BEHIND THE WHEEL - TIP OF THE MONTH

February

Get a Grip

The way you hold the steering wheel can make a real difference for your personal safety and when you need driving precision the most. A generation ago, everyone was taught to hold the steering wheel at the 10 and 2 hand position (viewing like the face of a clock). Now the best advice is to hold the steering wheel at the 9 and 3 position. There are three good reasons for this important change. First, a generation ago, steering wheels didn’t have airbags. To save thousands of lives every year, airbags are designed to deploy in a serious frontal collision. Sensors trigger an explosive charge and the nylon bag expands to instantly fill the space between the driver and steering wheel. How fast you ask? The speed of an airbag deployment is about 170 mph! If your hands are in the upper part of the steering wheel, your wrists will be shoved into your face, risking a broken nose or knocked-out teeth. You’ll survive the crash, but you might look a little different. At 9 and 3, your hands will harmlessly go to the side and the airbag can do its job. Another reason is that you have more accident avoidance control. Try this: at 10 and 2, you can quickly turn a steering wheel 90 degrees without taking your hands off. At 9 and 3, you can turn the wheel a full 180 degrees in an emergency, doubling your range of motion. Race car drivers use this technique for maximum precision when they’re driving at the limit. Finally, notice where the turn signal lever is. At the 9 position, you can flip on the blinker while your hand is still on the wheel; at 10 you have to take one hand off the wheel. It’s almost like the car designers planned it that way…

January

Look! Look! Look!

Driving safely is a visual exercise. You must actively look around to know what’s going on in front of you, behind, and on both sides and keep a safe distance from other cars. Defensive driving means you’re always aware of other drivers and you keep an escape path in case another driver does something wrong. Because they will. You have to do some of their looking and thinking for them, because most drivers don’t look around enough themselves. And you don’t want to get caught up in “their” accident. We teach drivers to use a vision pattern that makes sure they’re always aware of their surroundings. Adapted from fighter pilots, with this technique you don’t miss anything. Here’s how it works: First, scan through the windshield from side to side, noticing any movement (other vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, animals, read all road signs). Keep your eyes moving; don’t fix on one spot (after all, it’s not polite to stare…). Occasionally, you have to check a mirror and the speedometer. But anything other than scanning through the windshield needs to be a quick glance, then immediately return to scanning ahead. This is the defensive visual pattern: SCAN, check a mirror, SCAN, check a different mirror, SCAN, check the third mirror, SCAN, check the speedometer, SCAN, repeat. Your eyes are moving every 2-4 seconds, and the pattern repeats every 15-20 seconds. After all, driving on busy streets may seem like a you’re in a dogfight.

December

Seatbelts Save Lives
You’ve heard this over and over, but it’s really true. Whenever you get in a car, as a driver or passenger, put on your seatbelt. Make a habit of putting it on before you start the car. Sadly, not everyone does. Recently, a popular student at an East County high school lost his life when riding with his mom on the way to school. A tire blew out on the freeway, she lost control of their pickup and they rolled down an embankment. He wasn’t wearing his seatbelt and was thrown from the truck, and in an instant, he was gone. A very sad campus held a candlelight vigil and dedicated a football game to him. But the best tribute to him is the vow for all of his classmates to always wear their seatbelt. His mom was wearing her seatbelt, and after two days in the hospital, she was home and has fully recovered from her injuries. But she will never recover from the loss of her son. Most Californians have gotten this message, and we hope you are already in the habit of always wearing your seatbelt. Here is a revealing statistic: 97% of Californians wear their seatbelt, but 50% of highway fatalities happen to people who do not wear their seatbelt. That means that only 3% of unbelted people equate to 50% of fatalities. Those are terrible odds; make sure you AND YOUR PASSENGERS always wear seatbelts.

