Video

A professional driver gives some important tips on how to recover from a skid from Ford Motor Company's Driving Skills for Life program. It is designed to help young drivers improve their skills in four key areas that are critical factors in more than 60% of teen vehicle crashes, hazard recognition, vehicle handling, space management and speed management.

This is a video from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the U.S., but almost all of it applies equally well to B.C. cyclists. Topics covered include choosing and making sure your bike is in good condition, safety equipment, rules of the road and safety tips to avoid collisions. Running time is 7 minutes 25 seconds.

This is a road safety campaign video from the UK, just in time for Valentine's day, aimed at teen drivers. One of the slogans used is 'More girls die as passengers than as drivers.' This is a significant idea for the female half of the equation to consider. They do need to play an active role in keeping the male focused on safe driving when necessary, obviously for their own good.

This traffic safety advertisement from Finland is full of subtle humour and drives home the message "Even Dummies Wear Seatbelts." I especially liked the airbag inside the nut that the squirrel smashes open. Well worth the few seconds that it takes to view!

The British Highways Agency has produced a 14 minute video titled "Great Roads, Great Rides 2." It is designed to put you on the bike, inside the helmet and close to the road, in order to teach you to identify hazards and 'read the road'. The rider in the video is Glenn Julian, a professional motorcyclist.

This 30 second video puts tongue in cheek and parodies a driving school lesson where a young woman learns to do everything wrong while driving and dealing with her cell phone. Apparently some of today's drivers think that this is the right way to drive....

Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is a technology that should be standard on all vehicles. The system compares the driver's intended direction of travel with the actual travel of the vehicle many times per second. If they do not match, selective braking is applied to force the vehicle back to the intended path, averting a collision.

Courtesy of YouTube and the Discovery Channel, this video highlights ABS, Traction Control and Electronic Stability Control and their ability to help you maintain control of your vehicle on ice. They are vehicle options that you should not be without as the two automakers identified in the video estimate that ESC alone can reduce your chances of collision from 30 to 50%.