Category Archives: Driving Safety

New Course for Learner Drivers

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Learner Driver

LEARN SMART: Just in case you missed the recent news on the new course for learners, which will give a reduction in logbook hours, here is the latest info.

We’ve had a huge response from Members since we posted on our site and Facebook page that from the 1 July 2013 learners will be able to complete a Safer Drivers Course and get a reduction in logbook hours.

Just in case you missed it, here is the latest information.

What does the Course involve?

The Safer Drivers Course is a combined theoretical and practical course. It will involve a facilitated group session discussing how to manage risks on the road and tailored in-car coaching addressing individual learning needs.

All up the course will take about five hours. The group session will run for two to three hours and the in-car coaching will be one to two hours.

The NRMA provided advice to the NSW Government Advisory Panel that developed the Course.

Do I still need to do 120 logbook hours?

Once you have done the Course your logbook hours reduce by 20 hours.

If you do the Course and do 10 hours of professional driving lessons your logbook hours go down to 80.

How much will it cost?

At this stage, we don’t know exactly how much it will cost to do the Course but the NSW Government has said the price will be affordable.

When will it be available?

The first group of learner drivers will do the course in July 2013. The Course will then be rolled out in NSW based on demand and provider availability.

What else has changed?

From 1 July 2013, learner drivers will be allowed to drive up to 90km/h instead of 80km/h. This will make sure that learners are supervised the first time they drive at 90km/h.

What do you think? Do you agree with these changes?

5 rest stops for your next family road trip

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Road trips make for amazing family experiences and memories. In my family we’re known for just jumping in the car and driving for a spontaneous day out, as well as planned long road trips interstate or through the countryside.

A road trip isn’t the time to rush. Making plenty of stops is vital for safety and also, as parents around the country know, spending a little time keeping the kids happy will pay off during the long driving stretches.

Here’s how to make a rest stop work for the whole family:

Anyone on a road trip with children will attest to how difficult it is to drive past a country town’s local playground without dozens of requests to stop for a play.

Try timing meals and scheduled rests with towns likely to have playgrounds, and perhaps incorporate a picnic lunch with a play stop. If there aren’t any parks around (or if that isn’t your kids’ thing) grab a football, cricket bat or a kite, or even just have a family race on a local oval. Even a half an hour play means the kids will thank you – and you’ll be pleased you took the time to keep them happy.

Driver swap stop

It’s pretty tiring being in the same seat for an entire road trip, so if you have a long way to go you’ll need to give the navigator and music selector a break. I mean, the driver. The driver!

Seriously, the exhaustion of focusing on the road can creep up on drivers so you need to set a time limit on yourself rather than wait to feel the need to change gears from the pilot to the passenger. NRMA recommends stopping at least every two hours to avoid fatigue setting in.

If you don’t have anyone to share the driving with you’ll need to counteract the fatigue even more proactively. Some drivers are happy to take a quick power nap at rest stops, while others won’t have this option (when travelling with kids). In that case, sleep stops will mark the end of the day and a place to stay, and it’s time to get a good night’s sleep before heading off the next day.

Food stop

My husband prides himself on knowing the towns with the best bakeries, his specialty being great coffee, a good pie and a donut. Whether that suits your tastebuds or you’d prefer a fresh salad roll or a great café meal, stopping for food regularly is one of the best things you can do to rejuvenate the driver and keep the passengers satisfied.

Keep snacks in the car for in between meal stops – there isn’t a recipe for a miserable road trip truer than a backseat full of hungry kids – and make sure you let the family know when stops are planned so they can gear up their tastebuds for that perfect country bakery.

One tip, however: avoid rich foods and big milk drinks if you still have lots of driving ahead. No more details needed, just trust me on that one.

Dance stop

When my daughter was eight months old, we embarked on a road trip from Melbourne to Alice Springs. She was crawling around at the time – not a developmental stage conducive to being placed on the red dirt of the outback – and so we took to taking ‘dance stops’.

The dancing stop involves pulling to the side of the road, getting everyone out of the car and leaving the doors open. Then the music is cranked up and you dance with the kids; the young ones are spun around in your arms, and any older kids shake their thing alongside you. An amazing way to boost the fun mood of a road trip and get rid of any excess energy, and it also means you don’t have to push on to the next town before stopping for a break, which NRMA lists as one of the biggest potential dangers of country driving.

Sightseeing stop

Choose some things you want to stop and see along the way, and combine this with some spontaneous stops to see the sights.

This will not only get you out of the car – perhaps for a short walk, an exciting new sight, or even just a few snaps on the camera – but also keep you excited about the reason you’re out on the road. That is, to see new things and enjoy the experience. It’s easy to get caught up in getting the kilometres behind you, but don’t forget to stop and refresh the whole family with some views of our amazing countryside.

Crash Assist Technologies explained – Collision Warning and AEBS

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Ford's Forward Collision Warning technology illustration

GUARDIAN ANGEL: Flashing lights on the dash and an audible warning tell the driver to take action (thanks to Ford for the Forward Collision Warning illustration).

Collision Warning

Wouldn’t it be great if we all had a guardian angel on our shoulder, checking us all the time we’re driving to make sure all is well?

Collision Warning is a sort of like a guardian angel. It monitors the distance to the vehicle in front using cameras and/or sensors, and continuously calculates if a collision is imminent. It then warns the driver, usually with flashing lights on the dash and an audible warning, that action needs to be taken. The system only warns you – it doesn’t apply the brakes like Active Cruise Control or auto-brake (see below) – so you have to be on the ball or you may be too late to avoid a collision.

