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.

Eyes Up Ahead

We don't actually drive the car with our eyes, we do it with our hands and feet. However, it is our eyes that recieve the information that would lead the hands and feet and synchronise them. Using the eyes properly is the greatest single element that carries the greatest impact on our performance. This article will delve into this subject and explain it thouroughly.

Our human tendency, as it is developed in a walking pace of less than 20 kilometers per hour (our mind works at about 6km/h), is to look down at our immediate surroundings. When driving this tendency is our biggest limitation. When we look down, we physically cannot see further ahead, and when our speed increases the amount of information we "get in" becomes even smaller, and we get a stronger sensation of speed that causes us to let go of the gas at a subconcious level, as well as even cause serious motion sickness. By looking up we can see further ahead or be aware of the presence of something on the road ahead faster and in advance. This means that, for a given speed, we can see things that require us to react (like an obstacle in our path) before we actually need to react. This gives us time to PLAN our response in advance, ready ourselves and only than react, rather than respond immediately.

If we react to anything on the road without planning, we will have to make corrections to almost all of our driving inputs. If we learn to plan ahead, soon enough we would be able to perform most of our inputs of steering, brakes and acceleration with no need for corrections - an increase in efficiency by about 80%! We will always have a "safety margin" that will allow us to readjust our plans when things on the road ahead change, and even if something happens suddenly, we will be in a position of readiness and react much quicker, sometimes 2-3 seconds faster.

We can ready ourselves and execute our plans gradualy, with control and awareness to everything. For instance, instead of finding out about the obstacle in the last possible second and having to perform a screatching stop, with little control of the traffic behind or besides us, we can realize that we about to negotiate an obstacle 15 or even 20-30 seconds in advance, gauge the amount of braking necessary and, at the right moment, brake more graudally, while also paying attention to traffic around us.  We have enough times to change our plans.

This kind of vision also has a significant impact of dynamic aspects of driving (unlike the "peripheral control" aspect described above). Looking further ahead down the highway, as an example, makes our mind draw the most straight-lined imaginary path between ourselves and our remote point of focus at the horizon. If we were to look relatively close to our car, we would be much more jerky and "wonder" along the road as if it was a slalom course. Also, whenever we stray from our desired course, like if we slide, looking further ahead will make us more aware of this slide. If we look ten feet ahead, and the car starts to slide, we won't notice it before the car starts to spin. If we look four hundreds feet ahead, every little unplanned yaw of the car will redirect our vision and shift our focus much more notably.

We can go as far as to say that, when stress is undergone, a driver will steer the car towards the point where his focus lies. This makes the driver unable of avoiding an obstalce in front simply because fear makes him look at what he does not want to hit, rather than to the place where he wants to swerve to. The problem with looking at what you don't want to hit, is that your actual desire is not only to avoid hitting it, but rather to avoid it by "hitting" a certain clear space besides it. Instead of steering away from where we don't want to go (without any indication as to when and how much to steer), we want to steer towards where we do want to go.

Foveal and Peripheral Vision
The mere question of "where" or "how far" to look towards does not grant us the whole answer, if we do not ask ourselves "how" to look. The human eye provides us with two kinds of sight: Our foveal vision, coming from the "Fovea Centralis", which is a big "spot" across the eyeball, and our peripheral vision. The foveal vision is our small field of focus, which allows to notice details. The peripheral vision is a much wider, often subconcious, field of vision that appears blurred, but can be effective in noticing objects as "smears" of color and gauging distances and speed of motion, as well as being very sharp in detecting sudden change of motion or color.

Because of the different traits of these two kinds of sight, we need to learn to use each of them effectivelly. Since our foveal vision can notice details, noticing detail allows to make plans based on those details. So, our foveal vision should provide us with the planning that we described earlier and, as such, it should be directed towards the direction of travel and far ahead. Our peripheral vision is used for timing and precision. We need to use it to determind exactly where to open up the throttle in the corner and just how much. We basically use it to affirm the plans that we have made earlier.

Of course, we sometimes need to focus on details that appear in the mid-range. This is relevant for driving in city streets or in heavy traffic in general. In these situations we want to develope a scan pattern between the further point which we can see to be clear, on the road ahead and down to a certain point in the foreground near in front of us. The "foreground" is a professional definition for an area which is close to us, but not necessarily in front of our wheels. There is no point in looking down to an area of the road which we cannot stop in front of.  Depending on our speed, we need to asses  how quickly we can stop in an emergency. Our "foreground" point should be located just beyond this range and we will scan the road up an down, up and down, up and down, left to right, up and down and so on ad infinitum, between that point on the foreground and the furthest point up ahead.

On open highways with good visibility, and likewise in winding roads or on driving circuits, we need to "filter out" irrelevant information by looking up to the furthest point we see to be clear, on the road ahead, and not performing a repetitive scan pattern across our visual field. Filtering out the unnecessary or superflous information allows our mind to focus on the important bits and allows us to drive faster without so-called "ground rush."

Speed and Position
One of the most important applications of the proper use of vision, is to know at what speed we need to be traveling and where to put our car over the road. We look ahead to anaylze the road conditions and to decide how dangerous it is, why, and what to do with it in terms of our speed and position (or, pace and line). The variables we need to include in this calculation are multiple, but they are governed by the basic principal of: "Driving at a speed where you can always stop well withing the distance you see to be clear, and that you know would so remain clear." If we are able to see 400 feet ahead, we need to adjust our speed to be able to stop within, say, 360 feet, as an example. However, it's important to acknowledge that the actual calculation is much more complex. It includes multiple variants, such as:

• Road Surface: A tarmac road, built of dark, abrasive tarmac and clear of any dirt, will enable us to stop faster, so we can drive at a faster speed that we could on lower-quality tarmac (one that is grey, shiny and slippery) or on a wet or snowy road. Also, a worn, patched road surface might mean that you would have to slow down or stop down the road due to poteholes.
• Road Conditions: If a given road surface is covered in dirt, water or snow and ice, it would require slowing down accordingly.
• Visibility: Is the weather providing you and the other drivers with clear vision? Is there so much as a mountain's side shadow, or low afternoon sun? Maybe there is a dust storm? Is it raining or even foggy? Adjust your speed according to the ground rule.
• Road Width: How many lanes in each direction? A wider road allows to drive faster than a one-lane road. Is there a median between the opposite directions of traffic? Obviously if there is one you could drive faster. I would even go far as to asses just how rigid it is, as to decide how fast I wish to drive. 
• Safety Margins: Does the road has a shoulder that allows to use it as an escape route? Is it paved, or is it a "soft" gravel shoulder instead? Obviously you can drive faster if the road has a paved shoulder, depending also on how wide it is. If the shoulder is unpaved, you need to asses how slippery it is (is there grass, grass or mould along the road?) how wide it is, and how significant are the height differences between it and the road. In either case, you also need to adjust your speed when the shoulder is occupied by stopped vehicles or by other obstructions. 
• Safety Measures: Is there a safety guardrail? Is it a concrete "New Jersey Wall" or an energy-abosrbing metal rail? Adjust speed to fit. In tunnels, slow down because there is no shoulder, no energy absorbing rail and it's harder to rescue injured people from it.
• The Direction of the Road: Is it going uphill or downhill? How stepply? Is is curving to the right or left and how steeply? 
• Potential of Danger: What are the typical hazards that you anticipate in this kind of road? When driving near a school, you need to be in a position of readiness for young pedestrains running out, even in the foreground. On a rural road, oncoming traffic or wild animals are more likely to be encountered.
• Traffic: What are the conditions of the traffic around you? Is it dense or light? Is it flowing, condensing or jammed? Is it mainly light cars, or are there a lot of trucks, rigs or bikes? What is the speed of traffic? Can you 'flow' with it? Is there oncoming traffic nearby? 
• Driver's Personal State: Are you fully concentrated and alert? Or maybe you are upset? Perhaps you have just started driving and your concentration levels haven't stabilized yet? Maybe your whole family is inside the cab, making noise and movements that distract you?
• Condition of the Car: Does the car give you the desired safety of being able to stop quickly and being easily manueverable. Do you suspect that something in the tires or suspension is due to replaced soon, and is currently not giving you the fullest potential of grip? Or is the car perhaps loaded in passengers and cargo in a way that makes it's stopping distances longer? Is there ABS? how effective is it? Is there ESP? Is there EBD? Perhaps the car's passive safety (protection of it's occupants in a crash) is not very good either? 

It sounds like a lot, but you quickly learn to take all of this data into account and choose how fast to drive and where to put our car on the road (the right lane? The left lane? Where along the width of the lane itself?).

Observation
Our looking ahead is not going to be very useful unless we use it to facilitate proper observation and planning. We need to take in mind every hazard on the road ahead, and any potential hazard that might be in store. The article on last month's issue, about avoiding "unavoidable" collisions - gives some good examples of how to anticipate. You see a junction 400 feet down the road: Look at the traffic lights. Are they green? Will they stay green untill you get there? How much traffic is moving with you? What is the potential of danger of this segment of road? Do you have any reason to believe that a driver from crossing traffic might run red at you? Or otherwise could a driver alongside you decide to make a right or left-hand turn suddenly, right in front of you?

Dynamic Aspects
When talking about using our vision in dynamic aspects, we are talking about corners and also about emergency skills and limit handling. Our way around bends, on the road and track is a good starting point for this kind of discussion. As we come up to the bend (well in advance before the corner itself) we need to take a quick look besides us and across the bend (where possible) and as far down the road behind it as possible. Even if we cannot see the road itself, we can often see it's general route through "hints" such as car lights or car roofs over the verge, a "skyline" of tree-tops, telegraph lines or light poles, the formation of the guardrail or the formation of the mountain-side.

This allows us to avoid surprises around unknown bends, or to better asses known bends, too. By looking besides us and around the bend, we actually see, with our very eyes, the circumference of the bend, which enables us to asses it's steepness much better. It can also help facilitate so-called "cognitive map" thinking where we sketch the form of the bend in our mind from a bird's eye point of view. It only takes one quick peek (though it might take more than one) and than we return to forward vision and focus on the limit point.

It's a learned skill to look into the corner, even if it means looking through the side window rather than the windshield. If we are looking straight ahead through the bend, we are not looking far enough down the bend, and we also fool our mind into thinking that we are still driving straight. This leads to problems like speeding in the bend or bad timing of corner entry. The limit point is the thing that limits our ability to see down the road and beyond the bend. Instead of looking to the further point we see to be clear, we look further down, towards what's obstructing our view, and we watch the road "unfold" at us as we get closer.

The advantage is that there is a reduced tendency for our eyes to "scroll down" as they focus on any certain object, and also, we are able to asses the corner and the required speed much better. The limit point would appear to us as an "arrowhead" that would begin to unfold and get away from us as we draw nigh it. From this point we need to adjust our speed so that we are "in pace" with the movement of the limit point, and remain so. If, mid-corner, the limit point seems to "decelerate" it would mean that the bend becomes tighter. If it accelerates away from us, the radius of the bend increases.

The key is to visualize our desired route around the corner and through the limit point. Once we see our desired apex of the corner (a subject we covered in the chapter about cornering lines) we need to lift our vision beyond the limit point and beyond the bend itself, again looking as far ahead beyond it as possible. This allows us to straighten up the car more smoothly coming out of the corner, as well as to ready ourselves and plan ahead in the case of successive cornering.

