Distracted driving is the practice of driving a motor vehicle while engaged in another activity, typically one that involves the use of a mobile phone or other electronic device. And the use of cell phones and other electronic devices while driving has received the bulk of the distracted driving campaigns attention.

The laundry list of activities that account for distracted driving is exhaustive.

• Eating
• Driving
• Reaching for something in the car
• Tuning the radio
• Shaving
• Putting on makeup
• Billboards along the roadway
• Actions of other road users
• And so on, and so on

"The Automobile Association of America (AAA) now says that distracted driving accounts for 25 to 50 percent of all accident. The discrepancy in that statistic is alarming. It could be ¼ of all crashes, or it could be ½ of all crashes that are caused by distractions.

In the overall marketing campaign, it’s more finger pointing. The campaigns simply move to blame drivers. And blaming drivers is NOT going to reduce the incidences of distracted driving.

As traffic safety authorities we must give drivers skills and abilities to effectively deal safely with the task of driving when they’re distracted.

Because human beings are simply not designed to focus 100% on the task of driving when behind the wheel of a car. Not only has social media and other sources created ingenious ways to get our attention, but as human beings we can only concentrate on a task for no more than 20 minutes before needing a break.

If you’re going to search for a new radio station, you’re looking for another podcast, or you’re reaching for the bottle of water in the back seat, make sure that you have lots of space around your vehicle. Be sure that you’re the only vehicle on the roadway. Have situational awareness for other cars, vehicles and road users before you allow your attention to wane from the task of driving.

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Correct Procedure When Pulled Over by Police

If a police vehicle pulls up behind you with just the lights flashing, you can drive to a safe location to stop. Often that’s just around the corner on the next side street.

If the lights and sirens are activated, stop immediately.

When and if you're pulled over by police, you don't have to stop right away. Pull onto a secondary road or into a parking lot to keep both yourself and the police officer safe.

Pulling over on the side of a busy road or highway is unsafe. Even with the emergency vehicle lights flashing there’s a lot of danger on the highway. Due to the long periods of time driving at speed, some drivers can “tune out” - even when approaching an emergency vehicle on the side of the road. This lack of attention poses a threat to vehicles parked on the side of the road.

If you do pull over to the side of the road, move as far away from the roadway as possible.

Do NOT get out of the car. Do NOT reach for anything.

Roll down your window and put your hands on the steering wheel. If it’s dark, turn on the interior lights so the officer can see inside the vehicle.

When the officer approaches the vehicle, only answer her questions.

Do NOT deny what you did or ask, “Is there a problem officer?”

The officer will tell you why she pulled you over.

If the officer asks for your documents (license, vehicle registration and insurance) tell her where these are located.

Before moving to retrieve the documents, tell the officer that you’re going to reach for the document requested.

If you have a weapon in the vehicle, tell the officer that information.

Tell the officer where the weapon is located and it’s a gun; tell them you have a permit to carry the weapon.

If you are respectful and answer the officer’s questions, almost all the time the situation will go well.

If you are adversarial and are questioning the officer’s authority to pull you over, it can be guaranteed that IT IS NOT GOING TO GO WELL for you.

If you believe that the officer is wrong, pulled over on the side of the road is NOT the time to address that issue.

Courts provide a forum for you to dispute the charge. Here you can plead the case before the court.

Not just in the United States, but in the world a few police officers have skewed our perception of police. You have every right to be wary. In no way are we denying that some have abused their power. But most of the time, most of the police officers doing traffic stop are good people.

I have been pulled over many times in New York state and city, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Missouri and Kentucky. Every time the officers were professional.

Yes, some gave me a ticket, but they were always professional.

And remember, pick the best answer, not necessarily the right answer.

Car Crashes

If you took all the car crashes that happened in one country and put those in one place on the same day, you’d have a national emergency. But that’s not the way we deal with traffic crashes. And even though most refer to these as accidents, most collisions can be explained. And crashes that can be explained are NOT accidents.

Traffic carnage is everywhere in our society. The biggest reasons for crashes are drivers failing to yield and following too close. Simply speaking, drivers are failing to manage speed and space.

Like disease, no one is immune from traffic crashes. Princess Diana, James Dean, and Paul Walker are just a few of the famous people that have died in car accidents. Every day in the United States there are thousands of crashes, injuries and deaths as a result of the automobile.

Seat belt use, increased automotive and road engineering, in combination with grass roots drink driving campaigns (MADD) reduced the number of traffic deaths over the past decades. Unfortunately, almost a half-century of policy and legal changes have not impacted the number of drivers that drive drunk.

GDL (Graduated Driver’s License) programs moved to reduce the number of crashes amongst young drivers. However, fewer crashes amongst young drivers has not been the result. The GDL programs in combination with people living in cities has postponed young people getting their license.

When they do get their driver’s license, they’re facing the “4 Ds” of life:

1. Distractions (Screens with an overwhelm of information);
2. Dating;
3. Driving;
4. Drinking.

And with none of these life events do they have any experience. This inexperience erodes their driving focus and often carries a dire consequence.

It’s not driver behavior that’s reduced traffic deaths. Rather it’s advances in automotive and road engineering features. In combination with better cars and roads, medical science has further reduced traffic deaths. Yet we’re still crashing and injuring the same number of people as we did in previous decades.

Finally, in the podcast, we answer smart drivers’ questions.’

Brake failure on modern vehicles in unlikely. Brake systems are divided into two independent sub-systems. If the front brakes fail, the rear brakes will continue to work, and vise-versa. And if the brakes do in fact fail completely, you can use the parking brake as an emergency brake. If all that fails, simply put the transmission into neutral, and let the car roll to a stop. If something happens, be sure to activate your 4-Way Flashers to alert other traffic that something’s wrong.