In heavy traffic, the warnings can be frequent and may become annoying, to the extent that drivers switch the system off, which defeats the purpose. It is also called Forward Collision Warning System.

Autonomous Emergency Braking System (AEBS)

AEBS is an extension of collision warning. It uses cameras or other sensors to monitor vehicles in front, warns the driver, then applies the brakes if it detects an imminent collision and the driver takes no action. While the systems will only avoid a collision below a specific closing speed, at higher speeds it can at least reduce the impact speed, and therefore vehicle damage and possible injury.

It is helpful if you are momentarily distracted or if something unexpected happens in front of you. Similarly to Forward Collision Warning, if it triggers too often drivers may switch it off. Manufacturers have a range of brand names for such systems, including City Safety, Collision Warning with Full Auto Brake, EyeSight, and Pre-Safe Brake.

It will become mandatory in Europe for new heavy vehicles from 2013.

What’s your experience with Collision Warning Technology and Autonomous Emergency Braking Systems? Are they features you like?

Crash Assist Technologies explained – What is Active Cruise Control?

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Active Cruise Control

CO-PILOT: The system detects preceding vehicles by means of radar sensors or cameras and adjusts speed to maintain a constant distance in front of your car. Image courtesy of www.audi.com.

We all know how annoying it can be trying to keep your vehicle’s speed steady and below the speed limit on long trips. 

Many vehicles now have cruise control, which aims to keep the speed of a car at a set point by adjusting the accelerator automatically. Typically the system doesn’t apply the brakes on downhill stretches, so it is recommended to be used only on relatively flat, straight roads, although a few models provide braking by changing down the automatic gearbox to a lower gear.

There are two views on the influence of cruise control on crash rates:

  1.  It relieves you of the necessity of controlling your speed and gives you more time to concentrate on other dangers around you, so it is advantageous.
  2. The lack of attention to speed control leads to boredom and a greater likelihood of mistakes due to fatigue, so it is detrimental.

There is not enough evidence yet to determine which is the more likely. However, fatigue, at least, can be addressed by regular rest breaks.

Active cruise control is an enhancement of cruise control and uses cameras or radar to detect the car you are following and controls the accelerator and brakes to maintain the same speed.

As our roads become increasingly busy and congested this can be a very useful feature. However, on busy multi-lane roads the systems sometimes brake heavily if a car cuts in front of you, which can be annoying. It can be useful in steadily moving traffic but it can’t anticipate congestion conditions as well as a person can, so it won’t react to a traffic slowdown until the car in front does.

Some systems will reduce speed to zero when the car in front stops, then accelerate again when it moves off. Most need to be “prompted” if there is too long a stop, by pressing a button on the steering wheel or touching the accelerator.

It is also called Adaptive Cruise Control or Autonomous Cruise Control. It is not yet widespread in new vehicles and is only available in luxury and top-level variants but, as with all new technology, will become more common with increasing volume and falling cost.

What’s your experience with ACC? Is it a feature you like?

Next time, we’ll take a look at Collision Warning Technologies, plus other safety  innovations that are changing the way we drive.

3 Point Plan to Tackle Bad Drivers

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TOUGH LOVE: repeat drink and drug offenders by will be made to resit their full driver’s licence test.

This time of year we are bombarded with a whole range of Christmas-related messages. The most sombre are the brutal and heartfelt road safety campaigns that seem to appear in ad breaks, newspapers and billboards across the state.

Despite the best efforts of law enforcement, the Government and organisations like NRMA Motoring and Services, the road toll in 2012 is predicted to increase and there are still hundreds of bad drivers out there taking unnecessary risks.

Driving under the influence of alcohol is a major risk that people take over the Christmas break. Did you know that even if you are under the legal limit, alcohol still effects your judgement and reaction times? Some people just don’t get it with 17 per cent of drink drivers re-offending. We think it’s time dangerous behaviour copped the punishment it deserves.

This is why we are calling on the NSW Government to deal with bad drivers in three ways:

1)      We need to get tough with repeat drink and drug offenders by making them resit their full driver’s licence test.

NRMA advocates that drivers found guilty of drink driving and drug driving more than once in the last 10 years must resit their driver’s licence which includes:

  • an eyesight test;
  • a driver knowledge test; and
  • a driving test.

NRMA is also lobbying for mandatory alcohol interlocks to be installed for 12 months in the vehicles of drivers caught drink driving more than once in the last 10 years.

Campaign update: Drink drivers in ACT will soon have alcohol interlocks fitted to their vehicles, as the government is expected to introduce new laws to crack down on repeat and high-range offenders on Thursday. NRMA Motoring and Services welcomes the ACT move for compulsory interlocks for offenders with three or more convictions and those who record a high blood alcohol content of 0.15 or greater.

The device works in cars, trucks, buses and on motorbikes. The drink driver offender will pay around $1000 for the installation and maintenance of the device. The interlocks will also be voluntary for others convicted of a drink driving offence.

Full article in The Canberra Times .

2)      Educate bad drivers by giving low level speeding offenders the choice of attending a driver education course instead of demerit points and a fine. Drivers who accumulate more than their allocated demerit points twice in five years must resit the learner knowledge test and attend a driver education course.

3)      Catch bad drivers by putting more highly visible police on our roads.

What do you think, too tough or not tough enough? What do you think would reduce the road toll and make safer drivers?