On a racing circuit, the technique becomes even more subtle. The track driver has permenant, fixated objects used as "reference points" as to where he brakes, turns, accelerates, hits the apex and exit the corner. The idea on the track is to take a peek around the corner and than focus on the driver's turn-in point. As we get closer to the turn-in point (about the time where we perform the downshift) we shift focus up to the apex and our actual turn-in point is gauged with our peripheral vision (which, I remind you, is the one in charge of timing). As we get close to the apex marker (by the time where we transition from trail-braking to balanced throttle) we shift focus away from the apex and up to the exit, and clip the apex with our peripheral vision. As we are about to reach the exit, we look up along the following straight, looking for the next corner.

If the car starts to slide, it's important to remain focused at the reference point or the road ahead. Novice drivers can find benefit in choosing a remote, fixed and notable object to focus on as a "target." By keeping the eyes aligned with the right direction (even if it means looking through the side window) we are at a much better position to get our car back on the right track.

Reading the Road Surface
Another task for our vision to perform is to read the road surface and asses it's grip levels. This is important for adjusting the right speed and position, but becomes ever more vitaly important in those rare cases where there is a patch of dangerously slippery pavement up ahead, whether it's because a rig has dropped oil over the pavement or an icy patch has been formed somewhere on the road.

The best grip levels are offered by small cars wtih quality tires, over a good surface of tarmac, and can reach a maximum coefficient of friction of 0.9. Grippy tarmac is usually dark-shaded, and appears to be abrasive and often has a distinctive noise. Low quality tarmac is usually grey and looks smooth and none-abrasive and you can see lights and cars reflected over it. Concrete also tends to yield a lower coefficient of friction. There are two more important elements: How hot the tarmac is and how dirty it is.

During the hot season, the tarmac tends to become covered in dirt and soaked in grease from the vehicles. This softens the tarmac and increases it's wear, but also results in lower levels of grip. The effect is intensified when the road is hot. The time to worry about this is about half-way through the summer, especially in high noon or during heatwaves. The dirt can be seen as a sticky black film covering the road, and can often be seen more clearly against the bright painted lines on the road (the yellow line or the lane markers). Hot, greasy roads also tend to ommit vapour that makes you see the reflection of the sky up ahead.

The effect is further intensified around water. Look out for drips originating from fountains or sprinklers, as well as in the morning due to nightly dew or morning mists. Also beware around sand: Roads crossing deserts or fields are prone to have less grip, as well as any road during a sand storm or haze. Another situation to look out for is a cold road, also less grippy because tires don't make it to their effective range of temperature. This is relevant to winter morning, even when perfectly dry.

A wet road can generate a wide range of grip levels, depending on the depth of the water film and again, on the quality of the tarmac below it and the amount of dirt on it. Look out for small spells after a dry period of, say, a week. The effect is much more profound around areas of slow-moving traffic (intersections, bus stops, roundabouts, curved roads) and especially heavy traffic, or in the presence of sand. Look for dirt or grease on the water, especially over the yellow shoulder line where it tends to drain. Even a normally wet road can have low levels of grip. Look out for deep water, and look to the pavement to get an idea of how deep it is. Another indication is the thickness of the spray from another car's tires.

Dirt roads are even more slippery. Look for smooth, tight dirt than to loose gravel or stones or light sand and beware of sticky mud, or mud puddles that can either stall the car or make it slide out of control. Grassy areas tend to be more stable due to the roots.

Snow and Ice are the most challenging conditions, and they should not be tackled without the proper tires. Snow tires can increase the grip levels from a mere 0.2 to 0.35 or even slightly more. Fresh snow tends to be more grippy and allows to stop quite quickly when desired. Colder, more dense snow, as well as compacted snow or slush - tends to be more slippery. Hail or frost yield higher grip levels, more like a wet road than a snowy one.

Proper ice is the most problematic condition. It offers the lowest possible coefficient of friction, much lower than that of most oils, if they are to be spilt on the pavement (as much as three times more slippery than diesel on the road!). Look out for smooth, shiny ice at a temperature of about minus 7 degrees celsius - it is most slippery. When coated with snow ("sheet ice") or when it is partially molden, it tends to be more grippy, but not by much.

The important thing is to look out for any patch of ice (mainly so-called "black ice"), or puddles of mud or dropped oil that somehow made it's way over the pavement. Look far ahead and detect any shiny substance. Look out for ice in tree shades or over bridges and overpasses, as well as under small puddles of water or remains of melting snow. Look for grease by it's distinctive spectrum of colors: Dropped oil tends to form into a colorfull sheen (due to "thin-film interference") that, if large enough to threaten us, will be seen from a distance. Now, you have the time and space to slow down or plan your way around the obstruction, or adjust your line over it as safely as possible.

Personal Management while Driving

The previous article touches aspects of preventing collisions and dangerous situations caused by some factor which is external to the driver. In order to achieve this, concentration while driving and an ability to respond is necessary. A good driving posture is going to provide this. Many people underestimate the importance of a proper posture, but race drivers (as an example of a professional driver) can spend a day-long worth of practice sessions for getting the posture inch-perfect.

The driving posture also completes the subject of steering technique which we have illustrated earlier, and improves the driving by much. A good driving posture, first of all, is going to change the visual field of the driver, so a poorly seated driver might not see a hazard in time. Even he does see it, the posture might make the perception time longer, and also likely to make the reaction time longer, as the driver needs to bend forward to reach the controls. Even once the driver reacts, the posture might very well limit his ability to brake hard enough or to steer accurately. 

Even if a collision is not perfectly avoidable (and, as you have seen in the previous article, they might be such) a good driving posture will improve the secondary safety: The ability of the car's passive safety measurements to prevent serious injury. Just wearing the seatbelt is not enough. If it's poorly mounted, not snug and with the driver in an improper posture, it might be quite like not using the seatbelt at all.

