Feel The Drive

To drive a car means much more than driving to pass a test. Understanding how a car works, does not mean simply understanding the actual mechanics of an engine (although that does help), but more importantly it is understanding the physical rules a vehicle must obey. The rules of mass, the laws of acceleration, the effect of gravity. (Doesn't that sound a lot like physics again? I keep saying we should have been taught it day one of school), When really driving a car, driving a car correctly, efficiently and legally, you need to comprehend what is actually happening to the vehicle itself. What is the effect of the road conditions, the weather, the weight of persons in a vehicle. What do all these forces do to the vehicle. What is the driver's actual knowledge? How capable are their reaction skills and how well is their cognitive ability, reasoning and physical responses (definitely different to reaction times)? What experience do they have which can be applied to any situation.

Living in Australia as I do at present, very few drivers have ever encountered 'black ice'. Trust me, you don't, as a driver really want to. But when I did, I didn't find it disturbing in the least. Scary yes, but manageable. I was the only one who thought so. Driving a vehicle on diesel and water on a sealed road can be scary as well, but is manageable. The secret lies in understanding the physical mechanics of a vehicle. This can be obtained with training, application of rules, and especially experience. It is pointless to take someone with less than a year of driving on a Four wheel drive course, or advanced driving training program. They have nothing to apply to the experience. Neither knowledge of vehicle movement sufficient for the application of what they would be taught, nor understanding of events being explained by the instructors. They can attend, listen and nod. That is pretty much it.

Actual driving does require a significant background of driving experiences if it is to be successful. Should we change the age that children learn to drive. Introduce them to the fundamentals earlier. So by the time they are of age to drive to 'pass the test', they actually understand sufficiently the actions of a vehicle, and the responsibility of moving a half tonne or more of metal and alloys about the streets. How many children growing up on farms and in remote locations in most western societies, are able to drive a vehicle, be it a quad, motorbike, tractor or farm vehicle (or all of them) by the age of ten or twelve? Often able to better handle any vehicle at that age, than many much older drivers in urban locations? Then, there are the 'hoons' and rev heads of immature age and experience, who can unfortunately bring disaster and death to communities, partly due to their lack of skills, and, their mistaken belief in their own hormonal driven abilities. I don't know if the driver who knocked me from my bike, failed to remain as he was under aged, or just lacked true driving skills. But now I lay beneath the large arm and sights of the X-ray machine.

(Continued tomorrow)