How to be a better driver

One of the toughest jobs in motorsport is sitting alongside a rally pilot in a WRC (World Rally Championship) car.

Being a rally co-driver takes fortitude and a cast-iron stomach. You’re reading pace notes and conveying instructions to the driver as the car bounces and slides its way across the terrain. It’s all high-speed, high-g hijinks, but not for the faint-hearted, nor the squidgy-gutted.

In contrast with that, you likely expect a chauffeur-driven experience when you’re relegated to the passenger seat for a drive through suburbia.

Unfortunately, many ‘professional’ drivers (taxi drivers especially) are not committed to providing a luxury service. You are just goods to be transported, and some drivers have never entertained for a moment the thought that their driving is abysmal.

But it’s not just taxi drivers. Put yourself in their position and ask yourself this: Could your driving do with some improvement? Have you learned some bad habits behind the wheel, habits that madden your friends, colleagues and family members who travel with you?

Ask them. They’ll tell you if your driving needs work.

And here are some pointers for you in that case…

Drivers often take extraordinary chances without apparent fear of the repercussions. This can be very hard on the nerves of passengers in the car.

Tailgating drivers are a major concern, as are those who ignore signs that read ‘DO NOT OVERTAKE TURNING VEHICLE’ on the rear of a heavy commercial vehicle.

But overtaking on the open road is the manoeuvre that strikes fear into the hearts of passengers beyond anything else.

And little wonder: get it wrong and you’re facing a head-on collision at life-threatening impact speeds.

Many drivers decide that using the car’s available performance to the full is unnecessary; or they pull out to overtake on double white lines or around blind corners.

Sometimes they don’t even check their mirrors to ensure they themselves are not being overtaken before pulling out.

Simple rules for overtaking
• Don’t overtake if you can’t see a kilometre ahead
• Don’t overtake if you can see that the dotted centre line changes to unbroken double lines within 300 metres
• Don’t overtake if there’s a car approaching and it’s closing from within a kilometre
• Check mirrors and blind spots before moving right
• Use at least half throttle or more – don’t hang around on the wrong side of the road to save fuel or because you’re worried about over-revving the engine
• Make sure lights and wipers are operating in low-light and wet conditions

It’s good practice to let a semi-trailer turning right from the lane on your left to go first. Your front seat passenger will appreciate it. Naturally, the same applies in the event you’re turning left, in formation with a semi-trailer. The truck requires more room and the driver may need to use some of your lane as well as their own. Trucks are notorious for their blind spots, so always leave them a wide berth.

For any experienced driver occupying the front passenger seat while the driver maintains a braking distance that’s clearly inadequate, tailgating is also an in-car faux pas.

Drivers, do your passengers a favour: leave a safe braking distance between your car and the one in front.

What is a safe braking distance?
• If you’re adjusting your speed every five seconds or more frequently, you’re too close
• Safety experts suggest leaving three seconds between you and the car in front
• Count slowly up to three after the car in front has passed a power pole or other landmark to work out whether you need to increase the gap
• At 100km/h, a three-second gap equates to nearly 90 metres, so three seconds is the bare minimum
• Extend the gap further if you’re driving on wet roads or the car’s tyres are lacking tread
• Take into account your own reaction time (about half a second, if you’re paying attention)

Some drivers are heavy on the throttle and the brake, which can induce motion sickness in passengers.

The driver may not even be aware of this; they anticipate ‘throttling up’ or ‘easing off’ and subconsciously brace their stomach muscles and lean their head (and middle ear) in preparation.

But for the passengers, it’s upsetting and unsettling.

Most automatic cars respond well to the smooth application of power. They have the torque to glide away from a stop sign or a red light, allowing the driver to apply increasing accelerator pedal pressure above 20km/h, when the change in inertia isn’t felt as strongly by the passengers.

Is your foot hovering over the brake pedal while too close behind another car? Why not just leave more room instead?

If the traffic does begin to bank up, you have the option of changing lanes (smoothly) or matching the pace of the traffic ahead with engine braking alone. Either way, it will be a nicer experience for your passengers.

It’s not just the constant dabbing of the brake pedal at speed that can make a passenger feel fatigued, agitated or nauseous, it’s also the driver’s inability to execute a ‘soft stop’ – lifting off the pedal those last two metres before the car comes to a complete halt.

It’s annoying for a passenger to experience ‘head nod’ as the car rocks on its suspension when it pulls up.

If you maintain the same pedal pressure while braking from 60km/h to the point where the car’s forward momentum is entirely arrested, the sudden change in inertia is disconcerting for passengers.

As the car’s speed slows below 10km/h, lift your foot off the brake pedal slightly, so that the car sinks into the stop, like boffing a pillow rather than a brick wall.

It’s not just power delivery and braking that can churn up a passenger’s stomach contents; some drivers can be ‘jerky’ with the car’s steering as well.

A driver will often develop a bad habit of cranking hard on the steering wheel right from the outset of the turn. This could be due to learning in a car with heavy or unresponsive steering.

It’s a habit that will stay with the driver, even when they buy a car with much lighter, more direct steering.

From the passenger seat, the car may feel like it’s careening dramatically into each and every corner or bend.

As far as possible, the driver should turn the wheel in a slow, measured way, gently adjusting the amount of lock applied as needed.

Any turn can be completed in a flowing movement, timed with hardly a moment’s hesitation between applying lock in one direction and counteracting that when the car needs to begin straightening up.

Once familiar with the car you drive, you shouldn’t need to take multiple ‘bites’ at a bend.

If the car rocks laterally on its suspension while cornering, the springs and dampers are working to overcome your excessive steering input.

How you apply brakes and power in a corner can contribute to passenger discomfort. Brake too heavily before the bend – or worse still, in the bend – and the car will behave badly. The same if you apply excessive power on the way out of the bend.

Obvious signs of a driver’s distraction can be unnerving for passengers.

Twitter- or email-checking smartphone users reckon it’s safe to look down in their lap while the car is travelling at 40km/h or higher.

Drivers of any age can be distracted looking back over their shoulder at the young lovelies on the footpaths. Older drivers can be distracted by children in the car.

Lighting a cigarette, programming a sat-nav destination and changing a CD, a tape or radio station can all be distracting, as is a phone conversation. Any conversation, in fact, can take your mind off the road.

It only takes a couple of dash-cam videos on YouTube to highlight just how easily drivers can lose focus on the job at hand. Proceeding into an intersection after mistaking a green right-turn arrow changing to green for your own green light is bound to have your passengers yelping.

From all of this, it’s plain that your task, as the driver, is one to take seriously.

Don’t discount your passengers’ needs, maintain your ‘situational awareness’ and never stop learning the best ways to operate a motor vehicle.

Drive for safety and comfort
• Stay alert, don’t be distracted by anything other than driving the car
• Leave plenty of room to avoid collisions – either braking behind a car or cornering alongside a truck
• Be aware of environmental factors – avoid road flooding, potholes, speed humps
• Drive smoothly – keep your driving inputs (steering, braking, acceleration) measured and consistent