SST Safety Courses - Safe Driving

This site was designed to provide the best safety training possible for our drivers and their families. By way of introduction to safe driving training, here are some statistics you should be aware of.

36,560 people in the U.S. lost their lives in traffic accidents in 2018.
The average annual number of people injured in automobile crashes is between 2.5 and 3 million. Many of these injuries are permanently disabling or disfiguring.
The number of traffic accidents has remained fairly unchanged over the last two and a half decades. The annual average is between 10 and 11 million. (one of the major contributors to the lower death rate is the increasing rate of use of seat belts).
Traffic accidents are the number one killer of teenagers in the U. S.
Traffic accidents are the number one killer of employees in the work place in the U. S.
Despite all of the evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of seat belts in saving lives, approximately 12 to 15% of the current driving population refuses or neglects to use them.
3,328 people were killed in traffic accidents during 2018 that resulted from distracted driving. An additional 421,000 people were injured in traffic accidents during this same time period due to distracted driving.
According to research by the Society of Automotive Engineers, Drivers either neglect to use their signals when changing lanes - or fail to tun the signals off- 48% of the time.
- When making turns, the failure rate is about 25%. That works out to 2 BILLION times per day that drivers fail to use their signals.
- This results in approximately 2 Million collisions annually which is more than TWICE the 950,000 annual Accidents linked to distracted driving.

Crashes Don't Just Happen They Are Caused!

Typically an accident occurs when one or more drivers make a mistake or a poor judgment. For example, a driver approaching a stale green light establishes a point of decision that is too far away from the intersection and so proceeds through the intersection on a red light instead of a yellow.

This is the first element that can lead to the accident. The second element is the other driver or drivers not anticipating or planning for a red light runner so they just proceed through the intersection and...BOOM!, the accident happens.

They don't slow down or they don't give a 3 count before entering the intersection. The bottom line is that one or more drivers could have avoided this accident by following safe driving methods.

As a professional driver you are not only expected to drive safely so you don't cause an accident, you are also expected to anticipate the mistakes of other drivers so you can avoid the accidents they may cause.

Causes of Traffic Crashes

Statistically there are a number of reasons why traffic crashes occur, for example:

Distractions for the driver
Speed
Weather conditions
Medical conditions

But more than any other cause the most significant contributor to crashes is "Driver Attitude." In particular: "I didn't think it would happen to me."

Think about it for a moment. Drivers don't think they will be involved in a crash, so they don't...use their seat belt, use their turn signal, obey the speed limit or maintain following distance. They run red lights because they think someone else will look out for them. They pass in dangerous places because they think the way is clear. They text or talk on their phones because they think they will not have a crash. But then,... the crash happens.

Then, all the things they didn't think about will come crashing down on them...the embarrassment, the cost, the time wasted, the injury pain, the guilt of hurting someone else or even, the sadness and regret of causing the loss of life for someone else

The first step in preventing accidents is to realize that they can happen to you and that the only way to really prevent them from happening is to learn and follow good safe driving methods.

In your role as a professional driver a great deal of responsibility is placed upon you to deliver and pick up freight while preserving not only your own safety and well being, but that of other businesses and the general public as well.

In addition to being expected to drive safely and avoid causing accidents due to your own choices and actions, you are required to "foresee" and avoid the mistakes and poor judgment of other drivers on the road.

This is a challenging responsibility that your are expected to live up to each and every day that you drive your commercial vehicle. The five safe driving methods described below will give you the training and skill level necessary to live up to the demands of current safety regulations, business requirements and expectations of the general driving public.

