Using Up Space

Driving is about using up space. It's there for you, why not use it, all of it? This is universally true, on the road and on the track. I will describe this in depth below:

On the Track

The significance of proper driving lines has been described sufficiently in previous assays. The very idea of a proper driving line is to use up all of the space on the track. You paid for the whole track, didn't you? Than why not use as much of it as possible?! If you take a tight line or even the wide "rim-shot" line around the corner, you are not using the space or the width of the track. When we drive from the outside of the corner to the inside and back out we use up all of the space, we effectivelly drive across the track so that we use the width dimension of the track to increase the radius of the corner.

It's particularly important to see that we are in fact entering, apexing and exiting the corner as wide as possible, within as little as a foot's distance, to increase our speed. If you took the line properly and at the right pace, you should just be short of going off of the track during each phase of the corner. Of course there is an "as possible" clause to it. If the curb is too bumpy, or if the outside of the track is slippery due to sand "marbles", molten tire rubber or rain and what not - than it's preferable to take a tighter radius, especially at exit and entry. At the apex we can put the inside tires even unto very slippery parts of pavement or off of the track surface, as the weight is on the outside wheels.

On The Road

A proper flow of traffic is an important element in driving and in driving safely. Flowing traffic means less collisions and less time taken to arrive to the destination. Streaming traffic freely is a mathematical problem with many variants that is in the care of civilian traffic engineers that design roads and their features based on a veriety of empirical data. But how can we as drivers help traffic flow? 

Over time I have dealt with a series of subjects that addressed the dynamic aspects: The driver and his or her's dealing with the car (car control) and with the road. However, the great complexity of everyday driving is not in cornering lines, tire grip, steering style or what else - they hang ever so much more dramatically about how we conduct in traffic, of whether or not we practice courtesy, of whether we know how to let the traffic flow and how to flow with it ourselves. 

If we take the point of view of the engineer for a moment, we can easily say that the ideal way to help traffic flow is to build a bigger roadway. Due to logistic reasons this option is not always fully utilized by engineers, but it can be used by drivers. What do I mean? When we drive down the road, we should make our effort to use as much of the available space on the road to our advantage. This principle is also used in motorsport, where track drivers in particular can be seen using driving lines that help utilize as much of the track's surface as possible, down to a scale of less than a foot. 


Seperation Distance 
Perhaps the most important way to use space on the road is as a seperation space between moving vehicles. Of course, this might seem to people rather as "wasting" space and not using it, but it is in fact the other way around. If we maintained at least two full seconds of a following distance from the car in front, we use that spare space to the best cause possible: to avoid a collision. Tailgating is the number one factor of collisions in the western world. 

Furthermore, the spare distance actually helps the traffic to flow. When the car in front decelerates or brakes, the driver behind is also compelled to slow down. If the following distance is relativelly small, the following driver will have to brake ever more mildly that the lead car, and if the seperation distance of the driver behind that one is also too little it will cause a chain reaction. Two drivers slow down lightly before one interchange, not knowing that not five minutes later a mysterious jam has appeared one interchange earlier, and that the interference with the smooth flow of traffic will endure even after they are long gone. 

Slip Roads 
Another place where drivers don't use up the space or flow with traffic as best as they can is one slip roads, also known as access ramps or acceleration lanes. These lanes are meant to allow slow moving traffic to speed up and match speeds with the traffic on the main carriageway. When the relative speed (another term of civilian traffic engineering) is minimized or removed there is less "ressistance" and the traffic flows. No slow down, no accidents, no fuss. 

But how are we supposed to use the slip road? Well, first we need to board it at a slow speed so that we have the clearance in front of us to accelerate unimpended. From this point we need to accelerate positivelly enough (and this is no place to feather the gas pedal), identify the gap into which we want to merge, but pospone the actual merging action to the far end of the slip road. 

If we use the whole length of the slip road, we will be able to accelerating over a longer distance and reduce the relative speed differential, we will also take longer to merge, giving ourselves more time to plan our actions and giving the other drivers more time to notice us and our intention of merging. We also merge at a more shallow angle, which reduces or removes the chance that will miss sometimes as we change lanes, and we keep right as best as possible, with the traffic always only to our left, which is the driver's side. 

And what should we as drivers do when we approach an interchange from the main carriageway? If it's possible, by far the best solution is to move one lane to the left, creating an open space for the traffic merging from the right. Whether or not you are able to move left, adjust your precise speed so that no car sits parallel to your left, keep a way out for yourself. Be courteous and try to allow the merging traffic to "zip" into the road by trying to let just one driver from the slip road to merge in front of you, and than go. If all drivers applied this principle, the traffic could flow as much as 50% more efficiently. 


