Virginia Department of Education

1. VirginiaDepartment of Education Module Four Using a Space Management System While Interacting with Traffic

2. VirginiaDepartment of Education Module Four Using a Space Management System While Interacting with Traffic Topic 1 Assessing and Managing Risk Topic 2 Components of a Space Management System Topic 3 Using the SEEiT Space Management System Topic 4 Moving the Vehicle Topic 5 Turnabouts and Parking

3. What is Risk? Driving Risk is the potential that a chosen action (e.g., speeding, texting, etc.,) may lead to an undesirable outcome. Choices have Consequences

4. Assessing and Managing Risk To properly assess a specific risk, you need to have some idea of the potential outcomes. For example, if you are a distracted driver, your potential for being involved in a crash increases 4 to 9 times. (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, 2008)

5. What is Risk Assessment? Drivers must have the ability to: • Identify a potentially dangerous situation • Prepare to take action to avoid a conflict • Consider your options and the potential consequences of your actions

6. Consequences of Risky Driving Behaviors • Taking unnecessary risks may result in property damage, injury or death, and other losses • Injurytoyou or others - permanent or life-threatening, • Damage to personal property, and • Losssuch as financial loss, loss of license, loss of convenience, loss of time, and other losses.

7. Teen Crash Statistics in the USA • Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens, accounting for more than one in three deaths in this age group • Approximately nine teenagers, (ages 16 to 19) died every day from motor vehicle injuries • Per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash What can YOU DO to change these statistics?

8. Consequences of Risk-Taking Behaviors Virginia data for 2011 • 1 crash every 4.36 minutes • 2.09 lives lost per day because of traffic crashes • 174 persons injured per day because of traffic crashes  • 1 out of 25.39 licensed drivers are involved in a crash • Some drivers NEVER have a crash! Young drivers take more risks than other drivers

9. Risk-Taking Behaviors Cause Crashes Very often drivers actually create the high risk situations they become involved in! • Speeding is the number one cause of crashes in Virginia Speeding is driving above the posted speed or driving too fast for conditions • Do speed limits improve public safety?

10. Assessing and Managing Risk • Failure to Yield Right of Way is the second leading cause of crashes in Virginia • Right of way is when a driver or pedestrian is allowed to proceed first at an intersection, merging roadway, private driveway, etc. A driver cannot “take” right of way, it must be given by another driver

11. Assessing and Managing Risk • Driving While Intoxicated is the third leading cause of crashes in Virginia • In Virginia, 245 persons were killed in alcohol-related crashes in 2011. Why are young drivers who consume alcohol at much greater risk of being involved in crashes?

12. Assessing and Managing Risk Disregarding a traffic sign or signal is the fourth leading cause of crashes in Virginia

13. Assessing and Managing Risk Following Too Closely is the fifth leading cause of crashes in Virginia. You will not crash if you have space -- space is time – time to steer or brake to avoid a hazard Factors Contributing to Risk Why do young drivers tend to leave shorter following distances than older drivers?

14. Assessing and Managing Risk Other Driver Actions Contributing to Crashes • Improper Turns — Examples of improper turns would be turning wide in a right turn or cutting corners on left turns • Unsafe Passing — This involves illegal passing or passing without sufficient clearance • A lack of driving experience and risk-taking

15. Condition of the Vehicle Factors such as worn or bald tires, poorly adjusted and/or worn brakes, broken headlights, worn windshield wiper blades, dirty windshield, etc., are all risk factors increasing the possibility of a crash

16. Roads and the Environment • Road designs that restrict vision, such as intersections, hills and sharp curves • Weather conditions, such as bright sun glare and shadows, wet slippery roads • Road surface that affects traction, such as wet, ice, snow, gravel, dirt, etc. Roadway construction and maintenance

17. Assessing and Managing Risk • Risk is always present… • Never risk more than you can afford to lose • Do not risk a lot for a little • Consider the odds and your situation

