Equipment ignorance puts drivers at risk

The problem is that their training hasn't dealt with the safety technology intended to save their lives.

The result is many drivers can't effectively control their car in an emergency because they don't understand how the software systems work. 

That is the blunt assessment of Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy chief instructor Peter Hackett based on his observations of 200,000 drivers a year who undertake courses in South-East Asia with the German car company. "If you don't know how technology works, it is useless," Hackett says.

"It's as simple as getting people to feel what activating the ABS system is like - and then showing  them how to get the most out of it. And that means keeping the foot hard on the brake even when steering.

"For older drivers, everything you were taught about driving a car has changed. Cadence braking, steering in the direction of a skid  technology has made that redundant."

"These courses aren't about selling cars - the people who turn up have already done that. It is about exposing people to the systems and showing them how they work and what the driver can do to maximise their effectiveness."

The Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy programs cover all the vehicles the company sells, from the sub-compact Smart to the S-Class limousine, vans and trucks. 

Novice drivers are catered for with a First Gear course and, at the other extreme, owners of high-performance Mercs can attend an AMG drive days for some one-on-one coaching with a professional instructor.

The courses are held around Australia but the Albert Park Grand Prix and the Phillip Island circuits are the ones to be seen at. "Our AMG drive day at Albert Park before the Australian Grand Prix is the only FIA-approved track," Hackett says, "and it appeals to AMG owners from around South-East Asia for just that reason."

COURSES

Siobhan Taylor has never activated the ABS on her 1997 Falcon. That horrifies chief instructor Peter Hackett. "It is incredible that people don't know how long it takes to stop from 100km/h because they've never been taught," he says. "And that varies from car to car, so the only way to know is to try it."

And try it Taylor does. She starts with a 60km/h emergency stop - and lifts off as soon as the ABS system kicks in. Hackett says it is an instinctive reaction - and therefore one that has to be countered by repetitive training.

"Just about everyone eases up on the brake pedal first time," he notes. "It takes practise but too many people never get that training." 

To prove his point, within 15 minutes Taylor is confidently performing emergency stops at 100km/h and keeping the brake pedal flat to the floor until the car stops moving.

It is a similar situation at the skid pan, where Taylor is shown how the stability control works - and what happens when it doesn't.

Mercedes simulates a lack of grip with special plastic tyres imported from Finland. At 25km/h they're fine; at 35km/h you're effectively driving on ice.

The parallel parking system, blind-spot warning and adaptive cruise control are also explained and demonstrated. "I've had a ball, learned heaps and got to drive some amazing cars," Taylor enthuses of her time behind the wheel.

First Gear participants are generally children of Mercedes owners or their friends. The course is restricted to 17-24-olds and the vehicles include a B-Class hatch or two-seat Smart, along with a hero car, such as the SLK roadster Taylor drove.

A Mercedes-Benz Actros prime mover is also driven as part of the course. Mercedes spokesman Jerry Stamoulis says it gives young drivers more respect for B-double drivers - and helps stop them cutting in front of the big rigs at lights.

"When you personally experience what it takes to stops an unladen prime mover, even one with the latest safety equipment, you have a better understanding of the potential consequences if you pull in front of a fully loaded B-double," he says.

AMG

Taxi rides are often unsettling. When the cab is a chrome-wrapped C63 AMG sedan and the driver is Peter Hackett, it is absolutely unnerving. At least his English is passable - but vocalising anything beyond "aaargh" as the car hits 250km/h on the run into Phillip Island's turn one is usually too much for most passengers.

The C63 was chosen for the jod because, as Hackett puts it: "it is the least capable of our performance cars". "This is the taxi of the AMG range and the lap shows drivers what that car is still capable of," he says. "The only thing different about this C63 to our regular cars is the suspension, paintwork and the rollcage."

The chauffeured ride comes at the end of the AMG Challenge drive day. The rest of it is spent in a fleet of AMG-enhanced vehicles learning the limits of the vehicle's _ and driver's _ capabilities around one of the fastest and most picturesque circuits in the world.

The instructors are the young guns of Australasian circuit racing and include the likes of up-and-coming V8 Supercar drivers George Mediecke and James Brock to go-kart tyros such as Josh Hunt. The approach varies but the intent does not - to give drivers a better understanding of what their vehicle in doing in an extreme situation.

Knowledge is power and that experience can then be applied to a real-world situation, with the driver having a better grasp of how their vehicle will perform. And keeeping drivers' safer, be it through through improving the biological and/or electronic responses, it ultimately what the courses are designed to do.

DRIVING EXPERIENCE

MERCEDES-BENZ DRIVING ACADEMY SCHEDULE

First Gear (half-day course, $95):
Sandown Raceway, Victoria, May 2
Eastern Creek Raceway, NSW, May 8
RAC Perth, WA, July 17

Driving Experience (half-day course, $350):
Eastern Creek Raceway, NSW, May 7