Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Ward
Ahh... can I respectfully suggest "you are watching and calculating trajectories and are placed and prepared" is exactly how you should be driving a vehicle?
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100% agree!
Way back when I was a teenager involved with Wyong District Motorcycle Club... the club elders came up with the 12 year apprenticeship. From the combined experience of most of the members of the club (200+ at the time), it seems that you needed to ride a bike on the road for about 12 years before your rate of accidents/incidents dropped significantly i.e. that's how long it took to learn to ride safely for yourself and every other nong on the road. And you can't do that without being attentive, learning to read hazards and plan for and expect "the unexpected".
I've recently got a helmet mounted video camera, and it's very interesting to notice the slight head movements that I subconsciously do when scanning for hazards when riding down a busy street.
With teenagers currently learning to drive, I have also noticed how poor their perception of hazards is when they start. I do my best to teach them to read the hazards as I do, and so far they've progressed well (1 to go), but I have been a passenger with a lot of people who can easily scare the willies out of me... though lack of hazard perception and (lack of) competence. I'm all for the German or Finnish method of licensing if it makes more competent drivers.
After 20 something years of road crash rescue, I feel confident to say the road is no place be complacent. Too many people are.
Al.