paulhus@euclid.DEC (02/28/85)
Advanced Drivers Training
In reply to a request about post-highschool driver training:
My first suggestion is to do some reading about advanced
driving techniques. Since the principles are those used in
racing (the proper "line" through a corner, awareness of other
vehicles and predicting their future actions, control of your
own vehicle), the best books are aimed at the would-be racers.
My favorite, with lots of street sense, is:
Sports Car and Competition Driving by Paul Frere
More applicable to street driving techniques, but not as well
done (too Readers Digest aimed) is:
The Book of Expert Driving by E.D. Fales, Jr.
After assimilating some advanced theory, practice good driving
for a while (just thinking about your own driving will improve it)
(most other drivers won't even be aware of your increased skills
because they aren't completely aware of you anyway, nevermind
your style, or lack of it).
After a while of practice, you can really go for it with a course
in advanced street driving, given by one of the better racing drivers
schools. These are not racing schools - they are given in passenger
cars, but the maneuvers practiced are hazardous so the courses are
normally given at race tracks.
In the East, I recommend Skip Barber Racing School
Route 7, Building C
Canaan, CT 06018
(203) 824-0771
classes at Lime Rock in NE Conn.
On the Left Coast, you have Bob Bondurant School of High Performance
Driving
Sears Point Int'l Raceway
Highways 37 & 121
Sonoma, CA 95476
(707) 938-4741
The Bondurant street school is very good, and well known (most of
Ford's top people have been through it lately). Skip's street
school is newly resurrected (I assisted in it back in the mid-70's,
but the racing school has taken all the effort since then. I
believe that the street school is new for '85, but with instructors
with experience at street courses elsewhere).
I wish more people were as concerned about their driving - it's been
a politically tender item in the past. The current movement to get
drunks off the road encourages me much - maybe we'll attack the real
problem in the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, Thank You Candy
Lightner (sp?).
two cents worth from: N. Chris Paulhus DEC-Maynard
decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-euclid!paulhus