May's Safe Driving Skill: Corner safely

In 2009 (the last year that statistics are available), Transport Canada reported that there were over 124,000 collisions on Canadian roads, which ended in an injury or fatality. Since the vast majority of collisions occur because of driver error, we believe that many of these 124,000 collisions could be reduced if we all worked on improving our driving skills. So in 2012, Boyd Autobody is encouraging all drivers to take some time to focus each month on one particular driving skill and to work that skill into their driving habits. Throughout the year, we'll all become better drivers.

For the month of May, the driving skill to improve is cornering. It's easy to maintain control of a vehicle when you're driving at a consistent speed in one direction. But as soon as you start to corner, you introduce a whole new set of variables that can cause you to lose control of your vehicle.

That's right, cornering is not just a matter of slightly turning the wheel and letting nature take its course (even though that's how many people take corners). When you corner, the weight of your car shifts to one corner of your vehicle and then moves backward until you straighten out. (If you're turning left, the weight of your car shifts first to the right front of your car and then as you continue through the corner, the weight of your car flows backward toward the right-centre of your car until you straighten the wheel). When you combine the shifting weight, your speed, the grip of your tires, and the condition of the road, corners become places where drivers easily lose control.

Add to that the following factors, smooth steering throughout the corner and other vehicles driving nearby, and a simple turn can become collision chaos.

Improve your cornering in the following ways:

• Keep a firm grip on the steering wheel all the way through the corner.
• Avoid making too tight of a turn (because that throws the weight farther and faster onto the front corner of your car and that can cause you to lose control).
• Slow down in a corner to help you distribute the weight evenly.
• Check your blindspots.
• Pay attention to where all four corners of the car are (to avoid clipping something with your outside front corner or running over something with your inside back corner).
• Remember that your back tires take a tighter turn than your front tires so be sure to allow for that when judging corner distances.
• Don’t hit the accelerator too early in the corner, especially in poor weather conditions, because that can cause you to lose control.

Cornering should be a simple, safe procedure but it can quickly turn into a common collision scenario. Follow these tips to improve your safe cornering and you'll help to dramatically reduce your chance of collision.