Simon Hall Advanced Driver Training

Winter Driving Shock - It's Cold Out There!

2011-01-11T16:58:00.002Z

Over the years, I’ve often been asked whether there are more fatal and serious road collisions now that the weather has turned bad at this time of the year. People are often surprised to learn that although the total number of collisions increases as drivers slither off the road into ditches (and each other), the number of fatalities and serious injuries actually goes down in the worst of the weather. This is because, I imagine, even the daftest of drivers is likely to be travelling slower when he/she has a collision and is therefore less likely to incur, or cause, serious injury.

Clearly, there are still a few tragic exceptions but on the whole this welcome trend is an indicator that if drivers could only show a bit more sense in their driving all year round then a general reduction in collisions must be achievable. The trouble is that in the height of summer when it’s warm and the road is dry and a cold drink awaits at the end of the drive it is all too easy to go a bit quicker and begin to feel invincible.

At the time of writing the worst of the winter weather has passed for the time being but, I suspect, there’s a good chance we’ll enjoy some more ice and snow before we can call it Spring.

With that in mind it’s a convenient time to reiterate and think about some of the sensible winter driving advice we should all be aware of.

• Before you set off, realise that your journey is going to take longer than usual. Leave early, be patient and live with it.

• Ensure your mobile phone is fully charged and that someone knows where you are going and when you are expected to return.

• Clear the car’s windows thoroughly. Looking through a tiny porthole in the windscreen is not good enough – and it’s illegal.

• If you have a great wedge of snow on the bonnet and roof of the car – clear it off.

• When driving in snow and ice, think about momentum – it’s about keeping moving where possible, approach junctions and other hazards slowly and try to plan ahead, using your steering, accelerator and brakes gently and sparingly to maintain an overall flow to the drive.

• Bends, hills and sloping approaches to junctions need particular care. Get in a low gear early and keep it steady.

• Try to stay on the main roads, they are more likely to have been gritted and to have had other traffic on them. Even if you are brave and competent enough o use a cross country back road you may find it blocked by somebody else’s misfortune.

• If the worst happens and you have to get out of your car, either because you are stuck or you’ve slid off, stand well away from the vehicle. Remember – the next driver along might slide off in the same place, in which case they could collide with your car and, possibly, you.

• Sometimes staying in the car with the heater on might be the best option, even for short spells, but you’ve really got to balance the safety aspects of the particular location in which you find yourself. If there’s any chance of somebody colliding with your vehicle at speed – get out of it.

Keep it safe and enjoy the change in the seasons – it’s still better than living somewhere where it’s sunny all year round, er, isn’t it?

We journey in hope...

2010-10-14T19:24:00.001+01:00

Paraphrasing the great John Cleese, “It’s not the disappointment, it’s the hope I can’t cope with.” I don’t think he was talking about the business of being a follower of football but, if he wasn’t then he surely should have been.
After many years of trying I’ve pretty much given up attempting to explain to those friends and colleagues around me who don’t like football what it is that keeps me eager to shell out the old hard earned in order to follow my team of choice, the fact is that if they don’t get it already, they probably never will get it. What I don’t understand though, is why quite so many people who don’t like football are quite so keen to say so, and indeed are quite so keen to disparage those of us who do. I mean, I have no interest in ballroom dancing but I don’t go out of my way to have a pop at people who might watch ‘Strictly’ of a weekend.
Luckily, attending home games doesn’t involve a long journey for me – just enough for my son and me to sort out our match predictions and, if we’re feeling very daring, our crowd predictions too (no, not an attempt to name them all but to guess their total number, thank you).
Having been to a couple of away games this season, though, I’ve rediscovered the joys of travelling long distances in Saturday traffic – combined with having to be somewhere by a 3 o’clock deadline.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind the moving traffic, when it is moving. It’s the delays caused by road accidents and overturned caravans that frustrate me and, I suspect, everyone else.
One of the most common bits of advice given by road safety professionals is to ‘Leave plenty of time for your journey.’ How do we know how much time is plenty of time?
Our first away trip was to Nottingham Forest, a relative hop and skip at just 120 miles – all well and good until we stopped for a sausage sandwich on the way. To be fair, we were warned that the kitchen was busy but we, in a sadly misjudged display of overconfidence, agreed ‘That’ll be fine.’ As we left the greasy spoon an hour later I realised it was 1 o’clock and we still had about 60 miles to do. Even that shouldn’t have been a problem (how naïve am I?) and perhaps it wouldn’t have been had we been the only people wanting to get into Nottingham that afternoon. Still, we just made it in for kick-off, job done.
Next up was a 220 mile journey to Preston North End, 4 hours 20 minutes according to my Satnav. After we’d been stationary on the A1 for 15 minutes and then on the M62 at Saddleworth Moor for 20 minutes I started to doubt whether get there for half time this time, let alone kick-off.
I should throw into the mix here that we’d earlier had another abortive attempt at getting breakfast en route when, after sitting for 45 minutes without food in a well known roadside eatery, we gave up and pressed on, unfed but unbowed.
Once off the M62 we made good progress, got parked and, again, arrived comfortably in time for kick-off.
On both occasions, we got where we needed to be by the time we needed to be there so, you may say, what’s the problem? On both occasions, I believed I’d set off in plenty of time for the journey and I’d added some time on for delays but I’d still ended up feeling stressed during the journey wondering whether we were going to be on time. It’s when drivers feel stressed and anxious that mistakes get made; mirrors don’t get checked before lane changes, reactions are slow to brake lights ahead and frustrations at other drivers can spill into road rage.
I think the answer is, yes, to leave plenty of time for the journey but also to accept that travelling a long way is likely to involve delays and minor frustrations and to treat them as part of the deal. Being philosophical about traffic hold-ups is never easy but, really, it’s the only way to approach it on today’s busy roads.
By the way, because I know you are wondering, we drew at Forest and won at PNE – excellent results and enough to make me feel those uncomfortable pangs of hope for the season ahead.

