Acceleration Nonsense
Discussion
R_U_LOCAL said:
I've a couple of pieces forming in my mind that I'll commit to posts over the next few weeks, one of which will be an examination of the true meaning of "advanced" driving.
Misguidedly fundamentalistly Rigid adherence to a set of rules and the ability to be pedantic on an Internet forum seems to be the meaning to some people on here.It is refreshing to read things that aren't.
Keep up the good work!
Ps. "Expert Driving" got me thinking about my own driving and I would regard that book as more useful than much of the IAM / Rospa literature I have read.
An interesting post Reg and good to have you posting on here once again. I used to read some of your stuff before I was a member.
For me the discussion has taken what you said about acceleration sense exercises a bit too literally. An open country road with a series of bends linked together is not the only place where acceleration sense is required. In fact I would say that acceleration sense is far more important when driving in town, or certainly when amongst other traffic. This is because you have other to not only read the road to make smooth efficient progress, but the actions of other drivers, and even the effect of traffic lights etc on your drive.
I think acceleration sense is linked to gear selection as well. A lot of people will deliberately accelerate up to a certain speed just so they can race up into the next gear. To give an example a poor use of acceleration (and gear selection) would be an impatient driver in traffic accelerating harder than neccessary almost willing the cars in front to speed up, or racing to maintain a close following position so they don't get 'left behind'. In doing so they may fail to notice a hazard ahead that will slow the traffic in front down again. Especially if they have gone up a gear after accelerating (because most people are reluctant to hold low gears), then they will have less control over the vehicles momentum just by lifitng off and reduced deceleration. This will probably lead to them having to slam the brakes on and come to a complete halt. To me the advanced, or plain sensible thing to do is to accelerate more gently to begin with, holding a lower gear allowing the gap to increase between me and the vehicle in front to give a better view of the road ahead. Then when you spot the hazard and the other cars braking, you just lift off, or balance the throttle to moderate your acceleration. With correct planning, and a bit of luck the other cars will have cleared the hazard by the time you arrive and you are able to continue through all in one gear.
It is more about not just knowing when to accelerate, but really knowing when not to. I know people have spoken about fuel efficiency and pad wear. Well to be honest this is not the reason I try and use the accelerator appropriately because on an open road I will absolutely spank it and use far more fuel and friction material than is healthy. I do it to make my drive more relaxed, safer and hopefully more courteous. I like when driving in town for example to flash somebody out of a side turning early, or letting them turn across me without having to brake myself. All this by using good acceleration sense does not impact on how long it takes me to get home, just allows you to help others and drive smoothly.
Finally, I am not an advanced driver so this is probably rubbish but I have always practiced trying to make sure I am at the correct position in the road, in the correct gear and at the correct speed at any given moment. To take that a step further if you think about position as not just a side to side thing, but a 'how far forward or back' particularly in relation to other vehicles or developing situations. Asking yourself not just where do I want to be right now, but where do I want to be in a few seconds time (along what speed and in what gear) then the answers to those questions should dictate your use of the accelerator. I find my acceleration sense is directly linked to my reading of the road (or lack of) and concentration at that time.
For me the discussion has taken what you said about acceleration sense exercises a bit too literally. An open country road with a series of bends linked together is not the only place where acceleration sense is required. In fact I would say that acceleration sense is far more important when driving in town, or certainly when amongst other traffic. This is because you have other to not only read the road to make smooth efficient progress, but the actions of other drivers, and even the effect of traffic lights etc on your drive.
I think acceleration sense is linked to gear selection as well. A lot of people will deliberately accelerate up to a certain speed just so they can race up into the next gear. To give an example a poor use of acceleration (and gear selection) would be an impatient driver in traffic accelerating harder than neccessary almost willing the cars in front to speed up, or racing to maintain a close following position so they don't get 'left behind'. In doing so they may fail to notice a hazard ahead that will slow the traffic in front down again. Especially if they have gone up a gear after accelerating (because most people are reluctant to hold low gears), then they will have less control over the vehicles momentum just by lifitng off and reduced deceleration. This will probably lead to them having to slam the brakes on and come to a complete halt. To me the advanced, or plain sensible thing to do is to accelerate more gently to begin with, holding a lower gear allowing the gap to increase between me and the vehicle in front to give a better view of the road ahead. Then when you spot the hazard and the other cars braking, you just lift off, or balance the throttle to moderate your acceleration. With correct planning, and a bit of luck the other cars will have cleared the hazard by the time you arrive and you are able to continue through all in one gear.
It is more about not just knowing when to accelerate, but really knowing when not to. I know people have spoken about fuel efficiency and pad wear. Well to be honest this is not the reason I try and use the accelerator appropriately because on an open road I will absolutely spank it and use far more fuel and friction material than is healthy. I do it to make my drive more relaxed, safer and hopefully more courteous. I like when driving in town for example to flash somebody out of a side turning early, or letting them turn across me without having to brake myself. All this by using good acceleration sense does not impact on how long it takes me to get home, just allows you to help others and drive smoothly.
Finally, I am not an advanced driver so this is probably rubbish but I have always practiced trying to make sure I am at the correct position in the road, in the correct gear and at the correct speed at any given moment. To take that a step further if you think about position as not just a side to side thing, but a 'how far forward or back' particularly in relation to other vehicles or developing situations. Asking yourself not just where do I want to be right now, but where do I want to be in a few seconds time (along what speed and in what gear) then the answers to those questions should dictate your use of the accelerator. I find my acceleration sense is directly linked to my reading of the road (or lack of) and concentration at that time.
Craig85 said:
In fact I would say that acceleration sense is far more important when driving in town, or certainly when amongst other traffic. This is because you have other to not only read the road to make smooth efficient progress, but the actions of other drivers, and even the effect of traffic lights etc on your drive.
