We're helping Australians to Drive Safer - here is some great advice for all drivers from driving training expert, Ian Luff
Trent Nikolic, Drive
Well up to this point on Drive Safer, we've focused on the vehicle and safe use of the vehicle when you're out on a road trip. Now it's time to switch gears though and focus on the person behind the wheel. That's right, you, the driver.
The very nature of the size of our amazing country means that road trips can be long and, quite frankly, planning for fatigue should be something that you put into your planning before you even head off on the road. Can somebody share the driving duties? Do you feel safe driving at night? Is there somewhere you can stop? These are all questions you should be asking yourself before you hit the road.
In a recent report that we read, we saw the alarming statistic that nearly a third of Australians had experienced a microsleep while driving. Now that on its own is a terrifying thought, but when you account for the fact that nearly 1,200 Australians lose their lives on the road every year, it's absolutely not worth putting anybody at risk, you or any other road user, if you're fatigued or you feel tired. Don't let your lack of sleep put anybody else at risk on the road.
If you are watching Drive Safer, don't forget everything you need to know. That's over at drive.com.au.
Advanced driver courses, or what we like to call driver skill courses, are part and parcel of something that we do at Drive just about every day. However, for a lot of you watching at home, you may never have even thought of enrolling in one. Now, we've come to Western Sydney International Dragway to meet with a guy who is synonymous with putting skilled drivers on the road. Ian Luff has been doing this for decades. He's been advocating that governments and everybody involved get more and more support behind advanced and skilled driver training courses. Let's find out what Luffy's got to say about how you can stay safer on the road.
Ian, you and I could stand here all day talking about safety. Some people find it boring. I don't. Can you tell people watching now, four or five really common mistakes that people make behind the wheel that they probably don't even realise they're making?
Ian Luff, Ian Luff Motorvation Australia
Probably the number one would be tailgating. Now, a lot of people don't believe they're tailgating, yet 30% of the crashes we see on Australian roads are people travelling too close. Because as you know, it takes a certain amount of time to stop a vehicle given reaction time and so forth. So that's number one.
Number two would have to be the seating position in the car. We all come in different shapes and sizes and modern vehicles have an array of adjustments, even steering wheels, up, down, in and out. Yet a lot of people think it's a one-size-fits-all, and that can impact driver fatigue because we've got the wrong posture, there's the problem. That then relates to the big one, my pet hate, rearview mirrors. Now, as we know with trucks, they've got mirrors, they've got signs on the back. If you can't see me, I can't see you. Yet so many people have their mirrors adjusted so they can see the side of the car.
Trent
Ah, yes.
Ian
That shows you the impact when the person's got you. So the further off the vehicle, you're actually getting rid of what's commonly called the blind spot. When you look at number four, it's people actually over-braking at the end of the stop. As we know at any speed, your maximum speed is at the beginning, and when you're stationary, you're stationary. So you need all of your braking here and not at the end. And yet people, tend to over-brake to the end and all the passengers nod their heads with approval.
Trent
Right. Doesn't work.
Ian
The final one, I guess you could sit back and say, nobody owns the road. We have to share the roads with everyone else.
Trent
There is a bit of an entitlement that's crept into the way we drive, especially in the big cities, isn't there?
Ian
Well, people think, it's self-entitlement, I own the car, I own that piece of road. I mean, people are allowed to push in. Supposedly with safety. But what we've got to look at is it's all about your attitude.
Trent
With modern vehicles as technologically advanced as they are, we're not as aware of behind-the-wheel because the car is doing more for us. People say a driver's getting worse because the cars are getting better.
Ian
A lot of drivers use drive time as think time, to think about everything else. In other words, they externalise their thoughts outside the vehicle itself.
Trent
Sure.
Ian
So while the manufacturers are doing a fabulous job giving us all this wonderful safety, active safety and so forth, what about the driver? I think also vehicle manufacturers need to take a level of responsibility to maybe do more with their customers.
Trent
To educate.
Ian
In other words, educate them about the advanced technologies, how it function and all those sorts of things there. So then we're going to have better, safer drivers on our roads, and I think at the end of the day, that's what everybody wants. I use the term driver development, and if you use the term defensive, a lot of people get offensive when you use the word defensive, which is crazy.
But governments have to understand that every day there are good people out there driving and they're not crashing. Now, it's the minority people, the ratbags out there that think the roads are racetracks, illegal street racing, we see crashes all the time, but most people don't even understand the rules. So we're in the business of driver development, changing attitudes, and behaviour, which is based on choice.
Trent
I had an alarming conversation a few years ago with a representative from one of the big caravan manufacturers, and they said to me that something around 90% of their customers, the first time they've towed anything is when they towed their new caravan out of the dealership. I think we need a separate training course and skillset for people who are going to be towing big trailers.
Ian
Well, you've only got to look at the trucking industry because you've touched on a really sort of can of worms. And a good example is also at the local boat ramp. Go there on a Saturday and watch people trying to reverse. They have no idea until they've actually done it. And we are putting people on the road, and again, governments need to take responsibility for the massive road toll and the conditions that are out there. They're not doing anything about changing it, so it's time for change.
Trent
But the reality is that is symbolic of a bigger issue, which is a serious safety issue when you're out on the road because chances are, if you don't understand what the trailer is doing behind you when you are reversing it, you're not going to understand what it's doing behind you when you need to break in an emergency when you're going forward.
Ian
Well, that's right. I mean the person heading up, say, towards Queensland from Sydney. Pacific Highway, a lovely motorway, they're allowed to tow at a hundred kilometres an hour, but What if they've got to stop? The first time they've done it is when they've actually done it and they have no idea all of that mass that's pushing it forward, it requires a huge amount of space.
Motor cars, as we said, don't discriminate. Whether it's a caravan on the back or a boat, people need to take responsibility for their actions. So a thinking driver is a surviving driver.
Trent
I like that. On the subject of towing, beyond something like a box trailer, should we be saying you need more training if you want to tow big vans, horse floats, boats, or whatever it might be?
Ian
Correct. Really must do it because it is a serious matter. When it goes wrong, it goes wrong.
Trent
Very wrong.
Ian
And people are not aware and they don't know what to do. So training, or better training, skill sets, and awareness, all go together.
If you missed our special, Drive Safer on Channel Nine, you can watch it in full on 9Now here. We've linked it here for you too.
Want to make a difference? Sign our petition to implement a nationally recognised towing licence for Australian drivers.