Welcome, to this driving guide. The aim of this guide is to make you drive defensively by offering the tips and suggestions for defensive driving. You can use these tips and suggestions in each and every day of your driving and make your driving better and safer. Here are some useful tips from experts in safe driving.
Avoiding blind spots / Managing Blind Spots
Blind spot is by and large a think or problem of past. The reason is for the past let us say twenty years or so any auto mobile for that matter is provided with mirror on the right side. If that mirror is adjusted then there is no problem of blind spot. How to do adjustments? Here they are
1. The first and fore most things are adjusting the rear view mirror in such a way that the drivers get the full view of the rear. Try and position the rear view mirror in such a way that it covers the rear window strait. Never try and tilt the rear view mirror to get the view of the traffic on either side of the vehicle because the side mirrors are there specifically for the same reason.
2. Bend the head till it nearly touches the window on the driver’s side. Now adjust the left side mirror of the vehicle so that you can see the side of the car alone and not anything other than that.
3. Now try and lean your head to the middle of the car and try and adjust the mirror on the right side just enough to see the right side of the car. The mirror should be positioned in such a way that you should not be seeing the right side of the car when you sit upright position.
4. In order to check the blind spot, just do the following. While driving the car in the right lane of the four track road make note of a vehicle that passes your car from behind on the left side. Do not move your head. Just have a glance over the rear view mirror to follow the car as it comes near your car. The moments is disappears from the view in rearview mirror, look at the left side mirror. Now have a close look at the left side mirror as the car passes you vehicle. The moments before it disappears from the left side mirror you should not fail to view the car through your peripheral vision. This is the way of avoiding the blind spot. Repeat the same thing while you are traveling in the left side of the lane for the car that passes you from behind on the right side. Here you should go from peripheral vision, followed by right side mirror followed by rear view mirror. Here again there is no blind spot is it not? In case there is blind spot for even a fraction of a second, then the side mirror adjustment needs very minor correction.
The mirror adjustments are very important hence you need to do that each time you get in to the car. The adjustments require only few minutes but they can cause big difference in the driving.
Many, many drivers are not using the side mirrors while changing from one lane to the other instead they look back over their shoulders .this is because the side mirrors are not adjusted properly. As the result, there is blind spot. The drivers do not believe in their side mirrors. Instead if the mirrors are adjusted the drivers will use them and trust them as there won’t be any blind spots.
Besides the drivers need not to look back over the shoulders while changing lanes thus avoiding “shoulder peek” .this means that there will be no blind spots and the peripheral view will provide a view in front of you. Hence there is less chance for rear ending vehicle to get stopped all of a sudden.
As an added advantage if the side mirrors are tilted farther outside, you need not fret about the bright light of the vehicles following you as you won’t get any glare.
For some time you may not be comfortable as you could not see the side of the car through side mirrors. [One can see the side if he bends his head little]. Certainly for some time you will be relying on the side mirrors to have a look at the rear but once you are used to the procedure mentioned, you will certainly love this and will be more confident and comfortable while driving in the traffic.
Driving Safely in the Rain
It will be a frightening experience for anybody in case he loses control of the car on wet road. This is certainly a possibility in case the person doesn’t take any precautionary measures. One must travel at low speed on curves to avoid skidding. The turning of the wheel and application of brake must be gentle. If you want to stop the car never apply the brake hard instead give steady but mild pressure on the brake.
In case you are skidding, do not panic and be calm. Remove the foot from the accelerator and drive the car in the direction you want to go. If the car is not provided with anti lock system, it is better avoid using the brake. This style of driving is called as steering in to the skid. This procedure will straighten the car. In case the car is provided with ABS, apply the brake strongly as you are “steering in to the skid “.
One should know that hydroplaning is nerve -wracking while at least the skidding is only frightening. Hydroplaning is nothing but the building up of water in front of the tire of the car as it builds up faster than the weight of the car could push it out of its way. Because of the pressure of the water the car is slightly pushed up and there will be a thin layer of water between the tires and the road. If this situation happens, then your car is in danger of getting thrown out of the lane or the road.
In order to avoid hydroplaning, the tires must be inflated fully and the tread of the tire must be in good condition. Besides this the car must be driven slowly in wet condition and it is always better to avoid puddles. Driving the car in the track left by the car that had traveled already is advisable.
Incase you are facing hydroplaning never apply brake or turn the car suddenly as your car will start skidding. Take the foot from the accelerator till the car slows down or you feel the road. If you want to apply brake, apply gently with pumping action. In case the car is provided with anti –lock brakes, you can apply brake normally as the computer set in the car will mimic the pumping action if required.
If the driver is thorough with the defensive driving he can adjust the speed of the car in the wet road condition thus avoiding the procedures discussed above.
The Heel and Toe Downshift
The heel to toe down shift is nothing but a technique used in downshifting the manual transmission car. The general public may not be aware of this technique but the drivers of a race car will be using it all the time. This technique is not all that simple, hence one need to master it as there will be lot of benefits like reduced wear and tear, efficient and better control for the driver.
As mentioned already the heel –and-toe down shift is a complex procedure as it involves feet of the driver, right hand of the driver, and gear shifting lever and all vehicle pedals. The very purpose of the heel- and- toe downshift is to match the speed of the engine and the speed of the wheel.
Here is the step by step procedure to heel-and-toe downshift. This procedure explains the shifting of gear from fourth to third. The procedure is the same for any downshift.
1. Start breaking the corner with the help of your right foot. The positioning of the foot on the pedal is dictated by the location of the pedal and the foot size. In general the foot should be positioned on the right closer to the throttle.
2 press the clutch with the help of your left foot.
3. Now keeping the foot on the brake, try and roll the outside of the right foot to touch the throttle. This will be easy if the pedals are positioned closer. Then, using the outside of the right foot, blip the throttle. This is nothing but raising the rpm of the engine to match the speed of the wheel. There are many factors involved in determining the right amount of revs but in general 1000 -2000 rpms more is required than the engine rpm for one down shift.
4. Next you need to shift the shifter to third gear.
5. Now you need to release the clutch using your left foot.
The critical point in the whole procedure is matching the rpms in order to match the new gear. in case the blibing too much the engine rpm will be more than the wheel speed as the result the rpm will be forced to drop down once the clutch is released. In case the bliping is too less, the rpms will be forced to increase. In both cases the car will jerk visibly.
If you do the heel and toe down shift right and you can feel that the down shift is smooth and satisfying and you will like use the procedure again and again. For doing this and mastering this procedure you need not to be a race car driver or you require a race track. This procedure if used in the street, there will be improved safety. During some emergency condition you may have to brake suddenly and accelerate quickly. Heel and toe downshift procedure will keep your car in best position in order to get the maximum acceleration.
It is really fun doing it. There is improved safety to driving. It reduces the wear and tear of the car. Hence better learn it now.
There is a
lot more to safe driving than we can show here. Learn all of them now!
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