18. Tools to Reduce Driving Risks • Communicate • Change Speed and/or • Change Position

19. Communicate • Signal – lights or hand signals (turning, backing, hazards, warning) • brake light (flash, slowing, stopping) • lane position (intent to change lanes or turn, hazard in lane ahead) • horn (warn, get someone’s attention) • head lights (to see and be seen, to warn others)

20. Change Speed • Your options are to maintain, increase or decrease speed if: • path of travel is open • path of travel is changing • path of travel is closing • path of travel is closed

21. Change Position or Direction • It is quicker to change position than to stop, so you always need to know what space is available to: • move to a different lane position to gain more space • change lanes • turn onto another street

22. Assessing and Managing Risk • Drivers need visibility, space, and time to avoid conflicts and perform safe driving maneuvers • Good seeing habits and the ability to manage space on the roadway are essential ingredients for low-risk driving • Developing space management HABITS can reduce driving risks How Much Risk is Acceptable?

23. Process for Managing the Driving Environment • SEEiT • Search for problems • Evaluate options • Execute decisions in • Time

24. Safe Driving on the “Habit Level” Practicing safe driving procedures until little thought is required to perform with skill and precision Is it true that practice makes perfect? - No Perfect practice makes perfect!

25. What do they all have in common?

26. Do YOU Have These Good Habits? • Plan ahead and leave early • Prepare yourself and the vehicle • Perform smooth gradual starts and stops • Consistently use reference points to determine vehicle placement • Establish visual targets in your path of travel • When you apply your foot to the brake or accelerator, you check the rearview mirror

27. Do YOU Have These Good Habits? • Prior to moving to the left or right, you check side view mirror and mirror blind spot  • You always strive to maintain a four-second following interval from the vehicle in front to create space and protect yourself to the front and rear from unsafe actions of other drivers • When stopped behind a vehicle, you leave space to move around the stopped vehicle in case of an emergency or rear-end crash

28. Do YOU Have These Good Habits? • Visually target to the end of the path of travel • When approaching a light, you adjust speed to time your arrival to the green light or stop • Prior to entering an intersection, you check front, left, and right zones, and back to the front and left again • Reduce stress by being courteous rather than competitive while driving • Minimize distractions

29. What is a Space Management System? Assess, Action Step, Evaluate • A space management system helps drivers organize information into meaningful categories so decisions can be made easily and quickly • Drivers must evaluate potential risk using the principles of probability (will it happen?) and consequence (what will be gained or lost?)

30. Managing the Space Around Your Vehicle Drivers must manage all six zones around the vehicle, and adjust position to maintain a safe margin of space that provides room to steer in an emergency Right-Front Zone Right-Rear Zone 3 5 Front Zone Rear Zone 1 6 Left-Rear Zone Left-Front Zone 2 4

31. Open, Closed and Changing Zones • A Zone can be OPEN, CLOSED or CHANGING • OPEN— An open zone is a space where you can drive without restriction • CLOSED— The space or area is not available in the vehicle’s path of travel • CHANGING— An open zone changes to a closed zone or a closed zone becomes an open zone

32. Using a Space Management System Closed ZONE Right-Rear Zone Changing ZONE Check Rear Closed ZONE Check Side Open ZONE Changing ZONE Check Rear Evaluate your options and then take action OPEN —this zone that has no restrictions to the line of sight or path of travel. CLOSED —this zone not available CHANGING — it was an open zone that is changing to a closed zone. Open ZONE Move Here Check Side

33. Controlling Space Drivers have the most control over the space directly in front of the vehicle 2-Second - Following Distance is effective at speeds under 35 mph 3-Second - Following Distance may provide enough time for evasive steering maneuver on dry surfaces or to brake at speeds up to 45 mph 4-Second - Following Distance provides time to steer out of a problem on dry surfaces and brake out of a problem at speeds up to 70 mph

34. Measuring Your Following Distance Begin counting when rear of the vehicle ahead passes a fixed object one-thousand-one one-thousand-two one-thousand-three, and…