Bad Postures
Some drivers sit with the back extremly reclined, and the base drawn away from the pedals. Other than being a clear indication of over-confidence, this posture reduces the driver's field of vision, which might make him unable to detect a hazard in time. Even once a hazard is detected, the driver is not likely to be as alert as he should be and his hazard perception times would increase in any case. Even once a hazard is percieved, the would have to bend forward and reach for the wheel/pedals, making the overall response time much longer and making the driving inputs much less accurate (reduced leverage on the brakes can result in dangerous collision).

Once a crash is caused, the driver's body will be hurt through the now bolt-straight limbs, as well as submarine under the lapbelt, with resultant bruises and internal injuries to the abdomen,  fractures in the knees and lost of the effectiveness of the seatbelt, pretentioner and all airbags installed in the car. The shoulders, as well as the neck and head will be thrown about laterally and perpendicularly, resulting in grave injuries as well, and passenger's in the back would be mortally hit by the driver or even the angled seat, as it moves on it's rails. The posture is also not ergonomically comfortable, as it makes the driver bend forward to reach the controls, and usually removes the seat's side support and lumbar support abilites.

Seating "on" the steering wheel, as some drivers do, is also not very good. It results in imparied forward vision, reduced concentration over time, reduced steering leverage and a great risk of hitting the wheel, airbag or underdash. Most people are in the mid-range, usually sitting a bit too far back, with slightly over-reclined backrests and usually too low as well. They don't always grip the wheel in a controled manner and might have the mirrors set in too tight an angle, all resulting in increased risks and reduced comfort, which is a shame.

Readiness to Drive
Driving should only be done out of responsibility and full control: If you are fatigued, ill, on medication or under even the slightest effect of alcohol, don't drive. Likewise, try to avoid heavy meals (especially with high levels of fat, sugar or salt) before driving as they slow down reaction times like a small glass of wine. Sleep well (about 8 hours) before long journies and rest before going out to drive. Also, keep in mind that it takes some five minutes for your concentration levels to get up when you start driving.

Of course you should also check that the car is ready to drive: A quick peek around all four tires and, before any long drive, a visual inspection and air pressure measurement of all five tires, along with all fluids of the car. Drive the car gently untill it reaches working temperature.

Clothing and Footwear

The driving posture begins with the driver himself. The driver should be dressed: With a shirt and pants, preferably not shorts or short skirts and neither with a heavy coat that will reduce your steering authority and the function of the seatbelts. It's required to drive with footwear and not barefoot. Barefoot driving offers reduced pedal control and a reduced ability to brake quickly in particular. The bare feet are likely to be injured gravely in a collision, and the driver will also have difficulty in getting safely out of the car. 

Good shoes, other than providing some partition that allows to quickly depress the pedals without pain, also provide some dampening: The sole is never perfectly rigid, so as the foot applies pressure unto the pedal, some of the pressure is as if "wasted" as the sole get squeezed between the foot and pedal. This dampening reduces accuracy and rapidness of application, but provides more feel and finese in using it. So, a good footwear should fit snuggly, and have a relatively thin sole: Boots and Heels are out of the question, as are flip-flops on the other hand. The soles should be wiped clean from mud, in winter weather.

Spectacles, if you need them, should be clean and not bulky. Sunglasses are good if they are not too dark and used when the conditions fit. They reduce glare, increase contrast and some are particulalry suit for driving since they also provide some protection from the sides too. Make frequent visits to the optometrist to ensure your eye sight is good for driving.

Visibility
Keep windows, windshields and glasses clean and demisted. Cleaning the car in general makes it more conspiciouos and reduce the amount of greasy dirt it drops over the road. Ensure that you have wiper fluid and new wipers that can clear dust and dirt (and not just rain water) off of the windscreen.

Seating

It's likewise important to position yourself carefully in the seat. Mind you, IN the seat, not on it. Your buttocks and lower back should be planted into the backrest and your body should be centered in the seat, without bending to the sides or forward. The head should be a direct extention of the back, the shoulders should be relaxed and the thighs should be as apart as possible within the limits of personal comfort. This is also a good place to start some parliminary adjustments: Adjust the seat height for comfort and, if possible, tilt the seat's cushion slightly. If the steering is adjustable, set it to a relatively "neutral" height and pull it closer to you.

Adjusting the Seat

The forward to-back adjustment of the seat is the first and easiest step. It is related to your pedal control, but it also changes your visual field, distance from the wheel and control over the wheel. Start the engine and press the brake pedal a few times. This will start the brake booster (based on the vacuum from the intake manifold) and build up some pressure inside it. Now, fully depress the brakes with the right foot and the clutch or dead-pedal to the left, with the left foot. The right heel should be placed on the floor and all pedals should be depressed with the ball of the foot, not the toes.

In this position, we are looking for a bent knee. When the knee is bent, the leg  and lower back are going to be a more relaxed posture during your normal driving, rather than be stretched forward. The feet will have better control over the pedals, since pressure can be applied as torque around the knee, by using the big muscles of the thighs, but also with the sensitivity of the smaller muscles around the foot itself. 

When the knee is straight, your leg acts as a "handlebar" that is being moved by the muscles of the buttocks (Gluetus). This reduces the ability to brake quickly.  Another imporant reason is that when the knee is straight and tensed, the joint is "locked" by the muscles so that a relatively powerfull collision can ommit forces that, instead of being absorbed into the elastic muscles, will be directly transmitted to the bones, causing fractures, and radiating through the leg to the pelvic and even the base of the spine.

The proper distance should provide a bend of about 140 degrees at the knees. This is a good compromise that provides a relatively relaxed positioning of the foot along the whole range of the pedal travel, as well as an ability to apply the pedals quickly in an emergency and some extra clearance should the brake pedal begin to fade. 

