Greetings

A good place to post when you join - it is a good idea to post here first so that people know something about you, and you will get a nice welcome.
Triquet
Posts: 526
Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:32 pm
Location: Occupied North Berkshire

Re: Greetings

Postby Triquet » Wed Jan 25, 2023 11:43 pm

Come the springtime and the clocks change I suspect that the sap will rise and we will all feel the need to go forth and have a driving day ...

waremark
Posts: 898
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2015 9:23 am

Re: Greetings

Postby waremark » Thu Jan 26, 2023 12:20 am

hir wrote:
Mark, you and John are both very kind. I’m always happy to listen to you both whilst driving. Hopefully, I’ll be back in action in a few months time and look forward to driving again with yourselves and others on here. :)

I'm looking fwd to it. Hope things are progressing well.

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Horse
Posts: 3558
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:20 am

Re: Greetings

Postby Horse » Thu Jan 26, 2023 7:31 am

jcochrane wrote:Oh and my favourite word for which I get my leg pulled, constantly, is "Sooner" Do everything sooner. Sooner to be smoother to be safer. My three "Ss" mantra.


Horse wrote:What commentary could do is, by focusing attention ahead/earlier, gives the proverbial 'time to react', so feeling like a reserve.


;)
Your 'standard' is how you drive alone, not how you drive during a test.

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Horse
Posts: 3558
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:20 am

Re: Greetings

Postby Horse » Thu Jan 26, 2023 7:44 am

Re music, radio, etc.

It can be a benefit and a restriction.

I've had situations where the traffic news has been on but I've not consciously listened to a word of it because I've been concentrating on immediate surroundings.

At other 'planned' (rather than 'reactive/responsive' situations, I'll switch the radio off to remove the possibility of any distraction to allow full concentration on what is about to happen. Final bit of route finding to a new destination, for example.

But it can be a positive thing as a distraction. Singing, for example, can give the conscious mind something to do and remove the 'nagging' voice in your head that says "oooh you can't do that, all went wrong last time!" that causes you to tense up etc. and stops the subconscious part of your brain from working to its best. Next stage on (and better) is to get that little voice to give you an inner talk-through of what you should be doing next, a sort of pre-commentary.

But ... sometimes self-talk can't work quick enough. Juggling is an example.
Your 'standard' is how you drive alone, not how you drive during a test.

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akirk
Posts: 1659
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2015 6:58 pm
Location: Bristol

Re: Greetings

Postby akirk » Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:13 am

I have mixed views on commentaries. If you think about accidents when someone is on the phone, I suspect that the majority of them are not necessarily the holding a phone, but instead focusing elsewhere at the cost of focusing on the drive. A commentary shouldn't have the same effect as it is directly relevant to the drive - but there needs to be caution that it is not about the commentary rather than the drive. It also needs to be an intelligent commentary - isolating relevant bits from the less relevant and changing the granularity with speed / setting.

If the commentary helps the driver to focus on hazards / optimise the process then it can be helpful, but it is not the commentary that is important, only that it helps the drive.

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Horse
Posts: 3558
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:20 am

Re: Greetings

Postby Horse » Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:31 am

I asked a psychologist involved in safety stuff about phones Vs in-car conversations.

There were several reasons why phones = [far more] bad (ie in-car can be distracting too).

Sound quality
Delay
Concentration (visualisation)
And another I can't recall.

Also, with in-car, passengers may appreciate when to be quiet or why you're not responding. Or can be told to STFU.

But, of course, back to (during commentary) maintaining scanning to avoid fixation.
Your 'standard' is how you drive alone, not how you drive during a test.

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Strangely Brown
Posts: 1018
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2015 8:06 pm
Location: Sussex

Re: Greetings

Postby Strangely Brown » Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:55 pm

akirk wrote:I have mixed views on commentaries. If you think about accidents when someone is on the phone, I suspect that the majority of them are not necessarily the holding a phone, but instead focusing elsewhere at the cost of focusing on the drive. A commentary shouldn't have the same effect as it is directly relevant to the drive - but there needs to be caution that it is not about the commentary rather than the drive. It also needs to be an intelligent commentary - isolating relevant bits from the less relevant and changing the granularity with speed / setting.

If the commentary helps the driver to focus on hazards / optimise the process then it can be helpful, but it is not the commentary that is important, only that it helps the drive.


Careful now. You're making sense and that will never do.

waremark
Posts: 898
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2015 9:23 am

Re: Greetings

Postby waremark » Thu Jan 26, 2023 9:29 pm

I enjoy giving commentary which I consider an interesting skill in itself. It has side benefits of preventing distractions unrelated to the driving task, and encouraging you to search out things which should influence the driving plan, and help you think about what to do about them. Like most driving skills, until it is developed to become intuitive it takes up brain space which would otherwise be available for driving, and in my experience (as an IAM Masters Mentor I regularly hear commentary) it is common for people to mention hazards ahead and still to fail to prepare for them. (This morning, narrow rural road, driver comments as car in front shows brake lights on blind left-hander, car comes into sight towards us and we brake harshly).


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