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Blackpool & Fylde Advanced Motorists Group

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During our little outings together, you might hear phrases that you are not familiar with.  We will work together in order to make these phrases and the techniques that go with them, more like a second nature response when you are driving.

Two of the earliest ones will be about carrying out a Static Brake Check and a Moving Brake Check

The Static Brake Check

As we are happily tootling along, we might not notice that as we are braking, the brake pedal maybe pushing that little bit further down towards the floor and there is possibly a tendency for it to feel a tad on the “spongy” side.  Unknowingly, we might be getting ourselves into a potentially serious situation.  That sponginess certainly needs to be looked at PDQ.  

As Advanced Drivers we are constantly alerted to anything untoward with our braking system and we regularly check the level of the brake fluid to ensure that all is well.  Once we know that there is sufficient fluid in the container under the bonnet, we want to make sure also that the brake system is tight. To satisfy ourselves that this is the case, we push the brake pedal down to make sure that there is proper pressure in the system.  With the engine running but before we move off , we will carry out that static brake test to ensure that there are no problems.

On the test, we can state to the Examiner at this point that, “I am now going to carry out a static brake test .... and there is pressure in the system”

The Moving Brake Check

In a similar vein to unknowingly accepting a deterioration in our braking system, we might have a feeling that when we are braking, that the steering wheel is pulling a bit towards the left or the right.  We are probably ready for it as we have got used to it by now and nothing seems to go wrong when we do brake. We compensate for that bit of a pull by an adjustment to the steering. No worries .... WRONG.  Something needs to be done as maybe your brake pads are not pulling evenly.

Again, as Advanced Drivers we will get this sorted out by our garage rather quickly as we know this should not happen.  To satisfy ourselves that our braking system is pulling evenly we carry out a moving brake test every time we set off.  It becomes second nature.  

It’s a simple exercise that involves nothing more than getting up to about 20 mph in a quiet bit of our road by the house, checking our mirrors to make sure it’s safe and then simply using the brake to get us down to about 10 mph and just making sure the steering wheel doesn’t pull one way or the other.

On the test, we can state to the Examiner at this point that, “I am now going to carry out a moving brake test .... and the brakes are pulling evenly”

Some simple phrases to keep in mind.

Keep this principle in mind at all times ~ COAST ~ Not to be confused with coasting.  Concentration gives the chance to use effective Observational skills to allow you to Anticipate what other road users might do, giving you  Space and Time to react ~ the two most important parts of safe driving.

For “SLOW “ painted on the road surface, ask the question ~  “Am I going slow enough to deal with what is ahead?” If the answer is “NO” you are going too fast.

When going around any bends, ask yourself the question ~ “Can I stop in the distance I can see to be clear?” If the answer is “NO” you are going too fast.  If you are concerned about that heavy goods vehicle coming round the corner in front of you, you might replace the phrase with “Can I stop in half of the distance I can see to be clear?”

For the minimum distance to be kept between you and the vehicle ahead of you at whatever speed you are travelling at ~ “Only a fool breaks the two second rule.” It does not matter what speed you are travelling, once the car in front of you is passing something specific like a street-light for example, at that point, ask the question and if you have not finished that phrase by the time you pass that lamppost, you are too close. Slow down and measure that distance until you are at least two seconds clear.  It is much safer if you can make the distance either three or four seconds of a gap

When stationary or even crawling behind a queue of traffic, the gap between you and the vehicle ahead of you should not be less than “Tyres and Tarmac”.  In other words, can you steer round that vehicle if it breaks down?  If instead it rolls back you can give the driver a sound of the horn to alert him of his error before he hits you  If it is a bus or heavy goods vehicle, make the distance “Tyres and Tarmac plus a bit” so you can see a little down each side of the vehicle and so that the drivers of those vehicles can see you in their door mirrors.

A Principle to keep in mind

As you are undergoing the course and moreso in the country lane scenarios you will hear this phrase very often ... “Can I stop in the distance I can see to be clear?”   It goes nicely with the principle we now have to keep in mind and is called The Driving Plan. The essence of every plan is to try to use your every improving selective observations to determine what’s coming, even if you cannot see it.

Take the scenario of approaching a bend left or right or an uphill rise where you cannot see over the top, in principle then you have a loss of vision ahead where anything can happen.  For the Driving Plan to take effect, we have to ask ourselves three simple questions as we see this loss of vision getting ever so closer.

1 .... “What can I see?” ... This is self explanatory .... What can you see ahead?, is what you can see in front of you

2 .... “What can’t I see?” ... This is also self explanatory .... In essence, you cannot see around the bend and neither can you see over the top of the rise so ....

3 .... “What can I reasonably expect to find under the circumstances?” .... This is again self explanatory as you can put your imagination into effect now to give yourself a picture of what might be coming because on the approach to the loss of vision, you are going to have to scan ahead for clues.  To some extent, this is also where local knowledge plays a large part as you don’t have to imagine so much as you will know, say that there are houses around here so there might be parked cars on both sides of the road, or I know there is set of lights just over that brow and I can see if there are any brakelights on the vehicles ahead to give you an indication of what colour the lights are.  I know there is a bus stop around that corner as well. These are just a few simple examples.

Where local information doesn’t play such a large part then are there any side road signs, are there any dustbins around, are there any loose hedge trimmings, is there a pile of fresh horse manure on the road, are there any headlights coming towards you, are there any shadows on the road from any vehicles approaching, are there any blue lights reflected on any buildings in front of you and so on.  What you must do at this stage are you are entering into that loss of vision area is to see what there is and prioritise the hazards.

What should we do about Emergency Vehicles?

The first thing to consider about any emergency vehicle, is not to look at the flashing blues and don’t look at the flashing headlights, LOOK AT THE INDICATORS, where on earth does it want to go. We might be able to help it on its way.

Many Advanced Drivers are former cops and as cops, they are taught, like other Emergency Vehicle drivers that they must not put the ordinary members of the public at risk when they are responding to an emergency incident with the blues and two’s in operation.  Mostly, the risk is self perpetuated by the member of the general public who doesn’t know what to do when an emergency vehicle comes into the equation.

First thing is .. DON’T PANIC. DON’T PUT YOURSELF OR ANYONE ELSE INTO ANY DANGER.

If the emergency vehicle is coming up behind you, get the picture of what is ahead of you and consider at this stage nothing more than slowing down and approaching the kerb in a place of safety but don’t come to a stop if you don’t need to.  If the emergency vehicle is a fire engine, remember they are rather heavy and cannot manoeuvre anything like a car so don’t put your car anywhere near a point in the road that you are going to block its path.  If there is a pedestrian place of safety island ahead, give it plenty of room to get through before you get there, if there is a set of traffic ights ahead, slow down very early to let the appliance get to the lights again before you.  Don’t force yourself up on the foot path to get out of its way ... It will have to wait until there is a safe place for it to pass.

If the emergency vehicle is approaching your road from a left or right junction in front of you, see where it wants to go LOOK AT THE INDICATORS.  If it is safe to do so, let it go before you.

If the vehicle is approaching in front of you LOOK AT THE INDICATORS and ask the question of whether you need to get tucked into the kerb as a place of safety to allow the vehicle through.  If it is indicating right, to turn into a junction in front of you, can you let it go into the new road safely by reducing your speed and subsequently the speed of the vehicles behind you?

If the vehicle is a police vehicle, there might be more than one to deal with.  If it’s an ambulance, there might be a paramedic vehicle on its way as well.