I Drive the Pylons
I’ve been driving for over 45 years now. I’ve driven many types of vehicles on road, off road, on an occasional race track and in combat. I still enjoy driving and I still love learning something new about it. A new skill, trick or tool I can put into use.
One of the ways I continue to learn is by reading interesting articles about driving. I learned a new trick in the June 07’s Car and Driver Magazine, entitled “Cops Get Lectured” by Dave VanderWerp. It was about the Michigan State Police Driving School.
One of the ways I continue to learn is by reading interesting articles about driving. I learned a new trick in the June 07’s Car and Driver Magazine, entitled “Cops Get Lectured” by Dave VanderWerp. It was about the Michigan State Police Driving School.
I’ve got two offspring who are cops so I kind of have a feel for their driving skills and training. They generally go through what’s called EVOC (Emergency Vehicle Operation and Control) training in Cop School. They also tend to spend considerable time driving and they - well – they get kinda’ good at it.
But this article was about the Michigan State Police Driving School. It’s a facility where both new and seasoned police officers go to take their driving skills to even higher levels. It’s one of the toughest Cop Courses out there.
The part of the article that really caught my attention was when Dave talked about the “precision maneuvering” course. The drivers are required to run a course through traffic pylons set about seven feet apart without hitting more than five of them. Hit six and you fail. The failure rate seemed pretty high, especially considering these are pretty skilled drivers to begin with. It got me to “Driverthinking.”
“Hmm.” “Wonder if I could do that!”
A couple of days later I found myself thinking about the article again while I was cruising along a parkway that I travel to my office, a parkway with more than a few curves. Suddenly I imagined those cones lined up in front of, and behind me on both sides of my lane.
Now I always try to stay centered in my lane. It kinda’ shows you know how to drive. It also makes your fellow drivers a tad less nervous if they don’t see you sliding from one side of the lane to the other, or invading adjacent lanes.
Those imaginary cones really zeroed me in, but since the seven foot wide course at Michigan is a bit less than the average highway lane width, I decided to move those imaginary pylons about a foot in from both sides of my lane. Then I tried not to knock them down. I think I did pretty good, but of course I’ll never know. After all, they were only imaginary!
Before long, I began imagining those cones wherever I was driving. They were with me, whether I was consciously thinking about them or not. They still kept me focused, kept me centered.
Now I drive the pylons. Don’t really think about them much any more. They’re just –well – there! I’m sure I nick quite a few or them now and again, but they are a foot in from the sides of my lane. Even if I do tap a couple I’m still comfortably centered in the lane. If I really start plowing them down I quickly realize I’m off my game, and re-focus.
There are times, of course, when I’ll slap down more than a few on purpose. Maybe someone’s invading my lane or I’m passing a large truck that could use a little more space. Someone in the opposing lane is acting like a road hazard and I need to give him a little more room. But now when I whack the cones, I know it. Once the threat has passed I’m automatically zeroed right back into the center of my lane.
Staying centered in your lane is a highway skill that some have and some obviously don’t. Either way, it shows big time, and the centered driver is obviously the safer, more skilled driver!
The easiest way to automatically center yourself in your lane is to focus on the road as far out in front of you as possible. Take your focus off the bumper in front of you and focus out. You will automatically center your vehicle. You won’t even have to work at it. Your senses will do it for you. Skilled drivers do this all the time.
Another way is to throttle steer through the curves as we have previously discussed.
Now though, together with distant focus and throttle steer, I have a neat new tool. I have those bright, yellow pylons to keep me focused and centered. I don’t even have to think about them anymore, unless I suddenly start slapping them down.
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