Three driving books that can definitely enhance your safe driving experience, are Traffic - Why we Drive the way we Do, by Tom Vanderbilt, Drive to Survive by Curt Rich, and of course Driverthink.  As it’s author I may be partial to Driverthink, but I would also like to highly recommend Traffic -  and Drive to Survive.

One of the easiest and enjoyable ways to gain driving experience and hone driving skills is to read books or magazine articles written by the experts.  I do it constantly.  Even if you don’t have the chance to get to a race track every day, or perhaps don’t have years of experiences to draw from in an emergency, you can gain much by simply “reading about driving”.  As you cruise the written word, you will absorb expertise that you can immediately apply as you cruise the boulevard.

I would like to offer a brief “Driverthink” review of each of these books and recommend all for those who are truly serious about their driving. 

Driverthink of course, is my own book.  Okay, so I’m a little prejudice!  This book is a compilation of selected articles from this blog.  Each article is designed to explore specific safe driving issues in comprehensive detail.  The articles delve into many issues pertaining to safe driving and offer reality based suggestions not found in some of the more “politically correct” save driving venues.

I view my book as an excellent review for the more seasoned driver and a must read for newer, less experienced drivers.

You might respond to each Driverthink article differently.

• “Yeah, I know that, but I wish everyone else did.”
• “Hmm, that’s true.  But I haven’t thought about it in a while.”
• “Wow, I never knew that.  I can apply that to my driving.”

If you like many (see the “recent comments” page) have liked the articles in this blog you might want to grab a copy of the book as a review or for a newer driver you care about.

Traffic – Why we Drive the way we Do, by Tom Vanderbilt is an excellent analysis of traffic and how different drivers deal with it.  Many of us spend long hours in traffic but have we ever really thought about what causes the many different traffic situations we find ourselves in?  How does it affect our driving?  How can we adjust our driving to deal with the different situations?

Tom delves very deeply into traffic, what causes it, how it affects us and how best to deal with it – both on an individual basis and as a society!

What is a late merger?  Are late mergers a good or a bad thing?  Will simply building more roads alleviate our traffic jams?  How is traffic controlled?  Adjusted?  What are flow dynamics?  How do we behave in different traffic environments?

Tom’s attention to detail can sometimes be a little overpowering but stay with him.  The book is fascinating and his expertise is undeniable.  You will learn more about traffic than you ever thought possible!

Curt Rich’s Drive to Survive takes a somewhat different tack. For most of us, driving is the single most life-threatening experience that we encounter – and we encounter this danger on a daily basis.

Curt is a combat veteran. Being one of the same (same war, in fact), it is easy for me to appreciate how Curt applies the survival instincts developed in combat to the driving experience. 

But you need not go through combat to develop survival instincts nor do you have to be a combat veteran to appreciate the book.  What is situational awareness?  It quickly becomes instinctive in combat but it can be learned by anyone.  Curt actually “color codes” the different levels of situational awareness – and situational awareness is critical to surviving when you’re driving.

I also loved his review of the “four levels of competence” borrowed from Dr. Ignatius Piazza of the Front Sight Academy, who also doesn’t claim to have invented the concept.

You are either Unconsciously incompetent, Consciously incompetent, Consciously competent or Unconsciously competent – not only with your driving but in anything you do!  Hmmm?  At what level am I?  I hadn’t thought about that in a while!
 

Each of these books take a different approach to a common theme – that of being a safer, more skilled, more aware and more confident driver.

Each of these books can easily be purchased at the Driverthink store.  I have also selected a few magazines that make for very educational “driver reading”.  They can be found in the “Magazine Subscriptions” category.

Reading about driving sure doesn’t have to be boring!

Distracted Driving has been getting a lot of attention lately.  Even Oprah is getting in on the act.  This is a good thing but most of the attention appears directed towards eliminating, reducing, punishing or at least educating Distracted Drivers.  For those of us who already get it, a more important focus might be on how we can defend ourselves from said drivers.

Distracted Drivers are after all, Road Hazards in the first degree.  They are the direct opposite of Driverthink Drivers who consistently focus on their driving.  Distracted Drivers focus on – anything but!

In an effort to defend against these threats, Driverthink has taken to breaking the Distracted Driver into three basic categories.  They are the Unwillingly Distracted, the Unknowingly Distracted and the Blatantly Distracted drivers.

Unwillingly distracted?  Of course!  How many times have we ourselves been suddenly distracted from our driving by events out of our control?  This driver knows she’s driving though, and will usually recover from the distraction quickly. 

The Unknowingly Distracted driver is a different animal.  These drivers don’t take their driving very seriously.  They haven’t learned yet that engaging in an activity which can kill you, generally requires more than casual attention.  They don’t understand what a Road Hazard is and probably won’t recognize one until it becomes an emergency.  You don’t want to be that “emergency”. 

