Security Driver Magazine Issue 1

Security Driver

Magazine

The Magazine for the Security Professional March 2013 | Issue 1

>> Security Driving and Electronic Stability >> In the Blink of an Eye >> Line of Sight and Security Driving >> Armor for Small Cars

— 1 — Security Driver Magazine © 2013. Designed by Lawrence Snow

The Security Driver Magazine is not new; it is a modern version of the Security Driver Newsletter that has been around for thirty years. Using new technology we can offer more information in a timely fashion in various formats.

This issue is a Beta release of that new technology.

The magazine will cover: • Security Driving, • Training, • Executive and armored vehicles, • Surveillance Detection, • Industry news, • Case studies of vehicle attacks Basically anything that can help the reader get their principal from point A to point B safely and securely.

Security Driver Magazine reaches approximately 3,500 readers, from 20 countries, not high numbers, but it’s who reads it vs. how many read it.

The readers represent over 300 corporations.

Table of Contents

Security Driving and Electronic Stability Control

Cars are becoming safer and a big reason for that is Electronic Stability Control, this article explains the effect of ESC on Security Driving.

In the Blink of an Eye

In a Vehicle Attack recognition time is everything.

In this article Tony Scotti explains the importance of timing.

Line of Sight and Security Driving

We are open, in fact welcome, others to write articles. The article needs to be relevant to Security Driving. If an article is submitted we reserve the right to edit the article; and if edited, will return the article to the writer for approval before we publish it.

Line of Sight and Security Driving is one of those articles that apply to anyone who is sitting behind the steering wheel, but more importantly, for security drivers to understand this phenomenon.

While we work out the complexities of creating an online magazine we will use articles that have appeared on SecurityDriver.Com.

At one time armoring small light weight cars was unheard of, now it is commonplace, this article discusses the challenges of small cars and armor.

Please let us know what you think and any improvements we can make to the magazine.

Armor for Small Cars

Thanks, Tony Scotti

— 2 — Security Driver Magazine © 2013. Designed by Lawrence Snow

Security Driving and Electronic Stability Control A

s of this year all vehicles must have Electronic Stability Control (ESC). ESC is a computer that takes over control of the vehicle when the vehicles path is not what the driver intended it to be. For those of us who have lost control of a car, we know that it’s that first twitch of the car that tells us that we are about to have an exciting experience. That twitch is information the car is sending us. For some, interpreting this information is second nature, and for others it’s like trying to understand Swahili. That sinking feeling we get in our stomach is the car telling us that it’s not going where we want it to go, but it is going in a path that it wants to go. The value of ESC is that it interprets the information, in most cases, before the average driver or even the above average driver can sense the problem. Once the ESC computer reads the information it starts to set the car on the correct path before we can figure out what’s going on.

How It Works Electronic Stability Control uses the existing Antilock Braking System (ABS) and Traction Control computers, plus additional sensors to monitor what the car is doing after you tell it what to do.

By measuring throttle position, steering wheel angle and lateral acceleration (the force pushing on the side of the vehicle at the center of gravity), the computer compares the intended path of the vehicle to the path the car is actually taking. If it’s not doing what you wanted it to do, or if what you are doing is contrary to good sense and the laws of physics, the ESC computer takes over. When ESC decides to handle the driving chores it applies one of the front brakes, or in some systems one of the front and/or rear brakes, to straighten the car and put it back on the path you wanted it to go.

Limitations Of course, there are limits to the effectiveness of stability control. For example if your vehicle becomes stuck in deep snow, automakers generally advise that you turn off stability control.

Also it makes it a bit more difficult to do J Turns.

Also computers cannot overcome stupidity. ESC cannot compensate if the driver is driving far beyond road and vehicle conditions. In other words, it’s not a license to drive like an idiot.

It Saves Lives It’s no exaggeration to say that stability control is the biggest automotive safety advancement since ABS and airbags. Researchers have found that ESC reduces the risk of fatal multiple-vehicle crashes by 32 percent. The new research confirms that ESC reduces the risk of all single-vehicle crashes by more than 40 percent—fatal ones by 56 percent. The researchers estimate that if all vehicles were equipped with ESC, as many as 10,000 fatal crashes could be avoided each year.