THE FIVE SAFE DRIVING METHODS

Aim High in Steering
How do you do it? Have an imaginary target down the road, like a dartboard.
What does it do for you? Centers truck in traffic lane. Safe path on turns.
Key phrase: Find a Safe Path Well Ahead.
Get The Big Picture
How do you do it? How wide and deep? What's in it? Objects and ground.
What does it do for you? Keeps you away from billboards. Smooth stops and turns. Buys time.
Key Phrase: Stay Back and See it All.
Keep Your Eyes Moving
How do you do it? Move eyes: Front 2 seconds. Rear 5 to 8 seconds.
What does it do for you? Keeps you alive at intersections. Keeps eyes ahead of vehicle
Key Phrase: Scan, Don't Stare.
Leave Yourself an Out
How do you do it? Have an escape route. Take the path of least resistance.
What does it do for you? Space on all four sides, but always in front.
Key Phrase: Be Prepared, Expect the Unexpected.
Make Sure They See You
How do you do it? Communicate in traffic - horn, lights and signals.
What does it do for you? Establishes eye to eye contact
Key Phrase: Don't Gamble. Use Your Horn, Lights and Signals.

These methods have been proven over and over again to reduce auto crash potential and save lives. But they will do you no good if you don't memorize them and constantly use them.

Click here for printable copy.

Here are some suggestions for learning and using the Five Safe Driving Methods:

Carry a copy in your car and review the methods at stop lights or whenever you park (DO NOT read while driving!!)
Put each method on a 3x5 card. Carry one card with you each day and refer to it as you work to memorize that method during that day. Change cards for the next day.
Teach the Five Safe Driving Methods to someone else like a spouse, friend or child. "He Who Teaches Learns Twice" (Confucius)

Safe Driving Methods Explanation

The single page Five Safe Driving Methods list is a good reference page to help memorize the methods. Here is a more complete explanation of what the methods are, how to do them and what you can expect from using them.

Aim High In Steering.
This method is designed to help you get your vision down the road ahead of your vehicle so you can evaluate the upcoming driving scene for potential safety hazards with enough time that you can comfortably respond to avoid them.

To properly use this method you need to look at the driving scene ahead of you, approximately 8 to 12 seconds down the road. You are looking towards where you are going to drive during the next 12 seconds. Its like targeting your vehicle down the road much like throwing a dart at a target or throwing a ball at a baseball glove. Like the key phrase states, you are finding a safe path well ahead and traveling that path with your vehicle.
The benefit to using this method is that surprising situations are diminished considerably. The driver has the ability to anticipate the movements of other drivers. A side benefit is that the driver's vehicle remains centered in the traffic lane, which helps reduce concerns other drivers have about driving by big trucks. The driver is also better able to perform turns at the appropriate distance from the curb.

Get The Big Picture.
This method is a visibility method. All actions pertaining to this method are designed to help the driver "see" what's going on in the driving picture.

This method begins by establishing how much of the driving picture the driver should be looking at. The depth of the big picture has already been established in the first method, Aim High in Steering. That depth should be about 8 to 12 seconds down the road. The width of the driving picture should be approximately between the fronts of buildings on each side of the road or the fronts of houses in a residential area. For open road driving it should be from fence line to fence line.
Now that the size of the picture is established the driver should account for all of the "stuff" that is in the picture. The term "objects" is used to describe anything that moves like pedestrians, motorists, etc. The term "ground" is used to describe all things that don't move like the roadway, trees, signs, posts, etc. The driver can now consider these items and their impact on his/her driving.

One item to be very aware of is moving objects that can block the vision or big picture of the driver. An example would be driving too close to the rear of a semi truck/trailer. The trailer significantly blocks the driver's vision and ability to get the big picture. The ability to account for other objects and ground in the big picture is significantly reduced. These types of vision blockages are referred to as "billboards." The best way to keep billboards out of the picture is to stay back from them. The farther ahead they are the less they block the big picture. We call this space following distance and a professional driver should maintain about 4 to 6 seconds of following distance at speeds under 30 mph and increase that distance to 6 to 8 seconds as the speed increases over 30 mph.

The benefit of using this method is that the driver is "buying time" in order to manage the actions and conditions present in the driving picture. The driver makes smoother stops and turns. He/she is automatically keeping away from billboards.

