police and pursuit driving

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Bob BondurantandEdwin J. Sanow

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First published in 2000 by MBI PublishingCompany, 729 Prospect Avenue, PO Box 1,Osceola, WI 54020-0001 USA Bob Bondurant and Ed Sanow, 2000All rights reserved. With the exception of quotingbrief passages for the purpose of review no part ofthis publication may be reproduced without priorwritten permission from the Publisher.The information in this book is true and completeto the best of our knowledge. All recommendationsare made without any guarantee on the part of theauthor or Publisher, who also disclaim any liabilityincurred in connection with the use of this data orspecific details.We recognize that some words, model names anddesignations, for example, mentioned herein arethe property of the trademark holder. We use themfor identification purposes only. This is not anofficial publication.MBI Publishing Company books are also availableat discounts in bulk quantity for industrial or sales-promotional use. For details write to Special SalesManager at Motorbooks International Wholesalers& Distributors, 729 Prospect Avenue, Osceola, WI54020-0001 USA.

Edited by John Adams-GrafDesigned by Rebecca Allen

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PublicationBob Bondurant on police & pursuit drivingBob Bondurant & Ed Sanow.p. cm.Includes index.ISBN 0-7603-0686-9 (paperback: alk. pap1. Police pursuit driving. 2. Automobiledriving-Safety measures. I. Title: Bob B o n d u ron police and pursuit driving. II. Sanow, EdwIII. Title.On the front cover: Bob Bondurant beganracing career driving Corvettes in the 19505which eventually led him to a driver's seat OCarroll Shelby's Ford Cobra Team. He continas a professional driver until retiring after aserious Can-Am accident in 1967. During hisrecovery, he formulated the plans for his drischool. In 1990, Bob Bondurant's dream ofown driving facility came true. The 1.6-mileracing course at The Bondurant School nearPhoenix includes courses for all age and drivgroups that present every kind of curve and camber a racer or driver will ever find on thetrack or street. The School maintains a fleet over 150 Ford Mustang Cobra Rs, Formula Mustang GTs, and Crown Victoria "PoliceInterceptors." Greg FresquezOn the bach cover: One of the many techntaught by The Bondurant School is the "StraTechnique." The half-lane straddle gives theofficer a better view of what is ahead: bothtraffic and obstacles. Not only is this an E f f E :observation method, it can also have anintimidating affect on a fleeing motorist.Printed in the United States of America


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hapter 7hapter 2hapter 3hapter 4hapter 5hapter 6hapter 7

Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 70Chapter 77Chapter 72

hapter 73Chapter 74

ContentsAcknowledgments ............................ 4Foreword ..................................... 5Preface . ...................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Introduction . ................................. 7The Basics of Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8The Basics of Handling . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18The Right Mental Attitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Braking Techniques: With ABS and Without . . . . 33Skid Control/Skid Avoidance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Emergency Evasive Maneuvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Low and High Speed Cornering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Enforcement Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Pursuit Driving and Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Rolling and Stationary Roadblocks . . . . . . . . . . . 100Take Outs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Defeating the Roadblock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 6Adverse Driving Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121In-Service Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128The Nine Ts of Pursuit Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139Index . . . . . . ................................ 144


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AcknowledgmentsW

e'd like to thank the following individuals for their time, effort, andcooperation in helping us put together this book. Simply put, it couldn'thave been done without them.Lisa Allen, Director of Public Information, Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff'sDepartment; Sheriff joseph Arpaio, Maricopa County, Arizona; Deputy Steve Bakos,Maricopa County, Arizona; RaymondBeach, Michigan Law Enforcement TrainingCouncil, lAD LEST; Corporal john Bellah,California State University, Long Beach Police; Lieutenant joe Brugman, Chandler, Ari-zona, Police; BruceCameron, editor Law andOrder; Officer Pat Farmer, Phoenix PoliceAcademy; Lieutenant Dave Faulkner, Phoenix Police; Ford Motor Company and Special Vehicles Team; Greg Fresquez, Advertising and Public Relations Coordinator, TheBondurant School; Lieutenant Rusty Goodpastor, Indiana Law Enforcement Academy;Goodyear Tire and Rubber; Chief EricGreenberg, Fowler, Indiana, Police; CaptainKenGrogan, Hall County, Georgia, Sheriff'sDepartment; Brent Halida, BSR chief driving instructor; Colonel Billy Hancock, CrispCounty, Georgia Sheriff; CommissionerMaury Hannigan, California, Highway Pa-trol (retired); Sheriff Donnie Haralson, CrispCounty, Georgia; Officer Rick Harbaugh,Phoenix Police; Officer Beth Hollick, Phoenix Police; Sergeant Larry Hollingsworth,California Highway Patrol; Chief HaroldHurtt, Phoenix Police; Deputy Marshal RickHutchison, Whitestown, Indiana, Police;Deputy Keith jones, Marion County, Indiana; Charlie jones, Bliss-Indiana Insurance,Inc.; Lieutenant John Keiper, Butler University (Indiana) Police; Gerald LaCrosse, TheDesere' Foundation; Deputy Marshal VinceLowe, Kentland, Indiana, Police; PhilipLynn, IACP National Law Enforcement Policy Center; Chan Martinez, Director of Sales

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and Marketing, The Bondurant SchooJoseph McDowell, FLETC senior driving instructor; Sergeant Richard McLaughlinMonroe County, Indiana, Sheriff's Deparment; Officer Anthony Meraz, Phoenix Plice; Dianna Mich, Executive AssistantBob Bondurant; Lance Miller, National LaEnforcement & Corrections Tech CentePete Miller, Driving Instructor, The Bodurant School; Dave Moon, Hall CountGeorgia, photographer; Earl R. Morris, UtaComprehensive Emergency ManagemenDebi Mulford, Stop Stick, Inc.; SergeaCharles Nutt, Georgia State Patrol; DepuDave Oberholtzer, Marion County, IndianSergeant Ken Partain, Crisp County, Geogia; Ronnie Paynter, editor Law EnforcemeTechnology; Performance Friction, Inc.; Mashal Tim Piercy, Oxford, Indiana, PolicDane Pitarresi, president, SkidCar USAJoseph Potaczek, National Safety CounciLieutenant Bill Reynolds, Chicago Polic(Retired); Officer Greg Reynolds, ChicagPolice; Matt Robertson, Driving InstructoThe Bondurant School; Patrick SallawaDriving Instructor, The Bondurant SchooOfficer Shawn SaIlaway, Tucson, ArizonPolice; Captain Russ Schanlaub, NewtoCounty, Indiana, Sheriff's Department; RiScuteri, Staff Photographer, The BonduraSchool; Mike Speck, Driving Instructor, ThBondurant School; Deputy Marty StaforCook County, Georgia; Tomar Electronicstrobe lightbars, 800-338-3133 or WWW.tmar. com; Gary Uhte, president, Stop SticInc.; Deputy Tom Van Vleet, Newton CountIndiana; Kevin Weber, Driving Instructor, ThBondurant School; Allison Weis, ChandleArizona, Police; Sheriff Ernie Winchester, Beton County, Indiana; Thomas WitczaLakeshore Technical College; Deputy MWright, Marion County, Indiana; MastSergeant Steve Yenchko, Illinois State PolicLieutenant Tim Young, Michigan State Polic


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ForewordEeryone knows that the job of a lawenforcement officer is dangerous. Eachday on television, in newspapers andmagaZines, there is an endless number ofstories detailing the deadly encounters police officers and sheriff's deputies experience in the line of duty.The drug-crazed dealer, the out-of-control spouse at the domestic violence call,and the gun-wielding criminal certainlypose monumental threats to law enforcement personneL But what might surprisemost of you is that these do no t representthe most dangerous part of the job.

No, the single most dangerous thingfacing deputies and police officers today istheir patrol cars. Traffic accidents kill moredeputies and officers each year than criminals. In fact, in the last 5 years throughoutthe United States, 218 police men andwomen were killed in traffic accidentswhile on duty. Since 1859, nearly 2,150have died in work-related traffic accidents.Statistics show us these tragedies happen all too often. This sheriff's office experienced the loss of a fine young deputy recently. He was on his way to a burglary callwhen his patrol car slammed into the sideof a cement truck. Sadly, he was killed instantly-and needlessly.That's why the best tra ining available toteach law enforcement professionals thelatest in advanced defensive driving tech-

niques is so important to every she; ::: ' -fice and pOlice department in our C O l l : ~ : :That's whv Bob Bondurant wrote- ::-: _book. 'Bob Bondurant is a main force in ].1, . -viding the finest instruction on advanCe,:defensiw police driving in the world. Hhreputation has earned him worldwide respect and renown. Police from all over theworld come to him for the best trainingmoney can buy. They know, as we do hereat the \Iaricopa County Sheriff's Office inPhoenix, .-\,rizona, where The BondurantSchool is headquartered, that there is noperson better qualified to teach law enforcem en t offi ce rs how to stay alive in dangerous and difficult police situations thatinvoln' dri\ ing..4.5 tht man known as the "ToughestSh eriff in .4.merica," I encourage every person in oLlr field to read this book and thenhave his or her organization sign up the entire pat ro l for ce fo r the Bondurant trainingcourst. [Joing so \vill save lives. Somewhere, someday, a wife or child, a parent orsister. J fr ie nd or partner will thank you fortaking that step to protect a loved one fromthe mllst dangerous part of the job in lawenfo rCl'ment today.

