Driving a car is the most dangerous thing each of us will do on any given day and, with the world population of motor vehicles having recently topped the billion mark, it’s imperative that we all know how to drive well.

The thing is, says Ben Collins, better known as The Stig from Top Gear, we don’t. Which is why he’s written a new book, How to Drive, which he hopes will teach us all to do just that.

“It’s a book for everybody, from age 16 to 76,“ says the 39-year-old racing and stunt driver and teacher, from Bristol.

“Anyone can improve their driving and get a huge benefit from that, and be a lot safer, which is the key thing.“

How to Drive aims to teach you what you aren’t taught in your driving lessons, which is essentially just how to pass the test – the book publicity quotes the rather worrying statistic of the average learner receiving just 18 hours of training.

Ben has put together an inspirational, instructive yet highly entertaining book using his supercharged experience of racing, stunt work and cutting-edge scientific knowledge gleaned from motoring experts, alongside illustrations, anecdotes, humour and hard-won wisdom to, basically, make you a better driver.

“It’s The Stig’s version of the Highway Code,“ he laughs. “The Code is extremely valuable, but there are some things in there that are outdated, like braking distances, and even the basics of how to turn the wheel. The way I recommend is diametrically opposed to the way we’re taught. The shuffle steering technique was set up in 1935 by a racing driver for the police back when cars had steering wheels that were the size of yachts’ –pushing and pulling was the only way to turn them. Now we have power steering, you don’t need to do that. You can be far more accurate by holding your hands at quarter to three on the wheel and you’re much better positioned to control a skid.“

One thing Ben is particularly passionate about is appealing to younger drivers.

“I was the worst type of teenager,“ he admits, “so I know the traps that are out there for young drivers getting used to the road. I was hopeless, I wrote off two cars. Well, until I got on the race track and found a whole other level!“

Ben was in near-fatal crash as a 22-year-old and the experience has never left him.

“I was driving too quickly, I thought I knew the road surface, and there was a truck coming the other way on a single lane and I hit it at very high speed. I ruptured my kidneys, I was lucky to survive. I wish I’d read my own book!“

Both from his own experiences as a racing driver and from the coaching work he’s done with the police and army and on shows such as Top Gear and in films like Skyfall, Ben has learnt a lot about the human psychology and behaviour that goes with driving and has crystallised everything he’s learnt into one, easily accessible tome.

“It might sound dubious,“ he says, “as my job is about high speed, but controlling speed is about looking much further ahead, looking wider and driving smoother. It’s proven that if you can apply these skills to everyday driving, you’ll be safer, you’ll save on fuel, and you’ll get cheaper insurance.

“Everybody wants to learn how to drive better, there’s always something you wish you knew, like, what do you do on ice? Do you slam on the brake or should you turn the steering wheel? The truth is, on sheet ice you don’t do anything, you just get off the gas and try to bring the speed down very gradually. There are hundreds of small things like that that make a big difference.

“I’ve learnt tons from researching the book, it’s made me a much better driver.“

  • Ben Collins will be at the Chorleywood Memorial Hall, Common Lane, Chorleywood on Monday, October 20, at 7.30pm. Details: 01923 283566, chorleywoodbookshop.co.uk

 

Extract from How to Drive

Winter tyres
Britons view the fitting of winter rubber as unsporting and a waste of money. Improvements in the technology mean that you can potentially run winter tyres all year round, decent ones at least, without a major penalty in the summer months. 
They last as long as summer ones and are equally fuel efficient. The secret’s in the sipes. 
Winter tyres have ten times as many sets of teeth and, unlike a summer tyre, their jaws don’t stiffen up in the cold. You cannot believe their effectiveness until you try them. 
Here are some comparisons on braking distances from quite low speeds – the effect at high speed is greatly exaggerated.

Snow conditions, stopping from 30 mph
Summer tyres: 60 metres
Winter tyres: 30 metres

Ice conditions, stopping from 20 mph
Summer tyres: 46 metres
Winter tyres: 26 metres

Acceleration figures in dry conditions are fairly even between both tyre types, but in the snow you benefit from a tripling in performance with winters when you pull away from low speed, and they work magic on hills.
Whether you fit them or not is a close call. In the far north of England and Scotland especially, there’s a ground frost for more than half of the year based on averages across the last 30 years. That means you’re definitely better off in winters. For the rest of the country the frost falls to about a third of the time.
We have two cars in the family, one on summers, the other on winters ready for the white-out.