Rake of the Back

Once we have set the distance of seating relative to the pedals, we fine-tune our distance from the steering wheel by changing the angle of the backrake. The more upright, the closer are our shoulders to the wheel and the closer they are to being parallel to it. If the back and steering were to be perfectly paralle, than we could be seating quite far from the wheel and still be able to use it without using our back (by bending it forward or to the sides). However, the steering wheel is intentionally situated in an angle that makes it impossible for us to be situated like this (with the advantage a more relaxed grip of the wheel). 

So, the solution is bring the backrest to a relativelly erect position, around 110 degrees usually. This will reduce the difference of the angles between our back and the wheel, and also bring us closer to it, to cancel out the remaining difference of angles, while avoiding too high a placement of the head or too much stress of the lower back.

Steering Adjustment

The steering in many modern cars can be adjusted up and down (in an arch) and even in and out. These adjustments allow to fine-tune the distance from the wheel, particularly for peoples with relatively long or short arms. We use the steering adjustment to bring it closer to us and as parallel to the back angle as possible. Of course there are limitations, since we also need to be able to see the instrument panel through the steering wheel, but keep in mind that you are yet to adjust the height of the seat itself. The wheel should also not be too low relative to our shoulders, and it must also have some clearance from our knees.

We bring the wheel a bit closer to our bodies, and a bit down for it to be as parallel to our back as possible. If we can't bring it to just the right angle, we need to compensate by bring it even closer. Sometimes, even both adjustments don't allow to get it quite right (see "Checking The Adjustment" below) and we need to recheck our back angle or even bring the whole seat closer to the pedals.

If there is any particular problem with getting the seat closer (relevant to people with long feet and short arms in a car that does not suit them), it's better to slightly compromise the steering than to be too close to the pedals and wheel. Also, in terms of steering height (and seat height, covered next) it's better to compromise our full and clear view of the instrument panel than to reduce our forward vision or steering control. Just ensure you see the relevant gages in a way that suffices for you (without moving your head).

When the wheel is higher, it's less comfortable to grip it still for long durations of time, but it's easier to turn it quickly. When the steering is lower, the shoulders have less of a burden, but the arms are somewhat restricted by the body and even the feet, even though the steering becomes more accurate, being based more heavily on forearm strength rather than our arms and shoulders. If your palms on the wheel are about 5 centimeters lower than the shoulders, you achieve a good compromise for driving in cities. You might not be able of getting this inch-perfect without compromising your steering control or view at the instrument panel.

Seat Height

Should also allow for clear forward vision (on the road) and a good view of the instrument cluster. When the seat is higher, we earn better forward vision, but less "feel" through the chassis and less stability and, if it's too high, the interior mirror, visor and roof can interfere with view of signs or long-range vision. It's also less safe because the head might hit something, the airbag might not be as efficient and the head will be operated by a greater leverage in a collision. However, low seating isn't much safer at all: It reduces forward vision, including vision closely in front of the bonnet, for percise manuevering, and might also place the driver is a bad angle relative to the airbag. 

The proper height should allow for a clearance of about four fingers between the head and ceiling, if possible within the limitations. This is a good compromise between forward vision and stability. The height adjustment might also move the seat diagnoally as to change the position relative to the wheel, and is also likely to change the position relative to the pedals. So, adjust the height and check to see if the pedal positioning stays as it should, and also readjust the back rake for the proper distance from the wheel.

In cars with a high ceiling, reclined posture or open roof, look at the windshield and divide it into three equall parts. Adjust the posture so that your eyes are just in line with the bottom of the upper third of the windshield.

Seat Base

This is a good time to adjust the angle of the seat itself (and, in some cars, the actual length of the seat base). We use it to fine-tune our pedal control so that we can fully depress the pedals with the knees properly bent and without the interference of the seat itself: If it's tilted too much, your feet will press down hard against the seat so some of the force is applied against the seat and not the pedals. With the proper adjustment, you should be able to wedge your palm under the thigh when you fully depress the pedals (with the thigh itself being against the seat's base). This should provide a good compromise between a comfortable posture and good clearance when you need to brake quickly. You might need to slightly readjust the seat height to get it right.

Checking the Adjustment

After we completed the different adjustments of the seat and steering, we perform the check that determines whether we are positioned neatly relative to the wheel. We put our shoulder-blades against the back of the seat and stretch our left arm forward towards the top of the wheel. We have already established that the wheel will always be at least somewhat at an angle relative to us, so it's topmost portion will be the furthest away from us. With our arm straight, we should be able to rest our wrist perfectly over the wheel. 

We should be able to do this with the arm straight, but not forcifully outstretched forward, and without houncing our shoulder-blades forward. The wrist should be able of resting over the wheel, not just "touch" the face of the wheel. To be certain, try to bend it slightly over the rim. Heavier vehicles like trucks have steering rims which are bigger and more notably angled, so this check is not possible. Instead, check to see if you can grip the top of the wheel without outstretching the arm or hounching the shoulders. 

Hands on the wheel

Your two hands both belong on the steering wheel. They should be placed in 9 and 3, parallel to the steering column. This provides the greatest leverage on the wheel and a perfect balance between the two hands. Also, the arms, shoulders, forearms and wrists could adopt a more natural position. In the proper driving position, if you manage to get it inch perfect, you arms will now be bent at about 120 degrees. When you need to quickly turn the wheel, your arms will allow a full 260 degrees of leverage.

The palms should be cupping the outer diameter of the wheel (rather than be pressed against the face of the wheel and the thumbs should be hooked inside the wheel, in the purpose-built intendations. The other fingers should be lightly curled around the rim. On bumpy roads or off-road surfaces, place the thumbs on the face of the wheel so that they don't risk injury.

The grip of the wheel should be light. Just strong enough to keep it under control, and tighter or lighter as the conditions change. A strong grip is tiring, stressing and also makes the vibrations of the wheel be absorbed into the muscles, reducing sensitivity. The grip should be light, originating from your fingertips and not only from your palms, but still strong enough to control the wheel, according to the conditions. The grip should remain light even when turning the wheel. Grip the wheel at 9 and 3 and turn it 90 degrees. Now turn a bit more. Look at your arm, is it tensed, or do you relax it and let the elbow point down?