A second Unknowingly Distracted driver has been mesmerized, perhaps by miles of uneventful driving.  He’s drifted into never-never land but will most likely recover quickly when he realizes it – or when events dictate.

The Blatantly Distracted driver is the one that really insults us but at least they can be easily identified.  Their distracting endeavors are much more important to them than their safety or the safety of others and they really don’t care who knows it.  Often, they’re oblivious to anyone or anything around them.  Perhaps the distraction makes them feel more important.  They’ll be less important though, when they’re dead! 

So how do we best defend ourselves from Distracted Drivers?

 
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Situational awareness is always a critical factor when driving but we usually tend to focus only on the vehicles around us.  How is the car behaving?  True, a distracted driver may very well exhibit erratic vehicle behavior but not always.  To defend against the distracted driver we have to elevate our situational awareness.  We have to get a little more personal. 

We need to peek thru their windows and get to know the people in those buggies. It’s not guns that kill – it’s people that kill.  It’s not cars that kill – it’s drivers that kill!  Don’t focus on the car.  Focus on the driver.

So who’s driving?  How’s she acting?  Does he fit one of our “bad driver” profiles?  What is he doing?  Who’s in the car with her?  How are the passengers behaving?  Does the driver at least look focused?

Needless to say, if we’re waiting at a green light for the driver in front of us to lift their eyes off of their lap, we can probably suggest that they’re texting.  Gotta’ treat them as if they’re blowing a 2.5 on the breathalyzer and keep distance at all cost! 

A cell phone glued to the ear?  Maybe it’s a hazard, maybe not.  It’s not politically correct but one could suggest there’s not much difference between a cell conversation and a conversation with a passenger — and you really don’t need two hands to safely operate a modern vehicle (although they should be quickly at the ready).  More importantly, what is the conversation about?  If it’s a calm relaxed conversation that’s not distracting the driver, cool.  If the driver is yelling and screaming with hands flying all over the place, duck for cover.  An intense business conversation requiring too much attention?  Also a danger. 

While we’re getting “up close and personal” with our fellow travelers, who else is in the car?  Are there kids in the car?  Pets?  Both have been known to unwillingly distract the best of drivers.  Even if the car is behaving well and the driver appears in control, it might be prudent to offer a tad more space.

What kind of conversation is the driver having with passengers?  Relaxed?  Animated?  Having a fight?  Clowning around?  Is the driver involved or is she ignoring the distractions and maintaining focus?  React accordingly.

Time for a quick thought.  We never want to judge others by our own limitations.  We’re all different people with different abilities.  Not every driver that we see chatting on the phone will be distracted.  I think of a trained pursuit driver who can engage in a 150 MPH chase while transmitting by radio or communicating with HQ via cell phone.  She’s skilled, not distracted.  She’s trained and capable of doing both.

The difference between multi-tasking drivers who become distracted and those who don’t is, “uhmm” – whether they’re distracted or not!  Some drivers can safely pull off multiple tasks while maintaining driver focus.  The distracted driver only “thinks” she can – but her concentration easily drifts from the road without her even realizing it.

How can you tell the difference?  The capable drivers are maintaining total road focus, regardless of what else they are doing.  They are ready to instantly drop any other activity and immediately zero in on a road problem if necessary.  It shows. 

The distracted driver doesn’t even know there’s a problem.  His focus has totally drifted from driving and he won’t even realize it until its too late.  If you’re eyeballing him, you’ll realize it!

So what’s the best way to defend against Distracted Drivers?  Elevate your Situational Awareness.  Look past the sheet metal and into the car. Make it personal.  Recognizing the Distracted Driver before he becomes a Road Emergency, may very well save your life!

Ever been cruising along in the left lane of a three lane highway?  You decide to swing back over into the center lane since you’re no longer passing anyone.  You check your rear views and the center lane you want to be in is clean and green.  You make your lane change, and suddenly – there’s another vehicle filling up your rearview mirror about 3 inches off of your back bumper.

“Where the heck did he come from!”   You brace for impact.

I just finished reading Change Your Brain Change your Life, by Daniel G. Amen, M.D. Three Rivers Press, New York.  It rapidly became one of the most important books I’ve ever read.  It’s a very positive book but it’s also very scary, particularly from a Safe Driving point of view.

The crux of Dr. Amen’s book is that a lot of us are struggling with deficiencies that are caused by the physiology of our brains, either defects caused by inheritance, or perhaps as often, by a long forgotten brain injury.  We can see ourselves and almost anyone we ever knew ...<< MORE >>

One of the most important things we can do to avoid mishaps on the road is to identify Road Hazards.  One of the tools in our arsenal that helps us do this, is Profiling drivers and the different types of vehicles that they’re driving in.