Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (February 1997)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Tue, 11 Feb 1997 13:54:26 -0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Lawrence Johnson <ljohnson@halhinet.on.ca>
Subject:      Convoy travel safety

To all Listees: Last year I found an article that discussed travelling in convoys. It was so good that I saved it. With all the talk recently on group trips, I thought it may be of interest. Larry '86 Syncro Westy __________________________________________________________________ "Trying to follow someone along an unknown route can be dangerous" TORONTO STAR OCT 12, 1996 Author is freelance journalist Jim Kenzie, Toronto Star Wheels'chief automotive reviewer. "Follow that car!" A movie cliche, to be sure. But something we have all experienced, either as the follower, the followee, or both. Have you ever considered it a potential disaster? At a driving safety conference organized by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada a few years ago, Sue MacNeill, a driver trainer and driving psychology expert from Ottawa, related a sad follow-the-leader story. One of her driving students got her licence so she could work for a car dealership in a nearby town. One of her responsibilities was to ferry cars back and forth between the company's two stores, a couple of hundred kilometres apart. On her first such assignment, she and another member of the staff were, delivering two cars. The young girl had never driven this route before; the more experienced staffer simply said, "Follow me!" MacNeill described the young girl as "timid" to begin with. Add in the fact that she didn't know where she was going, was driving a brand-new, large, extremely powerful and entirely unfamiliar car and her desire to do a good job, and her nervousness quadrupled. On the road, she obviously worried about losing touch with her leader. If a car passed her and separated them, she then felt compelled to pass, to keep the other car in her sight. On one occasion, she pulled out to pass - right into the path of an 18-wheeler which, in MacNeill's's own words, "flattened her". When MacNeill put on her psychologist's hat, she noted the girl's "perceived" risk - that of getting lost overwhelmed her "objective" risk - that of having a collision. MacNeill said she'll never again conduct a driver training program without emphasizing the difference between these two categories of risk. There is a lifetime of Carte Blanches (ed. Column Title) to be written on driving risk perception and management I want to concentrate today on the follow-the-leader issue. I've personally played Mother Duck to hosts of ducklings on my driving tours to Europe. Perfect scenario for danger. The guests are driving unfamiliar, fast cars in cities they've never been in - and the street signs aren't even in their language. A number of strategies have evolved to deal with this danger, if you're ever in a follow-the-leader situation, perhaps these can help. First: increase knowledge. Go over the planned route, preferably with detailed maps. In cities, count the traffic lights as accurately as you can, and supply estimated distances between major turns. Note landmarks, such as parks or large buildings. If at all possible, it helps to have a navigator in the ducklings' cars, so the driver can concentrate on dealing with - yes, the "objective" risk - avoiding a crash. In daytime situations, make sure everyone has their headlights on. In Canada, most cars have daytime running lights, but since these are usually low intensity high beam without taillights, switching on the regular lights will make it easier still to distinguish members of your fleet from the run-of-the-mill. The most fail-safe following strategy is the so-called convoy procedure. Every car is responsible for keeping the car behind in full view in the rear-view mirror. Theoretically, any car that is held up for any reason will cause the convoy to gradually slow down until they're all in sight again. Problem: In my experience, it's a rare group of drivers who have the discipline and faith in their fellow pilots necessary to make this work. Plus, forcing drivers to focus so much on what's behind takes away scarce attention-span resources from what's ahead. Considerable - perhaps the entire - responsibility falls on the shoulders of the leader. You must abandon any hope of driving briskly. This isn't about fun; This is about getting a bunch of people safely through foreign territory. For example, if there's any doubt at all that you can make it though a green traffic light, slow down and wait for it to change to red. If you can't do this without endangering non-convoy traffic, get through the intersection, pause at the next available safe and legal stopping point, throw on your four-way flashers and wait until your convoy catches up to you. Likewise with lane-changing on the freeway. It's tempting to make a move to gain a few car lengths. But if your entire convoy can't make the same move with ease, one or more of them may panic and get out into the passing lane just as you're signalling a turn to make an exit. Yikes. Most important, let your convoy know in advance that you're going to follow these strategies. Convince them that you won't abandon them, and tell them that if they do get delayed, you encourage them to continue to employ proper driving practices - look well down the road (this way they'll probably be spotting convoy members two or three cars ahead of them, rather than fixating on the rear bumper of the guy directly in front). Also, make sure they maintain proper distance between cars. While they may fear - as MacNell's student did - that another car may pop in between, and separate them from the convoy, they should have enough confidence in your leadership that they'll know you won't leave them behind. So far on my tours, only a few ducklings have become temporarily lost. But they've all returned eventually, damage to neither car nor body. Because if you employ proper driving techniques, safety just, um, follows.


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.