The steering of the wheel should be done is smooth movements. It's best to use the steering technique illustrated in a previous articles, but for general driving purpose, the main thing is to keep the hands on the outside of the wheel, while using both hands and making large hand movement. Using one hand, as many drivers do, is a mistake since it reduces car control. It is usually considered as a more relaxed manner of steering where in fact it overloads the upper back and shoulders for no good reason.

Feet

Your thighs should be as apart as possible, within the limits of your own sense of safety. Most drivers reach a position where there is slight contact of the feet with the center console on one side and even the door on the other side. This, in addition to the wide angle, provides increased body support via the legs and not the back. The thighs are much more powerfull than the back and this will eliminate back cramps.

Your left foot should be placed on the left footrest, low towards the floor. This helps in opening the legs to a wider angle and distribute the weight of the body evenly over the two sides of the pelvic. Also, in an emergency when you brake and/or veer, forces of forward or lateral acceleration will be experienced by your body. In this position, you can apply pressure against it to brace yourself. 

If you are braking, your body seeks to maintain forward motion and gets pushed forward. This makes you push against the wheel and lean your weight unto it, so you cannot turn it freely to avoid to obstacle if you are too close to stop in time. By pressing on the footrest, your body's weight is applied unto the floor so you can steer freely. Also, by applying pressure with both feet, you are able to depress the brakes more rapidly. Likewise, when steering, instead of hanging on to the steering and "pulling" it with your body, you can remain in your natural position, over the left foot.

The right foot is important too. It's position should be with the heel on the floor, in front of the brakes, but slightly offset towards the gas pedal. You should be able to depress each pedal with the ball of the foot, by pivoting the foot over the heel from brakes to throttle. Note that in this position you don't actually need to cover any of the two pedals with your whole foot, you just need enough contact for to be secured. The throttle pedal in particular would, in this method, be pressed with the foot in an angle towards it and the foot will also make contact with the pedal closer to it's lower part. This way, the leverage is reduced and the sensitivity of the acceleration would increase. There is one exception and that is emergency braking. When you need to brake quickly, simply kick the pedal down. Place your whole foot over it and kick it without using the heel as a pivot.

The clutch pedal, to differ from the throttle and even the brakes, is usually quite heavy. It is normally pressed by putting your whole foot onto it and pushing it down. If you standing still in first gear with the clutch engaged, you might put your heel down on the floor to relax the foot. 

Additional Adjustments

If a lumbar support is available, adjust it for equall pressure across your whole back. An adjustable lumbar support can be replaced by a small pillow or even a rolled towl. Side support should also be adjusted according to feel. If the pedals can be adjusted, set them so you can just the right distance, where the maximum knee angle is about 140 degrees, and the pedal control is not interfered by the seat, while it is still providing full support to the thigh. 

Seatbelts, Airbags and Head Restraints

The proper driving position should also be adjusted with relation to those safety measures. First and most important is the seatbelt, beggining with the lap-belt. The lower part of the belt should be placed as low as possible so it sits on the rigid pelvic bones, not on the soft stomach. It should be fitted as snuggly as possible. The diagonal part of the belt is also important and it should be adjusted (through the height adjustment of it's upper mounting) so that it fits right on your acromion.

The acromion can be felt as a "socket" between your arm and neck, just at the end of the collar bone. It should NOT be placed on the edge of the shoulder and neither on the collar bone. By "right on" I also mean that there should no gap between the bone and the belt. The belt mounting itself should also be higher than your shoulders, so it can stretch quickly enough in a collision. The belt must be free of twists. Such twists will interfere with the operation of the pretentioner, will bruise the driver and cause fractures in the area of the twist. They can be manually repaired by trying to run the twist through the belt buckle.

It's also important to note your location relative to the airbag. Your arms at 9 and 3 are generally out of it's way, so it won't hurt your arms. It should, in fact, push them down against your thighs. The next thing to take care of is to make sure the steering height and seat height are adjusted so that the center of the steering hub is pointed roughly towards your chest, not straight at your head or down at your stomach, and to ensure a safe distance of 10' between that point and your sternum. Problems in this field arouse with people who are very obese and/or short (below 150 centimeters).

The head-restraint should be adjusted for safety against a whiplash injury. It should be at least as high as your eye-brows but, much more important, it should be as close to your head as possible. A distance of 2-3 centimeters is best, where above 6 centimeters the risk of whiplash is increased greatly. Not all restaints can be adjusted to the right distance, so you might even need to bring the whole backrest to a more upright angle to achieve this.

Readjusting the Posture

Driving is dynamic. It should be flexible and change to meet the conditions. In the same fashion, the driving posture should be subtly tweaked to fit your personal comfort in changing conditions, rather than remain static in all conditions. If you are cruising on a clear highway in a relaxed manner, you can choose to bring the seat itself just one "step" backwards, recline the base of the seat a bit more, bringing the wheel closer to your body and lower relative to your shoulders.

At this posture, your knees should be bent at an angle of 160 degrees when you fully depress the brakes, slightly reducing your leverage, but making it more comfortable when you are not pressing the pedals down hard, while still keeping it safe. Your wrist should be able to touch the wheel and your arms at 9 and 3 should be bent at about 140 degrees and your palms should be quite lower than your shoulders.

Alternativelly, if you driving on a winding mountain road or perhaps in a track day, you might choose to bring the seat one step forward relative to your basic posture, bring the seat height lower and tighten the seatbelt. Your legs should be bent at 120 degrees when you fully depress the pedals, your elbows should be bent at about 90 degrees and your shoulders should be about the same height as your palms. Your head should be a handwidth away from the ceiling.

