Welcome to the world of BETTER DRIVING.  

 Why “Better Driving”?    All drivers have their own risk factors. 

 Non-drivers have to learn how to become novice drivers. New drivers have to learn how to cope with things that they never did before their driving tests: such things as motorways, long journeys, night driving, bad weather conditions and commuter driving, which may be the most risky driving they ever do.

Another name for “Better Driving” might be “Thinking Driving”.  However, because, I have spent the past forty-eight years helping people to drive better than before, better driving sums it up.   I hope that my driving is better than it was before, because I think about my driving.  And this series of weekly articles will help you to become a better driver too, because I hope to give you some things to think about, and some targets to aim for that will improve your own driving skills, knowledge and performance.

There is a bi- product to this that will benefit not just you, but your family and everyone you meet when you are behind the wheel:  especially those you actually avoid meeting too closely.

 Every day drivers face a new and genuine driving test.   There is no examiner; no marking sheet and no pass or fail.  And yet there is a gain, which might just be the knowledge that the near-hit you had today (we don’t call them ‘near-misses’ in the road risk analysis business) might save your life next time. ...

 ... If there is a next time.

 Some people hate driving at night. Others hate having passengers with them. quite a lot of older drivers avoid driving on motorways, yet motorways are the safest roads in the country, You do not solve these problem by avoiding them.  You solve them by getting some professional help.  The DIA (0208 665 5151) will give you the name and phone number of your nearest professional advanced driver trainer (or advanced motorist examiner) to resolve your driving worries.

 This series of Better Driving articles aims to give you things to think about when you are driving; things to look for, things to cope with and things to understand so that you are not worried any more about them.

 For example did you know that the worst month for skid related car crashes is not during the winter?  In fact it is July, or in any summer month after a long hot dry spell, when all the tiny gaps in the road surface are filled with minute pieces of rubber from your tyres.  Well they have to go somewhere as your tyres wear out. This is then mixed with droppings of oil and other gooey stuff from every one else’s vehicle.  One day there is a sudden downpour.  The roads are covered with water.  The rubber of your tyres can no longer grip the rubbery road surface and – hey presto – you are driving a sledge as the water on the surface of the road acts as a wedge lifting your front wheels off the road. 

 Water is rubber’s natural lubricant. As my old granny once told me when she caught me carving my name on someone’s tyres when I was a little boy.  “Stupid boy”, she added. “If you want to cut rubber use water to help the knife!  it cools the rubber and provides a nice slippery surface”

JUST WHAT YOU NEED FOR A SKID

 Look out for further regular articles

Prof Peter Russell

 Britain’s only Doctor of Driver Education.

No matter how good a driver you are, you can always be a BETTER DRIVER if you really try.

Get there safely by knowing what you are doing before you start.

Plan your driving and then look out for ways to take it easy.

The only way to arrive early safely is to start even earlier. That way you never have to worry about what time you will arrive.