Summer time is when the number of cyclist increase due to road events and we all prefer to use a cycle when it is not raining! Also due to the rise in petrol costs we are seeing more cyclists on the road with very differing levels of skill and experience. Due to this drivers of motor vehicles need to take extra care to judge their speed, as well as the road and weather conditions, from the new cyclist’s point of view. Some cyclists, particularly younger ones, have never driven a car, and so don’t recognise the problems that they can cause car drivers.

Cyclist do not have a steel cage around them like the motorist, passing too close can be disconcerting. In traffic, make sure that you don’t cut up a cyclist who is about to pass you on the near side, try not to cut across a cyclist when you need to turn left at a junction and wait behind the cyclist until the cyclist has either turned left or passed the junction. All of this and much more may seem to be common sense, which it is, and you will find reference to safe driving and cyclist in the Online Highway Code at the site of the Bill Plant Driving School.

You hear the twin note siren and see the blue lights flashing in your rear view mirror, deciding what to do when you hear an emergency vehicle approaching can be a dilemma. Do you stay where you are and potentially block the progress of an emergency vehicle? Or do you move into a position that may put you or other road users at risk?

Often the emergency vehicle is on top of you before you see or hear it and the reaction is to take drastic action to get out of the way. The Bill Plant qualified driving instructors tell students that good driving practice will alert you early to emergency vehicles, by carrying out regular mirror checks both side and rear for example, and keeping the windows slightly down around town, so you can hear sirens approaching. We advise that you do not panic and brake, or cross red lights to get out of the way, think where you are on the road, maybe it is best to continue until the opportunity arises for the emergency vehicle to pass you safely.

In order to get your driver’s license you may have to demonstrate the ability to parallel park your vehicle.  This controlling of your vehicle’s forward and backward motion requires you to be able to steer, use your mirrors, and possibly change position in your seat for the best view.  Your tires and how they grip the road when you speed up, brake and steer also has a lot to do with positioning your car in any situation.  In order to steer well, you should always be seated properly in the driver’s seat and use the hand over hand method of turning the wheel.

Parking is not the only time you need to be concerned with how your vehicle is positioned.  Traversing corners on country roads is a good example.  On some lanes you can see far enough ahead that you will be able to take the turn at the posted speed limit.  On other roads you will need to slow down due to poor visibility.  Curves and turns have a vanishing point – the point where offside and nearside converge – and being able to assess any potential hazard will allow you to position your vehicle properly in the turn.

When you are driving you always need to make sure that all four wheels of your vehicle remain on the road surface to keep the vehicle stable.  Make sure you take your bends as close to the right or left hand side of the road as applicable and try not to cross the centre in case of oncoming traffic.  Steer well clear of cyclists and horse back riders if at all possible and slow right down when you pass them. Driving safely and knowing where your car is positioned at all times will keep you from getting involved in an accident.

As a car or commercial vehicle driver, or someone who is taking driving lessons, we have to be particularly aware the there are other road users, those of the two wheeled variety the biker. Cycling and motor cycling have seen a recent revival due to more predictable journey times and better fuel consumption, especially in urban areas.

Drivers of cars and commercial vehicles have to pay particular attention to these other road users, who for various reasons fail to see the motorcycle coming towards them. Often the car driver looks but fails to see the biker, particularly acute at junctions and that is why it is the subject of an advertising campaign. “Sorry mate I didn’t see you” is for too many bikers the last words they hear before they are put in the ambulance. Pay particular attention to your nearside mirror do not compromise the safety of the cyclist on your near side.

Whether you are taking the car out for the first time since passing your theoretical and practical driving test, or you have been driving for some time, there are some practical tips that will keep you and other road users safe.

Check your speedometer regularly, especially when coming off high speed roads, modern cars are so powerful and comfortable they give drivers little sensation of their speed, so many drivers find themselves exceeding the speed limit without realising it. Check the speed limits, too many drivers who have been caught speeding, complain that they thought the road had a higher speed limit. A good suggestion would be to use third gear when in a thirty mph limit.

What has been known is that exceeding the speed limit makes little difference to your arrival time. The time it takes to complete a journey is determined much more by your average speed during the whole journey, rather than the maximum speed you achieve for part of it, better to be late “than dead on time”.

