Posts in safety
Skids and slides: Managing oversteer (it's shorthand for 'sideways')

ut how many different kinds of oversteer do you think there are?

Classic oversteer - driver needs to steer right to negotiate a left-handerThere are two 'flavours' of sideways in a car - but let’s recap. Oversteer is where the rear wheels lose traction first. The car turns (or ‘yaws’) harder into the corner than its steering input would otherwise dictate, it literally over-steers - hence the name. From the driver’s seat, you notice the rear end trying to overtake the front. The car goes 'sideways'. It is unnerving, especially

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safetyJohn CadoganComment
Emergency braking in detail

Perversely, this essential skill is not taught to learners...

In the following scenario, an untrained, inexperienced driver and an experienced, trained driver head over a crest on the highway, in the wet, in identical vehicles. Over the crest there is an obstacle blocking the road. It can be anything you really would not like to hit – a crash between two vehicles, a broken-down truck, a drunk pedestrian or a cow in the middle of your lane. When the problem becomes

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safetyJohn CadoganComment
What to do if you run onto the soft shoulder on a rural backroad

Running onto the soft shoulder can put a dent in your day

The soft shoulder at the side of your average back road catches a lot of people out, and potentially turns a simple error into a massive head-on collision or rollover at highway speeds. A driver loses concentration on the highway, and runs the two left-hand wheels onto the soft shoulder. The car feels light, starts to drift left. The driver panics, often over-correcting. A few seconds later …

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safetyJohn CadoganComment
Safer highway driving

re are 10 Tips for Safer Highway Driving

  1. Pack loose objects in the boot. In station wagons, 4WDs and SUVs, use a cargo net or think about installing a cargo barrier, or at least pack everything securely forward with heaqvy objects against the rear seat backs. Remember that too many heavy items on roof racks increases rollover risk, especially on 4WDs.
  2. Entertain the kids – not too
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safetyJohn CadoganComment