The seatbelt can be intetionally tensioned for this purpose by pulling it across your waist, over your shoulder and through the mounting and than pulling it quickly to lock it into place. An even better method is to pull the seat backwards and down, put the seatbelt on, pulling it across your waist and than pulling it quickly forward over your your shoulder to lock it. Now, lean forward unto it while moving the seat back to the normal position, and watch your belt as it tightens around you and squeezes you into the seat.

Mirror Adjustment

The second part involves adjusting our mirrors for full vision. This can reduce the collisions related to swerving. This is a good time to remind you that your field of vision should be clear. Any object, even a small one, on the dash, down from the mirror or over the windshield should be moved so that it does not obstruct forward vision. In particular, aftermarket mirrors should be avoided.

Fitting a wide-angle convex mirror over your original mirror is not going to help, since it's alledged contribution to the visual field will be obstructed by the inside parts of the car and will in any case be duplicated in the side mirrors.  This also leads to superflous information that makes our response times longer, because instead of seeing the traffic right behind us, we need to see it through our own car. When a driver is aside us, we will see in the interior mirror and the side mirror, making it harder to accurately determind where it actually is.

Most of these mirrors also cause distort and are made of cheap glass that is not tempered, so it breaks in a collision, making little shards hurts the eyes and face, and cause bigger cuts to the arms and torso. The mirror itself can be disludged towards the driver's and passenger's heads in a rear-end collision, causing possibily-fatal damage, or be thrown by either of the front airbag, most probably the passenger side one. This is good time to remind you that, other than racing gear for race cars, the driver's enviornment should remain as stock as possible: No padded steering wheel covers, no convex mirrors, no seat covers, no pedal plates or aluminun floor mats.

The car's interior mirror should be adjusted for a clear and full view of the rear window. In bright day light and in night driving, you can tilt the little switch beneath the mirror to move into "night vision" to clear out strong light sources from the image and reduce glare.

Now, open the two side mirrors so that the edges of your own car (quarterpnale) are just barely seen in them, and than open them slightly further. Many cars have a smaller passenger's side mirror and sometimes a driver's side mirrors instead. If one mirror is smaller, you need to compensate by opening it further out. If it's electronic, try opening it out by three more "clicks." Now, check and see whether it's working:

1. If it's the driver's side (left) mirror: Put your head against the window. You should now be able to see just the edge of the car in the mirror

2. If it's the passenger's side (right) mirror: Put your head directly in the center of the car (in line with the interior mirror's pillar) without bending forward. You should just be able to see the edge of your own car in the mirror, and than open it slightly further.

This adjustment opens the side mirrors up so that they don't overlap as much with the interior mirror. The overlapped fields of vision are essentially "wasted" and they also create superflous information which is dis-orienting and makes for longer reaction times. By reducing it (but not eliminating it) our side mirrors show us the areas in our 7 and 4 O'Clock, which are crucial for overtakes and lane changes. Furthermore, the coverage is so large that any other road user passing by us in the near lane, will be seen in the mirror untill he starts to come into the view of our peripheral vision through the side windows, with the head pointing straight or slightly tilted towards the relevant mirror.  The unseen area near your own car's body is not important since it's too close to your car and too small for anything to fit in it, including children or mopeds.

It's not that you don't have blindspots, but those blindspots are more relevant to multi-lane roads or when reversing or merging at angles that the mirrors were never planned to be used in. Nevertheless, when you are driving on a dual-carriageway, for instance, with this mirror alignment, there is no need to shoulder check. Simply check the interior mirror AND the relevant side mirror, start moving over and check the side mirror again.

Mind you, the mirrors are not only used during lane changes. You need to use them once few seconds, to get an idea of what is around you at all times. Get into the habit of looking in the interior mirror once every five seconds, and in the relevant side mirror once every seven seconds. Stand with your car in the parking space and count to five and than glance at the mirror and quickly return to forward vision as you keep on counting. When you get to seven, quickly glance at the left-side mirror and than back to straight, and all over again. Now try to do this when you are parked along a street with moving traffic. Now try it when you are driving in an empty street, than with thin traffic and than in heavier traffic. Work on checking the mirrors frequently and checking them quickly -- just in a fraction of a second -- so you are not distracted from what is going on in front.

Parking, reversing and other precision manuevers are problematic with this kind of adjustment, since you cannot use your own car's body as a point of reference. But it would be wrong to adjust our mirrors for reversing, when we drive so much more miles and spend much more time driving forward, with much greater risks, speeds and factors involved. And, besides, who ever said that the mirror adjustment should be rigid? Why could it change or flex to fit the conditions?

In any case, during precision manuevring we need our mirrors to be adjusted in a completly different way -- not only closed, but also tilt down towards the curb or even the rear wheel. Many cars have a memory for several mirror alignments just for this end, and some cars even have mirrors that are meant to be opened wide and are than closed back to a narrow alignment when you put it into reverse. It's also possible to mount a small auxiliary mirror ontop of the housing of one of the mirrors. Avoid the adhesive mirrors that fit on your stock mirror's glass, or big bulky mirrors that interfere with forward vision.

Another problematic situation is when the view via the rear window is in part obstructed by passenger's heads and by their head restraints. In this situation more overlap would be desirable so that you could see to your back with the side mirrors too. Don't forget that you can easily do this. Just tilt your head slightly towards your driver's side mirror and your car's quarterpanel would come into view again. You can also put the auxiliary mirror on your passenger's side mirror, for this purpose.

Another thing is viewing the inside of your own car. This might prove important on family trips. It's best to entrust the task of managing the buisness inside the car to another adult or an older child, rather than focusing on it, even without looking backwards or while looking in the mirror. If you feel it is necessary, than purchase a vacuum-adhesive mirror, made of tempered glass, and fit as close to the stock mirror as possible and as high as possible.

