Many of you know I was a Certified Smith System driving instructor for over 10 years. It really transformed my driving.
Back story.
I joined GE Healthcare as a Field Engineer in 1999. We service CT/MRI/XR/NuclearMedicine in hospitals and outpatient imaging centers located literally all over the place. We don't have a brick and mortar office and work from home when not busy ( that's not very often, btw
).
We get company vehicles and GE was had been using Smith System for many years.
They would send an FE to the Smith 5 day class to get certified, then the GE guy can teach the system to our drivers. I would have to get my recert every 2 years.
GE has decided to save the expense of Smith and created their own class. We would have monthly tcons to discuss how things are going. When it was announced we would abandon Smith, every single FE protested calling it a mistake. I agree totally, but I digress...
That class was all driving every day in real world conditions. The first day was about 2 hours of classroom, then we hit the road in a 15 passenger van with our 6 students plus the Instructor for the rest of the week.
I really loved it.
In Jeff's Raged thread I brought up a suggestion about using hazards to assist in communicating with other drivers. It works for me. You should try it.
But please use caution if you attempt to use the techniques I'm sharing below.
The last thing an experienced driver wants is to be told they're doing something wrong.
And NONE of you have signed up for a class. I appreciate questions, but reserve criticizing here. It's takes real practice to adopt this properly.
If'n you ain't gonna actually try, then move along.
Below is the reference sheet I mentioned in Jeff's thread.
It's read from the bottom up containing 6 Protocols.
1-New Stretch of Road
2-Changing Lanes or Turning
3-Clear all Intersections
4-Check your Mirrors
5-The First Vehicle at a Stop Light
6-Behind Another Vehicle at a Stop Light
And these are NOT the primary Keys for driving Smith. They are...
Aim High in Steering
Get the Big Picture
Keep your Eyes Moving
Leave Yourself an Out
Make Sure They See You
Enjoy.
And for fun, here are some actual comments from real drivers that were involved with collisions.
It's from 1977,
But certainly pertinent.
Some real gems in there.
