Freeway driving tactics

[Music] clean people so many cars I wonder where they're all going there sure in a hurry it's good to open this baby up and just drive no more stop [Music] lights this road is beautiful I could drive all day sure beats the old Route how did we ever get to work before we had freeways this traffic goes too fast makes me nervous as a bird keeping your mind on driving is tough enough without a car full of children but at least there aren't any cross streets to watch a day of this is work in anybody's book you really have to drive with your head up [Music] fast safe dangerous these are the reactions of people to the thousands of miles of freeways that have been built in the last 10 years HG Wells visualized roads such as these in His science fiction fantasies today we have them they have made travel and commuting a way of life for millions of Americans most drivers are skillful and careful they and the highway Engineers have made the throughways the safest places to drive today by odds of 2 and 1/2 to 1 high-speed formation traffic however has introduced new problems problems inherent to an age of speed I wish they'd slow down I'll never be able to make it maybe now nope that was close [Music] those fools are driving too fast approaching the flow of traffic too slowly is one of the first mistakes many people make one must merge with the traffic at the prevailing speed coming in too slowly or stopping unnecessarily only makes the problem more difficult and dangerous [Music] while this driver made a better entrance his Hasty habits won't get him there any faster in fact they may take him [Music] longer that stupid clown why doesn't he learn to drive drive it or get off the road why don't you drive out a parking experts have found by The Bitter experience of traffic victims that Jack Rabbit Lane Changers are the source of many accidents [Music] any kind of an emergency whether it be an accident or only running out of gas demands that the driver get his car out of the traveled Lanes as quickly as possible this is no time to worry about things like Tire Damage it's better to lose a tire than your life the crossover should be made with caution only one lane at a time should be [Music] attempted the idle curiosity of other drivers multiplied by the danger of following too closely can turn a minor emergency into a major [Music] tragedy I could walk for help but that would be dangerous with this traffic I better just wait there should be a patrol car along soon mirrors sometimes reveal more than meets the eye those guys do a pretty good job TR at a constant speed can be deceptive because everything doesn't always remain constant a driver's vision is often limited to the few cars immediately ahead when one driver changes speed for even a moment the balance of speed and distance in the the formation is radically changed a chain reaction is set in motion the situation quickly gets out of [Music] control he was following the truck at only 28 ft although they were both doing 50 mph when the truck driver hit the brakes George reacted 1/2 second [Applause] later which was better than average but it still cost him 36 valuable feet the distance lost in reacting 55 ft of reaction distance we're allowing 60 ft all set let's go elal braking lights on number one car will leave no doubt in George's mind or yours as to his Quee to react we're up to speed 50 [Music] mph the final stopping distance between the two cars is 5 ft we started with 60 the difference 55 ft was used by George in reacting to the situation we'll try it once more only this time we're going to Short Change George our 60ft rope is cut to 50 from a normal reaction distance of 55 ft we're going to chop off 5 ft the drivers are ready they're on quickly up to [Music] speed the tail light flash [Music] [Music] tailgating at any speed does not make sense even for an expert driver George and his partner are okay the cars are not you can't drive one automobile 3 ft into another and expect them to be the [Music] same our country is being opened up to a kind of safe travel and exploration beyond our wildest dreams let's keep keep it a dream and not a nightmare practice good driving habits enjoy fast safe freeway [Music] driving for