Co Driver Habit 3: Keep Space
What is Stagger?
The concept of staggering is simple, you drive beside space.
If you drive with an open lane on either side of your vehicle, you can use that space to get away from the problem. The benefit is that you have room if for whatever reason you need it.
Establishing a stagger is easy, all you need to do is change your speed for 1 or 2 seconds and then resume going with the flow of traffic.
Blind Spots
If you’re driving in another driver’s blind spot, you must know that the other driver cannot see you.
New drivers have plenty to concentrate on. Not recognizing that they are in another driver’s blind spot is an easy mistake to make. If you find that your new driver has moved into a blind spot, let them know they should move out of it within 3 seconds for safety. If we’re in another car's blind spot, that driver can not see us unless they look over their shoulder since blind spots, as we know, can not be seen with the mirrors. To correctly check a blind spot the new driver should do the following: Keep their shoulders against the seat, turn just their head to 90° and direct their eyes to the rear side of the car. New drivers must be shown that blind spots do exist and how big they are.
To judge if you’re in the blind spot of another driver from the passenger seat, glance into the side-view mirror of the other car. If you can’t see the face of the driver – there’s a very good chance that the driver can not see your vehicle. So, you’re in their blind spot. Ask your new driver the question: “are we in a blind spot?” and they’ll know what to do.
Scan and Groundview
In the video we talk about “Groundview”. What is Groundview?
This is what you are doing when you are comparing another driver’s wheels to the lane markings. We call it Groundviewing so we can describe it easily in the car. The learning terminology is one of the things we’re covering and understanding that what they’re doing different from others or different from you, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong. It’s a new driving technique designed to reduce collisions. Keep this in mind as we cover the next technique.
Avoiding Rear Crash
Many drivers stop immediately behind the car in front of them. This is not a good practice on many levels.
If you are stopped on a hill and the vehicle in front has a standard transmission, there is the possibility that the vehicle might roll back slightly. If you are too close to the back of that vehicle you will get bumped. Sometimes you’ll see a driver begin to slow down early when approaching a red light. Most people just assume that they are hoping the light will change before they get there, avoiding a stop.
This is a very clever technique. It saves brakes, fuel and tires. That, however, is only part of the benefit. Here’s how to maximize your benefit. In addition to having an escape route, we always leave a minimum of one car length in front due to the risk of cars crashing in the intersection and spinning out of control and crashing into our vehicle.
Left Turn Collision
In the video, you witness the effects of being in the wrong position while making a left and the wrong position while waiting at the intersection.
The car making a left is at an angle, putting the driver farther back and unable to see oncoming traffic properly. After the collision, the cars spin out of control and collide yet again with the cars waiting at the intersection for the light to change. This could have been avoided if the cars waiting were in the correct spot.
Left Turns
If your driver has to wait for oncoming traffic at an intersection to make a left turn, the first thing the driver must realize is at what point the driver has entered the intersection.
If the nose of the car goes beyond the line, be it an implied line or a crosswalk, the vehicle has entered the intersection and at this point, the driver can now legally complete the left turn on the amber light, once the way is clear. A point to remember is the crosswalk is not part of the intersection. For the car to be legally in the intersection, the nose of the car must extend out past the second line of the crosswalk. When entering the intersection, enter as little as possible in order to keep maximum visibility while keeping a safe space from the vehicles making a left turn from oncoming traffic. The closer you are to the oncoming traffic, the harder it is to see what is coming from behind them.
A large intersection has opposing turning lanes and an offsetting island. When turning left, the oncoming traffic that might also be waiting to turn left makes the new driver's visibility extremely poor. The solution to that is to use the “S” Approach. It’s called the “S” Approach since your car travels in a path that looks like a flattened letter S. Follow along with the animation. You begin the approach from about 2 car lengths back from the stopping position. Gently drift the car left to pass close to the island. As you enter the intersection, straighten the car in line with the opposing turning lane.
When you’ve done this correctly, your car will be facing directly into the opposing turning lane. Enter the intersection as little as possible finishing with your wheels straight. From this position, the driver will have the best possible visibility and will not be interfering with the oncoming traffic in any way. In fact, the driver of a car that has used the “S” Approach is sitting as far left as possible without advancing the car any further than the traditional angled approach, where the driver sits farther back where they can not see oncoming traffic.
An additional benefit to you, the co-driver, is that your visibility of the scene is increased when your new driver uses the “S” Approach. This helps you to be able to agree or disagree with the new drivers’ decision.