A video about ESC http://www.iihs.org/ratings/esc/esc.aspx

— 3 — Security Driver Magazine © 2013. Designed by Lawrence Snow

In the Blink of an Eye S

ecurity Driving is a decision making process that requires the driver to manage time and distance, and anything that slows that process down can and often does become an emergency.

Whether driving the boss to work, in a low risk environment or driving an armored vehicle in a high risk environment, understanding the basic principles of managing time and distance is life saving knowledge.

Our frame of reference for measuring time and distance is the speedometer which supplies information in units of miles and hours - MPH.The driver does not have an hour or a mile to make life saving decisions; in a vehicle emergency Miles Per Hour is an irrelevant unit of measurement.

An Explanation To make sense of a vehicle emergency the security driver needs to convert MPH to Feet Per. Second (FPS). Travelling at 40 MPH the driver is moving at the rate of 58.8 Feet PerSecond (FPS).

Converting MPH to FPS requires some elementary grade arithmetic; you need to multiply the MPH number by 1.47. Driving at 30 MPH the vehicle is moving through space at 44.1 Feet/Second,( 30 MPH times 1.47) at 60 MPH the vehicle is moving 88.2 Feet/Second ( 60 MPH times 1.47).

Distance • At 20 mph the driver is traveling at 29.4 ft/sec

MPH 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70

Distance Travelled In The Blink of an Eye 5.88 Ft 7.35 Ft 8.82 Ft 10.29 Ft 11.76 Ft 13.23 Ft 14.7 Ft 16.17 Ft 17.64 Ft 19.11 Ft 20.58 Ft

As mentioned above any delay in the decision making process adds exponentially to level of difficulty needed to survive the event, in actuality not delays of a seconds but delays measured in tenths of seconds. As an example; at 30 mph, in .2 seconds, the driver travels 8.8 feet, at 60 MPH in .2 seconds the driver would travel 17.6 feet.

Why two tenths of a second? Because that is how much time it takes to blink your eyes. When you are driving 60 mph, literally in a blink of an eye, you move 17.6 feet. Any training that can speed up the decision making process - by as little as a blink of an eye dramatically increase the chances of surviving the emergency.

• At 30 mph the driver is traveling at 44.1 ft/sec • At 40 mph the driver is traveling at 58.8 ft/sec • At 50 mph the driver is traveling at 78.5 ft/sec • At 60 mph the driver is traveling at 88.2 ft/sec — 4 — Security Driver Magazine © 2013. Designed by Lawrence Snow

Line of Sight and Security Driving nize a problem” part of the DSD.

W

e have all had the experience of driving on a major highway and running into stop and go traffic, the first thought you have is that there must be an accident just over the hill or around the bend. But when you get to the top of the hill or around the bend the traffic starts to flow and there is no accident – what caused the slowdown.

Two things traffic volume and “line of sight”.

Line of Sight or Sight Distance is defined as the length of road surface a driver can see and have an acceptable reaction time. The people that are responsible for designing our highways, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), have guidelines concerning “line of sight”, and from those guidelines developed the all-important Decision Sight Distance (DSD).

AASHTO defines DSD as the distance needed to recognize a problem and complete a maneuver safely and efficiently. And according to the scientists who have done an enormous amount of research on driver reaction time the “average” driver needs 2.5 seconds to complete the “recog-

The questions then becomes – How much distance do you use up before you get to the “maneuver safely and efficiently” part of the process.

A good rule of thumb is that for every 10 MPH a driver needs 40 Feet of sight distance.If you are moving at a highway speed of 60MPHyou would need 240 Feet (40X6) of sight distance at 75 MPH you would need 300 Feet. Hence if you are driving on a highway and for whatever reason, usually a hill, or a series of bends in the road, and there is not 240 to 300 feet of sight distance, drivers will slow down. If the volume of traffic is sufficient it will cause an accordion affect.Please keep in mind that these distances are for the average driver.

Sight distance plays an important role in supplying safe and secure transportation. It is a major factor in determining if the event you drive into is winnable. During your Route Survey know how far you can see. Never Drive Faster Than You Can See; which means never drive at a speed that will not give you the time to react at the given sight distance.

As you are conducting a Route Survey, the question you need to ask yourself is: At the speed I am moving with the given sight distance how much time do I have, and in that time frame what can I do with the vehicle? It makes no difference what training you received and where you received it or what type of vehicle you are driving.

No matter what the scenario, accident or vehicle violence, if you don’t have enough sight distance at the speed you are moving it is a no win scenario.

