What you may not know from when you were in drivers ed.

Whether it’s been 10, 20 , or 30+ years since your days in drivers ed, there have been a few changes in how you have to think about driving.  Many things have been incorporated into the tasks and features of driving that the previous generations never learned, or may not have needed to know.  These topics when being addressed (most commonly by parents teaching their child to drive through an online drivers ed) are usually relatively new to both parents and new teen drivers alike.  The most common contributor to these changes comes from technology; However, some have also come from years of statistic analysis based on car crash mechanics.

Sensors or not, pay attention.    The rapid increase in technology has begun to create a new lesson of importance to modern drivers ed.  The incorporation of assisting technologies such as backup cameras and sensors has created an environment that allows a driver to feel safer with less attention to their surroundings.  It is necessary for all drivers, new and old, to realize that the information provided to you through a new vehicles sensors is no comparison to the reaction time saved by observing your entire surroundings yourself.  Sensors are a wonderful assistant, but never let that become the focus of your attention.

Navigation or not, pay attention.  Just as with new vehicle sensors, the navigation system faces much of the same required attention in a modern drivers ed course.  It can be difficult sometime to find your way around a new city or route for the highway.  A navigation system, as with the sensors, can leave a driver feeling more confident in their abilities to operate their vehicle; However, relying entirely on GPS to explain to you your environment and destination can leave you constantly looking at your navigation screen and not the road ahead of you.  By learning your route and understanding where and how you reached that destination, you can now use more of your instincts and reaction on your immediate circumstances.

9&3, oh yeah and pay attention.  Everyone remembers to keep their hands at 10&2 right?  Well if you are far removed from the days of drivers ed, you may not know that this rule has changed.  Over the years it has been observed that the potential for damage to a driver during an accident is increased when they place their hands up higher on the steering wheel.  When an airbag deploys, its spherical expansion will push your arms out of its way.  If your arms are resting a 10&2, they face a problem.  The directional force from the airbag hits the arms at a strange angle that does not allow them to bend around the airbag as needed, forces the arms up to the roof of the car, and can cause impact or joint problems.  By placing your arms at 9&3, they are giving the proper position to bend naturally around the expanding airbag, making it less likely to cause the same issues as its predecessor, 10&2.  Our Parent Taught Driver Education course covers these important driving skills and more.