Driving in the Cushion of Space

There are many components of safe driving: Space for the vehicle, visibility for the driver, and additional time to make decisions when hazards present themselves. But to consistently generate space, visibility, and time; it is important that drivers follow a simple process when they enter traffic flows in which moderate or even heavy traffic is present on roadways.

Step one: maneuver your vehicle into a cushion of space around the vehicle.

Unless involved in a collision, every driver has some space around their vehicle as they drive, so technically, everyone has a reaction area around their vehicle. This is the space in which people see and react to the traffic variables that surround them. However, all reaction zones are not necessarily the same. Most people are pack/herd drivers. They tend to drive alongside other vehicles in congestion, even when space is available in other lanes. Observant drivers always gravitate toward space, and that gives them an edge. A good, cushioned area around your vehicle has no pre-defined boundaries because as traffic moves and flows, a variety of objects and vehicles will enter and leave your immediate surroundings.

Once in this position with minimal vehicles around you, you are isolated from other traffic, and you are insulated from other drivers’ mistakes. Without the various barriers that pack vehicles represent, you can gather important information that will elude the less skilled driver.

Step two: expand the distance of your visibility around your cushion of space.

The awareness zone is the expanded area of safety that drivers can obtain when they have placed their vehicles in a cushioned area of space. Like the cushioned area around the vehicle, the awareness zone has no boundaries. We call this zone awareness because it allows you to see, anticipate, and act on information well before average drivers can do so.

This zone allows you to anticipate the actions of other drivers. In the driving world, it’s not just seeing potential hazards that are important. Your safety depends on when the danger is detected. This is the perception time. The awareness zone is at least 15 seconds ahead of your vehicle, it expands out to your sides as far as relevant information exists from what you can see using your side and rearview mirrors, and it extends way beyond the rear of your vehicle to take in all of the variables that might affect your safety.