Possible Solution: Ian Law is race car driver and the president and chief instructor of the ILR Car Control School (www.carcontrolschool.com). He’s been teaching drivers of all ages advanced safe driving techniques for years-- and recommends a pre-emptive approach to successfully tackling a catastrophic non-visibility situation.
“This is one scenario where staying focused on your driving pays off in dividends. Any motorist who considers themselves a good driver will have been focused on their driving and the situation before the incident. This is called "situational awareness", and it involves processing all driving information so that the driver knows at all times what is around them-- and where. Pilots practice this when flying and it saves lives”.
The Problem: You’re driving on an icy highway through very thick fog, and you discover you’re mere seconds away from plowing head-on into the back of a stopped vehicle. You’re driving too fast to stop.
Possible Solution: Driving properly for weather and road conditions could have prevented this situation, but now’s not the time for reflection.
Carrying on straight will make you part of a massive and potentially lethal pile-up. Aim for the ditch. Getting your vehicle out of the roadway may prevent subsequent impacts, and is likely to offer a higher chance of survival.
Your vehicle and those on board can probably survive the impact of entering a ditch moreso than the impact of entering the backside of another vehicle, and then being struck numerous times in the resulting pile up.
Law Adds “I always say you are much better off waiting 3 hours for a tow truck to pull you out of a ditch than waiting 20 minutes to have the paramedics pull your body out of the wreckage. Don't wait until you find the pile up-- that will probably be too late. If you stop on the shoulder, you will probably get run into”.
The Problem: You’ve ignored that clunking from your front-end for months, and now your right front ball joint has snapped. Your wheel, steering knuckle and strut are wrenched violently from the body of the car, and you’re driving on three wheels with almost no ability to steer.
Possible Solution: Ian Law suggests fighting the natural tendency to brake, which would transfer more weight onto the broken front suspension and cause it to dig into the road. This could easily send the vehicle wildly out of control in a violent spin.
He comments “the driver should look to where they need to go and smoothly try to steer the vehicle off to the shoulder without using the brakes. If one front wheel is still intact, the car may still be able to effect some degree of steering-- if the extra weight is kept off the broken suspension. This will help maintain any control, but the driver needs a good thump alongside their head for not looking after their vehicle properly”.
“This is one scenario where staying focused on your driving pays off in dividends. Any motorist who considers themselves a good driver will have been focused on their driving and the situation before the incident. This is called "situational awareness", and it involves processing all driving information so that the driver knows at all times what is around them-- and where. Pilots practice this when flying and it saves lives”.
The Problem: You’re driving on an icy highway through very thick fog, and you discover you’re mere seconds away from plowing head-on into the back of a stopped vehicle. You’re driving too fast to stop.
Possible Solution: Driving properly for weather and road conditions could have prevented this situation, but now’s not the time for reflection.
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| Photo: Jupiter images |
Carrying on straight will make you part of a massive and potentially lethal pile-up. Aim for the ditch. Getting your vehicle out of the roadway may prevent subsequent impacts, and is likely to offer a higher chance of survival.
Your vehicle and those on board can probably survive the impact of entering a ditch moreso than the impact of entering the backside of another vehicle, and then being struck numerous times in the resulting pile up.
Law Adds “I always say you are much better off waiting 3 hours for a tow truck to pull you out of a ditch than waiting 20 minutes to have the paramedics pull your body out of the wreckage. Don't wait until you find the pile up-- that will probably be too late. If you stop on the shoulder, you will probably get run into”.
The Problem: You’ve ignored that clunking from your front-end for months, and now your right front ball joint has snapped. Your wheel, steering knuckle and strut are wrenched violently from the body of the car, and you’re driving on three wheels with almost no ability to steer.
Possible Solution: Ian Law suggests fighting the natural tendency to brake, which would transfer more weight onto the broken front suspension and cause it to dig into the road. This could easily send the vehicle wildly out of control in a violent spin.
He comments “the driver should look to where they need to go and smoothly try to steer the vehicle off to the shoulder without using the brakes. If one front wheel is still intact, the car may still be able to effect some degree of steering-- if the extra weight is kept off the broken suspension. This will help maintain any control, but the driver needs a good thump alongside their head for not looking after their vehicle properly”.