SEAL Survival Guide (64 page)
Read SEAL Survival Guide Online
Authors: Cade Courtley
Keep control of your speed. Don’t drive too fast or too slowly.
Expect other drivers to make mistakes, and be prepared to react.
Be aware of special road and weather conditions.
Avoid “car bunches.” That’s when moving cars are bottlenecked, although going at regular speed and occupying all lanes.
While driving behind larger vehicles, keep your line of sight clear.
Scan the road for any bicycles, motorcycles, pedestrians, potholes, and animals.
Always maintain an exit route by keeping at least a two-second gap from the vehicle in front of you and space on both sides of your vehicle. Never drive in someone’s blind spot.
The last tip above is the most important when it comes to defensive driving. By maintaining distance from other vehicles you give yourself time and options in avoiding and reacting to potentially hazardous situations and events.
Being the driver, or “wheelman,” was one of my favorite aspects of the work I did overseas. I learned how to drive when I was six years old and have loved it ever since, and I am a terrible passenger. Tactical driver training at several facilities in the U.S. was a requirement for my job. There is no better time than taking someone else’s car and driving the wheels off it, only to have another one waiting for you when it breaks. High-speed driving on the tarmac of an airfield or racetrack in a souped-up Ford Crown Victoria was a hell of a good time. It is a whole different deal when you are driving a ten-thousand-pound armored Mercedes in Indian country. Still fun, but different.
Evasive Driving
There could be a time when you need to implement aggressive and high-speed driving techniques because you are being purposefully pursued, and stopping is not an option. Taking flight in a vehicle is a risky scenario. You are attempting to drive a very heavy object at a high rate of speed, which doesn’t afford the same time to make decisions, yet each move has serious ramifications if you make the wrong choice. The foundation for evasive driving is to know the vehicle you are driving: how it handles, turns, brakes, and accelerates. Factors such as how the vehicle handles weight transfer, which means how the vehicle responds
to a quick turn from left to right, must be known. In this case, will the car “understeer” (front end gives way or skids in a turn) or “oversteer,” meaning that the rear end gives way or spins out during a turn. The better you know your vehicle, the more effective you will be behind the wheel.
BASIC TECHNIQUES FOR A HIGH-SPEED CHASE
The one who survives a high-speed car chase isn’t usually the fastest; it’s the one who doesn’t crash. And action is often faster than reaction, so when someone is pursuing you, allow them to get close to you, and then make a last-second turn. This can also be performed on a highway by taking an exit in the same fashion.
Ocular driving: Your eyes need to be focused
ahead
on where you want to go—e.g., not on the turn you finished making, but instead aimed at the next one ahead. Remember that at high speeds, if you are looking at it, you will go there, be it the next turn or into the tree that caught your attention.
Hands need to be at four o’clock and eight o’clock, versus the standard two-and-ten hand position. Shuffle them; never cross.