— 5 — Security Driver Magazine © 2013. Designed by Lawrence Snow

Armor for Small Cars For many reasons the necessity of armoring small vehicles, small defined as light weight, is now a reality. The question has been asked; is there one light weight vehicles that is more suitable for armoring than another? When armoring a small vehicle there are many factors that come into play, but a major issue when armoring any vehicle, lightweight or not, is how much additional weight can the vehicle absorb before it degrades the performance? Armoring a lightweight vehicle that concern is amplified.

To answer the question a good place to start is the vehicles “payload numbers.”

The vehicles payload is the combined, maximum allowable weight of cargo, occupants and optional equipment that the vehicle is designed to carry.

The payload numbers for a typical “small vehicle” – a Ford Fusion.

The Ford Fusion is designed to carry no more than 385 Kilos or 849 Pounds.

If the vehicle normally carries two passengers each weighing 90 Kilos –or 200 pounds, there would be 295 Kilos (385 – 90), and if measuring in Pounds there would be 649 Pounds (849 – 200) available for armor.

Hence for a Ford Fusion, if the armor weighs more than 295 Kilos or 649 Pounds, there will be degradation in the vehicles performance, and a decrease in the vehicles life cycle.

Some issues you may want to address with the armored car manufacturer If the combined weight of armor and passengers exceeds the vehicles payload ask the supplier what steps are taken to mitigate the problem.

Once a vehicle is armored the tire load ratings, printed on the side of the tire, are usually not adequate, ensure that the tires have been changed to handle the additional weight.

Installing stiffer shocks and springs to compensate for the additional weight makes for a harsh ride. A harsh riding vehicle moving on pot holed and rough pavements makes for a very rough ride. Enlighten the end user to this change in the vehicles characteristics Ask if the glass has been tested for visual acuity. A simple acuity test is to sit in the driver’s seat and put your hand on the outside of the windshield and look for distortion, especially at the corners. You can also use a pad of lined paper instead of your hand.

Is there overlapping armor at the seams formed by the vehicles pillars (support columns from the roof to the body), the roof rails and windshields headers along with any other “armor to armor” seam on lateral and horizontal panels?

These seams must be overlapped by a minimum of 1 inch of additional armor to withstand the energy. This is an absolute must.

— 6 — Security Driver Magazine © 2013. Designed by Lawrence Snow

Editorial

By Tony Scotti

T

here seems to be endless discussions concerning standards and training in the EP business. It is my opinion that all practitioners want standards but they want standards that match the training they have received. If they went to xyz EP school they want the standards to be what that school taught. Also keep in mind that it is the job market that determines the skills and experience needed for employment – not the training provider.

Although there is no federal license for the EP industry there is a government agency, the IRS, which has standards that a large and important segment of the job market must follow. Also that same market segment must also follow the procedures as outlined in their Kidnap &Ransom (K&R) policy.

When Joe Autera of TSVDI and I speak at a conference and we bring the IRS and K&R scenario up – I am surprised (shocked) at how few know it exists. Most corporate practitioners are well versed on K&R, but not the IRS regulations. When a client asks for an explanation of the IRS rules we guide them where to look and give them all the information we have, but let them know we are not accountants or tax attorneys. In fact just recently VDI did exactly that, except the company was not a client.

Joe Autera mentioned the IRS regulations to a Director of Security and sent the information, a short while later Joe receives a phone call from the security director thanking VDI for making her look good, and mentioning that VDI has a client for life – her words not VDI’s. The only reason I mention that experience is that you can do the same, either for an existing client or a potential client.

And then there is the ex-student who paid thousands of dollars to go that xyz EP school mentioned above that has no knowledge of the IRS regulations or the concept of K&R Insurance. I have to ask – didn’t that EP school you went talk about this? For the educated consumer of Protective Services the IRS regulations are one of the most important issues involving employment, training providers should at least make the student aware of them.

I suggest those xyz graduates that would like to learn more about the IRS do the research themselves and develop one of the most important skills in this business or in fact any business – the skill of research. This is an article by Larry Snow on internet research and how to do it. It won’t talk about guns – diamond formation, watches, combative techniques, but it could be the single most important skill you can learn.

Stay Connected

Email: tonyscotti@securitydriver.com

— 7 — Security Driver Magazine © 2013. Designed by Lawrence Snow