-Sheriff Joe Arpaio_\Jnricopa County Sheriff's OftlcePhoenix, Arizona


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PrefaceI egan training law enforcement in 1969 at theOrange County Raceway with the Orange County Police Department. In 1970 The School movedto Ontario Motor Speedway where we trained theOntario Police Department and many local departments including the Los Angeles Police Departmentand the Los Angeles County Sheriffis Department.Roth Los Angeles departments were verycompetitive with one another so what we did atthe end was to pu t together a competition. I t wasa very close finish with the Los Angeles Police De-partment winning by approximately a tenth of asecond. They were both very good under pressure.We continued to train law enforcementwhen we moved up to Sears Point InternationalRaceway in August 1973 including the San Francisco, the Oakland, and the Santa Rosa PoliceDepartment and the Forestry Service law enforcement people through the Santa Rosa criminal justice training center.Currently, we train Maricopa County Sheriff's Department. Their instructors rent our facility and vehicles using one of our instructors for"quality control." The way we've organized theprogram with the Maricopa County Sheriff's De-partment works well for all of us. In fact, after ayear of no t participating in training with us theyhave found that all of the officers involved in accidents had not gone through our training.There were no accidents among those that hadgone through the course. The statistics speakwell for the training we provide.We continue to train law enforcement personnel in our Executive Protection/Anti- Kidnapping course, our 4-Day Grand Prix RoadRacing course and Advanced RaCing courses.We train about 80% of the NASCAR stock cardrivers at The School as well as some of theIndy car drivers. We also offer two- and threeday high performance courses and one- andtwo-day advanced teenage driving courseswhich have been quite successful.The teencourses, which we've been teaching for abouttwelve years help to change teens attitudes toward respecting their vehicles, respecting otherdrivers, learning car control techniques and re-specting themselves by using what they'velearned. We are very pleased with the excellentresults from the teen courses.Part of our growth is reflected in the buddingBondurant SuperKarts program. We use pro kartsand twin engine karts which are non shifting,6

utilizing the same concepts of vehicle contrweight transfer, braking and smooth acceleratioWhat the karts teach is how to be quick, accurain control, smooth, and precise. The use of kartstraining is substantially more cost-effective thaning cars. The results are truly amazing.I enjoyed co-writing with Ed Sanow. I woulike to thank the people that helped us write tbook including the Phoenix Police DepartmenDriving Academy, the Phoenix Police Depament as well as the Chandler Police DepartmeMaricopa County Sheriff's Office and DianMich for organizing, transposing and coordining. It's been a pleasure to write this book on lenforcement driving and executive protectwhile reliving all of the training that we've doover the past 31 years. All of our instructors tteach the law enforcement program do an exclent job and I'm very proud of them .I'd also like to thank Diana Mich, my exetive assistant, Chan Martinez, our Dire


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IntroductionW hether on routine patrol, responding toan emergency call, or pursuing a dangerous felon who needs to be caught be; ')re he or she harms others, driving skills are crit:cal in the competent execution of a police offijob. Combine good judgment, unwavering(o ncentration, and top-flight performance driv::1g skills, and any officer will be at the top of his,) r her profession. In this book, legendary race carjriver Bob Bondurant and veteran Deputy Sheriff Ed Sanow combine skills for the definitivebook on police driving.First-rate enforcement driving skills allow anofficer to use the performance abilities of the vehicle under all driving condi tions and in all traffic situations. Very little skill is needed to simplytloor the throttle and drive in a straight line, Performance driving involves what to do when itcomes time to turn the steering wheeLStarting with the basics of driving and vehicle handling, this book covers tips on the hourby-hour, near-cruise control task of routine patrol, with one hand on the steering wheel andthe other hand on the radar controller, MDT keypad, or holding a cup of coffee. I t also discuss theadvantages of ABS brakes, give tips for driving inadverse weather, and explain the emergency evasive driving techniques that must become almostinstinctive reactions,Emergency driving is different from routinepatrol driving and from pursuit driving, Emergency driving is an urgent bu t solo response to aca ll. The officer runs Code 3/Signal 10 "lights andSren" and drives almost as hard as if he were in apursuit. Bondurant and Sanow build on the basicsof patrol driving with tips for high-speed cornering and correcting for both understeer and oversteer situations. The police-oriented "late apex"method of cornering is explained in detail, as arethe mistakes of the"early apex" driving style.

With the foundation of high-speed drivinglaid, the racer and the deputy tackle the toughissue of pursuit driving: what to look for, squadcar placement, how to keep up , how close to

get, when to call it off, how to force it to an en,\by rolling roadblocks, stationary r o a d b l o c k ~and the PIT procedure.Anyone with an interest in high-performance driving techniques will find this book use-ful. But police officers, who are involved in threetimes th e number of accidents per million milesas the general public, may find i t a lifesaver, Po-lice officers from strictly urban areas have an acCident rate almost six times that of the averagemotorist , Police officers, by the very nature oftheir job, need accident avoidance training morethan other drivers.Of the police officers who die in the line ofduty, 49 percent are killed by gunfire. However,38 percen t. the second largest category, die as aresult of a traffic accident: on routine patrol, during an emergenc \' response, or while in pursuit,One out of three pursuits initiated for trafficinfractions ends in a colliSion. Two out of threepursuits initiatl'd for felom' reasons results in acollision. One out of eight pursuits ends in aninjury to SOllkone.The hi gh-speed pursuit is one of the mostdangerous ac ti\' it ies performed by a law enforcement officer. Pursuits shou ld not be viewed as achallenge, as a race, or as a threat to ego, Instead,officers mu st \'i,,\\' pursuits for exactly what theyare: an e.'\treme use of force involving a continuous se ries of life-and-death decisions that riskthe life of the officer, the violator, occupants inthe \'iolator's \'Chicle, and dozens of innocentbystanders. There are no good pursuits. The bestpursuit is no pursuit. The second-best pursuit isa short one.Al! of the techniques in this book are basedon courses taught at The Bondurant School, andall have real-world applications. The chapters aresprinkled with lessons learned on the street fromofficers all over America.While the future of police pursuits may beuncertain, law enforcement officers will alwaysneed to drive hard and fast as they make emergency runs to Serve and Protect.


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The Basics of Driving

A I drivers, police officers included,have been taught to drive a car, butfew drivers have had the opportunityto properly learn the true basics of driving.The real basics include the correct hand po-sition, foot position, seating position, theuse of eyes, and the importance of concen-tration.Energy and FeelingSit up straight in your chair and put theballs of both feet on the floor. Keep readingWith the proper handand foot positionsand the proper seatback and steeringwheel angles, theofficer can sense andfeel every move thepolice car makes.

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the book. When you sit up straight, yowiJI find that you are more alert. You casense and feel better.Energy starts at the base of the spinand travels up the back. The straighter thback, the quicker energy moves up the bacto the neck to the brain. Keeping your feflat on the floor gives more feeling in youfeet. Slouch down again in your chair ancontinue reading-you are going to thinand react more slowly because the spine haa curve in it now.


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As a car passes over the road, it's possile to sense and feel every move it makes.You can feel it up through the tire patches,front tires, suspension, steering column,steering hub of the wheel, and out to thespokes. You can feel messages through yourfeet on the pedals. Vibrations sent throughthe chassis are transferred through the seatrails and seat. These seat-of-the-pan ts mes-sages are relayed by the ca r seat to your legs,lower back, and upper back. You can feelthem through your shoulders, arms, wrists,and palms of your hands on the steeringwheel. Use your thumbs to rest, not hang,on the spokes of the steeting wheel, and letyo ur entire body sense and feel what the caris doing at all times. You want to be onewith the car, to sense and feel every movethe car makes at all times.Visualize yourself driving a police car.Put your hands up just as if you were holding onto the steering wheel. Place yourhands to what would be equivalent to the 3o'clock and the 9 o'clock positions. Keepyour arms flexed so that you can maneuverthe wheel all the way to the left or all theway to the right.Imagine you are in a Jlghts-and-sirenpursuit. Your hands and body will tightenup the faster you go, especiaUy when driving over yOUf head, because the body .sensesevery move you make. When the body Isdoing someth ing it doesn't want to do, ittightens up. Your arms and hands are goingto tense and tighten up. As soon as yourhands tighten up, they lose about SO percent of their feel. Feel is control. If so meonepulls out in front of you, you may react tooslowly to avoid the colliSion or lose controlof your car attempting to swerve.In this situation, you want to backoff your speed to the point you feel comfortable, confident, and In control again.Remain alert, right on top of everything:looking, sensing, feeling every move thatthe car makes. Look for areas where youknow you' ll find traffic-the side streets,driveways, intersections, etc.Hand PositionWhlIe other schools teach the steeringwheel "hand shuffle," the "hand-over" and palm-over" techniques are faster and more

For optimum control and smooth stee ringinputs, the proper steering wheel hand positionputs the left hand at 9 o'clock and the righthand at 3 o'dock. Rick Scuttri

precise. The Bondurant School teaches the"hand-over" technique. The pressure exertedby the hands Is as important as hand position. The thumbs and palms should exertheavier pressure while the fingers shouldexert lighter pressure.Say you need to tum left. To use the"hand-over" technique, take your left hand(the 9 o'clock position) off the steeringwheel while stili going in a straight line.Reach over and grasp the right side of thesteering wheel near the right hand (the 3o'clock position). Grasp and pull with theleft hand while relaxing the grip with yourright hand. You can easily turn the steeringwheel a half-turn, or 180 degrees, with twohands on the wheel and in full control.Most turns, corners, intersections, andlane changes can be negotiated by turningthe wheel less than a half-tum. The 3 and 9hand position allows the wheel to tum up toa half-tum without changing hand positions.As the steering wheel continues aroundto 180 degrees, you can continue to turn thewheel. If the comer reqUires more steeringinput, you can not continue to tum the9


