In our defensive driving classes, our comedian/instructors explain how higher speed means more destructive power in a crash. Scientifically speaking, the formula is force of impact = 1/2 of mass times the speed. In layman’s terms, the heavier the vehicle OR the higher the speed, the more destructive force when the vehicle hits something.

Recently, British telephone program FIFTH GEAR filmed a clear demonstration of this principle.

Most automotive crash tests are conducted at 30mph, but FIFTH GEAR producers decided to conduct a test at 120mph, four time the usual speed but still a speed that many cars on the road can attain. Check out for yourself how much damage this added speed created.

We bring this up in our defensive driving classes to make a very simple point: any reduction in speed can reduce your force of impact in a crash. You may not see much difference between going 40mph and 35mph, but just that 5mph decrease can take thousands of foot-pounds of  force out of a collision and seriously reduce the amount damage you and your car sustain.

So it’s all part of our real mission at Comedy Guys Defensive Driving. You have to drive to live your life. We just want to make you as safe possible when you’re on the road.

Found via The Presurfer,
which a really cool ‘blog worth a visit.

When most people take a trip, they just take what they think are the essentials…clothes, toiletries, etc.

Here at Comedy Guys Defensive Driving, we teach you that there is more to traveling than just getting in the car and going. Not enough drivers plan ahead and tend to get caught short in an emergency.

Sure, you need to carry the essentials, but you also need to prepare for the unexpected.

MAKE SURE YOUR CAR IS IN WORKING ORDER.
The first thing you need to do if you’re planning a trip is to make sure your car is as ready to go as you are. If you haven’t had a tune-up or oil change for a while, make sure you do it.

And be aware of the quirks of your engine: if you know that your car uses a lot of coolant or oil or some other messy, sticky automotive supply, take some extra with you. You don’t want your vehicle to poop out on you half way there. READ THE REST.

An Open Letter
to the Young Woman with Big Round Glasses
who was following me this morning
on Walnut Street in Dallas:

You were tailgating.

I appreciate that you were probably in a great hurry, but the speed limit through there is 40mph. Pretty reasonable, considering that we have a residential neighborhood on one side, a college on the other, and at least one nursery school where little kids are getting walked to class. If you’re worried about being late somewhere, my best suggestion is to leave earlier.

As for the tailgating, at times you looked to be about 20 feet behind me. You must not realize how dangerous that is.

If I, for some reason, had had to slam on my brakes AND you had immediately noticed this and slammed on your brakes AND everyone’s brakes were working perfectly, you still wouldn’t have been able to stop before you hit me. Cars travel at roughly 1.5 feet per second time their speed. At 40mph, you were going about 60 feet per second, which is three times the amount of distance between our bumpers. If you’d seen my brakes and responded immediately, your car still would have hit mine before your brakes could do their job.

That’s why a safe following distance is so important.

Keep at least three seconds between you and the car ahead of you, meaning that when I passed one of those green light poles, you should have been able to say “1-one thousand, 1-one thousand, 3-one thousand” before you passed the same pole.

Remember: three seconds following distance. It will seem like a lot, but any less and you’re not giving your brakes adequate room to bring your car to a stop. Three seconds when driving conditions are good. More if it’s dark or there’s traffic or if the roads are wet. A lot more if the roads are icy.

This isn’t that big a neighborhood, so the odds of me being on the same road at the same time of day as you are probably pretty good. Hopefully the next time we run into each other, we won’t run into each other.

— Wes Williams

No driver wants to be in a crash, of course.

Okay, maybe demolition derby guys, but that’s more controlled and less dangerous than you might think. Certainly less dangerous than the surprise crashes that occur on the road every day.

When you’re faced with a collision on the road, get out of it if you can. And if you can’t,  find a way to minimize the damage.

Always have an “Out”

The most basic concept of defensive driving is to think about your driving as you drive: pay attention to what’s going on; keep a relatively clear space around your car, and be as prepared for surprises as you can be. And an important part of that is to plan an “out” or escape route in case of trouble ahead.

