Long after the flowers have been removed at the make-shift memorials placed at the accident scenes, the bitter memories remain of teenaged drivers involved in horrific car crashes. Whether the accidents were caused by poor road design or unfortunate decisions by the driver, the professionals who teach drivers education believe that inexperienced drivers of any age face special challenges navigating the roads in this most densely populated state.
“There’s lots of inexperience on the road,” says Richard Connor, who will teach West Windsor Community Education’s one day defensive driving course on Saturday, May 20, at High School South. “The road test that’s given should be more difficult. Teenagers need to do more practicing behind the wheel than is required by the state, whether it’s with their parents or a driving instructor.”
Connor is an instructor with the Princeton Driving School in Hamilton Square who has been teaching people how to drive for 30 years. Connor, an alumnus of Pace College who worked in the insurance industry and in financial counseling, took a certification course to teach drivers education at a point when he and his wife were raising five children and he needed to supplement his income. He taught driving in Cherry Hill and New Brunswick before joining Princeton Driving School about five years ago. Although he has five grown children, all of whom drive, he says he never personally taught any of his kids. “It’s too hard to teach your own,” he laughs. He left that job to the professionals.
The need for defensive driving, especially if you live and drive in and around Mercer or Middlesex County, is more acute that ever before. “Many of these roads were never meant to handle the volumes of local traffic and commuter traffic that pours in through our communities on the major arteries that criss-cross our area and connect us with Philadelphia, New York, and Trenton.” Routes 1, 295, 195 and 95 give us easy access to the rest of the world, he observes. But it also brings the rest of the world through our backyard.
In addition to traffic volume, the need for good defensive driving skills comes into play because of the sheer frustration of life in the 21st century. Kids used to play in the backyard or down the street. Today kids have so many different activities to which they have to be driven, and that adds to the volume of traffic and stress. Parents, meanwhile, who have been chauffeuring children to myriad activities since they were toddlers, “want kids out as soon as possible,” says Connor.
And the “road test,” Connor adds, is rarely taken on a real road. At the Bakers Basin motor vehicle site in Lawrence Township, for example, new drivers take their test on a controlled course, a world apart from the Route 1 traffic whizzing by just yards away.
Connor admits that most people who take his course would rather be somewhere else. The majority are there for speeding, many through a court order in order to get a point reduction on their license. Two points will be removed from your driving record, although this can be invoked only once every five years. The other motivation is largely financial. If you take this course, New Jersey insurance companies will give you a five percent discount on your policy over three years.
But some people do take the course just to become better drivers. For example, after losing two of its scientists in a car accident, Exxon Mobil signed up their top employees for a refresher course.
Connor takes participants through a self-appraisal which includes a number of questions, including what a cushion of safety means when it comes to driving your car. There are thought-provoking questions such as how to deal with a tailgater. “If you can’t answer that, you’re not alone,” says Connor. “Most people can’t.”
Connor also uses a video showing real life driving situations which he uses as take-off points for discussion. “If you need to get to the brake pedal from the accelerator it takes three quarters of second on average. At 25 miles per hour, that’s 27 feet of movement before that brake is even touched. You have to take factors like that into account, especially if you’re in a congested situation. You could plow into a pedestrian if you’re not prepared to drive defensively.”
The video also illustrates everyday situations that may call for defensive driving skills, including wheels turned on a parked car along the side of the road, roads that merge from two lanes to one, and roads that are marked by a pedestrian crosswalk. “Be aware of jaywalkers. They may look straight at you and still cross against the light, so don’t rely on eye contact.”
Connor says that when it comes to teenage drivers in accidents, there is usually one outstanding common denominator. “The number one accident involving teenagers is an off the road crash with no other car involved, usually because of high speed on a curve resulting in serious bodily injury or death,” he observes. “The most common mistakes are coming in too fast for the curve, and then hitting the brakes while going around it. So they’re telling the car to do two things, to stop and to go in a different direction.”
He says teenage drivers also tend to turn the wheel too far to one direction on a turn, then try to regain control by overcompensating in the other direction. In many cases that results in their car going off the road or into a tree.
“The rule for going around a curve is to reduce your speed before you hit it, then gently accelerate around it. Don’t brake going around the curve. Then the tires are pushing you or pulling you around the curve, rather than you trying to stop the car.” Connor says that skill, though instinctive for experienced drivers, actually takes quite a while to master. Teenagers haven’t had enough time or experience behind the wheel.
“That can make a routine turn for an experienced driver into a dangerous one for a less experienced driver,” says Connor. “Add to that any other factor such as wet roads or precipitation, or a distraction either inside the car or outside, and you have a situation that can quickly put an inexperienced driver into jeopardy.”
Connor says that what everyone has to remember, no matter what their age or level of experience, is that driving a car is a serious responsibility. “Anything we can do to have more knowledge about safe driving, the better off we are.”
Defensive Driving, West Windsor Community Education, Saturday, May 20, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., High School South. $65. 609-716-5000, ext. 5034.
For information on the Princeton Driving School call 609-586-4944 or visit www.princetondrivingschool.org.