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Bondurant teaches the "hand-over" steeringmethod for both routine and emergency responsedriving. To make a right tum, with the hands atthe 3 and 9 position, the right hand comes overto meet the left hand. A5 the wheel is turnedright, the left hand relaxes the grip. Rick Scuteri

wheel a full 360 degrees, one full tum, without changing your hand position again.As you come out of the turn, simply re-verse the procedure. Unwind the wheel ahalf-turn, slide your right hand to meetyour left hand, pull the wheel through withyour right hand while releasing your lefthand grip on the wheel. This method allows you to be very smooth with the steering wheeL It also minimizes having to takeyour hands off the wheel while turning inand turning out of the corner.The proper hand position for routine patrol driving may be different than the properhand position for enforcement and pursuitdriving. The 3 and 9 position should be usedas often as possible. However, hand positions10

The 3 and 9 position allows a half-turn of thwheel without changing hand positions. If thcorner requires more steering input, you cancontinue to move your "hands-over" in thedirection of the turn. Thanks to Ackermansteering geometry, most corners andintersections can be negotiated with just onhand movement. Rick 5cuferi

that work for a 3D-minute pursuit or roadmay be too fatiguing for a lO-hour patrolInstead, one-hand driving is commoroutine patrol. One-hand driving is alsoessary when the officer is using the ohand to operate the radio, activate thstant-on radar, tum on the in-car videkey in data into the MDT. However, thecer must be able to rapidly return to the 39 poSition. 'I11e proper one-hand positithe left hand at the 9 o'clock poSition. allows the right hand to operate the pequipment and still return immediatethe 3 o'dock position for best performaThe 12 o'dock position should not be uIn the "hand shuffle technique,hands never cross over each other. Ins


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The 3and9 hand position may be betterfor useduring routine patrol andemergency response. The "handshuffle" techniquemay be betterduring apursuit.when themicrophone is frequently held in the righthand

One-handdriving is common for routine patro l when the o therhand is busy, operating instant-on radar,example. Keep thelefthand at 9o'clock. The right handcan quick ly return to the 3o'clockposition.


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The proper seat back to steering wheel distance allows the wrist to just drop over the rim of the wheel.wheel should be at a 30-degree angle while the seat back should be nearly upright.

Don't use your left foot to brak@l Your right footis more con trol sensitive and allows you to besmoother. In some panic stops, the left-footbraker will end up pressing down on both thegas and brakes.12

the wheel slides through your handsexample, with your hands starting inand 8 o'clock positions, to turn lefloosen the grip of the left hand, turwheel with the right until your hands then re-grip with the left hand and coue turning as the right hand loosens itand the wheel sUdes through it. Asteering wheel continues around to th180 degrees, you must slide the left hato 12 o'clock, thereby being able to turwheels without crossing your handsrunning out of turning capability. Rthe procedure to corne out of the turnThe 3 and 9 hand position may bter for use during an emergency respona call, while the hand shu(fie techmay be better for use during a pursuit a mike is held in one hand.Seating PositionThe steering wheel shou ld be adjto about a 30-degree angle. To help


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ense and feel what the car is doing, re-up straight in the car. Adjuste seatback almost upright. The correctic seating position is sitting upright, feetn the floorboard.To get the proper arm-to-wheel distance,your shoulders against the seat back,etch out either your left or right arm soour wrist is on top of the steering wheel andour hand just drops over the wheel. This ise perfect arm position-you are neithero close nor too far away from the wheel. Ifu are too far away, you will pull youroulders off the seat back as your hands folthe arc of the wheel. If you are too close,ur arms will get locked and tangled as theis turned. With the proper distancethe wheel, you can quickly maneuver

in an emergency. The proper leg position hasyour leg still slightly bent under the mostextreme application of the gas and brakepedal. Your leg should be able to pushboth pedals to the floor without lockingstraight at the knees. Simply adjust theseat position so your legs are slightly benat the full length of pedal travel; too ~ ,and you will not be able to move betweenthe pedals smoothly, too far, and you wilnot be able to fully depress the pedalsMore specifically, you will not be able toadjust braking pressure as precisely if youleg is fully extended.Foot Position and Braking

When driving a patrol car with an automatic transmission, use your right foot to

e proper position for the left foot is on the "dead pedal" to the far left of the floorboard. Use the left footto brace yourself in a nice three-point suspens ion .


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Some officers use the arch of their foot on thebrake pedal, which leaves their heel in the air.Much greater braking precision comes fromusing the ball of the foot on the pedal, pivotingoff the heel on the floorboard.

brake. Most drivers have more sensitivityand feel in their right foot than their leftfoot because of years of using their rightfoot to precisely modulate the accelerator. Uyou've been using your left foot to brake fora long time and have as much sensitivityand feel as in your right foot and feel comfortable doing it, left-foot braking is acceptable, but still not recommended.You can teach yourself teftfoot braking,but when you get into a panic Situation, yowleft foot will slam on the brakes instead ofsqueeze on the brakes. On a non-ABS car, thiswill lock up the brakes. On a car with ABS,this will overapply the brakes. You will braketoo hard or too abruptly. .

It is easier to be smooth in rolUng offthe gas and squeezing on the brakes i f theright foot is used to do both. The time ittakes the right foot to move from the gaspedal to the brake pedal is not wasted. Infact, it aUows time for the suspension to getset during the transition. The rapid andabrupt change from gas off to brakes onthat often comes when leftfoot braking upsets the suspension and weight transfer.Leftfoot braking also gets the car working against itself as the gas and brake pedalsare frequently pressed, at least a little bit, at

the same time. In some panic Situaboth are noor-boarded at the same timnearly all driving with leftfoot brathere is a loss of smoothness in the ttion from gas to brakes to gas. In angency stop, the "leftfoot braker" can enwith both the accelerator and brake depressed. Not only is the engine tryikeep the car moving, but vacuum boreduced and more pedal pressure is reqto operate the brakes. Another problemleft-foot braking is that the steering wbecomes a handle to hang on to, rathera device to steer the car.A driver is best braced when the lefis placed against the left floorboard of thand the right foot is positioned over thcelerator pedaL The three--point suspeprovided wiU sta bilize the driver's pobehind the steering wheel and help control during sudden vehicle movemthat occur during an evasive actionchanical failure, or actual impact witother object. The proper place for youfoot is on the floorboard, at the far lefon the "dead-pedal," to help hold yoin place.Many officers brake with the arch ofoot and their heel in the air. A more pway to brake is with the ball of the fothe pedal and the heel on the floorbWith this method, the ball of the foot poff the heel. The brake pressure comesthe calf muscle. With the heel off thethe brake pressure comes from themuscle. The calf muscle and ankle pivottogether to produce more precise brakesure changes than the thigh muscle.Proper braking is much more relaprecise pedal pressure than to coarsheer pedal pressure. Today's power bdon't require a heavy pedal effort, asas they do require a con trolled pedal eSmall changes in pedal pressure producchanges in braking force. Try it bothYou will find you are smoother andmore control i f you pivot off your heeLook Where You Want To GoLearn how to use your eyes.ahead as far as you ca n see. Thenback to the mirrors: outside left, irear, and outside right. Immediately


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Useyourmirr orsGet in the habita visual ro ta l ionsequence. Every fseconds lo ok in thouts idemirror, thinside tear view mandthe right outm ir ror. If youhavmake an evasivemaneuver, youwknowwhere theolanes are without

or precis ionba


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through the car ahead of you to see if thedriver is paying attention. Many driverslack concentration. Constantly move youreyes to see where traffic is around you.Check out every intersection, even whenyou're using emergency equipment. Mostdrivers will not hear the siren or notice thelights in time.When on the street, you have vehiclescoming from every direction and you can'tcount on people doing the right thing atthe right time. In fact, expect them to dothe wrong thing aU the time. That is theessence of defensive driving.Look far ahead of your car. Time andagain, it has been proven at The BondurantSchool that you will drive exactly whereyou are looking. Look as far around a corneras you can, 10 to 15 car-lengths, If possible.Don't over-drive your vision. Look whereyou want to be.Tests have revealed that most driversdo not look far enough ahead. The fasterwe drive, the farther ahead we should look.The officer must make a conscious effort toraise the visual horizon. Many drivers weretaught in driver education to focus on thehood ornament. They were told to placethe hood ornament at a certain spot relative to the shoulder of the road to helpWear yo ur seat belt! Ittakes less than threeseconds to fasten andcan be unfastenedbefore you brake to astop on a routine trafficstop. The air bag onlyworks as designed ifthe occupant is beltedin place. Seat belts holdyou in place duringaggressive driving .

keep them in the middle of their drlane. Unfortunately, this techniqwrong because it teaches the driver toat the hood of the car instead of thezon of the road.Look as far ahead as poSSible, or aone block ahead in city traffic. The puis to keep the driver's view "up" ratherlooking "down" at the area in front car. Keep your eyes moving. Establishsual search pattern. Look near and fthe left and right, in the mirrors, andinstrument panel. Get the big picturcome aware of the whole traffic around you.Scan curves as far ahead as possiblmentally plot the line you are going tbefore you get there. If you can't seearound a curve, reduce your speed. Lofar enough ahead is the single, most imtant factor in attaining smoothness icontrol of your vehicle.The key to performance drivinglook where you want to go. This is esply true of skid control or obstacle aance. Don't look at the obstacle or yocertainly drive right into it. Instead, lwhere your escape route is. In a slideto where you want the car to be as ycover from the slide.