This is a very good point and I probably should have gone in to more detail on the use of acceleration sense in an urban environment. I received a PM from a PH member the other day requesting a post on urban & city driving so I'll include some acceleration sense stuff in that when I write it.Craig85 said:
Finally, I am not an advanced driver so this is probably rubbish but I have always practiced trying to make sure I am at the correct position in the road, in the correct gear and at the correct speed at any given moment.
That depends on your opinion of what exactly an advanced driver is (see the other thread). If you're thinking along those lines and looking to improve then you're already taking on some of the principles which go to making you an advanced, or better, or more skilled driver - whatever you want to call it.R_U_LOCAL said:
Craig85 said:
In fact I would say that acceleration sense is far more important when driving in town, or certainly when amongst other traffic. This is because you have other to not only read the road to make smooth efficient progress, but the actions of other drivers, and even the effect of traffic lights etc on your drive.
This is a very good point and I probably should have gone in to more detail on the use of acceleration sense in an urban environment. I received a PM from a PH member the other day requesting a post on urban & city driving so I'll include some acceleration sense stuff in that when I write it.R_U_LOCAL said:
That depends on your opinion of what exactly an advanced driver is (see the other thread). If you're thinking along those lines and looking to improve then you're already taking on some of the principles which go to making you an advanced, or better, or more skilled driver - whatever you want to call it.
Ah ok, I will check it out, and post my thoughts on there if I think they will make sense to anyone.Just to expand on my previous post where I concentrated on town driving and not accelerating hard uneccessarily. I do think there are instances where accelerating hard can be the safest thing to do and I wonder if you would agree.
For example, if driving on a dual carrigeway in the right hand lane you approach a solitary lorry in the left hand lane who is weaving around a little bit, perhaps he is on the phone, or maybe tired. As I get closer to him I would position myself further to the right to increase the safe space between us ready for when we are level but also to try and get more of a view of the road ahead. There may be a cyclist infront of him, or a layby with another vehicle looking to pull out. Assessing the lorry as I approach when I decide that he is now going in a straight line, but because I don't really trust him I tend to find myself nailing it for a couple of seconds to get past quickly. This is to reduce the time I spend next to the lorry where I could get side swiped, again sticking to the right hand side of my lane during the overtake. Once past, I will lift off and return to the speed I was crusing at.
Forgetting about speed limits here, am I wrong to do this, i.e is it good or bad acceleration sense, or simply unneccesary? Does anyone else do it even? It is perhaps a strange habit, don't think that I always speed up when passing other traffic on a dual carrigeway, quite often I will pass slower than when the road is clear and I am cruising because it reduces the speed differential, especially where the left hand lane traffic is close together and likely to pull out on you. What would you do in my example above with the lorry Reg?
What is your concern as you approach the HGV? Is it that the driver may be tired / inattentive / on the phone? If it is, then this is one of the situations where a horn warning would be wholly appropriate.
My concern would also be that the driver was lost & looking for a turning which opens up the possibility that they will either turn right or change lanes with little or no warning.
So, to answer your question, keeping your time alongside such a vehicle to a minimum with a burst of acceleration would be perfectly acceptable, but I'd be tempted to give a short horn warning whilst looking for visual clues about the drivers intentions. Look at them in their door mirror - are their eyes on a phone? Are they looking intently at every junction? Have they looked at you? There are always some observation links to pick up on if you look in the right places.
My concern would also be that the driver was lost & looking for a turning which opens up the possibility that they will either turn right or change lanes with little or no warning.
So, to answer your question, keeping your time alongside such a vehicle to a minimum with a burst of acceleration would be perfectly acceptable, but I'd be tempted to give a short horn warning whilst looking for visual clues about the drivers intentions. Look at them in their door mirror - are their eyes on a phone? Are they looking intently at every junction? Have they looked at you? There are always some observation links to pick up on if you look in the right places.
Thanks for your reply. Whilst I do use the horn from time to time it is not something I have ever thought about using on the dual carrigeway, but why not, it can serve the same purpose.
I will look out for the other signs in future, particularly the turning right if there are gaps in the central reservation, or if he wants the right hand lane if the road splits off.
I will look out for the other signs in future, particularly the turning right if there are gaps in the central reservation, or if he wants the right hand lane if the road splits off.
R_U_LOCAL said:
One exercise involved driving a road which included a series of different bends. Most drivers would accelerate between corners and then brake for the next corner (rinse and repeat etc.). Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with this approach, but I would ask my students to drive the road at a reasonably quick pace in a single gear (usually 4th) without braking. I would expect the corners to be negotiated correctly with a little acceleration for balance, and I'd expect some reasonable acceleration between corners, but the student's job was to assess the bends and pick the correct point at which they should lift off the accelerator to achieve the correct speed for the bend.
Another good exercise was to drive a section of NSL road leading to a reduced limit of 30 or 40 and get the student to practice bringing the car down to the correct speed before entering the reduced limit just by lifting off the accelerator.
my instructor who also trained body guard types, took me through the blue book, we spent weeks practicing the above lol, i still do it sometimes Another good exercise was to drive a section of NSL road leading to a reduced limit of 30 or 40 and get the student to practice bringing the car down to the correct speed before entering the reduced limit just by lifting off the accelerator.
its a lot harder in duel clutch cars as they have very limited engine braking
we also covered skid pans, J turns (not on roads ofc), i did one lesson totally in reverse and one where i had to do the test course but without using the clutch, starting was quite interesting lol
Edited by Dave Hedgehog on Saturday 10th May 23:01
Gassing Station | Advanced Driving | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff