5 ms·
Once upon a time when I was learning to drive, one of the exercises my instructor used was to put me in the passenger seat while he drove, and have me try to po
by ubernostrum 9y ago
Once upon a time when I was learning to drive, one of the exercises my instructor used was to put me in the passenger seat while he drove, and have me try to point out every person or vehicle capable of entering the lane he was driving in, as soon as I became aware of them. Every parked vehicle along the side of a road. Every vehicle approaching or waiting to enter an intersection. Every pedestrian standing by a crosswalk or even walking along the sidewalk adjacent to the traffic lane. Every bicycle. Every vehicle traveling the opposite direction on streets without a hard median. And every time I missed one, he would point and say "what about that car over there?" or "what about that person on the sidewalk?" He made me do this until I didn't miss any.
And then he started me on watching for suspicious gaps in the parked cards along the side that could indicate a loading bay or a driveway or an alley or a hidden intersection. And so on though multiple categories of collision hazards, and then verbally indicating them to him while I was driving.
And the reason for that exercise was to drive home the point that if there's a vehicle or a person that could get into my lane, it's my job as a defensive driver to be aware of that and be ready to react. Which includes making sure I could stop or avoid in time if I needed to.
I don't know how driving is taught now, but I would hope a self-driving system could at the very least match what my human driving instructor was capable of.
- J_Sherz 9y agoSounds like you had a great driving instructor. Although I never had an experience like that when learning to drive, we did have to complete something in the UK called a "hazard perception test"[1] in order to get a drivers license. Basically a video version of what your instructor did for you. Until reading your comment today, I'd never really put much thought into how useful this is and how ingrained in my everyday driving it is. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdQRkmdhwJs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdQRkmdhwJs
- ubernostrum 9y agoA thing I like to do to stay in practice is to browse /r/roadcam over on reddit. I open a video at random and watch it, and try to guess where the collision (or near-collision) is going to come from.
- lolc 9y agoSounds like an exceptional driving instructor to me. Exceptionally good.
- breischl 9y agoThat sounds like a great exercise, I wish it was standard. But I'm guessing you must have taken this course in a rural area, or else be able to talk faster than an auction caller. I don't think I could list off all the hazards in an urban area fast enough. :)