Scotch College

Scotch boys driving in Morrison Street: a recipe for safety

The next generation of drivers from Scotch received a memorable and invaluable lesson in the importance of braking and control in driving safety.

WORDS: JONNY O’BRIEN – YEAR 12 PHOTOGRAPHY: BMW AUSTRALIA

The Driver Training program held for Year 12 students at Scotch on 19 June aimed to provide Scotch’s next generation of drivers with potentially life-saving skills. Headed by their chief Driver Training Instructor Geoff Brabham, the program focused on the theoretical and practical elements of driver and road safety. More than 100 Scotch boys were rotated through a number of braking demonstration manoeuvres to illustrate how to best avoid a potential hazard, and the importance of ABS. Matthew Taylor, the Driver Training Manager, said ‘As a pilot program, we couldn’t be happier. If participants take just one safety initiative away with them we’ve succeeded’.

None of us knew what to expect when I arrived at Scotch with a few mates on Friday 19 June 2009 for the driver training course. The first thing we noticed was the sound of car tyres screeching to a halt. For most of us, we had only really ever heard that sound if we had been unlucky enough to witness or be involved in a car accident. However, it all turned out to be far less harmful. We were immediately greeted by several driving course employees, including Geoff Brabham and Matthew Taylor, who gave us the rundown on how the session was going to work. We were given a demonstration of what we were going to experience: we saw cars fly down the hill and slam on their brakes from speeds of up to 80kmh, in both wet and dry conditions, and with ABS turned on and off. We were split into groups of four, and each group was designated a driver. We started off slowly, gradually getting faster and faster, practising with ABS on and off, seeing what happened in the wet, and trying to turn in a skid, with most of the boys in my car having never been involved in anything remotely similar.

By the end of the short time we spent with the people from the driver training program, we were all gobsmacked at what a difference wet conditions made, and how simply reducing speed made a substantial difference when trying to stop and avoid an incident. But, undoubtedly, the most important thing we learnt was how important it is to drive a car with ABS brakes and traction control. We were all surprised just how big a difference it made. Your ability to stop quickly, and avoid an incident is dramatically increased. If you are in a skid without ABS, you are helpless to turn, whereas with ABS, you have a chance of steering around the obstacle.

I think the only issue any of my mates had with the whole day was the fact that they couldn’t get behind the wheel and do it all themselves. I guess we will have to leave that for another day! GS

‘As a pilot program, we couldn’t be happier. If participants take just one safety initiative away with them we’ve succeeded’