Do you have the need for speed?

Are you competitive? I play sports and love to compete. I teach my kids to play fair and follow the rules. It’s about good sportsmanship, not always about winning. Is driving more like a competitive game for you, or is it a necessity? What would you call “winning” for a driver?

The reason I ask this question is because a lot of drivers feel it’s okay to surpass the speed limit in such a way that it appears there’s no speed limit at all. Why drive well over the speed limit? Is it a thrill for you, or a need? These types of drivers will do 60 km/h or more in a school zone and 100 km/h or more on secondary highways. Drivers who feel they can do this, without regard for public safety, haven’t thought this all the way through. Have they thought about “what if?” What if they lost control of their vehicle? They haven’t taken a professional course on how to handle the vehicle at that speed, so why are they?

What if another driver pulled out suddenly because they weren’t expecting someone to drive so fast? This would cause the speeding driver to suddenly brake or swerve out of the way. A sudden swerve will almost always cause panic, plus a loss of control.

The truth of the matter is that street racing belongs on a controlled track. There’s no place for it on public roads. Innocent people are taken from us because of someone’s need for thrilling activities. This includes passengers, not just drivers. There’s always a place for thrills. If you have the ‘need for speed’, why not join a carting club? If you truly understood speed and inertia, you would need to understand how and when to steer around corners. On a track, there are no pedestrians or drivers in your way who are driving much slower than you. You would be taught to do it properly.

Ken Wilden, who raced in a variety series in Canada and the US, including Formula Atlantic, Indy Lights and the Trans Am series to name a few, has always said to learn your craft from a professional. Racing is a fun sport, but it’s a sport. “If guys want to race, they should go to one of many racing schools available”, says Ken. Once you learn how to do it properly, you’ll have more respect for other road users. One of the participants on Canada’s Worst Driver, season 2, had the need for speed. He took his needs to the go-cart track. He now understands there’s a place for it.

The only race you have on public roads is the human race. Other road users aren’t expecting you to be driving so fast on public roads. Your excessive speed affects their choices as well. So, let’s keep our speed down and keep the racing on the track where it belongs!

~~Editor's Note~~

Thanks again to my good friend, Scott Marshall a.k.a. @safedriver and his blog http://safedriving.wordpress.com/ for providing this article.

Also, re-visit one of my older posts about speeding and the difference you can make by slowing down, click here.

Can you really multi-task?

The following article was written by my good friend Scott Marshall. I re-post many of his articles because of his vast experience as a driving instructor for Young Drivers of Canada and he has an excellent way of relating information. You can follow him on Twitter @safedriver and follow his blog at http://safedriving.wordpress.com/

How many things can you do at one time? We often hear about people who can do more than one thing at a time; multi-tasking. I’m always so busy that I sometimes wish I had more arms so I could do more tasks. Instead of that, I delegate some of the tasks that need to be done. Can we delegate as a driver, or do we need to multi-task?

We all know that driving takes a lot of concentration and that distracting our concentration can lead to huge problems. We sometimes fool ourselves into believing we can do many things at once. The things we do regularly have become a habit in most cases, so we don’t need to think about them too often. For example; accelerating while steering can be done at the same time, but that’s mainly because you’re used to doing it. Dealing with other drivers is where the problem comes in.

I often do a little exercise with my students while I’m teaching in the classroom at Young Drivers of Canada. I ask them to do “patty-cake” with either the person beside them or their kneecaps. They follow a pattern and have to do it in unison with everyone else. They all seem to find it quite easy to do. The next part of my experiment is to say the alphabet… backwards. This takes complete thought. It’s not a habit for them to do it that way and they struggle with it. Once they’ve finished that, they have to combine the exercises and do the “patty-cake” and the alphabet backwards. The reality of this is they can’t do it. I witness my students slowing their “patty-cake” to think of what comes next in the alphabet.

This exercise proves to them that their mind will only allow them to consciously do one thing at a time. They had to slow their thought process to make other choices. Does this sound familiar with driving a vehicle? We often hear how difficult it is for some drivers to talk on their cell phone while driving. It’s absolutely true, but they keep doing it. The other day I was driving behind another driver who was driving very slowly. It was a little frustrating, but I knew it was only for a few seconds so I didn’t let it bother me. Once I passed the driver, I noticed they were on their cell phone. They had a difficult time driving safely and talking on their phone. In other words; they couldn’t multi-task.

Driving takes full concentration, so you need to stay focused on your driving and eliminate other thought provoking activities. Driving while being angry can lead to crashes. Have you ever argued with someone while driving? I wonder how many red lights or stop signs you ran because your mind was on something else.

Keep your mind on your driving so you can drive collision free. Sometimes it’s better to walk, stop then chew!