A Fighter Pilot explains how to be a better driver/rider/road user

[Rumblestripe]

I had this posted to me on another forum and I think it is worth anyone who uses our congested roads having a read of it.

 

http://www.portsmouthctc.org.uk/a-fighter-pilots-guide-to-surviving-on-the-roads/
 

 

John Sullivan is a Royal Air Force pilot with over 4,000 flight hours, and a keen cyclist. In this article he describes why collisions can occur and, in layman’s terms, how some of the techniques of flying fast jets can be used to increase your chances of survival on the roads.

 

 

It should make you think and help you understand how to be safer when using the road as á driver, a cyclist or even just a pedestrian.

[Allegheny1600]

Thanks buddy!

I shall ensure all my friends & family get to see this, I think it's something everyone should learn.

Cheers,

John E.

[Ozexpatriate]

It's easy to dismiss this sort of article a-priori and not read on, but this was an excellently written, informative and engaging article.  Thanks for sharing.

 

One of my own observations (as a pedestrian at a traffic light where I regularly see drivers ignoring pedestrians on the crossing) is this part of the article intended for cyclists:

 

... when passing junctions, look at the head of the driver that is approaching or has stopped. The head of the driver will naturally stop and centre upon you if you have been seen. If the driver’s head sweeps through you without pausing, the chances are that you are in a saccade — you must assume that you have not been seen and expect the driver to pull out!

Like many of the hardwired optimizations we have, humans are 'pre-wired' to make eye contact. Establishing eye contact with a driver is an effective tool for pedestrians and cyclists to make sure they don't get run over. Echoing the author of the article - if they don't stop and make eye contact they probably didn't really see you.

 

I find that it is really effective on that notorious pedestrian crossing.

[Sidecar Racer]

Maybe Andy Green should read this article , might avoid mistakes in future .

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jow4NA4H_7Y

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

The concept is absolutely correct and was taught me by a very experienced cyclist when I was in my teens. I have avoided numerous bike and car accidents this way.

 

Now this quote up-thread:... when passing junctions, look at the head of the driver that is approaching or has stopped. The head of the driver will naturally stop and centre upon you if you have been seen. If the driver’s head sweeps through you without pausing, the chances are that you are in a saccade — you must assume that you have not been seen and expect the driver to pull out

 

The phrases in red are the most important for busy road conditions, rather than up in the air. Drivers will pull out even when looking straight at you. The reason is psychological; as the environment gets busier, the ability to cope with all the hazards reaches a limit, and quite unconciously the focus is restricted only to the significant threats. (Some very elegant research has been done to demonstrate this effect.) Cyclists and pedestrians are no threat to the car or truck driver, and literally 'cease to exist' for the driver as he reaches his overload point.

 

This is a significant difference from the flight environment where everything flying in view is a threat, and usually very limited in number. Many more pilots have ground collisions in aircraft than ever come within a mile of a risk of an airborne collision.

[lapford34102]

You learn something new every day! Very interesting and extremely useful. Just need to practise it now.

 

Stu

[BlackRat]

Have a look at Roadcraft........the Police manual.

[Ramblin Rich]

I believe there's a lot of complacency among drivers, cars are too comfortable and safe. They can't or won't contemplate the fact that there are other road users who are a possible threat or, worse still, that they pose a threat to. There is also the fact that people treat driving as a right, not a skilled privilege that needs earning.

[Happy Hippo]

Have a look at Roadcraft........the Police manual.

It's an excellent book, far better than the inferior version that the IAM used to dish out.

 

My copy of Roadcraft is very battered and worn away from frequent use.

 

When I was an ADI, I used to give a copy of Roadcraft to all my students who were embarking on the Pass Plus scheme.

[trisonic]

Totally agree with Neil’s comment.

 

“A" pillars on modern cars are way to thick for decent visibility - you’ve got to move your head around, all the time and deliberately/consciously.

 

Best, Pete.

 

Edited for clarity.

[Sidecar Racer]

Have a look at Roadcraft........the Police manual.

 

 And I have a lot of photo's of bent Police cars .   

[28XX]

I have been helping my father increasingly over the last three years as his eysight has deteriorated. I have learned that there is s world of difference between vision and perception. He can lose a vegetable knife in the middle of a plain beige worktop. His eyes actually see very little, his brain synthesises the rest of his perception of his environment, and he experiences what his brain expects to be there.