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Suppose you are sliding toward aparked car. The tendency is to look towardthat parked car. Instead, move your eyesback to where you are trying to go. Believeit or not, the instinctive eye-hand coordination will steer you back out of that skid.The same is true for sliding into a telephone pole, a tree, or any obstacle. Most ofus fixate on the pole or tree we are about tohit and forget about where we want to go.Force yourself by training to look whereyou want the car to go.One of the best ways to do this in training is to set up a tall pylon. Put yourself ina slide toward it; look at it while trying tocorrect for the slide. You will find you runright over it. Next time look beyond it, lookback on the road where you want to go, and\ 'OU will find yourself steering right out ofthe slide.The Importance of ConcentrationWhen you're driving the car, be i t\'o ur patrol car or your personal car, partof concentration is making sure you'relooking down the road well ahead. Re-member that you will drive exactly where\'o u're looking. Your hands will follow\'our eyes. To concentrate on your drivingiust simply pay attention to where youare going. Look at least 15 to 20 carlengths ahead. Then come back and look:hrough all three mirrors, and then go

~ a c k to the cars that are just ahead to seeif those drivers are looking ahead. Or are:hey not concentrating by talking on thephone or interacting with their passenYou want to be looking ahead, con..:entrating on what's in front of you.',\'hat's coming out of the side streets? Is-omeone starting to get into an accident}head, is traffic starting to slow down:lhead of you? I f so, ease off on the gas:lOd be ready to make an emergency lane

h a n g e . Concentration is really lookingahead and paying attention to what is go:ng on around you. It's as simple as that.A Word on Seat BeltsSome law enforcement officers do not.lse seat belts when driving their police..:ruisers. This is a potentially fatal mistake.Some reasons given for not wearing seat

belts include low speeds during routin e ptrol; yet more than 80 percent of all accdents occur at speeds less than 40 miles phour. Other reasons include short trips taen by many officers responding to a call: \ '75 percent of all accidents happen within 2miles of home, or the fear of entrapment ithe event of an accident; yet less than onhalf of one percent of all injury-producincollisions involve fire or submersions. Totime consuming? It takes under three seonds to fasten a combination lap and shouder harness.Many good reasons exist for wearinsafety belts. They protect the wearer from"secondary collision." The car strikes an oject (primary collision), and at the samspeed the driver strikes the steering wheor windshield (secondary collision). A drier wearing a seat belt has a "safety zone" btween himself and the vehicle.Seat belts prevent occupants from hiting one another during a collision. Sebelts diffuse and spread out the force of thimpact across the strong parts of the bodhips, and shoulders. Seat belts prevent thdriver from being ejected in the event ofcollision or roll-over accident. Police offcers, more than any other drivers, know thsafest place for the driver is inside the caFrom a driving performance view, the sebelt holds the driver in position for becontrol during aggressive driving.Wear the seat belt and shoulder harneall the time. Some officers do not wear sebelts, thinking seat belts will get in the waof a fast exit on a felony stop. Felony stopare rare, This is no excuse for not wearinseatbelts during the multiple dozens stops a traffic officer makes each day. felony stop may be just the kind you neeyour seat belt for, if the violator uses his vhicle to ram or otherwise forcibly resist. Oa felony stop, unbelt just before your cruier comes to a stop.

If you are counting on the air bag, yohad better have your seat belt on every timyou drive. I f you don't have your seat beon and get hit head-on, your body can slidunderneath the steering wheel. The steerinwheel can go right into your chest or yoface. Protect yourself. Wear your seat belt,


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The Basics of HandlingVehicle control is directly related totire traction, which is directly relatedto tire patch size, weight transfer,and smoothness. Learning to be smoothwith your input to steering, acceleration,and braking is critical to maximizingcontrol of your vehide.Everyone who has beenthrough The BondurantSchool remembers THEVAN RIDE . BobBondurant opens upeach School coursewith some hot laps in a15.passenger van. Thepoint is made forever:the basics of handlingare the same for racecars and for policeinterceptors as they arefor all vehicles. RickScuteri

Steering GeometryThe idea of steering the front waround separate axes was invented in 18a carriage builder in Munich, Germnamed LankenspergeL In 1878, Frencriage builder Charles Jeantaud introdurefinement known as the "Jeantaud Dia


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that provided a more precise prediction of thecorrect front suspension geometry. Today,La nkensperger's invention, along witheantaud's refinements, is referred to asAckerman Steering" and is designed intoevery vehicle, including police cars, vans,trucks, buses, race cars, or go 'karts.'The Ackennan suspension is designed sotha t the inside wheel turns in at more of anang le than the outside wheel. This helps topull the car into and through a corner. If bothwheels turned in exactly the same amount inresponse to the steering wheel, the car wouldtend to push to the outside of the comer.TheAckennan designed into the steering helpssteer the car to the inside of the corner.To make a change from one lane to an-other, you only need to turn the steering

wheel slightly. Hands that were at th e 3 and9 position only need to turn th e steeringwheel to where the hands are now at the 2and 8 position. Believe it or not, you canmake a lane change without even a quarterof a turn of the steering wheel.Just for a drill, go out to your car, andturn the steering wheel just slightly, until

As you accelerate, brake, and corner, weightshifts back and forth and from side to side .Litera lly all aspects of vehicle dynamics get backto the issue of weight transfer. The key to vehiccontrol is to transfer weight to the area of thecar needing traction respectively. Rick Scuteri

When the car is at rest, depending on the weight distribution and tire size, all four tire patches are about thsame size. Each patch is about the size of a man's palm. These small patches are all you have betweencontrol and loss of control.


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you lift off the gas, weight transfers from the rear to the front, making the front tire patches larger. Apply the brakes, a great deal of weight transfers forward, making the front patches very large and the tches very small. The opposite happens as you ease off the brakes and apply full throttle.

is the car at rest with nearly equal weight on all four tires. As. you enter a turn, weight shifts from the in


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ur 3 and 9 hand position is at the 2 andposition. Get out of the car and look howthe tires have moved. They will haverely turned. To make an emergency lanenge at highway speeds, it only takesout an eighth- or quarter-turn of thering wheel. Get back in the car and turne steering wheel a total of a half-turn. Getout and look at how much the insidel has turned now. You will find it isin more.Tum the steering wheel a total of oneas if you are making a panic lanege. If you yank the wheel in a panic,can tum almost a full turn of the steerwheel. Now get out and look at the frontls. The inside front wheel will haveed in a lot more. The more you turn thering wheel, the more the inside wheel is

going to tum for you. And i f you turn it watoo far, you will overcorrect, upsetting thbalance of the car, and you will likely locontrol of the car. If you use 3 and 9 all thtime, you can not overcorrect the steering ian emergency situation. This is one of threasons this hand position is so importantWeight Transfer and TractionCar control is a matter of controlling thweight transfer and tire patch sizes, becauthis is what controls traction and tire adhsion. You control the amount of tractioduring acceleration, braking, and cornerinby controlling the size of the tire patches.Every time you drive the police car, yoinduce weight transfer. When the car isrest, and depending on the weight distribution and the tire size, all fOUf tire patche

s the same police car going around a curve at maximum adhesion. Even the stiffly sprung Ford Policeeptor has rolled slightly to the outside. A great deal of weight is on the outside front tire. No te howthe tire is rolled under, compared to the car at rest.


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are about the same size. As soon as you startto accelerate, weight shifts from the fron t tothe rear. The front end has less weight andth e front tires have smaUer tire patches. Asmaller tire patch means less traction. Theweight will transfer more to the rear of th ecar, compress ing the rear springs, pushingdown on the rear tires making a larger tirepatch. A larger tire patch re sult s in moretraction and stability.The same kind of weight transfer hap-pens as the steering wheel is turned. In aright hand turn, weight transfers to the left,causing the front and rear left side tirepatches to grow, and th e front and rearright side patches to shrink.Between you and the road are four tirepatches about the size of the palm on aman's hand. Tha t is all you have betweenyou and the road, between you and trac-tion , between you being in con trol o r outof control.

In a panic, drivers often li ft off thand tum th e wheel quickly. When thispens, the weight transfers fo rward ontfront tires. By compressing the front spdownward, you have a la rger tire pwhjch means better traction on the fHowever, the rear tires have much lesstion, because weight has transferredfrom th e rear and the rear springs havleased their downforce. The rear tire pes are now half the size.Lifting off the gas and jerking the ing wheel is usuaU y foUowed by jumon the brakes and braking as hard ascan. On a car without ABS (one po liceer out of four still does not have ABSaction will lock up the fron t wheels.the front wheels locked and the rear wwith so little traction, the rear end wilspin right around. You now have spuof control and perhaps hit somethingtryi ng to avoid the first object.

As the car negotiates a comer, it rolls to the outside, transferring weight. Vehicle control is related to tractitire patch size, weight transfer, and smoothness.


