Description: Related Stories More Safe Lane Stories Read more columns from Danny McKeever 2002 Safe Vehicles Learn more about some of the safest '02 models. Relearn your Steering Technique Be less fatigued behind the wheel. A Day at the Races Learning to race can improve road skills and boost confidence. Related Links Danny McKeever Click here to learn more about our safe driving expert. Fast Lane Racing School Learn how to be safe and smart behind the wheel -- take a class! NHTSA Safety Section Check out what the government thinks about safety... Insurance Institute ...or what the insurance industry thinks about safety.
Comments or suggestions about this column? Send an e-mail to: editor@autobytel.com Autobytel Inc. operates the popular automotive websites Autobytel.com, Autoweb.com, Carsmart.com, and Autosite.com. xxx As a driver, you need to look beyond the car in front of you. Being prepared for, and anticipating, what happens in front of you is crucial to safe driving. If your focus is on the car directly in front and it makes a fatal mistake, chances are you will follow your focal point and make that same mistake. Try this test: Stand outside in a safe area, preferably where you can see a road or highway with moving traffic. Stretch one arm out in front of you parallel with the ground. Now, bend just your hand up and focus your eyes only on your hand. Without changing your focus, can you distinguish what is going on beyond your hand? Now, with your arm and hand still extended, refocus your eyes on the traffic. Can you still see your hand? Sure! You have a better picture of what is happening on the road in front of you, and it allows you to see both the car in front of you as well as what's going on in front of that car. I once saw a study, I believe in Europe where they take their driving very seriously, that indicated that as many as 80% of accidents could have been avoided if all parties involved had one more second to react. Hmmm…. one second at 60 mph is another 88 feet. How much more could you do if you had 88 more feet to react? Eyes up! Life in the Safe Lane Driving Tips to Live By, Part II ---Danny McKeever Car Control - What we tell our car to do Have you ever hit the brakes real hard and all of a sudden the rear end of your car is doing "a dance"? You need to understand that what YOU do is telling your CAR what to do. You can't leave a note and tell it to fall off the road or hit a tree. It responds only from your input. Giving the correct information at a normal driving speed is pretty easy. You're in a "comfort zone", the best zone to be in. But at the limit, whether in racing or in accident avoidance situations, you have to react very quickly - almost instinctively. You won't have the luxury of going through a thought process. So, let's go through the thought process now. Controlling the "contact patch" A contact patch is the part of the tire that is actually making contact with the ground. Each tire contact patch is usually only about the size of the palm of your hand. Keeping the maximum amount of this "contact patch" on the road is a tricky exercise of weight transfer. Think like this: When you accelerate, you transfer the weight of the car from the front, losing traction on the front tires, to the rear, which increases traction on the rear tires (effectively pushing them down). Alternatively, deceleration and/or braking transfers the weight to the front tires and off the rear tires, thereby gaining traction in the front and losing traction in the rear. You control just how much weight is transferred by how SMOOTHLY you accelerate, decelerate and brake. Back in your "comfort zone" everything is OK. You don't have to put much thought into the process. But, in racing or panic situations, things happen very quickly. Secret: Sometimes real hard braking is not the best way to reduce the speed of your car. Why? Remember the weight transfer? All the weight of the car is now squarely on the front tires and not enough on the rear, which can cause the car to "dance". Computers in race cars have proven that reducing the speed of your car is as much about how you manage your tires as the brakes themselves. Here's a good one: brakes stop wheels, tires stop cars! Bottom line: We, as a driver, control the weight transfer by how easy or hard we accelerate, decelerate or brake. Don't use your pedals as "on-off" switches. Instead, use them as "dimmer" switches. You can turn a dimmer switch fast, but the message is - "BE SMOOTH". Your car will like it and you will have better car control. Other things to consider are oversteer, understeer and cornering. These have a lot to do with weight transfer as well, and we will address these topics next time. In the mean time, DRIVE SMART AND STAY SAFE. ------ Danny McKeever's Fast Lane Racing School Official Racing School of Toyota Motorsports Sponsored by: Toyota Motor Sales, USA Toyota Racing Development, Bridgestone Tires Danny McKeever's Fast Lane Racing School is located at Willow Springs International Raceway () in Rosamond CA. The school offers a variety of programs including one, two and three day High Performance Driving courses, a Defensive Teenage Driving course and Highway Survival Training. The School operates year round. For further information call: 888.948.4888
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