Reddit reviews Roadcraft: The Police Driver's Handbook

Defensive driving is absolutely different in a manual. There are additional things you have to keep in mind and countries around the world with a majority of manual drivers put substantial effort into developing best practices. The best known of these is the Roadcraft "System of car control", originally developed for the UK police service and now much more widely used. If you want more information, look for Roadcraft, publications by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (especially the UK arm), RoSPA, or similar groups. Most of what I list here you would learn in many European driving programs.

Some basic tenets are:

Stay in gear until you have a better one to be in. Do not go to neutral while in motion. Do go to neutral when you are stationary and when movement could cause harm. Consider applying the handbrake if it makes sense to do so.

The clutch only needs to go down when you are shifting, or when not doing so would cause a stall. This is usually during the final part of braking to a stop.

Do keep both hands on the wheel except while shifting. Get your hand back on the wheel when done.

You can shift down several gears at once easily if you brake first in gear (foot off the clutch) and then shift.

> How can I maximize the amount of time I stay in gear so I can make an evasive maneuver if I need to? If I'm in 3rd, and the light in front of me turns red, do I shift to second immediately, slow down as much as possible, and finally shift to neutral right at the end? Do I fully depress the clutch once, move the gear selector to second in case I need it, and wait until I coast to a stop to shift to neutral and let out the clutch? Or do I just slow down in third as much as possible, then depress the clutch and shift to neutral?

When braking, what is important to prioritize is steering and braking control. A shift is not a "free" activity, it takes a degree of physical control away from operating other controls. This leads to a natural sequence of "position/speed/gear", where when dealing with a hazard, you should adjust position first, followed by speed, followed by gear. Once this is done, negotiate the hazard while on the throttle. It becomes pretty obvious how to drive with this in mind.

In this case, brake and remain in 3rd. If you are coming to a stop, declutch as you reach idle, stop, and then go into 1 (if setting off immediately) or N ("when a stop becomes a wait"). If instead of stopping, you need acceleration, go directly to the gear you need and accelerate.

The key here that is missed by many people is that while it's important for safety to keep the driveline engaged, it's not usually because of the need to "accelerate out of danger". It's rare that you can do that in traffic unless you're on a bike. You stay in gear because the inertia of the driveline has a stabilizing effect on the vehicle, because there is a natural and very powerful antilock effect, because even if you don't have enough power to accelerate much you still have enough power to affect vehicle balance, and because it's easier to shift from gear to gear than from neutral to gear.

The same applies if you are going faster. If you're going 50 in 5th and need to turn at 20, brake in gear until you are at 20-25, shift to 2nd, then complete the turn. You can make large block downshifts skipping several gears easily so long as you brake before you downshift.

> - If I'm in 3rd and I'm coming up to a perpendicular turn onto a new road, do I shift down to second and get fully in gear before I make the turn? Do I shift into second as I make the turn? Do I depress the clutch, coast through the turn, and shift to second as I drive away? Do I just stay in third (seems fast)?

Brake in 3rd until you are at the proper speed for the corner about one "big u-haul" worth of distance from the corner. Declutch, shift into 2nd, engage clutch, then negotiate the turn. It may take practice to brake to the right speed at the proper point. Ideally you have one phase of braking followed by one gear change followed by acceleration through the hazard.

> - I would love to read something about shifting from 1st to 2nd quickly in the context of pulling out into a busy intersection instead of taking off from the starting line.

If you're pulling into a busy intersection, there should be no real need to go to 2nd. 1st will usually take you to at least 20-25mph and if you need more speed than this to negotiate an intersection, you probably shouldn't be doing what you're doing.

I think it's worth emphasizing that when you need to take off quickly, a well executed handbrake start will always be faster than a foot hopping start. This is because you don't have to move your feet first as part of the launch. It's worth getting good at
them for this reason alone.

> - Stop-and-go traffic is actually the one thing that I can find a ton of info about online. All advice is welcome, but I'm really looking for other traffic topics.