Deceleration Lane 
A similar principle is expressed by the use of a deceleration lane. The idea is that flowing traffic should be moving at a constant pace, and any deceleration or acceleration should happen alongside it and not inside it. So it's important to use the deceleration lane to it's fullest. Identify the exit prematurely and move right unto the deceleration lane at the moment it open up from the main carriageway and not half-way through the deceleration lane itself. 

Unless not possible, due to the design or occupancy of the lane, try to slow down only when you are fully on the deceleration lane. Slowing down on the main carriageway is hazardous and will produce ressistance towards following traffic. Slow down positivelly and be ready for the possibility that another driver will suddenly recall that he needs to get off at THIS exit. 

Changing Lanes 
Unnecessary lane changes - should be minimized. Keep to the right lane and, where possible, near the line of the right-hand shoulder. If you pass to the first left lane (the "middle" lane) drive mid-lane and move back right as early as possible. If you move to the outboard left lane, keep near the left shoulder-line and move right as early as possible. 

But when you need to change lanes, do so as late as possible. If you notice a slightly slower car in front, moving left 800 feet in advance is not going to be the best choice. Plan the lane change early, signal early, but wait as late as possible. By "possible" I mean, as late as possible while keeping two-three seconds seperation distance from the car in front. Again, merge in the shallowest possible angle. This is the same principle from the slip road. 

Once you move over and overtake the slower car, move back right as early as possible. By "possible" I mean as early as possible while keeping about two seconds of a seperation distance and while merging at the most shallow possible angle. 

Overtaking 
Overtaking on a single carriageway is a complex and dangerous task, without much gan to it. Always think and question, and than re-think, the need to the overtake. Must I overtake? Must I overtake now? What gain is there to it? 

Proper overtaking technique is much like a proper lane change technique. Many people try to use the space by moving right behind the lead car, and than moving over, accelerating past and moving back right. The problem of this technique is that your view of the road, either of the off-side or the near-side, is impended, and you cannot accelerate untill you are on the opposite lane and in a potential conflict area. 

Instead, hang back behind the lead car, with a seperation distance of at least three seconds. Place yourself laterally to get the best view of both lanes: The opposite lane which you want to overtake through, and the near lane, where you want to identify a clear space to merge back into. 

From this point, once a clear, safe and legal oppurtunity arises, accelerate postivielly and move over as late as possible (which, again, means that you need to keep about two seconds from the car in front) and in a shallow angle. Accelerate past the overtaken car and merge back right as early as possible (which, again, means that you keep a good gap from the car behind). 

This technique holds of the advantages of the late merging: All the other road users are notified of your intention of overtaking, including the overtaken car and the car behind. You spend less time in the area of conflict (the opposite lane) and you maintain an open visual field and the whole manuever takes much less time and space to complete. You can also abort the overtake very easily, when you are still in your own lane, or even while you have began moving over. The technique is also smooth and does not disturb the balance of the car. 

Blocked Lanes 
Your lane is blocked. What to do? Identify the need to change lanes early, but wait. Merge as late as possible. By "possible" I mean as late as possible without having to slow down unnecessarily. If we wait too long, we will be forced to slow down, and maybe even stop, and than wait for a gap in the traffic. This is not desired. However, neither is merging too early, which might make other drivers pass alongside us from the right. 

Naturally, we sit in the left side of the cabin. Therefore, we are much less aware of what happens to our right, since the mirror is further away from us and is often smaller, as well. This is the whole point of keeping right. So merge as late as possible without slowing down unnecesarily. 

Emergency Braking 
Another situation where using up the space is important, is when we need to stop suddenly. Emergency braking is done by braking hard to begin with. Any attempt to perform "threshold braking" or other braking techniques in real time, is doomed to fail. Brake hard, even without ABS, immediately. 

But what about the following traffic? This is exactly why we need to use up the space. First we brake hard, at once. After we do that and the car starts slowing down sharply, we get a much better idea of whether or not we will be able to stop in time. If we see that we are going to stop short of the obstacle, we can let up the brakes slightly to allow the car to use up ALL of the space in front of the obstacle and free those additional few fee to the traffic behind us. 

We also need to consider our escape routes (in advance). The escape route is important not only to avoid being shounted from behind, but also in the event where we cannot stop in time before the obstalce or if the obstacle is an oncoming vehicle. The open shoulder of the road is a good escape route, but open parking bays, cross-roads and even small curbs can be used as good escape routes. 

If you need to brake suddenly, brake in an angle relative to the road, by guiding the car lightly towards the desired direction and braking diagonally relative to the road. If further, drastic avoidance manuever is required, hang on to the brakes and than veer as late as possible.