Three driving books that can definitely enhance your safe driving experience, are Traffic - Why we Drive the way we Do, by Tom Vanderbilt, Drive to Survive by Curt Rich, and of course Driverthink.  As it’s author I may be partial to Driverthink, but I would also like to highly recommend Traffic -  and Drive to Survive.

One of the easiest and enjoyable ways to gain driving experience and hone driving skills is to read books or magazine articles written by the experts.  I do it constantly.  Even if you don’t have the chance to get to a race track every day, or perhaps don’t have years of experiences to draw from in an emergency, you can gain much by simply “reading about driving”.  As you cruise the written word, you will absorb expertise that you can immediately apply as you cruise the boulevard.

I would like to offer a brief “Driverthink” review of each of these books and recommend all for those who are truly serious about their driving. 

Driverthink of course, is my own book.  Okay, so I’m a little prejudice!  This book is a compilation of selected articles from this blog.  Each article is designed to explore specific safe driving issues in comprehensive detail.  The articles delve into many issues pertaining to safe driving and offer reality based suggestions not found in some of the more “politically correct” save driving venues.

I view my book as an excellent review for the more seasoned driver and a must read for newer, less experienced drivers.

You might respond to each Driverthink article differently.

• “Yeah, I know that, but I wish everyone else did.”
• “Hmm, that’s true.  But I haven’t thought about it in a while.”
• “Wow, I never knew that.  I can apply that to my driving.”

If you like many (see the “recent comments” page) have liked the articles in this blog you might want to grab a copy of the book as a review or for a newer driver you care about.

Traffic – Why we Drive the way we Do, by Tom Vanderbilt is an excellent analysis of traffic and how different drivers deal with it.  Many of us spend long hours in traffic but have we ever really thought about what causes the many different traffic situations we find ourselves in?  How does it affect our driving?  How can we adjust our driving to deal with the different situations?

Tom delves very deeply into traffic, what causes it, how it affects us and how best to deal with it – both on an individual basis and as a society!

What is a late merger?  Are late mergers a good or a bad thing?  Will simply building more roads alleviate our traffic jams?  How is traffic controlled?  Adjusted?  What are flow dynamics?  How do we behave in different traffic environments?

Tom’s attention to detail can sometimes be a little overpowering but stay with him.  The book is fascinating and his expertise is undeniable.  You will learn more about traffic than you ever thought possible!

Curt Rich’s Drive to Survive takes a somewhat different tack. For most of us, driving is the single most life-threatening experience that we encounter – and we encounter this danger on a daily basis.

Curt is a combat veteran. Being one of the same (same war, in fact), it is easy for me to appreciate how Curt applies the survival instincts developed in combat to the driving experience. 

But you need not go through combat to develop survival instincts nor do you have to be a combat veteran to appreciate the book.  What is situational awareness?  It quickly becomes instinctive in combat but it can be learned by anyone.  Curt actually “color codes” the different levels of situational awareness – and situational awareness is critical to surviving when you’re driving.

I also loved his review of the “four levels of competence” borrowed from Dr. Ignatius Piazza of the Front Sight Academy, who also doesn’t claim to have invented the concept.

You are either Unconsciously incompetent, Consciously incompetent, Consciously competent or Unconsciously competent – not only with your driving but in anything you do!  Hmmm?  At what level am I?  I hadn’t thought about that in a while!
 

Each of these books take a different approach to a common theme – that of being a safer, more skilled, more aware and more confident driver.

Each of these books can easily be purchased at the Driverthink store.  I have also selected a few magazines that make for very educational “driver reading”.  They can be found in the “Magazine Subscriptions” category.

Reading about driving sure doesn’t have to be boring!