November

Follow This Closely…
We almost never have the road to ourselves. While driving with other people all around us, we have to remember to share the road, to be predictable to other drivers, and above all to keep it safe. You may know that the law gives drivers extra responsibilities when they follow someone else. If there’s a rear-end collision, THE DRIVER BEHIND IS CONSIDERED RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CRASH. That’s right, if the person ahead of you brakes suddenly, even if it seems like it’s for no reason, YOU are responsible if you rear-end them. How do you make sure you don’t hit the car ahead? Well first, always keep your eyes scanning the road far ahead to be aware of what’s happening. How far behind should you follow? When your parents learned to drive, they were probably taught to keep 1 car-length for every 10 mph. That is no longer used, because most of us aren’t good at measuring distance, and are we talking about the length of crew-cab pickups or Smart cars? The ideal following distance is 3 seconds behind the car ahead. When the driver ahead passes a fixed object (sign, pole, tree, line across the road, shadow across the road), count “one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three” before you pass the same spot. This works at ANY speed, from residential areas to the freeway. It might seem like more space than you need, and it would be IF YOU ALWAYS KNEW EXACTLY WHEN THE CAR AHEAD WAS STOPPING. But, since we can’t read the mind of the driver ahead and predict the future, we need time to SEE, ANALYZE, and REACT to a hazard ahead. According to studies, that takes 1.0-1.5 seconds. So now your braking time is cut in half by the time you notice what’s happening and when you hit the brake pedal. You have still left enough space to stop your car. The safe following distance is as easy as 1-2-3.

October

The Heat is ON!
Most of us associate hot weather with Summertime, but in San Diego, we have some of our highest temperatures in October when Santa Ana winds blow desert air in from the Northeast. It’s a good time to think about the effects on you and your car. In warm weather, try to drink plenty of liquids (water hydrates better than soda). If you have something cold in the cupholder, don’t take your eyes off the road or your hands off the steering wheel for too long when taking a drink. How about sipping while waiting at a red light, or when the freeway is straight and clear? Also, it is technically illegal to drive while barefoot. Why? If you do have a collision and your door is jammed, you can break the side window glass by putting a shoe over your hand, but that only works if you HAVE a shoe. And if your door opens easily, walking barefoot on pavement that is hot or covered with broken glass doesn’t sound like a good idea. When you drive, always be prepared for the unexpected… Your car may also be affected by hot weather. Now is a good time to get used to keeping an eye on the temperature gauge. Engine coolant can heat up when the car is stopped (red lights or traffic) or when the engine is working harder (up a long hill). Overheating is bad for your engine, and it can lead to a cooling system failure (white steam and water vapor coming from under the hood). If the temperature gauge climbs, first turn off the air conditioning (less work for the engine). If that doesn’t help enough, turn on the heater (opens up more volume for the cooling system). It may be uncomfortable for you, but it can save your engine from a meltdown until you can fix your cooling system. One more tip: most modern cars actually use LESS gas on the freeway with the air conditioning on and the windows closed. There is less wind resistance without buffeting from open windows, and modern air conditioning is very efficient. Enjoy the warm weather!

September

Back to School!
Yes, Summer is over. We hope you had a fun one. But when school is back in session, drivers have an extra responsibility when they’re near a school. You’ve seen the speed limit signs for School Zones: SCHOOL SPEED LIMIT 25 mph. But does that mean you always have to slow down when you’re in a School Zone? Many drivers are confused by this; some slow down all the time, and some never slow down. If you continue reading to the bottom of the sign, it says: “When Children are Present.” Aha! But what does that mean? What if there’s a flashing yellow light above the Speed Limit sign? What if there’s a digital readout of YOUR speed flashed below the Speed Limit sign, telling everyone how fast you are going? Exactly WHEN does the School Zone Speed Limit apply? Here’s what it really means: “When Children are Present” means that there are literally school children on the sidewalk at that moment. If school is in session but kids are inside the buildings, the 25 mph Speed Limit does NOT apply (even if there is a digital speed readout showing you’re going over 25 mph). If school kids are outside BUT in a playground separated by a fence from the sidewalk, the 25 mph Speed Limit does NOT apply. In those cases, the Speed Limit is whatever the last posted Speed Limit was before you got to the School Zone. If children ARE present, slow down to 25 mph until you get to the “End of School Zone” sign. Now you know.