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Go back to the 3 and 9 hand position.The 3 and 9 hand position will not allow youto overcorrect the steering wheel. You are going down the highway and someone suddenly stops in your lane. Lift off the gas, butdon't touch the brakes. Turn the steeringwheel a quick half-turn. As you're crossingover the white line into the other lane, simply squeeze on the gas again. This transfersweight back to the rear wheels to maintaintraction. You will be by the situation muchquicker and safer than if you tried to brake.Try this demonstration with a friend.Have him put his arm out straight, palmup. Put your arm out, palm down on top ofhis hand. Push down slightly on his handlike the pressure on the front springs duringbraking. Have him push up slightly, justenough to counteract the pressure. Now,suddenly lift your hands, which will remove the downward pressure. Your friend'sarm will suddenly pop up into the air.Springs and the whole concept of weighttransfer work the same way. When you suddenly accelerate, the front springs releasetheir downforce. The front tire patches rapidly decrease in size.

I f you treat the accelerator as if i t were asponge, apply pressure as if you weresqueezing water out of it . Squeeze on thethrottle smoothly, you will always havesmooth weight transfer under acceleration.To begin braking, roll smoothly off thegas pedal and squeeze smoothly on thebrakes. Treat the brake pedal like the accelerator, as if it were a sponge. I f you aresmooth on the brakes, you will transferweight forward onto the front tires whilestill maintaining some tire patch, whichmeans traction, on the rear wheels.The way humans react, if you lift off thegas rapidly, you will also hi t the brake hard.If you roll off the gas smoothly, you willalso squeeze the brakes smoothly. Whenyou do that, you will control the weighttransfer smoothly and always have tractionon all four wheels. That is the key to beingin control.When you accelerate, the weight transfers to the rear of the car, taking weight offthe front. What that means is, the rearshocks are compressed, expanding the reartire patches. While that is happening, the

front springs are releasing their downforHow hard you accelerate or how smoothyou accelerate governs how much tractiyou have in the rear and how much trtion you lose in the front.When coming down the road at 40SO miles per hour and you are goingbrake, you ease off the gas, and the weigstarts to transfer forward; follow thatsmoothly squeezing on the brake pedtransferring more weight to the fromaintaining some rear tire patch while yexpand the front tire patches. This matains traction front and rear.Weight Transfer and Cornering,\Vhen braking and turning into a cner, the car's ,\'eight transfers to the ouside and front \d1ile the brakes are applieThen \\'hen \ 'OU accelerate through tcorner. \\'ei,gh t transfers to the outside arear of the car. expanding the rear tpatches and taking a\\'ay the front tractior tire patches. depending on how hayou accelerate.'\\-hen \ 'OU make a turn under acceletion, \\'eight \\'ill transfer to the outside rewheel. pro\iding traction there. The insifront \dwel has less traction. Consequenti f you accelerate too hard through a cornthe front end is going to push. It is goingundersteer. which is a front-wheel slide.get out of that situation, roll the throtback on. \ \-eight will transfer forward aput dOlmforce on the tire patches throuthe springs. The sidewall will also defleand scrub off speed for you.

It is not necessary to brake. Howeveryou are understeering and you don't gafront tire traction quickly enough, gensqueeze the brakes to transfer more weigfon,'ard and regain front tire traction agaSay you are coming into a right-hacorner, and you have jumped on the braktoo hard. Under hard braking and hard cnering, the weight will transfer laterafrom right to left and longitudinally frothe rear to the front. It takes weight off tright rear tire, resulting in a smaller tpatch and less traction. It transfers weightthe left front tire, resulting in a larger tpatch and more traction. However, the rigfront tire also has good traction becau


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FRONT

REAR

These images of tire contact patches are ideal forshowing the actual effects of weight transfer onyour car. This will vary slightly with the size andtype of tire as well as the car, bu t in concept itcan be used for a base of reference. Theseexamples are from a Formula Ford, as the reartires are larger than the front tires. This showsthe car at rest .

FRONT

j....REAR

Under acceleration the front patch has changedlittle-but look at the tremendous difference inthe rear imprints as the weight transfers rearward.24

braking has shifted the weight forward.result of all this weight transfer is the bend can start to slide out.To correct for the rear wheel slcalled over steer, as quickly as you can,the wheel to the left to stabilize the car.tires again are going to scrub off speed.

is not enough correction, squeeze ongas a little to put weight back on thetires. Carry the slide through the cornice and smooth. I f you jump on the brin the middle of a rear-wheel slide, yougoing to make the weight transfer probworse and are going to spin the car outLateral Weight Transfer

All aspects of vehicle dynamics getto the issue of weight transfer. The kevehicle control is simply to transfer weto the area of the car needing traction.When a car is turned right orfrom its course of travel, a lateral wetransfer occurs. This causes the sussion to be compressed on one sideexpanded on the opposite side. Normthe curve is completed and the vehichassis returns to lateral neutral. Hower, i f the vehicle is immediately turnethe opposite direction, this energy st

FRONT

filiiREAR

When you hit the brakes, the car's weight shdramatically toward the front.


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"''IFRONT

REAR

The next three images show how the tire contact:)atches change through a right-hand corner._ateral weight transfer in a corner is pronounced.\l ate that even within the left front tire patch itself,: 'l e outside (left) edge is being forced into theJavement more than the inside edge of the tread.

n the suspension can induce a violentla teral weight transfer.

When negotiating a series of reversingturns, these weight transfers can have a cu-mulative effect. Each lateral transfer be-comes more violent than the one precedingit. If this keeps going, the vehicle will spinout of control. A driver must consider whatreaction the vehicle will have to the driver'sxtion. Smoothness in steering, braking,and throttle is the only effective way tominimize lateral weight transfers.Tires can only perform at their maxi-:num when doing one thing at a time. Youcan only corner at maximum adhesion or.lCcelerate at maximum adhesion or brakeat maximum adhesion. If you try to turn'-\" hile braking at the maximum, the front:ires will almost certainly slide or the front

r a k e s lock. If you try to turn while accel-('fating at the maximum, the rear tires willalmost certainly slide or start spinning. If\O u try to brake or accelerate while turn-mg at the maximum, the front tires willslide (understeer), the rear tires will slide

In the middle of the corner, th e t ire patchesshow a fur ther ligh ten ing of both the front anrear inside (righ t) ti res .

FRONT

'liltREAR

As progress is made to the exit of the corner,four patches begin to show weight transfer bato a more stable position.


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The key to controll ing weight transfer is tosmoothly apply the gas. Imagine a big spongeunder the gas pedal. Squeeze on the gas likesqueezing water out of a sponge. Squeeze on.Ease off.

(oversteer), or all four tires will slide (fourwheel drift).Weight transfer, tire patches, and Acker-man steering geometry all go together. Thetire patch is where th e tire meets the asphalt.Tire patch is about the size of the palm ofyour hand. When sitting still, all four tirepatches are about the same. As you accelerate, weight transfers to the rear, and compresses the rear springs, pressing down on therear tire patch making i t larger. At the sametime that is happening, front tire patches arebecoming smaller. As weight transfers to therear, it releases pressure on the front springs,which moves weight upward and backward.As you approach a corner and roU offthe gas, weight starts to transfer forward,and next you squeeze on the brakes. All forward motion compresses downward on thefront tire patches, making them larger andlarger, making rear tires patches smaller andsmaller. As long as you let off the gas andbrake smoothly, you will always have allfour tire patches working for you.

Never jam on the brakes, even in an ABS-equipped car. Instead, smoothly transfer weforward when braking . Imagine a huge spobelow the brake pedal. Squeeze on . Ease of

As soon as you start to turn into aner, say a left-hand corner, the weightransfer laterally across from left reright front, putting more weight onfront tire, creating more of a tire patchAckerman steering takes over. The you turn the wheel, the tighter Acketurns, and helps to steer you into thenero One problem to keep in mind is iturn the wheel suddenly to full lockgoing to turn the outside front tire paarea of rolling friction. Tire patchwon't help the problem either. Youhave to unwind the wheel a little bhave rolling' friction .When you're smoothly on the gasbrakes, and the steering wheel, weightransfer between all four wheels. means the total traction and adhesithe car will be greater than i f you rougher with the gas, brakes, and wheehicle control is directly related to tiretion, which is directly related to tire size, weight transfer, and smoothness.


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The RightMental Attitude

o matter what we do in life, to do itwell, we must concentrate on it. Wemu st put our minds to it , and work tomplish it . Driving takes more concentra-than most drivers realize. Enforcementing, like race car driving, requires theimum possible concentration.A key difference exists between an ad-ced driver and a beginning driver. Theinning driver does the basics right somef the time, while the advanced driver doese basics right all of the time. More thanning and experience, the true differencetween the beginning and the advancedr is actuaUy concentration.Concentrate on driving 100 percent ofe time. It can be done. Nearly every acci-nt is avoidable. It is called an accident be-e someone does not pay attention.someone was not concentrating.Most people don't concentrate whendrive. They pay attention perhaps 30rcent of the time. Most drivers think driv-is a natural activity. Like it's a freebie.yone can drive a car. They don't controle car; it controls them. They don't lookenough ahead. They don 't concentrateall. They don 't pay attention to what oth-drivers are doing around them . They justise around listening to the radio, think-g about where they are going, what theygoing to b doing that night, their nextting, their next meal. This happens to

e officers, too.

