The Best Safety Is You

[jbowman1993]

Bangkok Post

Friday, February 24th, 2006

THE BEST SAFETY IS YOU

Despite all the advances in automotive safety technology, even one of the safest car makers in the world still says it's up to you _ the driver

ABS, EDB, BAS, ESP, SRS, ASR, DSC, WHIPS, RSC _ none of these acronyms for safety equipment you see in car catalogues mean anything if the driver does not drive safely and responsibly.

So how do we find out how safe is a driver?

In a perfect world, there should be a standardised system that have require every motorist to take a driving test on a regular basis to rate how safe he or she is. The safer the driver is rated, the faster the car he is allowed to drive and the mediocre drivers would be limited to base-spec MPV's and family estates only _ no matter how much money they have in the bank.

However, we live in an imperfect world where skilled drivers share the road with newbies and drunk drivers. Many automotive engineering advances have been made to make up for human shortcomings and help make cars technically safer.

It is no surprise that Mercedes-Benz is also a pioneer in car safety technology. ABS, EBD and airbags are just few of the safety equipment that Mercedes-Benz co-developed with its suppliers. But even Mercedes know fully well that the most important element in road safety is nothing they can develop in any laboratory or workshop: the driver. The best form of safety is the avoidance of danger and the most crucial element in achieving that is the driver.

Since 1972, Mercedes-Benz has been developing safety driving programmes to enhance the skills of the German law enforcement. Since the 1990's, the programmes have been adapted and offered to Mercedes-driving civilians too.

In the intervening years, Mercedes trained hundreds of thousands of motorists to become safer drivers, devising courses to suit different types of drivers with the aim to develop their driving skills.

I recently had the privilege to take part in the latest such programme designed to enhance defensive driving skills. Yawn? If it helps me and my significant others live longer I would learn it.

The whole idea of the training course was to subject participants to simulated life threatening situations in a test-track environment but safe to practice on.

Braking. This action sounds simple, right? Then take this into consideration: on average, a sober driver in a car with good visibility (no rain or such) would take one second to react in order to press the brake pedal.

So for instance, if you're driving at a speed of 50kph, that's 14 metres gone by. The actual braking distance in a good car can be 12 metres _ that's 26 metres total. So what?

Michael Waykopf, my group instructor, imparted some of his knowledge: a simple equation is that the actual braking distance multiplies by four times when a speed is doubled.

So, at 100kph, the braking distance needed is 12x4 = 48 metres. And don't forget that one second response time adding another 28 metres _ altogether that's 76 metres or a football field.

When was the last time you drove at that distance from the car in front on a highway? Chances are, you don't and neither do I (at least not on a Bangkok expressway). Could you or I smash into a broken down car with a baby on board? Ummm.

This helped me recall a rule of thumb of highway driving: leave a gap of three seconds between yourself and the car in front.

The training course comprised three braking exercises. First was to illustrate how we could rearend another car by driving too close. Second, full braking and steering away from an obstacle at the same time.

This is not really possible in cars without ABS and EBD. You probably hear about it, but unless you try it out you never would have known how you could stomp on the brake and steer at the same time.

The third exercise involved braking in a tight turn when three of the outside wheels are on a slippery surface which provoked a spin.

Not only do you have to brake (let's say otherwise you might fall off a cliff or something) but you have to countersteer (turn the wheels in the direction of the spin to keep the car sliding that way) to keep the car pointing in the right direction.

Sudden lane change. Again, something you probably do every day, but don't just hope you can make it safely every time by counting on luck or karma. Now I learned why they do the slaloms _ it's to simulate evasive manoeuvres when you need to go around obstacles. After completing the slalom, I felt like doing a high-speed lane change and back into my own lane.

In this exercise, the Electronic Stability Program installed with every new Mercedes cars showed its merit by lessening those slides trying to maintain the car in the right direction. So, to master this manoeuvre we had to turn the ESP off.

However, it must be noted that even with ESP off, the Mercedes still maintained a lesser level of electronic stability control (hey, this is supposed to be a safe car) and once you brake the ESP comes back on.

Mastering six exercises took one full day and it was one of the most valuable training I ever had in my life. Do road users have to thank me for being one less road hazard?

No, don't count on that. Earning a degree from college doesn't guarantee you success in life and neither does the certificate I earned that day warrant safety.

Safety is a state of mind and possessing the right skills. Like in sports, there is no substitute for practice, so learn and keep driving, safely.