Your Car's Safety Gear: Modern Technology Keeps You Safe ... If You Know How to Use It
by Jerry Edgerton
You're a safe driver, right? You don't pull reckless stunts on the road, and your car has up-to-date safety gear. Strangely, that could be just the problem. If you haven't learned how to use that safety equipment properly, it may not be helping you at all.
Antilock brakes and air bags can help you avoid accidents or protect you if one does occur. Front-wheel drive, all-wheel drive, or four-wheel drive all operate better in snowy or icy conditions than the rear-wheel drive that was once standard. And modern tires have better traction and reaction to steering than in the past. But this modern technology has changed the rules for drivers--especially on how to react in panic situations. Auto dealers and new-car manuals aren't much help. "When you are picking up the car at the dealership, they say: 'You have air bags and antilock brakes, have a nice life,' " says Bill Buff, vice president of Driving Dynamics, a driver training school in Little Silver, N.J.
Realizing that drivers need training (or re-training) in order to stay as safe as possible on the road, many companies have begun putting their employees who drive in doing their work through specialized programs. But if you don't have access to such a company class, you can sign up for individual sessions--often with the same driving schools such as Driving Dynamics. That school offers one-day sessions with about 60% of the time spent in the car practicing how to react in dangerous situations for $425. Other schools like MasterDrive--in Colorado and California and Smith System in Arlington, Texas offer courses in a similar price range. If that seems like a budget buster, you can get good advice--though usually not the driving practice--through defensive driving courses offered through AARP and other organizations that also will get you a discount on your auto insurance. These courses typically cost $25 to $50. One Web site offering an online course in defensive driving is idrivesafely.com.
The biggest problem with four-wheel drive vehicles is that they give many drivers a false sense of confidence.
In the meantime, here's some advice on how to handle the modern safety equipment on your car:
Antilock brakes
Often known as ABS, this system helps avoid skids that start when brakes lock with a computer that hits and releases the brakes swiftly over and over. But to make the antilock brakes work--especially in a sudden stop from high speed--you need to hit the brake pedal hard and hold it down. The vibrating, pulsing sensation you will then feel may make you want to ease up on the pedal--exactly the wrong thing to do. And if you learned to drive 15 years ago or more, you probably were taught to pump the brakes in panic stops to avoid locking old-style brakes. If you still have that reflex, your antilock brakes won't work properly. In addition, antilock brakes--because they help avoid skids--give you some steering control even during a swift stop. "Once you hit the brakes, don't just hope you can stop in time," counsels Bill Buff of Driving Dynamics. "Look and steer away from the problem."
Air bags
In those slow-motion television ads, it seems as if air bags unfurl slowly. In fact, in a collision the bags deploy so swiftly and powerfully that you will have no time at all to react to what's happening. That's why it's important that hands and feet (yours and your passenger's) are in the right place. If you have your hand over the top of the steering wheel or wrapped through a spoke of the wheel, you could wind up with sprained or broken fingers from an air bag that goes off. The safer placement, which is also better for controlling the car, is on the sides of the steering wheel in a "nine o'clock, three o'clock" position. If a passenger, during a long drive, decides to relax with feet up on the dashboard, discourage him or her. If the air bag deploys, it could break a leg or ankle.Antilock brakes and air bags can help you avoid accidents or protect you if one does occur.
Different driving wheels
The front-wheel drive more common in today's cars has some clear advantages over the rear-wheel drive standard in the past. With the engine's weight over the driving wheels, front-wheel drive gets better traction in wet, snowy, and icy conditions. But as with antilock brakes, the rules have changed. With rear-drive cars, the best advice if the car went into a skid was to steer in the direction of that skid to stop the rear of the car from swinging around. That won't work with front-drive cars, which are more likely to skid straight ahead. Instead, says Buff, "Forget about front drive or rear drive--in a skid, just steer in the direction you want the car to go."
All-wheel drive (constantly on) or four-wheel drive (you turn it on), present another set of problems. Having four drive wheels definitely will help keep you moving at low speeds in snow or ice. What it won't do is help you stop any better. And many drivers--especially those in SUVs (sport utility vehicles)--don't understand that. "The biggest problem with four-wheel drive vehicles is that they give many drivers a false sense of confidence," warns Web site advice from driving school MasterDrive. If you do have four-wheel or all-wheel drive, don't assume you can go any faster or stop any better than those small sedans out there with two-wheel drive.If you haven't learned how to use auto safety equipment properly, it may not be helping you at all.
Improved tires
Today's tires with better traction can lead to safer stops. In this case, the primary rule has not changed. As always, keep those tires inflated to the proper pressure. The problem rather is that just as many people now ignore that rule as ever. Having tires just five pounds per square inch below the proper level can increase your risk significantly. To find the proper pressure for your tires, look at the edge of the driver's door that is visible only when the door is open. Typically, you will see pressures for front and rear tires listed there--sometimes slightly different from one another.
If you can afford hands-on training for yourself--or your beginning teen-aged driver--it probably is a good investment. Practicing with skids and hitting antilock brakes will produce reflexes that could avoid an accident. But if you need the bargain version, go over this advice and then take your car out to an empty parking lot and practice on your own. A few simulated panic stops could avoid a real one in the future that ends in a crash.
Jerry Edgerton is an automotive writer whose work has appeared in Money and other national magazines. He also is the author of the book "Car Shopping Made Easy."
January 9, 2006
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