Load in the Passenger's Compartment

When you drive along with passengers and luggage in the car, you need to ensure several precautions are being made. First, adjust tire pressures to the conditions. Second, make sure that all passengers are fastened and secure in terms of placement in the car, relevant child restaints and head-rests. Place the youngest child in the middle (rear) seat, and the older one to his right, the older one to his left and an adult above 14 in front.

All passengers should be sitting, not bending or laying down, and without putting limbs in areas where the airbags are placed. The front passenger should be seated upright like the driver, to avoid submarining under the belt. He/she should remain awake during the drive so they can help you  stay alert and safe, and also keep themselves safe (a sleeping passenger get suffers from a greater hit in a collision, not a lighter one).

Luggage should be placed in the trunk. The heavier items should be placed far forward, against the backs of the seats, preferably with their flat side facing the seats. This kind of placement reduces their movement in a collision, and reduces the load they pose unto the vehicle itself. The items should also be distributed equally on both sides of the car.

Windows and Air Conditioning

The Air Conditioning inside the car is crucial for your safety. Heat reduces awareness and creates dehydration and numbness. Empirically, increased amount of collisions occur during heatwaves. Being cold is also not very good, and cold weather, as well as influenza, are known causes of collisions. Likewise, constanr recirculation of air diminishes the amount of oxygen to cause health problems and increase risk of falling asleep at the wheel. Turbulances and wind noise are likewise distracting and prevent hearing the sounds of the environment.

One crucial moment is when we enter the car. After even two hours in the sun it can pack up heat that causes considerable fatigue, and is also related to health issues (as toxins are being defused from the plastic unto the air of the closed vehicle) and sun burns. The solution is to open the doors and windows to let the hot air escape. Even two minutes can do a massive change. In the hot summer, there is no choice but to turn on the ignition and apply the air conditioning on "fresh air" settings to clear out the hot air, with the windows semi-open.

Once the car has cooled down, try to keep it cool by applying the A/C on a reasonable fan power (too much will not provide you with cold enough air and will be very loud and consume lots of gas) and on air recirculation. It's important to keep a crack of the driver's side window open for fresh air and in order to get the sounds of the surroundings. In highway speeds, it might be better to switch the A/C  to "fresh air" for certain durations of time, rather than keep a window open, as it will cause a disturbing turbulance of air.

In nice weather, you can drive in towns with an open window instead of using the air conditioning. In these conditions, the open window helps in providing some feedback as to your speed, reduced risk of glass shards in a collision, and the audio input from the road around us, and the ability to better communicate with drivers around us. The key thing is not to keep the window semi-open, is this can lead to head injury in a collision. Also, it can lead to damage to the mechanism that holds the glass in place, when the road is bumpy. On bumpy surfaces, keep the windows perfectly closed.

Use the air conditioning to clear out mist from the windshield before you drive, and keep the heating inside the car in hot days balanced with a slight crack of the driver's window for fresh air. You can also use the heating to disperse excessive engine heat when the engine starts to heat up and there isn't a safe place to stop.

When you are about to finish driving, reduce the force of the fan and turn off the conditions. Before turning the car down, open up the circulation for fresh air and close the fan before you turn down the ignition. This will refresh the air conditioning unit and reduce electric strain when you ignite the car again. Try to park the car in the shade, and preferably with a small crack on the driver's window and with some sun protection at the windscreen or windows.

Use the air-conditioning and the heating over the whole year. Even in the winter, find a good time to activate the air conditioning for a few minutes once every three weeks, after the engine has reached working temperature. This will keep the unit running well during the hot season, as it will remain lubricated. The same applies for the heating. The heating can also be used to refresh the air inside the car.

Breaks and Energy Management
I have mentioned earlier that one should drive when well rested. This includes a minimum of seven hours of sleep and, before long or demanding drives, a certain rest before the driving itself. The driver should be free of the effect of alcohol, drugs, illness or hunger/dehydration. A good energtic meal and some water or juice are a must. Heavy meals have just the same impact as some alcohol in the system, and should be avoided. When entering the car, the driver has to ensure the safety of the passengers and cargo, as described earlier. It's best to leave the percision manuevering (reversing) to the end of the travel, so you can start by driving straight out, without the problems related to poor rear vision and the reduced concentration in the first few minutes of driving.

In long drives, stop once every hour for about ten minutes. If it's relaxed and not very demanding or dangerous, you might expand this to an hour and a-half, but most long journies involve hazardous two-lane roadways, winding mountain roads, buisy motorways, hot summer weather and quite often a car loaded with passengers. The solution is to stop on an hourly basis, in a safe place which is remote and perfectly segregated from the road itself. This does wonders with the driver's focus, as well as:

- Refreshing the air in the cabin and giving you an oppurtunity to clean the mass up
- Allows passengers (particularly children) to avoid bordom which makes them irritated
- Allows to have a little snack (150 calories per hour of driving) and some water (three to four glasses, as a rule of thumb), a rest and a bit of stretching and deep breathing.
- Allows the engine, tires and air conditioning to cool down and allows you to re-inspect the tires before moving on.
- Allows you and the passengers to go to the toilet.
- Prevents cramps in the relevant muscles

It also advised to use an adult passenger next to you to help you while driving and, if he/she has a driver's license, swap positions after two or three hours of driving. Anyhow, every five hours of driving should be followed directly by a longer break, starting from a minimum of 30 minutes. A bit of bending while driving is also a good thing to do, provided it's done in safe places like during a stop or while moving steadily on an open, clear road with a median.

Stops of any kind and for any reason, should be done only in places that are remoted from the road and completly and ridigly segregated from it. Even a fatigued driver can keep on driving slowly towards a near exit/rest stop/filling station/side road or what not -- and stop there. In that case, a quick 30 minute rest, followed by a quick supply of simple carbohyrdates (the ideal food is a bit of grapes or other fruits), some cool water and a slight jog -- will give you an hour's worth of wakefull alertness.