if I sense the driver is driving well (by seeing if has good lane discipline, observation, anticipation etc). However, if I sense the driver ahead is not driving well, I will either accelerate and overtake until I've established a good buffer zone (10 seconds or so gap) or ease off and establish a buffer zone.

I also sometimes 'test' my observation and anticipation by trying to complete as long a stretch of journey as possible without braking. This is quite easy on motorways but more tricky on urban roads. Have to be careful not to irritate other drivers by slowing excessively far ahead of a hazard.

I know what you mean about driving without the mirror. Mine fell off after my recent windscreen replacement and I felt very uncomfortable driving without it, even though the longest trip I made in the 24ish hours it was missing was back to Autoglass to have it put back on more securely. Weird feeling to look at the mirror and see sky instead. Not at all the same as driving around in a rented luton, I agree, but I think this might be because the door mirrors are so much smaller on a car. Doesn't make much sense since even without the mirror I think I can see better from inside my car than in a luton, so I think it's all in the head.

It's actually a bit like when I got the car back from having a big service plus new clutch and brakes. As soon as I started driving it it just felt different, almost wrong. I even convinced myself that it was idling at too low a speed and felt like it was about to stall all the time (needless to say I was imagining it and soon got used to it again). I think the uncomfortable feeling when the driving mirror is missing is much the same. We get so used to it being there that not having it feels unnatural. In an unfamiliar rented van we don't expect a mirror so we don't miss it, and we have to get used to the feel of the vehicle anyway.

I'm interested in the "peripheral vision mirror check" though. Did you set out to train yourself to do that or did you just realise one day that you've been doing it for ages?

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

A bit of both. When I realised I saw things in the mirror without looking, I practiced seeing in the mirror without looking. (If you see what I mean!)

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

There is definitely something about human vision that allows us to subconsciously process the stuff we see in our peripheral vision, such that we don't realise we're doing it until the ability to do so is taken away from us. I've been wearing glasses for 25 years, and for the first 20 years I always had lenses almost as tall as they were wide, such that most of my downward peripheral vision was corrected. 5 years ago I got my first pair of glasses with a "landscape" aspect ratio, giving me far less corrected vertical peripheral vision. For the first couple of months, I found it very difficult to descend a flight of stairs without tilting my head down so I could look at my feet through the lenses - without realising it, I was using my downward peripheral vision to judge the distance to the next step, and with that vision now uncorrected, my brain simply couldn't figure out where the next step was.

So it doesn't surprise me that Paul uses his mirrors in this way - chances are most regular drivers (or at least, those regular drivers who spend most/all of their time in vehicles with the same positioning of mirrors relative to their eyeline) will be doing something similar, without ever realising it.

Regarding peripheral vision, I have for a long time believed that children are much poorer in this respect than adults. This might explain the seeming carelessness of young people and the ease with which they put themselves in dangerous situations. Or is it just lack of experience or sense?

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

Yeah.

Also, if something turns up behind you flashing mainbeams we're all going to see it easily without needing to look in the mirror.

I'd also like to point out that this "peripheral vision mirror monitoring" does not replace mirror checks. It's more of a free bonus.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

...err.. for starters, what if everyone tried this? Please consider the wider ramifications of an attitide like this.

So long as not everyone else is trying it, then it seems fairly sensible, as a stop gap measure to the never coming day when everyone (hell, even 50%) drives according to the principals of roadcraft.

That's an interesting observation.

Obviously we can't encourage everyone to adopt Ross's strategy. Nevertheless, there's excellent scientific evidence over 5 decades that supports Ross's suggestion. Have a look at:

http://www.safespeed.org.uk/speedlimits.html

I expect Ross falls into the "85th percentile" group with the lowest crash rates. I hope that makes some practical sense of the real-world link between your observation and Ross's.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Thanks for that. I do feel that I fit the percentile and as the research shows, if I am usually driving slightly higher I am in the lowest risk category. However that is all irrelevant to me as I just drive in a manner where I feel safe and alert, regardless of what percentile that might be.


The vast majority of drivers are basically sheep so the chance of everyone driving in this way is pretty remote, and, I would rather be the sheep dog.

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Ross

Yes I'm a hoon, but only on the track!!!!