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Every
year, over 60,000 vehicles are involved in a personal injury accident
where skidding was a factor.
Skids
are often associated with winter driving conditions, however it
only takes a short rain shower in the summer months to help create
thousands of skid related crashes.
Emergency
Stopping
The most common type of crash is a rear end
shunt where one driver brakes hard and slides into the back of
another. We know that prevention is better than cure, and that
to avoid a crash we need to maintain a big enough gap - 'keep
space'.
However,
even for the very best of drivers an emergency situation can arise,
such as in a built up area with parked cars on both sides of the
road, where a small child runs out immediately ahead of us. There
isn't time to think about what to do, so how do we cope ? Do we
panic and hit the brake as hard as we can ? Is there a 'best braking
technique' to use on either dry or slippery road surfaces ? If
our car is fitted with anti-locking brakes (ABS) how will these
respond, and what should we do ?
While
learning to drive we're taught how to perform an Emergency Stop,
the public roads are however not the place to develop braking
or skid control techniques at speed.
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Skid
Control Courses are a safe and fun way to learn and practice skid
control well away from public roads. One of the most common ways
to learn skid techniques is to take a course on a skid-pan. A
more effective way to learn about handling techniques is on a
'Skid Car'. This is an ordinary family saloon mounted on a hydraulic
frame. A turn of a switch by the specialist instructor will allow
you to experience understeer and oversteer, aquaplaning or slippery
conditions such as black ice.
Because
skid training is'off-road', courses are available for absolutely
anybody, whether you're a qualified or learner driver; an instructor
or advanced motorist.
While
some doubts are understandably expressed concerning the benef its
achieved from skid control and car handling courses, the market
for cars puts a noticeable value on performance specifications
and lifestyle images. There is a road safety issue here that demands
that drivers need to receive adequate training in how to get the
best from their cars.
'Motor-jargon'
about the 'logic of sound entry and
exit lines from bends and the need to develop a better understanding
of understeer and oversteer' might well go over the heads of many
drivers. Vehicle 'handling characteristics' are part of the official
syllabus for learning to drive, so practical driver education
does need to address the relationship between steering
and power when a car is driven into and through
bends.
Smart
driving means making it a habit to think everything out in advance,
the intended outcome being a natural driving style that is safe,
smooth, progressive and unobtrusive. This implies that it is not
smart to allow the tyres to skid on the public road or place !
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