Читать книгу Go Play In the Traffic! - Lenet Compton - Страница 7

[no image in epub file]

A driving style that incorporates a high level of awareness makes the driver “better than habit.” Backing out of your garage without looking behind you, because no one ever parks behind your car, is a habit.

An experience my brother-in-law and I share illustrates this very scenario, and I thank him for the lesson! During a visit to his house, he told me not to park “there.” I decided to park “there” anyway because I didn’t want to take a garage space away from my niece. It should have been no surprise to either of us that the next morning he backed out of the garage directly into my car. We become familiar with places and forget to look for the unexpected.

Some may argue habit is necessary to operate reflexes at peak performance. I don’t believe that. I did a single, 360-degree spin in snow; then I instinctively put my car in neutral which stopped the spin immediately. There was nothing habit about that. It was a first-time experience.

To be better than habit you:

•Think constantly about your situation ~ plan ahead ~ anticipate.

•Don’t fixate on the vehicle in front of you or aimlessly sit behind it.

•Look to where you want to be instead of right in front of you.

•Be one with your vehicle (see chapter: Name Your Vehicle).

•Drive as if you’re following yourself!

A fun read is Tom Vanderbilt’s book, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What it Says About Us). He discusses habit and many other stories about our lives on the pavement.

Drive carefully! Remember, it's not only a car that can be recalled by its maker.

– Anonymous