Hot tips on how to improve your driving skills

I’m sure we all think we are Peter Brock, Dick Johnson, Jamie Whincup or Mark Winterbottom behind the wheel of our car, but this is not always the case, in fact quite the opposite.

One of the most important aspects of being a better driver and improving your driving skills, is the wonderful side effect that this will improve the longevity of your car.

Not doing simple things whilst behind the wheel can increase the undue wear and tear on your vehicle.

Most of us, either young or old could use some pointers on how to improve the way we drive, so let’s jump in and see if we have anything that could help you get better behind the wheel.

HOLDING THE STEERING WHEEL.

How you hold the steering is vitally critical to how you control your car and there is a right way and a wrong way.

The right way is to place your left hand at 9 o’clock on the steering wheel “clock” and place it in on/above the thumb rest, from there place your right hand at 3 o’clock and again place it on/above the thumb rest and don’t move them from there unless you absolutely have to.

Why you may ask?

1) It maintains your head in an upright position, maintaining spacial perceptions and offering you the best physical balance to drive a vehicle. If you’re holding the steering with one hand and tilting your head over as you lean into a corner then you really can’t perceive accurately what is going on.

2) You are perfectly balanced into the straight ahead position. If in an emergency you need to dodge right or dodge left very swiftly you are starting from the centre position, giving you the best chance of swerving whichever way may be required when that child jumps out in front of you from behind the parked car.

3) With your hands placed at 9 and 3 o’clock, your arms will not get in the way of the steering wheel airbag if in an emergency it needs to go off. If you’re driving with one arm at 12 o’clock and your airbag goes off, expect to receive your arm into your face at approximately 300km/h which as I’m sure you’d agree, is far from optimal!

Whilst sitting in your driving position, if your shoulder needs to leave the seat back when rotating the steering wheel past ninety degrees, you are sitting too far away from the steering wheel and you need to bring your seat back more upright.

Your wrists should be able to sit on top of the steering wheel without having to stretch forward.

Sure it may not be the “coolest” way to drive, but it is certainly the safest and who doesn’t want to stay alive.

After doing this for a few weeks it will feel like the most natural way to drive, mainly because it is.

You will find your posture in your seat will improve and your overall control of your vehicle will be enhanced as well and the safety of your passengers will also be enhanced.

Try it, it may save yours and your family’s life!

TWEAK YOUR VISION.

Now bear with me here because I know this will sound like I am Captain Obvious, but there is no more critical interplay in driving than the interaction between vision and control of the vehicle.

You would think it would be instinctive but so many get this wrong.

If you only take one thing away from reading this post, make sure it is this…

Look where you want the car to go.

That’s it.

Sounds ludicrously simple doesn’t it, but yet this is the one thing that can save yours and your passengers life every time.

If you want to remember another important aspect about driving, remember this…

Don’t forget to look where you want the car to go.

The most obvious aspect about this, is that people don’t look far enough ahead as they are fixated on the car right in front of them or somewhere just beyond that car.

That is bad.

If you look as far as you can possibly see, you don’t lose track of that car right in front of you or the mid-distance, that’s what peripheral vision is, you actually take more in and buy yourself valuable, additional time to react and take action early.

Distance = time and if you can see further, that gives you more time to react.

The second way this plays out is when going around tight bends, 66% of drivers just stop looking when they get to the A pillar because it blocks their vision.

If the corner is tight, keep tracking beyond the pillar and out through your drivers window so you can see what is coming up further ahead.

The minute distraction of the pillar whilst moving your vision from windscreen to drivers window is not enough to lose control of your car and the benefit of seeing what is approaching far outweighs the risk of losing sight of the road for a milli-second.

Thirdly, people can get distracted by target fixation on something up ahead, whether that be a pothole, child or animal, whatever it may be you need to acknowledge it’s existence but do not become fixated on it.

As I said earlier look where you want the car to go, this rings true, so if you are looking at the object/target, that is where your car will go.

Look for the escape route instead because that is where you are going to steer, especially in a stressful situation.

Lastly, there are skids and slides which will put you, your passengers and your car in dangerous situations.

It takes hours in a skid pan to up-skill enough to be comfortable in sliding your car around and you lose these skills if you don’t keep training.

The best bet here is to drive conservatively and don’t put yourself in this position to begin with.

Although, in the worst scenario where you end up slipping or sliding, planned or not, the way you react will determine whether you and your car survive.

The main skill here and not unsurprisingly is, look where you want the car to go.

Yes sliding sideways is an unnatural feeling and your first reaction is to fight against it but don’t look at where you think you might be ending up, that tree doesn’t want you wrapped around it either so keep your eyes on where you want the car to go and steer in that direction.

So as I wrap up this message I hope you will all take out one very simple, but always relevant reminder…

Look where you want your car to go.

For more information and a great job in explaining this better than I can, check out John Cadogan’s You tube channel.

His insightful, and at times “colourful” way of explaining things is not for everyone, but here at Brisbane Car Shed we love his views on all things cars!

BEWARE: John tells it exactly as it is, so if you are easily offended you may not enjoy his hard truths as John calls a spade a f%$#@ing shovel!

Remember if you’re looking for a new car or need to sell your current car, talk to me! Call Paul on 0411 362 229.