Car control skills: how important are they?
a
Date: 1998-09-09
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A Drivers.com Editorial
Car handling skills are very important for race drivers, but how important are they on the street?
Obviously, not so important. After all, street drivers with very poor handling techniques often get through their entire driving careers without crashing, while highly skilled race drivers have a tendency to have more than their share. Street driving is more about good decision making and good risk management than physical skill.
However, excellent car handling skills, or "psychomotor skills" as the experts call them, can be a huge benefit in terms of getting the best from your automobile. Smoother, more sophisticated handling saves wear on the car, saves fuel, and makes for better mobility in traffic. More importantly, there are skills which can be critical in avoiding crashes, and every driver should have them.
A word of warning: taking a course in more advanced driving skills such as emergency braking, skid control, collision avoidance maneuvers may create a new risk for you. If the extra skills make you overconfident, that cancels out the advantages of having the skills in the first place. Research has indicated that drivers who take advanced skills courses have a tendency to misuse the skills and actually have a higher crash rate.
Advanced skills such as emergency braking and collision avoidance are not a substitute for good risk management.
Some advanced skills web sites:
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