To prevent crashes, manage space well and know that driving is a social activity. Sometimes you just have to let off the accelerator to stay safe.

Happy motoring smarter drivers.

What kind of a driver are you? Are you the kind of driver that meticulously maintains her vehicle? At the exact mile, you’re taking it in for its oil change? Or are you the kind of person that drives your vehicle with bald tires and the muffler falling off?

If you’re the former, this podcast is for you. Learn and know what regular maintenance you need to do to your vehicle and when to do it. The proverbial saying: “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!” Meaning that if you don’t do a little here and there, you’re going to do “A LOT” all at once.

Oil changes and tire rotations are going to be the most frequent maintenance items you do to your vehicle. If you have an older vehicle, you’re going to change the engine oil every 3,000 miles (5,000km). If it’s a newer vehicle and it uses synthetic oil, you’re going to change the oil at the 5-to-8,000-mile (8-to-12,000km) mark. Tire rotations should be done every 6,000 miles (10,000km) for the longest life, and to validate the warranty.

Checking the fluid levels and the lights should be done every month. Ensure that the hi/lo beam headlights work, the parking lights, hazards and brake lights. At the same time, check the radiator, brake, power steering, washer, and transmission fluid levels. If you have a hydraulic clutch, check that too.

Depending on the brand of your vehicle and the manufacturers recommendations, you should change the fuel and engine air filters every 30-to-75,000 miles (40-to-80,000km). The air cabin filter should be changed every couple of years.

Brakes, tires, and spark plugs will depend on the use of your vehicle and the manufacturer’s recommendations. Tires can be checked monthly during your inspection. If the tread depth is down to the wear bars or there’s irregular wear these will need to be replaced. Brakes can be inspected by an automotive technician. Spark plugs, rotors and caps will be between 50-to-100,000 miles (75-to-120,000km) depending on manufacturer’s recommendations and the needs of your vehicle.

Timing belts replacement and automatic transmission flush and filter will be done around the 100,000-mile (160,000km) mark. Not all vehicles have timing belts. Check either your owner’s manual or with your automotive technician.

If maintained, most vehicles should go 200,000 miles (320,000km) without costing you a lot of money. As with life though, stuff happens and not all vehicles are created the same.

Happy motoring smart drivers.

Smart Drive Test is about empowerment and helps you achieve your success. We can have a discussion around issues of driving. And with these discussions, we all learn and grow.

First impressions – you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. In readiness for your driver’s test, be sure that you take a shower and put on nice clothes. These don’t have to be your Sunday best, but jeans that aren’t ripped and a good shirt. And in these post-COVID days, be sure that you wash your car, get out all the garbage and give it a vacuum.

Consistency – develop habits, skills and techniques that will keep you safe when you get tired or you make mistakes. Shoulder (head) checking is something that you must do every time you change direction of the vehicle. The same with signaling. Every time you change directions, in both forward and reverse, signal to communicate your intentions to other road users. And use your turn signals in parking lots.

Here you find a lot of vulnerable road users. Driving is a social activity. Apply the parking brake every time you park the vehicle.

#8 – Primary Controls – You’re abrupt or rough on the brake, accelerator, or steering wheel. Your turns are too wide. You simply don’t have mastery of the vehicle’s primary controls.

#7 – Lane Positioning – on a driver’s test you must move back to the right lane after turning left on multi-lane roads. “Slower traffic move right” is a regulatory sign in all states and provinces. And no, it’s not a suggestion or recommendations.

#6 – Too Cautious – Get the vehicle up to the posted speed limit as quickly as possible. If there is a sufficient gap, you must go. And no, going slow is NOT being cautious. Going too slow on a driver’s test indicated to the driving examiner that you haven’t had enough driving experience.

#5 – Observation – Shoulder (Head) Checks – seeing and being seen is one of the cornerstones of driving. You must look and look again to keep yourself and others on the roadway safe. Not shoulder checking is to driving what NOT checking to see if a weapon is loaded is to gun safety.

#4 – Road Signs – Action contrary to a sign – signs are to traffic what instructions are to an Ikea cabinet. Most drivers are NOT reading and gleaning information from traffic signs. Know the road signs categories. And definitely know the difference between 2- and 4-Way STOP signed intersections. And often traffic signs work in concert with traffic lights and road markings.

#3 – Strike a fixed object – strike a fixed object. You hit a cone when parallel parking or the Ohio Maneuverability Test. If you back the tires up over the curb when parallel parking, that is an automatic fail on the driver’s test.

#2 – Dangerous Action – you move into an intersection you can’t clear. In other words, you’re in “the Box” of the intersection and the traffic light turns red. Another driver has to take evasive action due to something that you do. You make a right turn on a multi-lane and drift over to the left lane.

#1 – Don’t Know what’s on the test – the parallel parking at your DMV is done with cones, and you’re unaware of this maneuver. You don’t know where the school zones are located and whether school is in session or not. Take driving lessons with a local driving instructor if you’re not already taking lessons.

Move-over-laws -slow down to 40mph (60kph) when emergency vehicles or service vehicles are on the side of the vehicle.

Speed control of the vehicle is tied to your forward scanning pattern. In other words, speed control and observation dovetail. You need to adjust your speed every 10-15 seconds.

The 4 Pillars to Passing Your Driver’s Test

1. Space management
2. Speed management
3. Observation
4. Communication

Also, we'll give you information about passing your driver's license, and being a safer, smarter driver.

If you're working toward your first license, check out the smarter driver course package. Guaranteed to pass your driver's test first time.

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