Cornering is one of the most complex open-road driving activities
Australia’s rural road network is often second-rate in terms of both engineering and signposting. You need to compensate for any deficiencies and steer a steady, safe course, and get it right every time.
See what happens when drivers misjudge cornering, and it all goes horribly wrong, on the video below.
Amazingly there is no official ‘how-to’ advice about cornering in any
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
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
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 …
re are 10 Tips for Safer Highway Driving
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.