Lets see. In 1996, Lawyers & Judges Publishing Company released Forensic Aspects of Driver Perception and Response by Paul Olson (3rd Edition, 2010) and Forensic Aspects of Vision and Highway Safety by Merrill Allen (3rd Edition, 2008). Now just off the L&J presses August 1, 2011 comes Forensic Aspects of Driver Inexperience and Accident Causation by Scott Walmsley. The first two items were penned by vision gurus, a Ph.D. in Industrial Psychology and a Professor Emeritus at Indiana Universitys School of Optometry. This new 614-page tome, by Scott Walmsley is not so much about vision or nighttime driving, but rather the author details over 50 skill deficiencies common among inexperienced drivers that increase collision probability, describing how these affect perceptions, judgments, behaviors, reactions, decisions, and actions. From this information, the reader learns how particular skill deficiencies associated with inexperience combine with specific traffic scenarios and result in critical driving errors. All of these errors occurred with frequency and predictability across the range of inexperienced drivers, giving the reader insight into the human factors that are statistically common among inexperienced drivers. Mr. Walmsley began writing the book in the autumn of 2005 and completed it five years later; however, the data collection process began 10 years earlier. I asked Scott why he wrote the book in the first place. I wrote the book to address many of the common misconceptions about why novice drivers are involved in a disproportionate percentage of collisions. I wanted to provide the most accurate, detailed and extensive information based on how inexperienced drivers perform in actual traffic situations as opposed to simulated environments. I found a number of neat facets of Walmsleys book; for one, he does not have page after page of voluminous continuous text. Although there are 20 chapters, most are subdivided as in Chapter 10A, Chapter 10B, Chapter 10C and so on. Moreover, the author subdivided each chapter into quick, easy-to-read one-to-three paragraphs. This is great for those with short attention spans who read books saying, Come on, lets go." Forensic Aspects of Driver Inexperience and Accident Causation topics include: Task Execution Process Fifty-Two Skill Deficiencies of Driver Inexperience Unprotected Left Turn Collisions Head-On Collisions Crossing the Centerline Entering Arterials from Stops Collisions Occurring While Entering Traffic from a Curb Collisions Occurring on Approach to Intersections Prior to Turns Collisions Involving Loss of Vehicle Control on Turns Curve-induced Collisions Vehicle-Pedestrian Collisions Uncontrolled Intersection Collisions Vehicle-Bicycle Collisions Vehicle-Motorcycle Collisions Lane Change Collisions Merging Collisions Right Turn on Red Collisions Left Turn on Red Collisions Collisions Occurring During Multiple Lane Turns Collisions at All Way Stops Rear End Collisions He saved what in my opinion is his best chapter, Rear End Collisions, for last. In this chapter, as others, he discusses, in detail, numerous errors committed by drivers. Such errors include: Insufficient Following Distance; Failure to Increase Following Distance in Reaction to a Vehicle Entering the Lane of Travel; Failure to Conform to Changing Traffic Flow Speeds Within the Required Distance; Inability to Stop the Vehicle in a Sufficiently Short Distance; Failing to React to a Vehicle Entering the Travel Lane from a Stop; Failing to Stop a Sufficient Length Back from the Lead Vehicle; and Not Anticipating the Lead Vehicle Stopping When Entering Traffic from a Stop. And more. The nice part about all those Errors, is that Mr. Walmsley presents solutions, that is, how to prevent such errors while driving. He offers methods for instructing student drivers and those already licensed but inexperienced drivers. (Even veteran motorists who have been driving for years will benefit by the suggestions.) I particularly liked Error 12 in the final chapter: Errantly Assuming that the Forward Vehicle Should or Will Accelerate. This I am sure will be a more prevalent problem when the forward vehicles driver is on a cell phone and fails to move when the light goes green. What are some of the problems of newbie motorists? In an email to me, Walmsley said, Improperly slow speeds can cause as many hazards among inexperienced drivers as excessively high speeds, for one. For another, Novice drivers frequently have difficulty perceiving speed, they might believe they are traveling 35 M.P.H. when in fact their speed is 50 or 20. One more: A common trait of inexperience is tunnel vision. Inexperienced drivers commonly fixate directly in front of the vehicle to the exclusion of critical lateral and forward zones. Betwixt and between the books sections are over 850 extremely well executed diagrams that took the author nearly a 1000 hours slaving over a pro...