Safe to School

2010-10-04T12:07:00.000+01:00

I was pleased to take part recently in BBC Radio Norfolk’s ‘Safe to School’ campaign, aimed at raising awareness of road safety issues across the county and timed to coincide with the return to school after the summer holidays.
246 children were injured on Norfolk’s roads in 2009, 21 of them seriously, and BBC Radio Norfolk’s initiative revolved around bringing together a number of interested professionals and volunteers in the area of road safety in order to get the message across to children, parents and drivers.
I spent an enjoyable morning with Stephen Bumfrey, afternoon presenter on the station, the brief being to drive around the Norwich area commenting on driving habits and issues that occurred around us. As any police traffic officer will tell you part of the frustration of the job is that they tend to drive around in a ‘bubble of good driving’, the visible presence of the marked police vehicle leading to motorists temporarily improving their behaviour, at least until the police car is out of sight. While this is a good thing – part of the aim of high visibility policing is to positively affect behaviour after all – it can be a double edged sword when it comes to actually detecting offenders. Anyway, since Stephen and I were in an ordinary, unmarked car none of this was an issue and despite the atrocious weather on the day of the recording we managed to get some good material and also managed to find some amusement at the habits of other motorists.
We’d barely set off when a useful chap in an Audi A3 tried unsuccessfully to cut me up on a busy roundabout before, in a show of great determination, he succeeded on the next. He then undertook a number of other vehicles on a restricted dual carriageway before charging off at a great rate of knots down a bus lane towards the city centre. An excellent example of impatient and aggressive driving which, by my reckoning, committed at least three moving traffic offences.
Later we stretched the ideas of chance and coincidence even further. While we were having a conversation about pedestrians needing to take some responsibility for their own safety, we spotted a couple of young women, one of whom was on crutches, walking along the side of a road (another restricted dual carriageway) despite there being a ‘No Pedestrians’ sign right above their heads. Of course, we have no offence of jaywalking in this country but it would have been interesting to see, or hear, their reaction to being given a fixed penalty ticket.
These incidents can be inconsequential in themselves but when something goes wrong and there’s a collision, whether vehicle to vehicle or vehicle to pedestrian, it’s too late to point out the lack of judgement shown – it is a forlorn hope that one day all road users will take responsibility for their actions at all times, but starting by getting the message out to school children has to be a laudable aim.
Let’s hope that a few more children complete their journeys safely this winter as a result of BBC Radio Norfolk’s excellent campaign.

Blue Light Users Conference

2010-09-07T21:12:00.005+01:00

The AIRSO Blue Light Users Conference at Hinckley last week was, as usual, a very interesting and well put together event. AIRSO have a truly impressive nack of getting together a mix of speakers from different backgrounds to keep the conference entertained, and an ability to be innovative with format too. For me, it was really useful to engage with so many existing, and potentially new, customers but also highly reassurring to see again that there are so many people committed to the training and development of blue light drivers in all services.

The conference tends, inevitably I suppose, to be largely led by voices within the statutory blue light services, Police, Fire, Ambulance, but is also very well attended by representatives from the private and voluntary sector ambulance services. It struck me during the event that maybe a stronger voice from those areas might be a positive development for the future and, as someone who believes strongly in inclusivity, this is something I would like to try work towards. As ambulance and NHS Trusts move further towards privatisation of their patient transport function, the private and voluntary ambulance sector can only continue to grow and we are glad to be there to help with their driver training needs, as we have for so many years.

