-
Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!
You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!
Defensive Skills on the Road and the Slopes by Subaru
- Thread starter catskills
- Start date
billski
Active member
I really only read the automotive section. It's more about equipping and using your vehicle properly, than anything defensive. Actually, ditto for ski/boarding.
darent
Active member
I think cars equiped with traction control should have a on and off switch, some advanced winter driving techniques are almost impossible to do with traction control operable.even antilock brakes are a hinderance to manuvers that require you to lock the brakes up
Bumpsis
Well-known member
I'm guessing that most cars do. My two cars do. The antilock system can't be disabled, but I think that at this point in my driving experience, I'm convinced that the system can pulse the brakes much more efficently than I.
Most people don't take advanced driving courses, so I'd think that the technological fix is the next best thing. No substitution for common sense though. I think that if one has the chance to drive in snow a lot, you get a really good feeling for the margins of safety on the road.
I spent 15 winters in Buffalo and acquired a good sense of judgement as to what would get me into trouble.
Now, after another 15 years in Boston (no so much driving in snow), I'm definietely feeling a bit less confident in full winter conditions.
I find it a bit funny when people get over confident in snow and end up in a ditch, despite having that 4 weel drive, invincible SUV or a truck that in TV commercials blasts through avalanches.
vonski
New member
My Kia Sorrento is rear wheel drive or 4 wheel drive. When in rear wheel it has traction control or a switch to turn it off. When in 4 wheel drive the traction control automatically turns off. It works great with rear wheel drive and when in 4 wheel I would not it to work anyways. I did turn it off on New Years Eve and did some donuts in the lot with the rear wheel drive! :lol:
millerm277
Well-known member
Sure it can be, usually. Directions:
Open manual.
Open fuse panel.
Find fuse labeled ABS.
Pull fuse.
ABS is disabled.
I said it in the other thread and I'll say it here.... I'd rather see less gadgetry on vehicles if it meant better driver's behind the wheel. Now, I'm not one for new laws much...but the driving tests in this country are kinda week. I know things have changed a bit since I got my license back in 1993 or 1994...but my road test was a whopping 7 minutes long.
Bumpsis
Well-known member
I'm in full agreement with regards to driving test. I thought that this was indigenous just to eastern MA, but I guess it's much more wide spread. One can be as ignorant as a bump on a log and still pass. Throw into this a major dash of arrogance, then snow on top of that and it really can be dangerous.
jrmagic
New member
Its the same here in NY on the road tests. As for the arrogant aka ignorant SUV drivers... the look on their face when they wipe out is priceless. I mean come on there is only so fast you can go round a turn without coming unglued. Thankfully must of us skiers and boarders have a good sense of what not to do;-)
billski
Active member
I've got two licensed (within the last three years) kids on my hands now. There is a sense of entitlement, no matter how much the authorities preach that it's a privilidge, not a right.
It's pervasive, from the kids who want their license as soon as they become eligible, throughout US society. Not true in other countries. It's judged that in the US we have poor mass transit and things are so distance that a license is a requirement for living.
This thinking has reached a new pinnacle as of late. I watched my second kid take her test. Once around the block. Literally. Right turns all the way. Parallel park with only one car parked. Pull in the parking lot, thank you very much.
In the early 70s in WNY, we sweated beads. We had to use hand signals, and our parallel parking job had to be within 6" of the curb or you flunk. Lots of kids I knew flunked on that one alone. We practiced for weeks before we got it right.
hammer
Active member
Which RMV did you go to? Think my son will want to take his test there...;-)
My son's up to over 25 hours of parent-supervised driving now. Has the mechanical skills down and seems to know the rules of the road enough, but focus/attention is still a real problem. Good thing is that he needs another 15 hours before he can take his test.
jrmagic
New member
They didnt even require hand signals?? Wow. I took mine in the Bronx in the early 80s ad we had to do hand signals and had to make a real parallel park like you did but I still feel that it was not that rigorous though I admit I was sweating bullets too.
billski
Active member
Apparently the inspector asked my daughter to show her a right turn hand signal, while they were sitting in the car idling, with the window up
Testing hand signals seems like a waste of time.. The only hand signal I've ever used is waving people around me when I break down. There are vastly more important pieces of knowledge that should be tested instead.
billski
Active member
I kept working with my kids until they stopped panicing everytime a new situation came up. It took well over 25 hours for my two kids.
I made my kids drive backwards in a parking lot and side roads for their 1st hour of driving under a legal permit. That way they learned to turn the head to look backwards. ;-)
The only hand signal I see used these days is middle finger up. Once in awhile I will see an old motorcycle with the driver using hand signals.
When I took my motorcycle test I had to do figure 8s and circles on a side street. The entire time I had a German Shepard barking and chasing me. I passed. :-D
The only hand signal I see used these days is middle finger up. Once in awhile I will see an old motorcycle with the driver using hand signals.
When I took my motorcycle test I had to do figure 8s and circles on a side street. The entire time I had a German Shepard barking and chasing me. I passed. :-D
hammer
Active member
My son doesn't panic, he just doesn't react...which then makes me and my wife panic.
I worry about what kind of cars we're putting new drivers into. There was a great blurb in AutoWeek a few weeks back about how car markers are getting away from talking about engines and horsepower and are now talking above navigation, hard drives for music and other electronic stuff. Look, I like a good stereo as much as the next guy...and my GPS on my BlackBerry has saved my arse more than once. But do we really want to start cluttering the dash with more things that will take peoples' eyes off the road for even longer? I don't understand how some states have banned talking on your cell phone...but no one has a problem with checking the weather on your nav system as you tool along at 75mph.
millerm277
Well-known member
Here in NJ, my drivers test was about 6 minutes long, and consisted of:
1. Doing a K-turn in a parking lot, where you could easily drive in circles/do a u-turn if you felt like it, it was large enough.
2. Parallel parking in a space that's larger than any space I've ever seen, with cones with reflective flags stuck in them on all 4 corners.....and not even needing to get halfway into the space before the person stated "That's good".
3. 4 minutes of driving, with one left turn at a traffic light.
4. Parking the car at the end of the test and filling out papers.
1. Doing a K-turn in a parking lot, where you could easily drive in circles/do a u-turn if you felt like it, it was large enough.
2. Parallel parking in a space that's larger than any space I've ever seen, with cones with reflective flags stuck in them on all 4 corners.....and not even needing to get halfway into the space before the person stated "That's good".
3. 4 minutes of driving, with one left turn at a traffic light.
4. Parking the car at the end of the test and filling out papers.
Similar threads
