Educated drivers = safer roads

We’ve been teaching people how to drive for almost 25 years now, during this time we’ve seen a lot of technological changes in vehicles. Innovations like keyless entry, rearview cameras, satellite radio, sensor operated windshield wipers and others are just a few examples of what I’m talking about.

But today’s pace of technological evolution in the automotive industry goes far beyond those relatively simple innovations and is accelerating rapidly. Vehicles today are smarter, safer and more productive than ever – provided that drivers are aware of new technology and understand how to get the most out of it.

Vehicle manufacturers will fight to get you inside their products offering everything possible out of the combination between comfort and technology, readiness for communication, safety and others to be ahead of competitors.

But here’s the question: Do drivers know about everything available there and understand how to get the maximum use out of it?

I have no doubt most drivers don’t know all about these features and understand the benefits they offer; the reason is simple, many people don’t read the operator’s manual. Even worse, many people go to the dealers to ask questions about different features on their new vehicles and representatives at the dealer don’t know how to use them either.

This is why I think that the problem is lack of education, in many levels. It takes time to produce such innovations and to be incorporated to vehicles, but everything could b just a waist of money if we pay for a vehicle with X number of features that we’ll never use because we don’t know how to use them.

It’s a tough nut to crack knowing all aspects and systems in your vehicle,  but it’s worth the effort. There’s no question new vehicle systems can make you safer, more productive and better rested. More importantly, many of these systems are proven winners when it comes to saving time and crashes – and nothing affects the bottom line as dramatically as having what it takes to be safer on the road.

Proper education about your vehicle as well as defensive driving techniques will be able to get you on the road for the years to come easily and safe. See you out there folks!!!

High beams & what we need to know about them

Every vehicle comes with 2 sets of front white lights. The lights to be used normally are named headlights or low-beams; however, there is another set of lights which are brighter and can provide longer distance visibility, these lights are name “high beams”. Our post today is dedicated to these high beams lights, because it is important to know when to use them and when NOT to use them.

Firstly, we just want to explain that the main purpose of these lights is to provide you longer range of visibility in dark areas, also to flash them to safely warn others about your presence. The law in Florida (state where conduct our operations) clearly defines the use of these lights, and details can be found at the Florida Statutes Chapter 316.238(1).

It mainly confirms that we should not use the high beams within 500 feet of any vehicle approaching in the opposite direction, to prevent the direct glare to the other driver. Also, we should not use them within 300 feet when we follow another vehicle, to prevent the possible reflection in their rear view mirror(s).

Now, there is a very important fact to consider when we want/need to use the high beams driving at night or in dark areas, car nowadays are coming equipped with powerful LED lights, which are brighter than former halogen lights. Having brighter lights means that distance to potentially blind or upset other drivers is longer, leaving the 500 feet (for oncoming traffic) or 300 feet (when we follow others) pretty much outdated.

At JMP Driving School, we teach our students the law concerning the use of the high beams and distance the law also stipulates, but considering the disparity between car with halogen lights and newer ones with LED lights, we always suggest to prevent the use of the high beams when another vehicle is in front (despite the distance) to prevent any glare in other drivers (and possible dangerous scenario).

Normal headlights (AKA low beams) are bright enough in newer cars, that using the high beams is barely needed. After all, the better the other driver can see, the less chances to end up in a collision with us, (we can call that Win-Win scenario). On the other hand, nobody in front of your car? turn them ON and enjoy them.

Q. Is using the high beams in traffic illegal.

A. YES, it is. Any driver found using the high beams within the established legal distance, is a noncriminal traffic infraction, which is punishable as a moving violation as provided in Florida Statutes Chapter 318.

Final note: the picture below shows you the power of new LED lights activated in high beams mode, just imagine this amount of brightness in other drivers eyes.

This picture shows the glare caused by stock high beams lights activated in a 2018 Toyota Corolla (equipped with LED lights).

Car safety equals to Road safety

Driving is without doubt a very nice experience for many us (unless we’re stuck in traffic). However, it is always enjoyable when safety is involved every second we’re behind the wheel, which is something commonly overlooked for many drivers, thinking the way how to get from point a to point b without taking proper care of car maintenance, it’s at this point when the enjoyable experience of driving can become a nightmare.

Nowadays, it’s very easy to keep a track of your car maintenance using many of the available apps using the key words “car maintenance tracker”. Many of them come with awesome reminder feature based on mileage or time (depending when service is supposed to be performed). Reading the owner’s manual is always important, not only to be better informed about your maintenance schedule but you will be surprised of many features you will enjoy in your car (unless you read the manual). Ultimately, you can always keep in the glove compartment a paper with notes about of service and repairs performed to your vehicle.

Learning how to detect signs of wear and tear in your vehicle parts will not only save you problems and headaches, but a lot of money on “unexpected” repairs.

Easy things to check in your car:

- Fluid level: oil, washer fluid, power steering, brake and coolant.
- Firmness on your brake pedal (if your brake fluid is low, you may need to replace the brake pads and/or brake shoes, don’t simply add fluid. Have your car inspected to know if it’s the time for new pads and/or shoes)
- Light bulbs: have someone outside the car to see if any light is not working properly, while you’re turning on and off all different lights and signals from inside. Replace the bad ones as soon as possible, remember others won’t know your intentions if the lights aren’t working. (Also, you can get a ticket for this reasons)
- Make sure the horn is working properly
- Tire pressure: it’s very easy to learn and do (check the sticker on the door frame on the driver side of your vehicle to know the proper tire pressure). Don’t forget the spare tire, it will be you savior in the bad hour (check its pressure inflated once a month)
- Have a First Aid Kit in the trunk; update and replenish as necessary

Last but not least, DON’T FORGET TO BUCKLE UP !!!

Be careful when someone else moves loose cargo

We’ve seen many times and for sure you too, not only on city streets but on highways; people driving all over the places with loose cargo in the back of their pickup trucks, trunks or even worse on the top of a sedan with some ropes.

This “very common” event has caused many accidents and some fatalities in our roads. Purely negligence, makes our roads insecure and the lives of many in risk, just for the ignorant pride of a few thinking they can defy the forces of physics when they need to move stuffs from one place to another. Most of the loose cargo you could see will be furniture, household items, tires, appliances, mattresses, surfboards, bicycles, woods, etc. just to mention some of them.

The bad consequences of transporting loose cargo could happen to you and anyone out there, when inexperienced individuals often over-pack and neglect to secure cargo properly, and after a few minutes exposed to the forces of winds generated by the movement of the vehicle, the load becomes unstable, producing serious, costly and potential fatal results.

Once untied from the vehicle, any of these objects can become a projectile to other vehicles behind and a potential menace to its surroundings. Something is clear, this object in “motion” can go in any direction without control, and if we are lucky, it will stop on the grass on the side of the highway or another “safe place”.

In other cases, you will see the weight distribution is not even, making the vehicle transporting the load to roll easily. Excess weight is another common mistake, this can cause stress in the brake system, making it vulnerable and insufficient if an emergency situation arise.

It doesn’t matter how safely you can prepare your trip, the actions and decisions of others could always turn things around. So, if you see something similar on the road, just keep yourself as far as possible from that vehicle (never behind) and whenever possible, overtake it minimizing the time you need to be next to it. Leave yourself a way out, in the event that something flies out the vehicle and may cause a reaction in the drivers around you.

It’s simple, never be behind (if needed, do it as far as possible).  Stay safe!!!

Driving instructions are not for everybody

The driving training industry has been gradually losing its quality over the last 10-15 years, in many ways because law makers are not overseeing how the industry is facilitating under-qualified people to this very important job, also because driving schools in many cases are using 20-30 years old materials and teaching techniques.

Most parents decide and choose the driving school for their teens based on one factor only (the price of the lessons), while the quality of them or years in business seems to be not important. Therefore, most of the driving schools out there are simply offering the minimum instruction needed just to pass the driving test, essentially helping people to get an operator license when they are not ready to safely operate a vehicle, through this very insufficient “quick fix” method.

The sad statistically result of combining poor authorities supervision, low quality instructions aiming to pass the driving test only and parents concern more about getting the cheapest option instead of the best driving school are the deadly stories for sure you have heard.

Average 3500 teens die every year in USA while another teenager was behind the wheel, the crash rate per mile driven for 16-19 years old is sadly four times higher than crashes where the driver was 20 years old or older.

The driving exam can be passed with very basic legal knowledge of driving and very basic skills to control the vehicle. The average time of this exam is less than 20 minutes, making the overall standard low causing our roads highly unsafe.

Sadly we need to admit, the low passing rate in previous years has led to the exclusion of very important maneuvers and unwillingness to implement real changes to the current system, knowing that implementing higher standards to pass the test will translate in a direct decrease of customer in our license offices, and this revenue has clouded the consideration of public safety in general.

Despite vehicles to be equipped with systems like ABS, traction control system, dynamic cruise control, lane departure sensors, blind spot sensors and others, almost 50K people die in USA every year and 5 million get hurt in crashes.

Next time you (or someone you know) is going to use a driving school, keep this in mind, you can help lower these numbers and be a part of safer roads for everybody. Take care.

Fighting with traffic signs and why

It is very common to see new drivers (and sadly many drivers with years behind the wheel) showing clear issues to scan the road properly. The reason is because they experience what is called “tunnel vision”, therefore, no matter how clear traffic signs can be posted these drivers tend to look straight down into oblivion. When teaching how to drive we often ask our students the meaning of the last sign we went through and it is normal for them to turn the question into a guessing game.

Florida Statutes 316.183(2) says that “the maximum speed limits for all vehicles must be 30 miles per hour in business or residence districts” mostly because there is one lane moving on each direction and there is no physical divider or median in such areas. Repeating the same question over and over again, help new drivers to create the habit to keep their eyes moving and scanning at all times.

Without forcing the habit to scan the road side to side continuously, most of the new drivers can be easily confused when they face areas with variable speeds, especially in driving in areas where they are not familiar.

We believe some speed limit signs are wrong in some areas, for example, where the road is open and wide with a median (which is a clear difference when it is compared to any residential area) having a 30 mph sign where it could easily be 40 mph.

In these places the local authorities should make the road continuously higher than 30 mph, and avoid putting variable speed limits for such short distances. Surely, that is making some drivers entering a potential accident zone. It would be nice that our signs are put in place by road engineers and getting some advice from driver education institutions.

There are some really good signs preparing you to reduce speed and these are signs alerting you of a 30 mph to be reduced to 25 or 20 mph. They prepare you to slow down and their are eye-catching with the yellow background color.

The solar powered speed warning signs are becoming more common in metropolitan areas in the USA, they are very effective indeed because of the flashing mode feature to show your speed, and this can just make you ease off the gas if you have just brushed over the limit by mistake.

Until everything is designed better, keep your eyes moving constantly. Better safe than sorry.