and affecting collision statistics.  |
for high school or independent driver's ed. schools, those under court order to take a class, new and veteran drivers alike. Though several issues are mentioned on this webpage, the importance of spatial awareness permeates all. YOU cannot be as safe as possible unless you KNOW how to create and maintain distance. |
| Spatial Awareness (Proxemics) as a Defensive Driving Standard: This is an introduction to the discipline of creating and maintaining distance from other vehicles. |
 Using proxemics based rationale and tactics will not affect your estimated time of arrival. Do humans think that they will arrive sooner by being that close to the rear of the car in front of them? "Never underestimate the power of human stupidity." Robert Heinlein |
Are you truly serious about
decreasing your chances of collision? The safety principle described in this DVD will introduce you to another interpretation of aggressive driving. Driving safely has been reduced to a simple science. Science RULES. Dogs Rule. |
|
You'll notice I am not concerned with conventional laws or speed limits. It is expected that you will respect these conventions. I am ONLY concerned with "Proxemics", or "Spatial Awareness". This safety rationale is based on a primitive force of nature present in the animal kingdom:  It has NEVER been isolated as a discipline for defensive driving, until NOW. Lack of this "Spatial Awareness" is the underlying reason why humans have collisions in their motor vehicles.  When compounded by the element of distraction...things become seriously deadly.  You are 4 times more likely to have a collision while talking on your mobile phone. Click this text or the graphic above to read about new legislation in California. LA Times quote: "Although 38 state legislatures considered bills to minimize driving distractions such as cellphones this year, only New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and the District of Columbia have banned drivers from using hand-held cellphones."  |
The act of following too closely is pervasive in driving society. Knowing it is dangerous, why do humans follow each other closely? It is rooted in hostility and aggression. Communication between humans is limited to these emotions when driving. Do you know how to respond to the behavior pattern created by a slower moving vehicle in the left hand lane? There is a left hand lane "culture" in America. Some folks drive there because it's their right as an American to do so. Others must be trying to arrive at the rear of the next vehicle as quickly as possible. The state of Colorado has a new law, which is a step in the right direction. The law pertains only to roads with a speed limit of 65 mph or more. I personally think the enforcible speed limit needs to be lowered. Read about the Autobahn. Here in America, going too slow in the laft lane is common...these drivers create havoc. Vehicles in the left lane should be in the act of passing another vehicle. They should then RETURN to the right lane. One should NOT routinely drive in the left hand lane. Whether within legal limits or not, it is the speed of the majority that rules...and it is usually faster than the posted speed limit. Add proxemics based safety rationale to the mix, and it's a real challenge. Does the list of infractions / offenses on your city traffic summons include: - following too closely? - slow left hand lane driving? - talking on cell phone while driving??? What if each police force devoted just 30 minutes a shift to only these three infractions? Observe other drivers' reaction time. You'll see what a dangerous / preoccupied / lethargic environment is surrounding you. Driving on CO 287N on 12/8/2005, @ Dusk: I was in line at a stoplight, and heard the collision behind me...saw the debris flying in my rear view. Someone was not paying attention and plowed into the rear of a car at high speed just a couple cars behind. It was a random chaotic event, and it occurs countless times on our highways. FACT: Your chances of having a collision when on your cell phone are quadrupled. Loud music, or other living things (human or animal) in the vehicle are MAJOR distractions from the discipline of being as safe as possible. ALL drivers make countless mistakes.... EXPECT MISTAKES...THIS IS PART OF DRIVING IN A RAPIDLY GROWING POPULATION. THE MISTAKE IS NOT WHAT IS IMPORTANT. Your reaction time and response to a mistake is what really matters. I REPEAT: Do you wait until the last nanosecond to hit the brakes and sound your horn? If so...you are as much at fault as the driver making the mistake. A few brief notes on pedestrians: Some humans actually slow their gait when crossing a street. Wouldn't one want to walk FASTER when crossing a street? ...all those heavy pieces of machinery motoring around in all directions at all speeds? I am currently living in Colorado....the pedestrian crosswalk issue is respected. In Virginia (and most of the rest of the country) if you walk out onto a pedestrian crosswalk, you WILL get severely injured, or killed. Read the Colorado law on pedestrian cross walks. Some humans will walk out on the marked crosswalk into the path of moving vehicles. |
A few notes on reaction time: People SEE a car pulling out in front of them. Possibly someone running a stop sign...or someone cutting in front of them... THESE MISTAKES ROUTINELY TAKE PLACE ON EARTH'S HIGHWAYS. The "potential victim" of these mistakes usually has such repressed anger and rage, they REFUSE to react in a timely, safe manner. "Potential Mistake Victims" try to make the driver making the mistake FEEL MORE AT FAULT. DO YOU WAIT UNTIL THE LAST NANOSECOND TO BRAKE / SOUND YOUR HORN???? YOU ARE AS MUCH AS FAULT AS THE PERSON MAKING THE MISTAKE. I FIND THE TENDENCY TO DELAY A REACTION TO BE AS COMMON AS TAILGATING! Are there really this many idiots on our highways?... Of course, the answer is YES. A 40 minute version entitled "Proxemics and Safe Driving" was broadcast in 2002 on these local channels: Channel 54 - CATV in Boulder. September Broadcast times every Monday at 5pm, and every Tuesday at 7am and 3pm. Channel 57 - Denver Community TV. Broadcast times for September were Tuesday the 3rd and 17th at 7pm, and Sunday the 8th at 7pm. 
|
|
The video was accepted in the entry quota (1000 entries) of the following Film Festivals: Telluride Indie Fest Telluride Film Festival It did not win anything at either festival. NHTSA in Washington, D.C. also received a copy. |
Just
a moment here for a bit of someone else's wisdom: "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly." Albert Einstein - March 19th, 1940 
|
Do you want to be as safe as is humanly possible? Proxemics based rationale/tactics should dominate your driving, whether you travel in cars, 18 wheel bigrigs, motorcycles, or anti-matter powered transport pods. |