The eagerly anticipated speech at the conference, from the DfT's ACPO Liaison officer, in relation to future training requirements arising from the Road Safety Act 2006 was informative and interesting without being able to offer anything concrete by way of an implementation date for the new High Speed Driver Training course. With a new government looking to save money wherever possible, I would guess that it will some time yet before we see any progress on that front.

In the meantime, we continue to maintain our high standards and to develop our courses to meet current and future legislative requirements to the satisfaction of all of our customers.

Driving In Europe

2010-07-21T15:50:00.000+01:00

I was working in Belgium last week and, as usual, it struck me how different is the experience of driving in Europe compared to driving here in old Blighty. I'm not just talking about the obvious driving on the right situation, although as I'm sure we've all experienced at one time or another, extra care does need to be taken in order to end up on the correct side of the road when turning left at junctions for example.

It's always the difference in general manners, and in lane discipline in particular, that strikes me when I'm on the continent. It seems to me that it is rare when abroad to find the continental equivalent of the British centre/outside lane hog, a species that seems to be all too prevalent over here. I should acknowledge that I've had people say the exact opposite to me - that they've found it to be worse in Europe but that's really just plain wrong isn't it?

Last week I drove the round trip from sunny Norfolk, via the Channel Tunnel to Calais and then on to Belgium and back and the only time that I was held up by 'lane hogs' was on the UK legs of the trip. Why is that, I wonder? Are continental Europeans generally more skilled drivers, are they better disciplined, are they more considerate or they just plain better mannered? Suggestions welcome, I don't have the answer. For what it's worth, my opinion is that it's probably more to do with consideration/manners than out and out driving skill but, if I'm honest, I think I'm basing this on the reverse argument - that the reason British drivers hog the centre/outside lanes on main roads is down to plain old selfishness and rudeness.

None of which detracts from the great pleasure to be had from a driving holiday or from driving to a holiday destination, which is what many of us will be doing soon, no doubt.

Here, then, are a few tips to remember when driving abroad this summer:

1. Get your car thoroughly checked and, if it's due, serviced in plenty of time before you go. If you are going to have to spend money on the car, it may as well be here before you set off as at a tiny garage in the middle of nowhere with no English spoken. Check your tyres and remember that by the time you get home you might have done two thousand miles or so over the course of the holiday.
2. Plan your route before setting off. Look at a map and get a feel for where you will be going, major towns you'll pass by or through, place names to look out for on signs (remember they'll be in the local language). Don't just rely on a SatNav, as brilliant as they are you still need an overall idea of where you are aiming for.
3. Check your spare wheel, jack, locking wheel nut situation - make sure they are where they should be and that they work. You don't want to be standing beside a French motorway in the pouring rain (it will definitely rain if you get a puncture) waiting for help.
4. Prepare for the weather you may encounter - if you are hoping for warmer weather, prepare the car for it too and, importantly, carry extra water bottles in the boot. If you stumble across a queue on a motorway (it happens) you don't want you and your family flaking out with dehydration.
5. Carry an emergency kit; First Aid, Vehicle Bulbs, Warning Triangle, Reflective Vest etc. Remember that some of these items are legal requirements in some European countries.
6. Check your vehicle documents well in advance - V5, MOT and Insurance, as well as your driving licence. Make sure all are going to be in date and valid after you get back, and remember to take them with you.

The most important tip of all is 'Enjoy the Journey'. I'm a bit of a lost cause I know, but I love driving and, for me, the journey is as much part of the holiday as is the stuff that you do at the destination. Anyway, have a safe and enjoyable holiday, wherever you are going.

Looking into the future...

2010-07-08T11:20:00.000+01:00

You know those birthday and Christmas cards you can get that play a tune when you open them? I learned the other day that there is, apparently, more processing power in just one of those than existed in the whole world 50 years ago. That's an impressive enough idea to grapple with on its own but it really makes the point that we can't possibly hope to know what will be available to us after the next 50 years.

From a motoring perspective the rate of advancement hasn't been quite so earth shattering in the last five decades. I accept that cars and other motor vehicles tend to go quicker, stop better and are more luxurious than their mid-20th Century ancestors but I would argue that it has been a development in components which has led to this - we are, after all, still largely reliant on the same fossil fuel driven internal combustion engine for propulsion.

True, motor manufacturers are working towards alternatives, whether they be electrically powered, hydrogen cell, hybrid or via biofuels but there is really no clear winner in the development race at the moment - we are still at a bit of a VHS v Betamax style fork in the road. The $64m question is, though, what will be the DVD or even Blu-Ray invention that will end up being the preferred technology in the future?

It is reasonable to think that by the time we pass the mid-way point of this century we could be enjoying an as yet unthought of propulsion system, maybe even the flying cars that were predicted to be commonplace in the year 2000 by the sci-fi writers of the 1950s and 60s.