Fatigue can affect drivers at any time of the day and it does not have to occur simply at night.  If you are tired you cannot concentrate and your reaction time becomes slower.  Fatigue is blamed for at least twenty percent of all motorway accidents.  More accidents occur between two and six in the morning, and two and four in the afternoon when the body is naturally wanting to rest.  You can be assured that if you are driving and beginning to get tired, you have the potential of falling asleep at the wheel.

If you begin to feel tired on a drive, find a safe place to pull over and park your automobile.  If you can, take a fifteen minute rest.  This will give you enough energy to make it to your destination safely.  If you do not have the time to take a quick rest, stop someplace where you can purchase a couple of cans of an energy drink.  The energy drink will help shake off the fatigue and give you about ninety minutes of usable energy once it has been absorbed into your body.

When you know you are going to be driving for an extended length of time, make sure you get enough sleep before leaving.  Try to avoid leaving in the evening after a full day of work, or in the morning when you have not had enough sleep.  Always make sure you stop at regular intervals for about ten minutes for every two hours of driving to ensure that you have a safe trip.

Driving a motor vehicle is not about just one technique, as your qualified driving instructor will have taught to you when you were taking your driving lessons. A good, safe drive is about a mixture of techniques, but high on the list must be the need to use the vehicle’s brakes in a smooth and progressive way.

The way we drive begins to change as we become more confident, often within a few months after taking the practical driving test, not if you practice advanced driving techniques. Good drivers develop observation and anticipation, braking or slowing earlier as the need arises.

Many drivers leave their braking late, possibly causing that “cascade” of lights so often seen, a good driver will have left enough gap to allow gentle braking, letting the speed of the vehicle fall away without the need to brake hard. It is better by far to learn to read the road ahead, you can do this by taking the free Hazard Perception Test on Bill Plants website. Not only do you get early warning of developing hazards, you can respond by adjusting your speed using only your throttle, this technique will also help save fuel.

Using your mobile phone whilst driving is an offence which collects a fine and three penalty points; at the Bill Plant Driving School we believe that doing so makes the user more dangerous than those who might collect points for being caught by camera a few MPH over the speed limit. The major insurer Allianz wholehearted agrees with us, describing the act as a dangerous and needless act, that they as an insurer intend to penalise, by increasing their premiums.

It is now more than a year since the tougher penalties for hand-held mobile phone use were introduced, but amazingly the Department for Transport report that 185,000 drivers were caught using hand held phones in 2007. Hands free or Bluetooth systems have to be the way forward, when you can tell the caller that you are driving and will find a safe place to pull over and call back without putting yourself and other road users at risk.

The danger at a roundabout is traffic coming from the right, or is it? Is there a car ahead of you that can see something that you can’t? When you were at the Bill Plant School of Driving you will have been told by your qualified instructor to collect as much information about the road conditions as you approach the roundabout. You will scan the road ahead, both to the right and the left, not forgetting your mirrors. Keep a good gap between you and the car ahead and keep your eye on him, he may not go when you think he should and this is the cause of more classic rear end shunts than anything else.

Many drivers approach roundabouts planning to stop if they have to, this is not a good idea as often they have to speed up if another vehicle turns on to the roundabout. A far better way to drive and mental outlook is approach the roundabout thinking “plan to stop but look to go”.

Skidding happens when the road surface is wet from rain, ice or snow.  Sometimes stopping can be very difficult and the most common crash is what is called a rear-end shunt.  As you probably can guess, this is when you rear-end the car in front of you because the road conditions caused you to skid.  This is a good reason to make sure that you have at least two car lengths between you and the car in front of you. 

Occasionally you will need to make a quick stop that has nothing to do with bad road conditions.  You may have to stop quickly to avoid hitting a small child or animal that may run out in front you.  When this happens you must react extremely quickly in an attempt to avoid a fatal accident.  The method of skid control that you may have been taught when learning how to drive may help you in this situation.

If you want to learn how to control your vehicle through a skid you can take a Skidpan driving course that teaches you how to handle your car during these times.  By using a specially built car or driving range, you can feel what under-steering, over-steering, aquaplaning, and slippery conditions feel like.  The special equipment used will teach you how to handle the automobile when this happens.  Anyone can take this course, from beginner to learned driver to instructors.  This education is for practical driving skills that everyone should know in case they find themselves suddenly in the position of needing to control a skid when driving.