You are patrollin& but not paying a lof attention to what your car is doing: nlooking for a car coming out of a drivewaor an aUey way, or turning righ t on red,making a left tum across oncoming traffiYou can get into trouble just as easilyanyone else drhing a car. If you concetrate, you can stay out of trouble. For po liofficers concentration is doubly im portanThey are not only driving but al so ptrolling the streets. Unlike regular drivetheir job is to watch for things that hanothing to do with driving.

Whether you are driving a Formula Ford, aMus tang Co bra, or a Police Interceptor, the keyto successful driving is maximum concentrationConcentration is the key to both accidentavoidance and smoothness .


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Concentrating onenforcement driving isnot just sta ring downthe road. It is lookingfa r ahead andanticipating what trafficwill do . Good visualhabi ts allow the officerto resist distract ions.

The Mental Approach to Pursuit

28

I id a training exercise at the Phoenix PoliceAcademy, Ifld right wway they put me in achase. I was the bad guy, and then I was the goodguy. Once again, concentration is the most im-portant thing that needs to be emphasized in pur-suit driving. Focus on driving )'OIX own Ine. It iseasy to be chasing someone, and alii d a suddenthey make a mistake. You IoIow that mI:stIIce. YouboUl crash.I was chasing their chief instructor. I caughthim , and I stayed about three car lengths behind.After what happened next. in letrospect. I wasprobably a _ bit dooe. I walChed his drivingand saw he was getting wide on the comers. Theback end " '" - .g out. He just got carried_O)ring to elude . . . . FInally, he spun out. I pushedthe a r to the limit to Ivoid rNking contact withhim . As dose as Iwas beIWld him. ICDUId see tONeasy ~ would be to just fallow his line. . . fact, kwas very hard no t to foIow his te.t. Iconcenbatec:ton foIIc7.Mng my own 1M rather than c:oncentm..ing on him. tt was easy to catch him that WfI't.During a pursuit you must try extra hard todri'I'e your own line Into the comers. He wII tuminto the comer too $OOn, too e.ty, and cut thecomer. This is called an early apex. You must stayto the outside and wait longer beftft turning in.This is taking a late apex. He wtli brake too late.You must brake early.

Mostof all, back off and gM! the fIeemg der room. You will find yoursetf gaining on the der as he makes mistakes and you don't You mconcentrate on keeping the same gap. Youactually find youneIf waiting on !he fIeemg dor, Wldor-drMng your GIl, accelelatOIg less thaIs capable, and broIdng less "9!IfOSSIYeIy. SImput. your more """""""" line Is IIIowIng )to catch !he fIeemg drivor. AI !he___with)OUr 21',,",,- _-door"""_sus his BO-honepower sports GIl, )OU willabte to keep up with him. This is bec.tse youdOOg. _ job of technical driving where )would otherwise be easily outrun.Remember, it's no t a game of tag. All yneed to do is keep him in sight " you get tdose, you will start to follow his braking acornering mistakes and you will both cra8ackjng of f allows you the mental flexibilitydrive com!Ctly.SometiIIIts the bet. decision cbing a pws;, to be patient. to leo! !hot )OU don' necessahave to "get" an alleged _ right nowrn;ght be _ to _ get !he lanse numand find the driver ' *r , or wait ootiI he ormakes _ . Patience _ your abilitylook a t . , emergency situation IogicaIty and ob;tiwIy, no t emotionallyand SIJiljectNeIy.--80b_


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Perhaps one reason that so many accin ts happen under "safe" drivlng condions is that these are the times when therage driver is easily distracted. Over 70nt of all accidents occur in moderateffic, on straight roads, durlng dry andar weather conditions.Nine out of 10 motorists show by theirin traffic that they do not use theires correctly while driving. A major differetween the average motorist and alice driver is that common distracor other adverse conditions do notthe abili ty of the police driver asas they do a less-skillful driver.The high incidence of serious single-cardents is proof that many individualrs make serious driving errors thatuld be avoided by better visual habits. Asdriver, these seeing habits wil1 enable youpay attention to key details, resist disand allow sufficient time andace to adjust safety to traffic situations.

Look and AnticipateConcentrating is not just staring dowthe road. It is looking way ahead and antipating what the traffic will do. Look asdown the road as you can. Then come baand look through the mirrors-all thrmirrors, so you know where traffic around your vehicle. Then look into the ahead. What is that driver doing? Is he taing on a cell phone or talking so mu chhis passengers that he is not paying attetion? The distracted driver may suddensee your police car in the rearview mirrthin k he is going to get a ticket, and sudenly jump on the brakes or do somethielse stupid. You must be ready for that. Jas you are taught by every other policestructor: E.xpect the unexpected.At The Bondurant School, we hadone various tests in the past. With a polofficer behind me, the agreement wawould slow down only when J heard tsiren. If the drh'er is staring down the ro

e a ...erage motorist will not see your flashing emergency lights nor hear your siren until it is too late. Thmust dri ...e defensi ...ely and expect the unexpected. Ford Division


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Think Ahead andLet the Chase Come to YouThe 18th DIstrict of Chicago's near northskje includes such areas as the Rush streetnightclub strip, Old Town, the North Clar1t;S . . . "sIcicj row" section, ~ pub-lie housing protect. and the "MagnificentMile" of North Michigan Avenue. This area ishardly conducive to the high-speed pursuitsf e a t u ~ on so many of the police video showsseen on teHMsions today. Congestion andnear gridlock conditions on 'M!8end eveningsare common place.Chicago PoIk::e units that wortc.ed this areapracticed procedures that were and are quitedifferent from those that are taught in IJOIlc:etraining academies today. Chases in thosepans 01 tho dty __ generolly 01 . . . . . dtn-tion. FJee;ng _ quiddy lost tho punuingsquad In tnoIfic by ....,,;ng up side __ "tho ' * ' - '__ heir _ and fledon loot _ 01 cangmtion.

Over time, officers of the district ' -nedto odopt their tactics. For .......,.., theyloomed to '- only one or two units do thoIClUII dIoIing. Nothing _ !JIInod by hIWIg "pnde" 0I1IooI1Olg. _ lOng squad an-.g _.fIeeIng _.My '> y unilsrnoritcn1g the chaR would begin pnlellngtho . . . . . . on adjoining ........ - .y imes Intho ' - ' 01 tho . . . . . . fleeing _ tumodonto a side strHt only to find another squadcar comfng directly at him. Chicago side. . . . . . . (only one__ - t o - b u m p e .My""" '" partne< and I simplywalked up andstood O\o'ef' the two suspKb and arrested them.They "Were both wanted In comectioI, with burrjIIy and - - be;ng pursuod _ """"'"'*'!I pedestrian _ ....... So __ or "highspeed" cIwes In congestod . . . . 0I1oIge dtIes.This scenario Isn't WKOmmOn in the city.- ' -119 tho __ ho _1b I y routes thofleeing wt.;cJe . . . . -. nd - . g ho . . . . . .come to you results In successful apprehensionof offenders more times than not. Individuatofficm should abo t.Ik OYer their strategies ofpursuit ahead of time so that while in pursuit,an o f f i c ~ can be confident that there are other supporting units around him to pick up thechase when the fleeing vehicle eludes the pursuing squad in a congested area.

-lin ReynoldsChicago P o I i c ~ Deportment (Retired)


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Attitude and JudgmentEven i f you concentrate on driving,driver attitude also influences the eventualoutcome of an emergency run or pursuit.This is because a poor driver attitude COIl-tributes to more accidents than does a lackof skill. Attitude affects good judgment onhow to drive th e car. Attitude is a person'smanner of acting, feeling, or thinking thatshows his or her disposition. Good judg-ment is the person's ability to perceive hazards or dangers and respond accordingly toavoid an acddent or loss of control.Be confident, but be sure your confidence is based on training and experience.Don't be overconfident. Allow for mistakesor unpredictable actions on the part of otherdrivers. Drive with a margin for error, espedaUy during high-speed runs and pursuits.

Don 't let your confidence come fromexperience alone. You may have been driving incorrectly and making mistakes, andthe mistakes simply have not yet caught upto yo u. Get training. Don't rely on day-today experiences. Don 't be confident in yourdriving abilities just because you have hadyears of street experience. You should havein-service training to remind you of the basics and correct your mistakes.Your confidence will be enhanced byyour success in previous emergency response si tuations. Although confidence isvery important, it does not guarantee success. Experience develops bad habits just aseasily as good habits. Practice does not makeperfect. On ly perfect practice makes perfect.Both psychological and physiologicalfactors affect your attihlde and ability toconcentrate, which can increase the potential for collision. These include boredomfrom spending a full day in the vehicle. Theaggressive nature of many officers may alsocarryover into the driving task. Aggressiveness is not always a useful attribute in

emergency driving. Often, it resulthigh-risk behavior. The attitude of sofficers is that it is okay to drive fasthard without due regard for the lo ngeof the vehicle.Overconfidence in one's driving a

ty or in the handling capabilities of aenforcement vehicle can be a mistakcan not being prepared for the lack oaction or overreaction [rom the motopublic in response to seeing a law enfoment vehicle.The distraction of traditional lawforcement work can cause collisions. Tcome from using equipment such as rradar, spotlights, mobile terminals,Driving at high speeds itself puts a grdemand on your searching and vskills. Fatigue associated with longspans in the vehicle can take its tolyour attitude. This includes fatiguebeing on a rotating shift when yourlogical clock is telling you that it is timsleep. Your attitude can very much ayo ur decision-making in emergencysponses. If you have an attitude that myou think that you are above the lawcause you are a law enforcement officthat you must get an offender at all cyou will make bad decisions which cendanger yourself and others.Emotions are an overwhelming factdecision-making. You need to try to coyou r emotions and to keep them in chethe greatest possible extent. You dothrough your knowledge, your ongevaluation of driving conditions, andestimates of the possible risks involvedStress is inevitable. You cannot enate it, but you can try to control it.driver, your stress level will Increase asfeel you are osing con trol of your vehicthe space around your vehicle. Stress ireverse of control.