Again, I think one thing that is often neglected by American drivers are handbrake starts. They are not inconvenient at all once you are fluid with them, but it takes time to learn the skill. In most of the world you must demonstrate them on your drivers test to get a license. They're not a beginners trick to be abandoned when you learn more, they remain useful and make urban driving easier.

> - I learned to drive in neighborhoods. Once I got in actual traffic, I realized I was spending way too much time coasting with the clutch depressed. In the event of an emergency situation, I can always slam the clutch with the break, but if I need to speed up instead of slow down I want to at least have the gear selector in the gear that will give me the most power so I can quickly evade trouble. I think ideally I should get faster at shifting and keep the car in gear as much as possible.

You don't need to get fast at shifting, most of the time, and you should not be shifting just to get the revs into an optimal need for acceleration unless you foresee the need for acceleration or control. Again, shifting is not a free action, and you should address position/speed/gear in series if possible.

It's good that you're trying to give up the habit of coasting on the clutch. There are times when it's appropriate for a short period of time but you absolutely want your default habit to be braking in gear. If you completely forget the clutch and you stall, you'll still have better stability under braking than if you had dove for the clutch.

> - I can't tell if there is something wrong with my clutch, or if I'm just driving around in parking lots / heavy traffic incorrectly. If I'm fully in 1st or 2nd and let off the gas, my car sort of surges instead smoothly crawling along. Passengers can definitely feel it, and it honestly feels like it's putting stress on some part of the drivetrain. If I leave the clutch fully depressed and tap the biting point of 1st or 2nd to sort of push it along, kind of like reverse, it feels better and more like driving around in my automatic did. When people say to not "ride the clutch", are they talking about doing this or are they talking about something else?

Pretty much. Bad motor mounts can make this much worse, so get those checked out too!

I hope this helps. If you want references, check out UK drivers training videos on youtube. Reg Local (a former UK police driving instructor) has done some really excellent ones.

edit:

The system of car control (Reg Local):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u5ksf29ylI

Block gear changing (Advance Driving School):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI2kN1IvNnc

Roadcraft:

https://www.amazon.com/Roadcraft-Drivers-Handbook-Philip-Coyne/dp/0117081876

The anticipated behaviour of the other road users is an important part of roadcraft. The knowledge of the signals that the other users are controlled by is as relevant to advanced driving as the weather conditions, or time of day.

If this is really a surprise to you, then I'd guess you're either a new driver (less than 10 years driving) or a dangerous one. If you'd honestly like to learn how to drive properly, I recommend this book based on the UK advanced driving certificate.

It's definitely worth pursuing.

I can totally recommend investing in a copy of the Police Riders Handbook (not the new edition, it's terrible and a waste of money), and also the Police Drivers Handbook.

They are dry as hell to read, but it is definitely possible to teach yourself at least the basics of the system and begin to apply it, without ever needing to pay quantities of money to IAM or Rospa. Then, once you're back in the black so to speak, you'll have a baseline to work from and a decent knowledge of what is expected.

Bikesafe actually threw in a goodiebag for us that contained an IAM book that gives you a good foundation.

Beyond that, Nick Ienatsch's book is a great read too for sportier riding.

You are being obtuse.

Do you realize you are critiquing one of the most respected and used manuals on driving? roadcraft Most of the text on my post was taken directly from it.

As a medic not only have I taken the course the text is for, in addition I also hold EVOC (emergency vehicle operator course) certifications. So i feel I have better understanding than most when it comes to driving.

What are your credentials to so pompously say the authors and the many research that has gone into it is simply wrong?

You need to stop being obtuse and realize that as a driver of a motor vehicle you are directly responsible to ensure the safe operation of it.
When you hit a kid in the street, your "It is up to parents to teach their kids to pay attention of their surroundings and not run in front of cars or out onto a roadway before looking." means absolutely nothing. You are solely, like i said, the one responsible, even if the kid is being an idiot.

I really suggest you give the book a read you can find the ebook here reading the full text will probably give you a better understanding of the fragments I used on my original comment and will help you understand why your rebuttals are erroneous.

If you want a less boring one I suggest this book by Ben Collins but it is not nearly as comprehensive.