Female Speaker: you're getting very close to giving your final evaluation, but before you do it's important to discuss potential vehicle malfunctions with your student. The handling vehicle malfunctions portion of the program; offers step-by-step procedures on how to handle various problems, such as brake failure, accelerator failure, engine failure and traction loss.
While most of these procedures should not be performed; they should be discussed thoroughly. For those that can't be performed be sure to do so in a completely empty parking lot.
Female Speaker 1: Beyond discussing the aforementioned malfunctions; take this time to prepare your students for other potential problems; like running off the road. Half of all fatalities happen when a car goes off the road. Pick a low traffic rule road to practice on, when there is no traffic insight; have your student drive the two right side tires off the road at a speed between 10 and 20mph; making sure they're not breaking or accelerating. Have them steer the car parallel to the road.
To get back on the road safely first check traffic; if it's clear steer gently to get the front tire back on the road then the rear tire. Gentle steering is the key here; quick abrupt steering may result in rolling of the vehicle. Your student maybe more comfortable doing this after they've seen you do it. So go ahead and show them how it is done, then talk them through the procedure; until they've shown you that they have a handle on it.
Female Speaker: This procedure seems risky and it is a little; however your student will almost certainly bear off the road some day and you want to know that they can handle it, rather than react hastily and risk rolling their vehicle.
Female Speaker 2: By now you've worked on fine tuning your teen skills, but have you showed them the power of anti-lock brakes and exactly how they work? Have your student drive 50 mph in a large vacant parking lot and brake hard. Repeat this until you have a good understanding of what it takes to brake hard and stop at the speed. Have your student do the same thing at 25mph and 35mph.
Your student will learn a lot about anti-lock brakes with this simple exercise. First they will learn not to be afraid of breaking friendly; with anti-lock brakes keeping the pressure on the brake paddle is essential. Stress that pumping anti-lock brakes decreases their effectiveness.
Female Speaker: Warn your teen that they may feel a vibration, or pulse like response in the brake paddle. They may even feel the paddle drop, or hear grinding noise. Let them know that the anti-lock brake system is just doing its job and to maintain pressure on the break. Strong breaking skills are essential to become a good safe driver.
When traveling 40mph your car travels 40 feet in the time it takes to move your foot from the accelerator to the break. It takes an additional 80 feet to come to a complete stop. That's a total stopping distance of 120 feet at 40mph in dry conditions. If the potential problem quickly becomes the serious issue; your student will be able to save some crucial stopping distance. And the time it would take for them to move from the accelerator to the break; they might travel between 40 and 70 more feet than they would if they had already covered the break.
Female Speaker 1: Once your teen has effectively and consistently performed hard breaking, try adding steering into the equation. Put a cardboard box, or other soft object in the middle of an empty parking lot. Have your student approach the object at speeds of 15, 25, and 35 mph. Once they get within 30 feet of the object; tell them to brake hard. If they could stop before the object, great, if not tell them to steer around it, while maintaining firm brake pressure.
This exercise would show them that anti-lock brakes allow for steering even while braking hard. They'll be much more capable breaking and steering out of potential collisions.
Female Speaker: Before you try these things on our own I have one more valuable tip for you. If you find you have a flat tire or a tire blow out in a notoriously dangerous part of town, or in an area without a safe location to pull over, slow down and keep driving until you're in a safer place.
While driving on your wheel rims is not normally recommended; they can't be replaced. So get to a safe place first and foremost. Please discus all of the vehicle malfunctions found in Drive Packet 8 and how to handle them if they happen to you. And be sure to practice these valuable exercises with your student.
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