Ford offers driving skills for life

I’ll be the first to admit I have vehophobia or, in layman’s terms, a fear of driving. This isn’t due to any particular accident I’ve incurred; the thought of operating a piece of heavy machinery on the road just scares me a little.

It’s not so much knowing which pedal to push, or getting my hand-eye coordination right, but it’s driving on the streets and highways with thousands of other road users that gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Pedestrians darting across the road without looking, non-indicators who change lanes erratically or, worse still, drunk drivers, for example.

Because of that, I’m more than familiar with every excuse in the book to avoid getting behind the wheel. However, I finally decided enough is enough and, this year, as part of my new year’s resolutions, I told myself it is time to get back on the road and conquer this silly fear.

A few months ago, I finally obtained my Victorian drivers’ license and even bought a car. But realising I have so much more to learn about driving, I put my hand up for an opportunity to participate in the Melbourne leg of this year’s Ford Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) course.

The half-day defensive driving course is designed to help less experienced drivers such as leaners, P-platers, or even those with full licenses, navigate the roads safer and smarter.

First introduced in North America 17 years ago, the course arrived in Australia in 2015 and this year has reached more drivers than ever, visiting five locations: Melbourne, Sydney, Wodonga, Coffs Harbour and Darwin.

There is no age limit to partake in the course, however, most attendees are young drivers who -- as those parents with teenagers can attest -- may get a bit overconfident behind the wheel can definitely use some of the lessons taught during the course.

Best part of it all is there are no costs involved in signing up.

Get practical
The whole idea of the DSFL course is to simulate emergency situations in a controlled environment and teach drivers a thing or two about controlling vehicles safely in said situations.

These include emergency braking when travelling at high speed down a slope, or around flooded bends in the road.

“It’s really crucial that drivers get to feel what it’s like to do an ABS stop because having that pulsating sensation under the foot for the first time in the real world is scary,” says Ford DSFL program director, James Stewart.

“Here, you can feel what it’s like to lose control and learn how to stop the car or steer it.

“On a course like this, drivers can knock over traffic cones and we can stand them back up and have another go, so it really gives them that good start to understanding what driving’s about.”

While exhilarating, the emergency braking exercise certainly gave drivers a better comprehension of how anti-lock braking systems work, and how to react to possible emergency scenarios in the real world.

Drivers were also taught to look up into the distance and around the vehicle when driving, instead of having their blinkers on and simply looking straight and down. This is especially important when it comes to navigating bends and curves in the road.

I found this concept easier said than done, and it goes to show how hard it can be to change bad habits. My struggle made me realise just how many other drivers on the road may possibly be not paying sufficient attention to their surroundings.

Another interesting exercise was the simulation of drunk driving, where participants were asked to wear an ‘impairment suit’ -- a series of weights and belts around their legs and arms to restrict their movements, and a pair of vision-impairing goggles which cause you to see double.

“It takes them [participants] from being sober to under the influence of alcohol so we can see what effects it has on them,” Stewart says.

Participants were asked to walk a straight line before and after the ‘impairment suit’ was put on, and the difference was dramatic.

When burdened by the goggles and weights, participants started stumbling around – yes, like a drunken sailor -- failing to even locate the blue line of tape on the ground they were supposed to walk on.

It’s certainly thought-provoking: if people fail to even stand on their own two feet properly when under the influence, what could possibly make them assume they’re fit to control a two-tonne vehicle? Yet countless drivers still insist drinking and driving is acceptable.

A little bit of theory
Before we got behind the wheel, Stewart gave us all a short briefing. There, he asked all attendees to do a few simple exercises. “Raise your left arms for me … all five fingers spread out, and wave. How hard is that?”

Next, we were asked to put our right legs out and try lifting the balls of our right feet off the floor. “That was tough too, wasn’t it, especially for you young males.”

Stewart’s point is that drivers get too complacent too easily and trivial things are easily forgotten.

“We’ve got the roads to share and I think so many of us just become very aggressive too easily,” he says. “Even if [the drivers] take away the message of just bringing back the wave, and putting some courtesy back on the roads, that’ll be enough.”

In driving school, we hear enough about keeping safe distances between cars (three seconds in between) and checking all mirrors and out windows for cyclists, other drivers and riders, but most of us certainly don’t follow through.

Therefore, Ford has also designed its DSFL course to educate -- or re-educate -- drivers on some basic driving etiquette.

“You might think of cyclists as just that, cyclists, but try thinking of them as human beings,” Stewart says.

“Imagine if he or she is your father, mother, brother, or sister -- would you give them enough room to ride comfortably and safely on the roads? You most certainly would.

“And the fact is, they are someone’s mother, father, brother or sister, so treat them like how you would treat your own family.”

Attendees were also schooled on seemingly minor but important things like how to adjust your seat correctly and where to grip the steering wheel, which, by the way, is in the 9-3 position instead of 10-2 which a lot of people have been taught to do in the past.

Not just for amateurs
While the DSFL course has been designed with young and inexperienced drivers in mind, I have no doubt even the most seasoned drivers would come away having learned a lesson or two. And that was also one of the aims of Ford in offering the course.

“The biggest responses we get are probably from the parents, saying how much they have taken away from the course and they would be telling their kids: ‘I wish I would’ve done this when I was growing up',” Stewart says.

“So it’s also about giving the parents the opportunity to sit in with the course and then reinforce the messages [with their children].”

The last Ford Driving Skills for Life course for 2017 was run in Wodonga last week. Stand by for dates and venues for 2018, or check the DSFL website.