Driving Mastery

Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2006 2:10 pm

I do not remember where I heard or read this, but it makes perfect sense to me – “The mastery of the driver seems to be in inverse proportion to the frequency of emergency braking he makes”.

And I believe, this is very true – good driver constantly foresees how road situation is unfolding, and constantly keeps himself prepared to the most probable outcome. The driving mastery is not only in steering, braking, and accelerating proficiency (although they all have their place, of course), it is in strategic thinking mostly.

Just a very simple example may clarify this. Imagine, you are approaching a crossroads, following another car along the one-lane road, and its blinker just went off. Majority of the drivers, who have at least just a bit of experience, will move their foot from the gas to brake pedal and start braking slightly – they know, most probably the car in front of them will turn, and will slow down significantly before turning. Someone who just graduated from the driving school might not be experienced enough to think along this path, and a few seconds later he will be forced to apply his brakes in emergency, in order to avoid an accident.