The most common driver mistakes. How to prepare for a trip?

Driving safety depends not only on the driving technique itself, but also on how we prepare for it.

“The way we prepare to drive affects the way we drive. This point is often neglected by drivers. It happens that people with a high driving routine make school mistakes in this regard, - says Radoslaw Jaskulski, coach of Skoda Auto Szkoła, an institution that has been involved in driver training and educational campaigns in the field of driving safety for 15 years.

The first step in preparing for a trip is to adjust your driving position. Start by adjusting the height of your chair.

– It is important not only to ensure a comfortable position, but also to keep your head clear of the roof. This is in case of a possible rollover, advises Filip Kachanovski, coach of Skoda Auto Szkoła.

Now it's time to adjust the back of the chair. For proper seating, with your upper back elevated, your outstretched hand should be touching the top of the handlebars with your wrist.

The next point is the distance between the chair and the pedals. - It happens that drivers move the seat away from the steering wheel, and hence from the pedals. As a result, the legs then work in an upright position. This is a mistake, because when you need to brake hard, you have to press the brake pedal as hard as possible. This can only be done when the legs are bent at the knees, emphasizes Philip Kachanovsky.

We should not forget about the headrest. This seat element protects the driver's head and neck in the event of a rear impact – The head restraint should be as high as possible. Its top should be at the level of the top of the driver, - emphasizes the coach of Skoda Auto Szkoła.

After the individual elements of the driver's seat were correctly positioned, it was time to fasten the seat belt. Its hip part should be tightly pressed. This way we protect ourselves in the event of a tip over.

An extremely important element in preparing a driver for driving is the correct installation of mirrors - internal above the windshield and side ones. Remember the order - first the driver adjusts the seat to the driver's position, and only then adjusts the mirrors. Any change to the seat settings should cause the mirror settings to be checked.

When adjusting the interior rearview mirror, make sure you can see the entire rear window. Thanks to this, we will see everything that happens behind the car.

- On the other hand, in the exterior mirrors, we should see the side of the car, but it should not occupy more than 1 centimeter of the mirror surface. This installation of mirrors will allow the driver to estimate the distance between his car and the observed vehicle or other obstacle, says Radoslav Jaskulsky.

In particular, care should be taken to minimize the area of ​​the so-called blind spot, that is, the area around the vehicle that is not covered by mirrors. Fortunately, today this problem is eliminated by modern technology. This is an electronic blind spot monitoring function. Previously, this type of equipment was available in premium cars. It is now also used in popular cars such as Skoda, including the Fabia. The system is called Blind Spot Detect (BSD), which in Polish means blind spot detection. The driver is assisted by sensors located at the bottom of the rear bumper. They have a range of 20 meters and control the area around the car. When BSD detects a vehicle in the blind spot, the LED on the exterior mirror lights up, and when the driver gets too close to it or turns on the light in the direction of the recognized vehicle, the LED will flash.

The Skoda Scala has an improved blind spot monitoring function. It's called Side Assist and it detects vehicles out of the driver's field of vision up to 70 meters away.

No less important for the correct position behind the wheel is the fastening of various objects in the cabin that pose a threat to the driver and passengers, emphasizes Radoslav Jaskulsky.