Safe Speed Forums

I've been watching the snooker on TV. Pretty gripping stuff actually.

One chap wasn't doing so well and the commentators were constantly talking about confidence, concentration and worry as factors affecting his performance.

The other chap, doing better, was described as being 'in the zone', 'amazing confidence', 'you make your own luck' and so on.

Isn't it amazing that driving is every bit as much a question of human performance, where good performance means low risk, yet the authorities totally miss this aspect of road safety?

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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 agree. However, false confidence (introduced, eg, by a bit of tipple) is the worst of the lot for driving, though may well in snooker lead to a few high breaks (and the odd lost frame).

That's pretty similar to driver performance too, I would have thought. But 'the odd lost frame' is so serious we can't risk going there. I also very much doubt that any successful professional snooker player plays drunk.

Other words used in the commentry yesterday that I've remembered include: skill, tiredness, distraction, positive mental attitude... It really is quite amazing how obvious and natural such terms are for a snooker player's performance, but driving, somehow, isn't treated the same way.

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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

Bill Werbeniuk certainly used to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Werbeniuk


The same was also true in the old days of many professional darts players.

I'm not sure the comparison is a very good one, as in professional sport, particularly individiual sports, you often have to run the risk of crashing and burning in order to pull out a peak, winning performance, whereas in driving there has to be a constant baseline of minimising risk.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

what about how devices like SPECs may undermine a drivers confidence because hes constantly nervously eyeballing the speedo, like trying to do your work with your boss looking over your shoulder ready to criticise?

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Fear is a weapon of mass distraction

Oh dear, I can feel myself really getting into this analogy….

In snooker, the ‘destination’ is to win the championship. The ‘journey’ is a whole series of situations, where the player must get through unscathed. His objective must be to do everything well.

With every shot, the player must observe the whole situation, he must anticipate ALL the consequences of his, and his opponent’s actions. He needs to plan well ahead. Sometimes, his move will need to be cautious. Sometimes, when everything falls into place and all the hazards are reduced, he can ‘up’ the pace.

A truly expert player enjoys his game, he has practiced endlessly and has a massive arsenal of skills and experiences to draw on.

Sadly, with driving, the destination is simply that. The aim of surviving is not foremost in people’s thoughts. We are ‘told’ that to arrive is enough.

There is no fun in playing snooker if you have little skill or have no incentive to improve. And that is the truest analogy to driving – the authorities have devalued skills and incentives and now people drive simply to reach a destination with no thought to the constantly developing game and the opportunities around them.

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It's tricky doing nothing - you never know when you're finished

Drivers viewing their actions behind the wheel as a necessity, rather than a skill to be constantly developed and improved.

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Simon

Are you having a laugh?

You could nearly do a re-make of the old Monty Python's "Philosopher's Song" about professional snooker players!

Perhaps not now, but a few years ago definitely. Alex Higgins f'rinstance...

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