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patches. When the front wheels areup , the result is no steering control.ow ABS WorksASS is a computerized brake systemith sensors on all four brake rotors orThe computer automatically detectsof the tires are locked, or rotating atslower speed than the others or at a lowerthan the vehicle itself is traveling.

it se nse s the locked brake, the ASSs the brakes much faster than a hu-n can. It pulsates the brakes on and offy. This allows the front wheels to startlock up and then release in order to con-e to rotate. The result is rolling frictionhat permits steering.[n terms of safety, ASS is probablyhe best thing in the history of the autoThe problem is, most peopleunderstand ABS and don't use i tASS works independently onyou slam on thethe computer takes over and sim-ply pumps the brakes for you , morethan you could yourse lf. Whenou put the brakes on hard, you feel thebrake pedal pu lsating under your footnd you hear it going "duh-duh-duh. "is the ASS at work. If the ABS com-

puter goes out, you can still pump theand make them work.

hen locked brakesn a no n-ABS car failo slow the car fastnough, some driverspush the brake peda lven harder.Larry Hollingsworth

ASS brakes got off to a bad start wlot of law enforcement officers when were first put on police cars in 1991. Iassumed that police officers undershow ABS brakes worked, including thesating pedal. While Mercedes, BMW,other European cars have had ASSlong time, it was totally new to mostThey had to be taught that the ABS bwould not lock, taught not to pumpbrakes during emergency stopping, tathat the pedal would pulsate and evenback a little when activated, and tathat the pedal would be a little lower bmaximum braking.This was a lot to teach every policecer in the United States. Over the nexyears, with both Ford and GM active iucating the police on the characterand advantages of ABS, cops got up to son antllock brakes. ABS had a controvestart but is now a widely understoodaccepted safety device.How do you know whether the Afunctional, or whether your squad car has ASS? Not all po lice package sedansABS. Say you are taking a different scar out today. Even at 10 miles per houcan tell whether you have ABS or ifworking. Problems with ABS are rarepossible. At about 10 or IS miles perstep on the brake hard. If you feel the b


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Even in the late 1990s, many police cars do nothave ASS. ASS is either an extra cost option or adelete for credit. Larry Hollingsworth

pedal pulsate under your foot or hear it go"duh-duh-duh," you know you have ABSand that it is working. Checking for a working ABS is a good habit to develop whatever vehicle you drive.Using ABSASS can be used when your car starts tohydroplane-when water on the roadway isdeeper than the tread in your tires. The tiresactually ride up on the layer of water andlose contact with the TOad surface. With anABS-equipped car, when you come off thegas and stand on the brakes, ABS will pulsate the brake system, pumping it on-offon-off, giving you bits of traction to helpyou slow. The same thing is true in thesnow or on ice. On ice, it is going to feel asif you are never going to make it, but theABS actually does help to steer the ca r. Theca r just reacts more slowly because of theextreme lack of traction.

Do not not pump the brakes on anABS-equipped car. ABS is activated whenone wheel locks or rotates much slowerthan any o ther wheel. ABS is deactivatedwhen the pedal pressure is backed off, andall four wheels rotate at the same speed.By pumping the brakes, you turn on andlhen turn off the ABS, which greatly re-duces its effectiveness. Simply let the computer do the job for you. It can providenear-maximum stopping power and letyou worry about steering around an obstacle in an emergency.

The key to braking in a non-ASS vehicle is tpump the brakes or to brake at the threshobrake lock up. Larry Hollingsworth

All you need to remember withbrakes is to stand on the brakes as hayou want and tum the wheel to make achange. If you are in a slide, stand onbrakes and steer where you want to goas simple as that. When you are donethe braking, then and only then, get obrakes. Don't be in the middle of brwith ASS, trying to tum and avoid sthing, and then ease off the brakes.you go back into conventional brakingA common problem drivers haveABS is that they forget they haveThey slam the brakes on when they to stop. When the pedal starts to pulsamodulate, they think something is wwith the brakes. They either pump thebrakes, or they release the brakepressure and it goes back into the nobrake system. If you try to pumpbrakes on a car with ABS, the systemnot react quickly enough, and youhave a much harder time stopping. Wyou feel the ABS pedal working, pulsinand off, under your foot, push down er. Keep it down until you have compthe maneuver.ABS has one fantastic feature thatpeople don't know about. Suppose ycoming around the comer on a sliroad. All of a sudden the back end slideand you get into an oversteer, or awheel slide. Get on the brakes and turnthe direction of the skid. The ABS dewhich tires have traction and which


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Maximum brak ingpower comes fromthatare ro llin gbualm ost locked. Rolfric tion also allowscar to respond to steering inputs .LorryHollingswort h

e ther itis brake and tu rn,orbrake, tu rn, and stop, the key to vehicle contro l isnotto lock thebrakes .tryHoll ingsworth


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e lesson from thend urant Brake and

exercise is simple.the brakes locked,

e driver loses steering.

ABS In ActionO ne day at the Ford Proving Grounds inNap$es, Florida, I was doing some hot lapswith dealers in a Ford Thunderbird as part of adriving demonstration. We were doing 7o.rniieper hour fourwheeI power slides (four-wheeldrifts) through some comers and everybodyloved it. Ford's chief engineer for ASS, Bob Eaton,offered to show me how ASS reaAy worb. Ithought I knew how it worked. I kneoN you couldstop quick with it. I knew you could stop whileturning to avoid something. As It turned out. I re-ally didn't know what else it could do.

The Ford engineer taught me ASS will alsocorrect a slide around a comer. With th e engineerriding along, we went through a corner at 70miles per hour. In the middte of a power slidethrough the comer, he told me to ;am on thebrakes. 1 looked to the left and to the right. Therewere grassy areas on both sides of the road whereI f'9Ured I would end up when I ran off the road.I figured the rear brakes would lock up and spinme around. 1got on the brakes anyhow, steeredwhere I wanted to go, and brought the car undercomplete control. ASS straightened the car out ofmy power slide, which had turned into a slide,and brought me to a stop. I couldn' t believe it.

On the next set of comers. the engineer toldme to go in too fast. put the car into a deliberate

understeer situation (front..wheel skid), and ab3 feet before We drive off the road, to stand onbrakes and steer the car where I wanted it toASS brought me right out of the slide andstop. I was .so impres.sed that I used the ASSrest of the day during the hot laps. I now doas a nonnaI demonstration to Ford dealers, tostudents, and to anyone that I have a chancdemonstrate ASS. ASS is fantastic. As far as sagoes, It is the best thing that has come alon" '" histc


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not. The ASS computer is constantlythe rotation speed of each of ther tires to all the others. In this case, thehave less traction than the front.ASS pulses aU the brakes. However, itmore brakes to the rear and less tofront in an attempt to get all four tiresat the same speed again. As a resultdifferent amounts of braking on thet than the rear, the ABS helps to correctYou can turn into the slideout of it. ASS works to regainl, whether it is a f r o n t ~ w h e e l slide orslide. The car will recover as ifon a dry street.

n-ABS Braking Technique.Your squad car may not have ASS. I tan extra cost option, or a deleteredit, even on many late-model poe cars. On a non-ABS car, your two bestoptions are to pump the brakes as

rapidly as you possibly can, or tothreshold braking.Let's talk about braking without ASSyou are coming down the center lane ayou have to sudden ly make a left-lchange and come to a stop, lift off the gWeight is going to transfer forward tomore traction on the front. Turn and sbraking. Do not slam on the brakes. If ydo , you will lock up aU four brakes. Whthis happens, you lose rolling friction atraction. You will slide into what you wtrying to avoid.In a non-ASS car, think of the brpedal as a big sponge. Squeeze the braon firmly and make the lane changeyou find you have suddenly locked uprear wheels, the rear end of the car ising to get into a slide. If you start in tsituatio n then pump the brake on andon and off. Don ' t pump the brakesfast. If you pump the brake too fast,

driver can turn the wheels all the way left or right, bUl with locked brakes, the car goes straight.


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locked brakes, the driver should back off the pedal just slightly (threshold braking) or pump the bjust do nothing.

es don 't have time to release and be-in rolling again. You must have rollingction to keep the tire patches workingr you.Thres llOld braking is just short of lock-the brakes up. It is the maximum brak-with steering control. Threshold braking

terms of safety. ABS brakes are the biggestvance in the history of the automobile. Thecomputer module automatically pumps the

is the primary braking technique usrace car drivers, however. It requires apractice and extreme concentration.some highly skilled race drivers lockfour tires in a panic stop on the race tIf you lock up the front wheels wheare trying to turn, the car will go straig

The advantage of ABS is NOT shorter stopdistance s. Adriver using threshold braking


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real advantage of ABS brakes is the ability towhile braking at maximum levels. Another advantage of ABS brakes is the ability tquickly stop in a panic. Under panic braking,most drivers forget to threshold brake or pumpthe brakes


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a curve too fast or suddenly hit a slick spot, it can be difficult to brake and turn in a carABS.

of errorsABShelp prevent

of these errors.