[Pacific231G]

I believe there's a lot of complacency among drivers, cars are too comfortable and safe. They can't or won't contemplate the fact that there are other road users who are a possible threat or, worse still, that they pose a threat to. There is also the fact that people treat driving as a right, not a skilled privilege that needs earning.

I absolutely agree. I hope that flying makes me a more careful driver but I'm not at all sure that it does. When you're flying you're very conscious of the risks because being up in the air is simply not a natural place for a human to be. When driving we all tend to feel subconsciously that our comfortable metal boxes are protecting us. That's true up to a point but not nearly as much as we fondly believe. That belief seems to hold particularly for people who drive SUVs even though apparently the only situation in which they offer any greater protection than a normal car is in a crash with another SUV.

 

The biggest difference is that whether you'rer flying or driving some fool  may kill you but if you're flying that fool is probably you. On the roads there are plenty of other fools trying to kill you as well as the fool behind the wheel of the car you're driving.The important thing is to realise that we're all foolish quite a lot of the time.

 

The bit about slowing down at junctions to create relative movement is very interesting and an idea from flying that had simply never occured to me.

[Pacific231G]

I've done a little delving and the full version of John Sullivan's report is here.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/90471/1211%20Road%20Survival%20Guide%20Final.pdf

with some very useful additional diagrams.

 

Sullivan himself is rather more than just an RAF fighter pilot and my respect for him has grown considerably as I've learnt more about him.

Group Captain John Sullivan MBE MSc RAF currently holds a senior role in NATO and was, as a Wing Commander, the last Officer Commanding of 6 Sqn and thus the last OC of an RAF Jaguar squadron. He wrote about this in his book  Big Cat Diary: The Last Year of the Jaguar with 6 Squadron RAF

 

In 2009 he was the President of an RAF Service Inquiry into a fatal mid-air collision whose recommendations were also adopted by the parallel Air Accident Investigation Branch  inquiry https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/542301c9e5274a1314000acb/6-2010_G-BYUT_G-BYVN.pdf.

 

The nature of this air accident, in which two young air cadets and the RAF pilots flying them on an air experience flight were killed, may well have informed what Group Captain Sullivan is now saying about road safety. Paragraph 1:18:3 "Limitations of Visual Lookout" on page 38 of the AAIB report is particularly relevant and goes into more technical detail than Surviving on the Roads.  If you have the time it's also  worth reading but I'm recommending all my friends and family to read Sullivan's article.

[rockershovel]

Terry Prachett's version of Death was not actually invisible as such, but relied upon people being unwilling to see him, or being subconsciously edited out of context. Children could see him, because they didn't have the ingrained unwillingness; wizards and at least some witches could see him, because (although he was rarely a welcome sight) they were attuned to a context in which he might well appear, going about his duties.

 

But the man-in-the-street, for whom Death must have been a common passerby, couldn't see him because what good does it do to recognise him? He PROBABLY won't harm you on this occasion ....

[rockershovel]

Note also, the recent news story involving the American tourist killed within seconds of taking the controls of a vintage P-51 Mustang; apparently neither he, nor the very experienced pilot correctly appreciated their true altitude and they crashed into the sea. You might think the sea would be visible, but obviously visibility and interpretation of what you see, are not the same thing

[Pacific231G]

Note also, the recent news story involving the American tourist killed within seconds of taking the controls of a vintage P-51 Mustang; apparently neither he, nor the very experienced pilot correctly appreciated their true altitude and they crashed into the sea. You might think the sea would be visible, but obviously visibility and interpretation of what you see, are not the same thing

 

Altitude over the sea can be notoriously difficult to judge as can attitude. If there's any haze, and there often is, the horizon between sea and sky can be all but invisible, it's often known as the "miilk bowl effect" and without a clear horizon it's entirely possible for an aircraft to be in a descent without the pilot realising.

Even without that it's actually far easier to become disoriented in the air than most people realise especially during or after aerobatic manouevres and experience is not an absolute guarantee. It's also likely that some of the pilot's attention was on his "student".

 

I've not seen this story so don't know if the tourist was himself an experienced pilot but even if he was it would have been an unfamiliar aircraft.