For example, if the car right in front of you were to rear-end the car ahead of it, what would you do to avoid becoming part of a multi-car collision. Could you stop in time, or would you veer to the right or the left? What’s your out?

Driving around a collision is certainly better than driving into it.

But this won’t be possible – especially in heavy traffic – unless you make it possible. As you drive, be aware of traffic and road conditions around you and keep adjusting your place in traffic to keep at least one “out” open to you if you can.

If a Crash is Unavoidable

If you don’t have a way to drive around the obstacles ahead of you. Maybe you do have to hit that other car. Or maybe you can steer around the car, but that just means that you’ll have to hit something else.

A safer driver can make both of these situations work to their advantage to minimize the damage to themselves, their car, and everyone else involved.

Slow Your Car Down

Get off of the gas and hit the brakes. Even if you won’t be able to stop completely, any reduction in speed is good for you.

The physics of a collision comes down to force of impact, which is basically a multiplication problem: speed times weight equals damage. If you have half a second before you hit that car, any reduction in speed can mean a big reduction in damage.

Aim Carefully

If you can’t escape hitting another car, do what you can to control where and how you hit it. Modern cars aren’t the heavy metal boxes that our grandparents drove around in. Construction-wise, they’re basically upholstered seats inside a concealed steel safety cage which is surrounded by “crumple zones.” These are front and back ends of cars that are designed to fold up accordian-style if they’re hit hard enough.

And it’s better to clip another car than hit it head on. If you’re forced into a situation where you have to rear-end someone, point your hood ornament at one of their tail lights instead of their license plate. Let the corner of their car absorb your force of impact: it will be a lot less damaging than throwing it at a stronger part of the car.

If you’re looking at a T-bone collision, where you’re headed straight into their car doors, steer a bit to the side and try to hit them in the trunk or engine compartment. You’ll both get less damage that way because the crumple zones will absorb so much of the impact force.

The deadliest kind of crash involving two cars is the head-on collision. If you’re forced into crashing into someone head on, your best option is to veer to the right – basically to aim your driver’s side headlight at their driver’s side headlight. This means that only some of your force-of-impact will collide with some of theirs, minimizing as much of the damage as possible. And by veering to the right instead of the left, you should be aiming yourself toward your side of the road, putting you at less risk from oncoming traffic.

Path of Least Resistance

If you can steer around the car but only by hitting something else, do it but make smart decisions about what to hit.

In our defensive driving classes, we call this “the path of least resistance.” The basic idea is simple: if you must hit something, pick the thing that will do the least damageTrash cans, mail boxes, and shrubs are all less of a danger to your car than another car would be, so aim at them if you can. If your only alternatives are brick walls or trees, you might be better off hitting the other car after all. Trees don’t come with crumple zones.

Giving Yourself More Time

Of course, all of this decision making has to be done in fractions of a second. But you even have some control over that aspect of driving.

By paying attention to your driving instead of your cell phone, you’ll see the danger earlier and have more time to react. In good driving conditions, a good driver will usually spot a need to stop in about three-quarters of a second. That’s not much time to react, of course, but it’s much more time than you’ll have if you’re looking at a text message or picking a radio station when the critical moment comes. If you’re not paying attention, you could actually kill someone before you even lay eyes on them.

By driving a bit more slowly and following at a safe distance, you will have more time to decide what to do and get it done before that nasty crashing sound takes your options away. The two-second-or-more rule is designed not so much to give you time to stop before a crash, but to give you time to steer around a crash.

This month, Comedy Guys Defensive Driving is adding three new locations to the schedule, two in Houston and one in Dallas.

With more than 30 locations across Texas, we’re pretty sure we offer more live defensive driving classes than any other company in the state. Especially with more and more of our competitors moving to Internet-only classes. Some of them even pull the cute trick of listing towns on their Websites where they don’t have classes, then sending you to their online class if you click the town’s name.

Of course, we’re proud of our Internet class, but we also realize that many customers would rather take their defensive driving class in person and we want to make that possible.

These new locations will help us to fit into your busy schedule.