Professional Driving Focus

Drive Like A Professioal

Do you drive like a professional even if you are a professional driver?  Do you drive like a professional even if you are not a professional driver?  These are difficult questions that also include many other variables.  Is it possible to do everything right?  Or, from a more fundamental position maybe the question should be something like “what are the issues and characteristics associated with professional driving”?

Professional Driving Defined

Professional driving means that you know what to do and do it.  Sounds basic but it is very difficult to consistently execute.  Consider how an airline pilot controls the plane, there is one ultimate objective which is to safely make the trip.  In many ways aircraft operation is a parallel to automobile operation.  This is not to say that you have to be a pilot to be a professional driver.  However, applying realistic performance standards and expectations to driving will make you  a better driver.

But I Am A Good Driver

Driving  in a professional manner represents a set of critically important skills.  If you have a Driver’s License then you successfully got an identification card.  Driver training may have included some classroom time and time in a driver training car with an instructor.  With classroom knowledge and hands-on experience you were ready for the high-anxiety Official Driving Test which consisted of an eye exam, written and driving test.  Presumably you passed the first time.

A License To Learn

Top racing drivers are legends and they got to be legends because they were very good.  Consider a series of names: Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Elio Castroneves, Danica Patrick, Mario Andretti, AJ Foyt, Fireball Roberts, Ray Fox, Fred Marriott, and you.  Being a professional driver does not necessarily mean that you have to race a car.

Does the Pilot have to race the Plane

You expect a pilot to professionally operate the plane.  Racing the plane is not the success point.  Getting safely to the destination is the success point.

Pilot Training and Driver Training

With the newly-minted driver’s license our driver goes to a Flight Training program which consists of classroom ground school which must be successfully passed and then a minimum of 40 hours operational time in the aircraft.  Realistically in today’s environment of airspace restrictions and operational restrictions 60 hours would be considered fast.  Completion of ground school and flight training permits you to go for a check-ride with a Certified Pilot that has the FAA capability to sign you off as a pilot that can fly the plane in a manner the FAA deems reasonably competent.

Reasonably Competent

A newly-minted pilot license is not an instrument rated pilot nor an airline pilot.  Simply put there are additional levels of training and testing before the pilot gets into the drivers seat of that commercial aircraft.

Professional Vehicle Operation

Driving a car or flying a plane successfully means that:

• you can re-use the equipment
• you and your passengers were not in fear
• all operations were properly executed
• no laws were broken

Successful operation requires mental and physical capability.  The driver must know what to do and property execute the maneuver.  If the driver does not know what to do then it is impossible to be successful since they do not know how to do it.  For example, turn into a skid.  If the driver has never practiced this maneuver then by the time they think “turn into the skid” it is way too late.

Success Is Practice Perfect

Success in driving is performance.  Success in flying is performance.  Knowing professional driving methods and executing them will not only make you a better driver but these skills will help to keep you alive.

Recently I had the opportunity to be a passenger with a race car driver in training.  His hands were not coordinated and working together in harmony with the steering wheel.  He did not know where to place his hands and he did not know how to move his hands.  This was not the driving control performance of a driver that had been properly schooled in advanced driving techniques.

Steering Maneuver

Here is an advanced vehicle handling driver training driving technique. Take a look at the diagrams for the steering wheel.  For most driving on city streets and the race track the Shuffle Technique is very effective and permits the driver to maintain solid control of the car.  One hand holds the steering wheel and the other shuffles to the new position to hold the wheel.  Hands do not cross the centerline top or bottom of the steering wheel.

This method may appear to be a lot of work when just driving around.  However, practice makes for good proficiency.  With the shuffle you always have one hand solidly on the steering wheel.  In the event you encounter a pothole or other steering wheel “jerk” event the steering wheel will not be pulled out of you hands.  Remember to always keep your hands on the outside of the steering wheel.  Hands inside the steering wheel and impact with a “jerk” event could result in a serious hand injury.