If you find yourself wanting a non-fiction break from traditional escapist summer reading, summer being the biggest driving season, a driving handbook might be just the thing. The standard manuals for licensing purposes, as good as they may be, aren’t the only word on the vast and complex topic of skillful driving. For example:
“The Bad Driver’s Handbook”, Zack and Larry Arnstein, Santa Monica Press, 2005 (1.800.784.9554) creates its own genre—transportation humour. This book is funny and smart, a painless, indeed, enjoyable way to absorb lots of driving tips.
“Drive to Survive”, Curt Rich, MBI Publishing Company, Osceola, WI, 1998 (1.800.826.6600) is another wholly original approach. In 1969, at 23 years of age, the author went to Vietnam as an army captain where he learned one of “Murphy’s Laws of Combat” which is “anything you do can get you killed, including doing nothing” which, in turn, prompted him to learn and master combat survival techniques. In civilian life, concluding “driving is the most dangerous thing most people do,” he determined to adapt these survival techniques and mindset to driving. An expert driving instructor and racing car driver, Mr. Rich offers plain spoken insights on such topics as how to avoid becoming the victim of road rage, car-jackings, kidnapping and “even car accidents.” If Elmore Leonard ever turned his hand to a driving handbook, this would be it.
“Expert Driving” by Paul Ripley, published in 2002 by Elliot Right Way Books in London, England (www.right-way.co.uk) has a more traditional focus on attitudes, approach, and skills, beautifully articulated by Mr. Ripley, a popular driving expert in the UK, regularly featured in The Daily Telegraph newspaper and co-author Peter Amey, a retired police superintendent, chief driving instructor and examiner. If Reginald Jeeves had ever turned his hand to a driving handbook, this would be it.
“Professional Driving Techniques, 4th edition”, Anthony J. Scotti, PhotoGraphics Publishing, Florida, 2007 (1.386.246.3672), the bulkiest of the works at 310 pages, is also the most comprehensive. Mr. Scotti loves statistics and builds his tips on the back of thorough statistical analyses. Read this book with a highlighter in hand. When the tips arrive, you will be thoroughly convinced you need to know and remember them.
“Driving Tips from Grampa”, Gerry Stewart, Tate Publishing, Mustang, Oklahoma, 2007 (www.tatepublishing.com) is a grandfather’s book of wisdom offered to “help anyone…who desires to stay alive and well by driving in a manner that will not harm any living thing because of poor driving habits or lack of knowledge.” The author, a long time owner and operator of a driving school in Grand Forks, British Columbia offers homespun advice gently and patiently. Crafted as a series of talks with his grandchildren and their friends, the voice, a mix of the first and third person, manages to inform without lecturing. Intended for teenagers, parents are more likely to get to the substance of the book.
Future Road Rules articles will address the substance of all of these works in more detail.
Cedric Hughes of Hughes and Company Law Corporation, with contributions from Leslie McGuffin, LL.B., writes a weekly column on traffic advice for The VOICE. "The Road Rules" strives to provide helpful information about driving in British Columbia. We welcome your comments on our published articles and your suggestions for topics you would like us to address. Please email: eginter@hughesco.com. Phone: (604) 602-1818. Punjabi and Hindi: (604) 897-0207.
Email: cedric_hughes@hughesco.com
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