The most difficult aspect of Advanced Driving

[jcochrane]

& PS: I do get the irony of giving you advice

So you do know who (in terms of driving background ) you are talking to?

I think that could be a yes.

[Astraist]

Corner entry speed for slow corners such as junctions. Lately I find I'm always still braking going into the corner. "Technically"' I'm putting more weight of the front wheels and as a result increasing grip....assuming I'm not way past the grip levels but at 10mph I don't think trail braking is really needed.

You are not.

You might be increasing the grip at the front, but you are losing just as much (and in fact a bit more) at the rear. While it is the front that is steered, the rear is than steered too, by the rotation of the chassis that follows.

There is also a fair amount of toe (and camber) change in the rear wheels of many (if not most) cars, not to mention those cars that have 4WS, and the effects of vertical load on suspension travel and cornering stifness, so it pays to keep a good load on the rear as well.

Regardless of outright speed, braking into the corner is needed if you enter it at a speed above of what you find comfortable. This makes you hang on to the brake throughout the corner, wasting some of the car's potential and hence your safety margin.

Now proper trail braking is about trailing the brake at a rate directly proportional to the rate of steering into the bend, and in expert application this steering phase is stretched to the middle of the corner through a 50-pence piece line.

To trail brake confidently you still have to do most of your braking in a straight line, and than transitioning to positive throttle. Do it this way and it's in no way unsettling to the car or passengers and will unlock more potential performance.

While it still is a compromise, I find it useful on the road if the cornering acceleration is a bit higher than what I would be comfortable using power with to balance the car throughout.

It's also helpful in junctions and turns into side streets if traffic behind is moving straight ahead, as well as the obvious case of driving downhill, if there is no appropriate gear to allow using the right pedal.

[Horse]

& PS: I do get the irony of giving you advice

So you do know who (in terms of driving background ) you are talking to?

I do indeed.

I'm also aware that being trained to drive a certain way doesn't actually ensure self-diagnosis, and being trained a certain way can be a limitation too

However, I also post here and elsewhere with an eye to who else might read and benefit

It's important for us all to be able to recognise signs of reaching our limit of talent; getting ragged or not holding a line might be one sign.

And for one driver it might be a [much] higher speed than another. For example RUL may be more comfortable and experienced at higher speeds than I am.

So your point was?

[Playtent]

The most challenging thing for me is sitting through another dull discussion on steering on a forum linked to advanced driving...

Or dog training!

I only just spotted this sneaky little post!

In the interest of restricting numbers for the Craven Arms driving day, I'm removing you from the list!

[CautiousD]

Thought this might be of interest.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10848/

"The extremely high density of cone receptors in the fovea, and the one-to- one relationship with bipolar cells and retinal ganglion cells (see earlier), endows this region (and the cone system generally) with the capacity to mediate high visual acuity. As cone density declines with eccentricity and the degree of convergence onto retinal ganglion cells increases, acuity is markedly reduced. Just 6° eccentric to the line of sight, acuity is reduced by 75%, a fact that can be readily appreciated by trying to read the words on any line of this page beyond the word being fixated on. The restriction of highest acuity vision to such a small region of the retina is the main reason humans spend so much time moving their eyes (and heads) around—in effect directing the foveas of the two eyes to objects of interest (see Chapter 20). It is also the reason why disorders that affect the functioning of the fovea have such devastating effects on sight (see Box C). Conversely, the exclusion of rods from the fovea, and their presence in high density away from the fovea, explain why the threshold for detecting a light stimulus is lower outside the region of central vision. It is easier to see a dim object (such as a faint star) by looking away from it, so that the stimulus falls on the region of the retina that is richest in rods (see Figure 11.10)."

[akirk]

I seem to remember a study which looked at that in the context of driving - and it helps explain why motorists can miss cyclists an bikers at junctions, as they are literally blind to them - the biker moving within the area they are 'not seeing' as they scan...

the comment about reading other words is interesting, I have always had a reasonably wide scan as I read - allowing me to read fast - it would be intriguing to see if there is any link between skills such as that and advanced driving / observation...

Alasdair

[Strangely Brown]

Are you thinking of this, widely reproduced, document?

A Fighter Pilot's Guide to Surviving on the Road

[akirk]

Are you thinking of this, widely reproduced, document?

A Fighter Pilot's Guide to Surviving on the Road

Yes! thank you glad someone is on the ball - couldn't remember which document it was - not sure of its accuracy, but was interesting

Alasdair

P.S. - appreciate this might now go off topic - if it does the tread can be split!

[Strangely Brown]

I suspect that there is more to it than just saccade blindness. I strongly suspect that selective attention has a big part to play.

Selective Attention Test

[jont-]

I suspect that there is more to it than just saccade blindness. I strongly suspect that selective attention has a big part to play.

Selective Attention Test

Isn't that also a good example of why experience is useful?