Keep Your Eyes Moving.
This methods is another visual method. It is designed to help the driver account for all the objects and ground discussed in the Get the Big Picture method.

This method requires that the driver be constantly moving his/her eyes in order to minimize the number of "surprising" moments that can come up and create hazards for the driver. The proper method for eye movement is referred to as the "Triangular Viewing Pattern." Essentially, the driver is constantly moving their eyes in a triangular pattern in order to assure that all possible areas of the big picture are covered, but that vision to the front is never taken away for more than 2 seconds. For example, upon starting out on the road, the first place the driver looks is ahead down the road. The next eye movement may be to a mirror. From there the next eye movement should be towards the front of the vehicle, never to another mirror or down at the dash board. If there is a need to check speed or any other gauge that eye movement should come after an eye movement to the front of the vehicle/driving path. An example of how this works is: look ahead to check travel path, then check the left mirror, then check the driving path ahead, then check the other mirror, then check the driving path ahead, then check the speed and then check the driving path ahead.

This method also describes how intersections should be entered. When approaching an intersection the driver must look left, right and then left again in order to establish that all motor and pedestrian traffic is honoring the traffic light/stop sign. Just because the driver has a green light does not mean he/she is clear to go through the intersection. The professional driver must assure that it is safe to go through. Some intersections are considered "blind" intersections meaning it is difficult to see if traffic is stopped or stopping for the intersection. The view of the intersection is blocked by trees, buildings or large vehicles. The driver must take the necessary precautions to assure that he/she can see the traffic. For example, slowing down before entering the intersection and covering the break in anticipation of a hazard.

Intersections with stale green lights present a particular problem in regards to eye movement. A stale green light is one that is green, but we did not see it turn green so we don't have a good idea as to when it will turn yellow. Most people when they approach an intersection with a stale green light focus on the light and don't look around at the intersection to make sure it is safe to enter. The professional driver should establish a point of decision as they approach this scenario so that when they arrive at the point of decision and the light is still green, they will know they can bring their vision down and scan the intersection. The point of decision is that point that is close enough to the intersection that if the light turns yellow, the driver will be able go through the intersection prior to the light turning red. At that point there is no reason to be looking at the light because the driver knows they will go through even if the light turns yellow. So now they can look left, right, left instead of worrying about looking at the light.

Leave Yourself an Out.
The purpose of this method is to help provide an escape route for the driver in case there is a hazard in the driving path that would cause an accident if the driver is not able to avoid it. One of the key elements of this method is to anticipate that a hazard is going to present itself and one of the ways to provide an escape route is to move in a travel path that would take the driver out of harms way. This element is referred to as taking the path of least resistance. The driver evaluates the available travel paths and chooses the one that offers the least opportunity for hazards or resistance. For example, traveling on a two lane road in a city, the right hand lane presents more resistance or hazard potential because of the parked cars, stopping cars, proximity to pedestrians and bicycles, cars turning into the roadway, etc. Therefore, the path of least resistance would be the left hand lane because it does not have all of the hazard potential of the right hand lane.

Regardless of what paths may or may not be available for a driver to take, he/she should always have their primary escape route which is their following distance.

Make Sure They See You.
Many accidents occur because drivers are not looking for driving hazards as they should. The professional driver has an obligation to make sure other drivers are seeing them. They do this by communicating in traffic with their horn, lights and signals. Professional drivers are able through the use of the preceding methods, to anticipate potential traffic hazards and can alert other drivers to their presence. The goal is to make eye contact with other drivers to assure that they are looking in the proper direction, which is towards the professional driver.

The best way to implement this method is to look at the drivers in each potential hazard situation to determine if they are looking in the driver's direction. If not, they need to honk or flash their lights in order to get the other driver's attention.

Professional drivers further communicate in traffic through the proper use of turn signals and brake lights. Covering the brake as a driver approaches a potential hazard indicates to the following drivers that a stop could be happening, giving them a heads up.

Click Here to Take the Safe Driving Methods Quiz