- We're here today with Big Mac Sam.
Big Mac Sam has been one of the smart drivers
on the channel, he's a driving instructor
here in the Bronx,
and he's going to give us some excellent tips
and strategies, and techniques.
(upbeat music)
- You see how the white lines are on these two pillars?
That's where you want to go in, in the white lanes.
[Rick August, PhD] - Oh, right.
[Big Mac Sam]- Yes.
- The very faded white lines.
- Yeah, the faded white lines on the pillar. Yup.
- See, that's something I would never know
unless you told me that.
- Yeah.
You know, I found out online
that those that drive fancy cars,
big vehicles, like trucks, buses,
those type of drivers, on average, they're jerks.
I read that online.
I don't know how true is that but that's what I read.
- It probably has some validity,
they've done studies of pickup truck drivers.
[Big Mac Sam] - Yes, I tell my students
about the pickup truck drivers.
- Pickup truck drivers pick up.
They tend to be more aggressive.
- Yes.
[Rick August, PhD]- Follow too close.
[Big Mac Sam] - Yes, yes. I tell my students-
[Rick August, PhD]- Mismanage, they fail to manage speed.
[Big Mac Sam] - Yes.
- You know, and unfortunately,
with most people that I've been in a pickup truck with,
that's been my experience in terms of driving.
That, (laughs) oh my god, that scares me.
- Yup.
You see guys, Rick has said it too.
I stayed in my class about these pickup truck drivers.
And it's not all these pickup truck drivers,
you know, on average.
Not all of them, I'm sure.
- No, but more than, you know,
than the average people driving cars
and driving- [Big Mac Sam]- Yeah, exactly.
- What normally would make up traffic and whatnot.
[Big Mac Sam] - Yeah.
- This video is made possible by the Course Package.
Pass your driver's test first time.
Because we know that your driver's test
is the most stressful day of your life.
And without some form of driver training,
your chances of passing are less than 50%.
As a bonus, we'll include both the Defensive
and Winter Driving Smart Courses.
These will make you a safer, smarter driver
and reduce your chances of being involved in an accident.
Click down in the description there and get full details.
And that's another interesting point you talk about.
This one here or?
[Big Mac Sam] - Just straight.
- Oh that's the restroom.
The erosion of driving skills by technology.
Blind spot detectors, for example.
- Yeah.
- Does it give drivers the false sense
and that misinformation
that they no longer need to shoulder check?
Because in my mind-
[Big Mac Sam] - Oh that's terrible, yeah.
- Yeah, that they stopped shoulder-checking
because 'oh, I don't need to
because I have blind spot mirrors,
or I have Convex mirrors.
- Yeah.
Never rely on just your mirrors.
(accelerated audio) - Right. I think it might be right.
(accelerated audio) - Right?
- Okay. The speed limits went down to 25.
So what you want is to stay on them.
Stay right here, we're going to make a right turn.
[Rick August, PhD] - Okay.
(accelerated audio)
- You either want to make a left or right.
Want to go anywhere specific?
[Rick August, PhD] - Nope.
- Nope, so we'll make a left at end of wall.
So you used to work for a school then,
and give driving lessons for a school?
[Rick August, PhD] - Yeah.
All of my driving instruction,
except for the time that I worked in the hospital,
was all with the big trucks.
[Big Mac Sam] - Oh, wow.
[Rick August, PhD] - So I taught truck drivers.
So that's why, and I was asking Goose
because at the time you weren't there.
I had worked with brand new drivers-
- Let's move over, when it's safe.
[Rick August, PhD] - I was having issues with new drivers,
stopping at a two-way stop sign.
- Okay.
- And then they would just go!
[Big Mac Sam] - Oh. (laughs)
[Rick August, PhD] - I was asking Goose
"how do you fix this?"
[Big Mac Sam] - Oh my goodness.
- I never encountered this before because all the drivers
I worked with, all were retraining.
They were going back to licensing,
or they were upgrading their license.
So when I got brand new students,
and they were like, "well, I stopped." (laughter)
- Wow.
- I didn't have to explain that before now.
You know, 30 years of driving instructor,
now I'm trying to figure out how to explain
two way stop signs to new students.
[Big Mac Sam] - Yeah.
- (laughs) 'Cause I had one student, Kira, and
she come up and stopped at the stop sign
and then she just drove through the intersection.
- Oh wow. (laughter)
- And I was like, "yeah, that's not the way you do that."
"That's not the way you do that."
- My goodness.
[Big Mac Sam] - Oh yeah, really?
[Rick August, PhD] - Whoa, that's a red light!
- Oh, oh, oh. Well, you could have keep on going.
You was already in, you could have keep on going.
(laughter) - I didn't want to get T-boned.
[Big Mac Sam] - No, because it just finished changing,
I noticed, it just finished changing.
Yeah, you could have kept on going.
Hey, it happens. It happens.
[Rick August, PhD] - I stopped before I'm actually in the-
- I thought I heard something fall, I don't know what it is.
Yeah, you could have kept on going. I didn't notice.
I didn't say anything
because I didn't want it to slam on the brakes like you did.
(laughter) - Yeah.
- Yes, I came to the Bronx and I killed Sam.
(laughs) - Oh my goodness know, that'd be terrible.
- We got T-boned in the Bronx.
- I could just picture it in the news:
"Two YouTubers went out on the field and they were boned."
(laughter) My goodness.
You know, when I used to live in New Jersey,
I used to think that New Yorkers were bad drivers.
Now I live in New York, and now I see
when I go visit my mom in New Jersey,
I see how crazy fast they drive.
They drive faster on the highway than in New York City.
And now, the way I see them driving.
So you know, it's... And I'm sorry,
I'm not picking on states or anything,
but it's bad driving all over, you know?
(laughter) - Yeah. And you know, it's funny.
'Cause I get comments from smart drivers on the channel,
and they're like, "oh, in Chicago, people are really bad,
in Iowa City people are really bad."
[Big Mac Sam] - Yeah, it's all over.
[Rick August, PhD] - I mean, it doesn't matter where you go.
[Big Mac Sam] - It doesn't matter, exactly.
- It's the same all the time.
And that's what we talk about in terms of social driving.
People are going to cut you off, not signaled,
they're going to run stop signs.
It's going to happen, it's just part of driving.
- Exactly.
- You have to put in skills, abilities and techniques
that are going to keep you safe.
You know, maybe not tomorrow,
maybe not the next day, but in a year.
- Yup. And what does Rick say all the time?
"Remember don't pick the" - what is it?
"Don't pick the correct answer.
Pick the best answer.
Not necessarily the right answer."
Something like that.
(laughs) - Yeah, that's exactly it.
- You nailed it. - Yep.
- Hang on there one sec.
The thought of failing your driver's test
is what keeps you up at night right now.
Click the link over here.
Check out the Smarter Driver Course Package that guarantees
that you will pass your driver's test first time.
Click the link and check that out and have a great day.
All the best.