35. Measuring Your Following Distance ESTABLISH FOLLOWING DISTANCE when you reach the fixed object one-thousand-four

36. Increase Following Distance When • Visibility is limited • Traction is limited • Number of visual and mental tasks increases • being tailgated • line of sight restriction • path of travel restriction • carrying a heavy load or pulling a trailer • learning to drive

37. Stopping Behind Another Vehicle Why do you stop in a position that you can see the rear tires of the vehicle in front? See tires

38. Space Management for Intersections When the light turns green, does that mean you can move into the intersection?

39. Managing the Space to the Rear • Check rearview mirrors: • Regularly • Before and while braking • While stopped in traffic • Before and after making turns • Before and after a lane change • Can you control the space behind you?

40. Managing the Space to the Sides • Strive to keep one of the side zones open • Respond to an oncoming vehicle by slightly adjusting lane position to increase space between your vehicle and the oncoming vehicle • Adjust lane position to increase space between your vehicle and parked cars, bicyclists, pedestrians, etc.

41. Judging Gaps in Traffic • In order to judge a gap you need to be able to judge speed, time and distance while moving. This is a very difficult skill for novice drivers. • Why is a vehicle approaching from the left most hazardous? • Why is a larger gap needed for a right turn than to cross an intersection? • Why is a left turn more dangerous than a right turn?

42. Judging Gaps from a Stopped Position Traffic is moving at 30 mph • 5-6 seconds to cross a two lane roadway (vehicles need to be at least a block away) • 7-8 seconds to cross a four lane intersection • 7-8 seconds to turn left (vehicles need to be more than a block away or length of a football field) • 6-7 seconds to turn right (vehicles need to be at least a block away) • 4-6 second gap to change lanes into traffic from parked position

43. Component of a Space Management Systems Perception/Reaction/Response Time Perception Time Time it takes to identify a risk Average perception time varies with the circumstances • Reaction Time • Time it takes to respond with accelerator, brake, or steering • Average reaction time is ¾ second • Response Time • Total time it takes to complete the action

44. Factors Affecting Response Time • Distractions • Inattention • Poor Visibility • Line of Sight Restrictions • Fatigue • Medications • Alcohol • Illness • Age • Talking on Cell Phone • Others?

45. Calculating Speed & Distance Traveled Formula to calculate feet per second for each MPH of speed A vehicle will travel 1.467 (rounded up to 1.5) feet per second for each mph of speed 40 mph x 1.5 = 60 feet per second 60 mph x 1.5 = 90 feet per second 80 mph x 1.5 = 120 feet per second

46. Calculating Feet Per Second for Every MPH Simplified Formula to calculate feet per second for each MPH of speed Take the speed, divide by two, add the answer to the speed. Examples: 40 mph ÷ 2 = 20 + 40 = 60 feet per second 60 mph ÷ 2 = 30 + 60 = 90 feet per second 80 mph ÷ 2 = 40 + 80 = 120 feet per second A football field is 300 feet in length. Calculate how long it will take a vehicle traveling 40 mph, 50 mph, and 60 mph to cover the length of the football field.

47. Virginia’s Space Management System SEE iT! • Search • Evaluate • Execute • in Time

48. Virginia Space Management System SEEiT • Search— the entire scene in your line of sight/path of travel for potential risks, and if during your search you identify a risk you • Evaluate —it by determining if and where possible points of conflict may occur, and then • Execute —your decision as how to best manage the risk by adjusting speed and/or position • in Time – to avoid the conflict

49. Search in SEEiT • Know when, where and what to look for • Search far ahead, to the sides, to the rear • Search for clues: intersections, brake lights, warning signs, traffic lights, other vehicles, pedestrians, animals, parked cars, etc., • Search for changes in front wheels of other vehicles, movement from the side, etc.

50. Search in SEEiT • Search intersections, crosswalks, shopping centers, parking lots, construction areas and playgrounds • When driving in rural areas search for hidden intersections and driveways, curves, hills and varying road conditions • Search for trucks and other oversized vehicles, as well as slow moving farm vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles, etc.