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at point, just relax the calf muscle on theused to apply brake pressure, That willjust enough reduction in brake pressurerelease the frontwheel lockup or rear'hcellock up.In a panic stop, your first reaction is tok up the brakes. When this does not slowuu down enough, the normal reaction is) apply even more pressure to lock up theakes, front or rear, that are not alreadyked up. The mistaken myth is thatked brakes produce the maximum stopIlJlg power. That is not true.In a panic stop, if you have either theront or the rear wheels locked, you mustk off the pedal pressure to brake harder,ou want to be almost locked, not actuallyx.ked. With threshold braking, you aret on the verge of locking the brakes.perly done, threshold braking will stop

te car in a sho rter distance than eit her ASS- especially pumping the brakes.However, threshold braking takes a lotpractice. Since most motorists, includ. police officers, do not practice enoughnd have a tendency to lock the brakes inpan ic stop, ABS wa s invented. As a sidemefit when threshold braking, you stillve fu ll directional control. You can turn

while braking, just like with ABS. Rember that tires can not turn if 100 percenthe traction is used for braking. Youhave to relax the th reshold braking psure even more as you go from a straiHne to turning. Use threshold brakinsuddenly your ASS stops working. Youstill stop and have steering control.The best advice for a panic reactionpractice what you would do before you ara panic situation. You can do this in youror in your living room at home. Push dovery hard with YOUf right foot and relax Ylower calf muscle Slightly, release, push doagain and release your calf muscle agPractice this once a day until you get useit so you can read to that situation.Practice by taking your car out whthere is no traffic, Slam on the brakes atmiles per how and feel the front wheels Jup. Tum the wheels a little to the left,will find yourself going straight. Brake hhear the tires squeal, release your calf mcle, ba ck o n again, release your calf musagain and again, and you will find you hsteering contro l. You will have to really thand concentrate on how to do this manver. If you practice it, you can make work for you in an emergency situation.

ASS can help pull yoout of a slide. If youfeel the car losingcontrol, get on thebrakes hard enoughactivate the ABS.


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The Bondurant School has a corner setup in a large flat area for the "Brakeand Turn exercise." You come down thestraightaway at SO miles per hour. Just asyou start into the corner, you slam on thebrakes as hard as you can. In a non-ABS car,you will lock the fron t wheels up and gostraight. You can push on the brakes as hardas you want and turn the steering wheel allthe way to the left, but you will go absolutely straight ahead. The next time youcome down the straight, you slam on thebrakes in a panic stop, lock the brakes, thenpump the brake pedal. This gets enoughtraction to the front tires to make the corner. Pumping the brakes during a panicstop takes some training.Trail Braking TechniqueOn the topic of braking, remember thetrailing brake technique. Trail braking is aterm and a tech nique pioneered by Bob

Bondurant himself. The braking techdates back to his Corvette radng dathe twisting Riverside road racing couCalifornia. Bob found th at lap times arthis particular race course greatly impby coming off the brakes slowly andtaining some braking pressure on sothe sections of the track. This kepweight on the front tires longer, whichthem needed traction in some of theReleasing braking pressure as youis known as trail braking. As you turnthe corner, start to release th e brake pressure very slowly and very gradBraking transfers the we ight forward,pressing the front springs, giving you er front tire patch. This means good teaon the front.You want to maintain that frontraction going into the first third of tharound the corner. If it is a 90-degrener, trail brake halfway around the c

ASS is designed to make sure all four wheels are rotating at the same speed. In a slide, understeer, oroversteer, the tires at the ends of the car rotate at different speeds. ABS modulates the brakes at the twends to regain equal rota tiona l speed. This corrects the slide!


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e less and less brake pedal pressure butp some pressure on the brakes to keepe front tire patches working for you.hen you notice that the front end is slidout at the corner, ease on more brakel pressure. Remember your calf muscle.As you decelerate from 100 miles perur to make a 30-mile per hour intersecn, use a trailing brake as you go into themer. Transfer weight forward to the frontr maximum tire patch and maintain thation as you tum into the comer. Thenlaxing your calf muscle gradually, slowlying the brakes come off, keeping thenforce on the front tires and outsidee. By the time you are through the comer,

ur braking will be done. Squeeze on thettle slightly to transfer weight to thear wheels, and then add more throttle.ke FadeDuring a long pursuit or emergencyn when you are push ing your car toord, your brakes can get so hot they actuy boil the brake fluid inside the brakeUpers. This causes the brake fluid to gom a liquid to a gas (air). While a liquid

almost impossible to compress, a gas is

With AB S, keep yourfoot hard on the braand steer where youwant the car to go.Don't back off theABS until the probleis over.

very easy to compress. Flu id givesbrakes a very solid peda l. Boiled brakeid with gas bubbles in th e lines and incaliper pistons gives the brakes a very spedal. Brake flu id doesn 't gel to calipermove th e brake piston out to the discshelp the car slow down. Even extreme pal pressure does not slow the car dowThi s is brake fade.One word of caution on ABS brakThe fa stes t way to overheat the brakes isactivate the ASS on every stop during a psuit. When ASS is activated, the brakes greaUy heated. The best way to use ABS inot engage it. Save it for a panic situatiEspecially during extended pursuit drivibe careful to stay out of ABS mode. Youbrake very hard without activating ABS awithout overheating your brakes. Thelice package cars have large enough brato allow an almost indefinite use of brathis way, provided short stretches of rare available to allow the brakes to coHowever, a continual use of ABS will ovheat the brakes and cause enough brfade to result in a loss of control. Conctrate, be aware, and pay attention to avbrake fade.


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Skid Control/Skid Avoidance

A ront-wheel slide is called "understeer," sometimes called "push" byrace drivers. Understeer is where thefront tires lose traction regardless of the tirepatch size. If the front tires lose traction, thedriver loses steering. As a result, the car turnsless into the corner than the driver wants. It"under" steers. The car will continue in amore or less straight line instead of turning.This means th e car will run off the road dUT-ing a left-hand turn or turn so wide in aright-hand hun that the car goes into theoncoming traffic lane and then off the road.Understeer occurswhen the fron t t ireslose traction, and as aresult, lose somesteering control. Thecar turns "less" into theco rner than the drive rwants. It "under"steers. Ricle. Scuteri

46

The o pposite of this is a rear-wslide, called "oversteer. " In thi s caserear wheels lose traction and the reaswings to the outside of the corner.causes the front end to po int "more"the corner than the driver wants. It "steers. The car will either run off theto the inside of the turn on a right-corner or run into the oncoming tlane on a left-hand corner. In eitherthe back end of the car may come pletel y around and the car will spinly out of control.


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UndersteerUndersteer is caused by one of threenditions. These are (1) carrying too muchin to a corner, (2) getting on the throttoo soon on corner exit, and (3) brakingrd enough to lock up the front tires.Too much speed is easy to understand.limits of adhesion are simply exceeded.fix this kind of understeer, simply takeur foot off the accelerator and brakeothly, or i f you're already on the brakes,ply more braking pressure. Both actionsweight forward to the front wheels,increases the tire patch size and tireThis also, of course, slows the carwn, correcting the original problem.Too much throttle or getting on theottle too soon transfers weight off thent tires. Even though the tires arerned in at exactly the same angle, the cares not respond to tltis angle. It underre

~ n d s or understeers because the weightoff the front tires reducing the front tiretch and traction. To fix this kind of unrsteer, simply ease off the gas to transfer

weight forward onto the front tires, increasing the tire patch sizes and traction.Braking hard enough to lock the tirecauses understeer, or rather "no-steer." Remember, if the brakes are locked, you cannot steer the car. You can turn the steerinwheel left or right but the direction of thcar will not change at all. A tire must rotatin order to have traction and must havtraction in order to steer the car. To fix thikind of understeer, relax the brake pedapressure. This allows the wheels to rotatagain and steering control will return immediately. This is the lesson from the Brakand Turn Exe rcise.Relaxing brake pressure is NOT the normal reaction. In fact, the normal reaction ito apply the brakes harder. When this happens, the car will continue head-long andcrash into the obstacle you were trying tavoid or run straigh t off the road in thmiddle of a turn. Veteran traffic officerhave seen evidence of this time and againfour black rubber marks leading straight tothe impact. Had the driver lifted off th

ersteer occurs when the rear tires lose traction, and the rear of the car swings to the outside of the cornecauses the front end to point "more" in the corner than the driver wants. It "over" steers. Rick Scuteri


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Understeer is causedby too much speedinto the corner, onthe throttle too soonduring corner exit, andby braking hardenough to lock upthe front tires.

This Mustang GT mounted on the SkidCar platform shows severe understeer. The front wheels are turnsharply but the car is not responding. This could be due to too much throttle, which takes weight off tfront tires. Ease off the throttle. Rick Scuteri48


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, , ' ", I- - - - - - - - -r

pedal at any time during the problemd rurned the steering wheel, the collisionuld have probably been avoided.OversteerOversteer is caused by one of th ree conions. These are (1) braking too aggresely entering into a corner, (2) too muchceleration out of a comer and (3) aggrese braking that locks the rear brakes.

The solution to this kind of oversteer istake your foot off the brake to allowme weight to transfer back to the rearThis is not a natural reaction toersteec, but is the correct reaction to conl the rear end. Then turn into the slide ase car stabil

police and pursuit driving

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