North Carolina Driver Education Resource Guide

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North Carolina Driver Education Resource Guide

• North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

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UNIT FIVE-DRIVING SYSTEMS
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Physical-coordination with the vehicle
Social-interaction with other highway users
Mental- Understanding the motor-vehicle Percept
ion based on stored knowledge Understanding
traffic laws Judging time/space relationships
Concentration on task
Skills of the driving task
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Of the three components of the highway
transportation system, 90-95 of accidents are
caused by human error.
Causes of most motor vehicle accidents.
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A. Aim high in steering. Look 12-15 seconds ahead
of your vehicle. B. Keep your eyes moving. Move
your sight to critical areas in an orderly visual
search pattern. C. Get the big picture. Know
everything around your vehicle that may affect
you. D. Make sure others see you. Many accidents
are caused by inattention. Make sure other
highway users see you by using your lights, horn
and even driving a bright colored vehicle.
Studies show daytime running lights reduce
accidents by 7. E. Leave yourself an out. Make
sure to avoid collision traps. Do not leave your
safety up to other drivers. You should always be
able to get away from other highway users. Always
leave an escape path for any mistakes you or
others may make.
Steps of the Smith System
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TractionTimeSpaceVisibility
Safe driving
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driving too fastdriving too closeinattention/dis
tractionright of way violationssign
non-observanceover estimating their ability
while under estimating the risk
Unsafe driving acts
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how far you are looking down the roadWhen
aiming high in steering, you are keeping track of
12-15 seconds in front of your vehiclemost
drivers look only 3-5 seconds down the
roadresearch has shown that 80 of collisions
could have been avoided had drivers had one more
second to react
Eye lead-time
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Following distance should be at least two to
three seconds behind the vehicle in front under
ideal conditions. As the vehicle in front passes
a fixed object, your vehicle should not get to
that spot for at lest two to three seconds. In
poor weather or road conditions, increase the
time and distance between you and the other
vehicles.
Safe following distance
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A. Move over/change lanes B. Slow down/pullover
encouraging them to pass C. Tap your brake
lights to alert the driver behind D. Signal your
turns early/slow down early E. Don't anger the
following driver
Ways to deal with vehicles following too closely
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An orderly visual search pattern consists of
looking at all the traffic information in a
systematic fashion. Look 12-15 seconds ahead of
your vehicle, to the front and sides, scanning
for anything that might come in front of your
vehicle. Check mirrors on a regular basis. Keep
track of all vehicles behind and around you in
other lanes of traffic. Check your vehicle
instruments as necessary. This means knowing what
the gauges and controls should be and what to do
when a gauge is not reading normally.
Orderly visual search pattern.
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The IPDE process is a way for highway users to
better process the information available to them.
I - Identify With your eyes moving and getting
the big picture, you learn to identify potential
hazards in the traffic scene. P - Predict
Predicting potential conflicts are critical to
collision free driving. Many drivers do not
realize the risk of a collision until it is too
late. Drivers must always be vigilant, predicting
"worse case scenarios". D - Decide Decide what
to do if the worst case comes true E - Execute
Execute your decision to slow down, change lanes
or flash lights. These are other actions to
minimize the risk of a collision.
IPDE process
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Drivers must sort information as to importance
and then decide what things to deal with first.
This ability to differentiate hazards is
critical to collision free driving.
How drivers sort information
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Perception is the brain's interpretation of what
the eyes see. We interpret based on previous
experience and knowledge.That is why experience
is critical to perception.
Perception
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Separating hazards is predicting hazards ahead of
you and adjusting your speed or direction to get
to them individually instead of all at once.
Separating hazards
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Compromising lane positions is to change lanes or
even moving over to give more clearance between
your vehicle and other highway users.
Compromising lane position
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HornLightsHand motionsTurn signalBrake
lightsHazard lights
Ways to communicate with other HTS issues