In the meantime we need to make the most efficient use of what we've got, for environmental and financial reasons. We encourage all fleet drivers on our advanced driving courses to consider eco-driving issues in order to lessen their impact on the planet as well as on their company's fleet budget by conserving fuel and reducing wear and tear on their vehicles.

Often it can be as simple as getting the driver to think ahead and plan their driving rather than reacting late to road situations, while pointing out the sometimes minor habits within the car which can cause premature wear of the clutch, the gear selector or the brakes, amongst other things.

Perhaps if we, or our offspring, are teleporting around in 50 years time a clutch will be no more than a museum oddity - if so, maybe our driving courses will help a few more to survive to populate collections of motoring memorabilia in the future.

Motorway Driving

2010-06-11T16:32:00.000+01:00

While in conversation recently with an experienced lady driver I was surprised when she told me that she never drives on motorways, and not just because she happens to live in a county which doesn't have any. She was telling me that, even when she drives long distances, she will drive miles out of the way on A roads to avoid having to venture onto the motorway.

If it was for purely aesthetic reasons or to enjoy a flowing drive through some open roads, I could understand anyone choosing a good A road over a motorway when time wasn't the decisive factor on the journey. To make it a general policy to not use motorways seems, though, to be a step too far.

Probing further, I was told, "It's the speed, you get cars flying past on this side and cars flying past on the other side and you have to drive faster than you want to in order to keep up."

Mmm, now we appear to be getting somewhere. Clearly, here is an example of a combination of a lack of confidence and, I think, a lack of understanding of how best to use the road and to deal with the other motorists on it. Some time spent developing my friend's driving ability would lead directly to a growth in confidence and, since the relationship between ability and confidence tends to be circular, we'd have her journeys reduced in time and distance in no time.

Of course, if she wanted to stop for a nice meal en route maybe she'd want to slip back onto the A roads...

Positivity is good

2010-04-29T10:21:00.000+01:00

I had BBC Radio 2 on in the car yesterday (other stations and networks are available) and I heard Steve Wright talking about a survey that said that most 5 to 16 year olds would rather have Mum driving the car than Dad. Apparently our offspring consider that Dad drives too fast, is less patient, more aggressive and more likely to get angry than Mum.
Leaving aside the whole Dad versus Mum debate (that's a can of worms we don't need to open) Steve went on to say that, in his opinion, maybe it was ok to drive aggressively in some circumstances, for example when comparing city driving to country driving.
This prompted a conversation between Steve and his fellow presenter Tim, the result of which was that they agreed that perhaps 'aggressive' wasn't quite the right word and they settled on 'confident' as an alternative.
Confidence can certainly be a good thing but I think the word they were really looking for was 'positive'. On our advanced driving courses we make a real learning point of getting drivers to understand and embrace the difference between being 'positive' and 'aggressive'.
We can all easily understand the negative side of aggression behind the wheel but it works the other way too. A classic example of a lack of positivity is the good old 'Mexican stand-off' which I've regularly seen occur when three motorists arrive at a mini roundabout at the same time from different directions and then sit looking at each other. Done properly, the driver who approaches this situation positively will actually be doing all three a service by instigating proper use of the junction.
A positive approach to the drive enables a driver to engage decisively and yet politely with other road users, maintaining progress safely and efficiently in all situations. Developing a good positive style can often assist an over-confident driver to find the right balance for their skills and it can also assist a driver who is lacking confidence to build up their ability to deal with challenging road situations.
Positive good, aggressive bad - that's the rule.

Eco-Driving

2010-04-24T11:18:00.000+01:00

I found the recent Government information film entreating us all to use our cars for 5 miles less per week amusing. With unleaded petrol coasting past the £1.20 per litre price level it might appear that we needed little encouragement to cut unnecessary mileage from our motoring activities. That said, it's reassuring that the Government have found time in their busy schedule (and spare cash in their budgets to pay for the film) which they could devote to encouraging us to save the planet.
Quite how you and I are to cut 5 miles from our weekly mileage is unclear to me. Do I park half a mile short of work for five days, or do I park two and a half miles short of the out of town supermarket once a week? These both assume that there is an unlimited amount of on-street parking available for us all to use... Maybe if I choose not to go out tonight I can count that as mileage saved? It's a dilemma.
There is another way of approaching this problem where we can help to save the planet at the same time as cutting travel costs for ourselves. Eco-driving courses from Simon Hall advanced driver training are designed to show you and your company's drivers how to drive efficiently, maximising fuel economy as well as minimising general wear and tear on the vehicle.
Contact me to talk about how we can tailor a course to your requirements and to see how you can start to make an immediate difference to your fleet budget.