The Comfort Zone can be explained as a combination of speed, steering and/or braking where the vehicle reacts as the driver expects it to. But in an emergency scenario, the driver will be required to leave their comfort zone and enter what can be called the Red Zone. The Red Zone is a combination of […]
The Difference Between Handling and Cornering
Handling and Cornering are often used to describe the same vehicle/driver characteristics, but they are two separate issues. Cornering Cornering is the amount of centrifugal force the car can generate measured in g’s, and expressed as Lateral Acceleration. Cornering is a measurement of the force exerted on the vehicle’s center of gravity. That force is […]
The Dynamics of a Vehicle Emergency
Anytime the steering wheel is moved while the car is in motion, a lateral or sideways force is created. This force is pushing in the opposite direction the car is turning. This force is an expression of inertia, or, as stated in Newton’s First Law of Motion, a body at rest tends to remain at […]
Night Driving
Some police officers spend their entire duty shift driving in darkness, and yet many are unaware of the special hazards night driving presents, or don’t know effective ways to deal with them. The major difference between day and night driving is the accident rate. When you consider that 90% of a driver’s reaction depends on […]
The Physics of Racing Series
This is a series of articles written by Brian Beckman, PhD. Although written for the racer many of the articles can be adapted to EVOC training. The Physics of Racing, Part 1: Weight Transfer