Confidence promotes safety on the road, not fear
The out-dated notion that you can manipulate people to be better on-highway motorcyclists and passenger vehicle drivers by use of fear and horror has been proven to be ine ective.
That's why I was disappointed to see that Rappahannock County schools chose to use this "teaching" method last week. Exposing 11th and 12th graders to car crash Trauma Drama will not make these teenagers better drivers. [A news story about the simulation at RCHS appears on Page 6.]
It is skills’ training that improves driver performance, not anxiety.
I'm going to use a racing analogy. NASCAR teams do not expose their race drivers to on track crash videos to enhance racing performance on the track. Driver performance is enhanced in positive, confidence boosting training exercises, not by reminding race drivers they could die in competition.
A nervous, confused, fearful driver is a hazard on both road and track. An example often repeated in Sperryville are motorcyclists losing traction in a curve. A confident rider knows she needs to brake lightly and lean the bike hard when encountering an unforeseen declining radius curve. A fearful rider may slam on the brakes as a fear response thereby destabilizing his motorcycle at a critical moment that then results in contact with a guardrail or worse.
Time and again, neuroscientists and other cognitive researchers have demonstrated that the presence of fear hinders the brain's ability to learn and retain information. If your brain is in a heightened state of arousal, the thought process is hindered. Emotional trauma blinds the brain to learning. Trauma is corrosive. Marinating your brain in a toxic stew of horror images will not improve performance.
What all motor vehicle drivers require is good physical health, including good reflexes and good vision; accurate awareness of time and space; sound cognitive abilities, otherwise known as judgment; and solid knowledge of how their vehicle operates in all surface and weather conditions.
All operators benefit from hands-on and classroom skills training. Learning what works and unlearning bad habits saves lives and prevents injuries. Muscle memory is as important as understanding the consequences of a choice, such as learning to brake and turn, instead of uncontrolled swerving resulting in the loss of traction. How many times have you read about a driver who "ran o the road, over-corrected" and crashed?
Effective skills’ courses are abundant. Every motorcyclist and driver benefits with improved performance after taking these courses. Practice and knowledge promotes condent riders and drivers.
Confidence promotes safety on the road. Be positive.