The Car Control Challenges: Introduction

The Toyota Car Control Challenge is all about the three areas of driver behavior that allow some young drivers to survive the first 4 critical years of driving, 16-17-18-19, crash free. We all begin our first efforts at acquiring permission to drive a family vehicle on public roads with some knowledge. There is no doubt that most 5 year olds recognize a stop sign when they see it. See, they already have some important knowledge. They can say the word when they want someone to cease doing something—like stealing their donut. Or when someone is coming too close for comfort. Or when they see a red and white octagonal sign with the word on it.

Only later do they learn that they can sometimes ignore or abuse the command to stop. And that takes us into the realm of attitudes. Most young drivers know a lot about the rules of the road, what road signs mean one should do or not do. To the degree that they obey the rules and the signs, they have developed attitudes that run their decision-making processes.

Running red lights, exceeding speed limits, crossing double yellow lines, passing in no passing zones, exceeding the posted warning speed on a curve, those are all extensions of an attitude that says about the rules and their knowledge, “Not now, not today. I can get away with violating the rules and still be OK. And perhaps, “I need to—at least this time.” Then, down the road somewhere the odds catch up to them and they crash. It’s called risky behavior and how you behave when you think no one is looking (or counts) has everything to do with your attitudes.

Your knowledge of the rules of conduct, both in law and by common sense and the road signs and the guidance they provide is important. But accepting and conforming are matters of attitude. Attitude changes everything—positively or negatively.

So the first two Challenges are Attitude and Knowledge...

...The Third Challenge is Skill.

The New Driver Car Control curriculum was developed when we first studied why young drivers crash 3-4 times more frequently than all other age categories. Historically, driver educators had attributed that outcome to “lack of experience,” combined with “risky behavior.” In other words, these darn kids didn’t have “enough experience behind the wheel” to “get away with making bad decisions” and “taking risks,” sometimes because they “think they are immortal.” Wild and Crazy. But what about crashes caused by the Other Guy.

Our analysis took us further into crashes and we uncovered a remarkable fact not addressed by traditional driver education—the three seconds between the initation of a crash event—the instant that the driver sees a problem—and the actual crash itself is not driven by attitudes or knowledge. That three seconds is an athletic event during which the brain must direct the rest of the body to take multiple high speed and correct physical actions in order to avoid or ameliorate the impending crash. (See The Anatomy of an Accident.) Like hitting a curve ball or a topspin backhand, the response to a crisis is all about your stroke. Do you have one and how good is it. It’s all about eyes, hands and feet delivering the right responses and producing a positive result. Those skills cannot be developed outside of a batting cage, a tennis court or a car. They require coaching and practice and a groove.