THSCC Forums

Not really an auto-x question, but the folks who I think have answers tend to be here.

I may be tasked with setting up a driving instruction course for a group of children ages 16-20. The course will be designed to give these kids some new tools to make driving safer on the road.

I want to focus on things like the following:
- Looking Ahead: Teens tend to look at the tail lights of the car in front of them, we need to teach them to scan far and near.
- Knowing where the vehicle is. We can do this using a tight, small course and get them used to the outside dimensions of their vehicle.
- Braking. We'd like to get kids in different types of vehicles and have them drive at different speeds in a straight line and then braking before going through cones.
- Some form of accident avoidance course where the driver focuses on seeing their way around an accident instead of staring at the scene.

BMW put on a driving school last year, anyone have a contact for someone involved in that?

We may have a place to do this, but if we don't, I'll be asking for guidance on the process of renting a place to have the school, insurance, etc.

Anyway, we're in the brainstorming process right now. If anyone can help out, whether it's with guidance or with some questions we need to be thinking of, I'm all ears.

Phil
PhilFausz AT hotmail DOT com

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Phil... Now I miss the ITR and the M3!!!
1990 Honda Civic SI

Phil -

Best advice I can give you is to contact Gilbert Reynolds, Miles Beam, and me by phone to talk about this. BMW Street Survival has done a few events here and has a pretty well established curriculum. I was the "event chair" for the one in December, and trust me, you don't want to be learning how to do this from scratch if you can possibly help it unless you have some sustainable business model for it. BMW SS is already "scraping by" beacuse (IMO) they don't charge enough for it, and there are not enough experienced event organizers with enough time to keep several events on the schedule. If you approached Gilbert with the intention of putting on a school I would suspect that he would welcome you with open arms.

I'd be happy to give you a brain dump about our experiences from the school I organized in December. Search here on the forums for Street Survival and you should be able to get some history.

I'm glad that you're up for it. Schools like these are sorely needed and we need as many people to help out as possible. Unfortunately there are a lot more concerns about flow, safety, and little stupid things (like teenagers littering on the Raleigh PD site) than a regular autocross where most people are there willingly (not all of these teens are) and comfotable with the risk -- remember that these kid's parents are WATCHING and expecting you to make their kids safer. They will slap a lawsuit on you in a blink of an eye if you put their kids in danger. Not trying to talk you out of it, but be aware of the difference in mindset of a teen driving school versus autocross!

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

Thread Hi-jack...

Is there a date set for another Street Survival school? I have had a few people ask me.

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Stephen Westerfield
2009 Infiniti M35 | 2007 Honda Fit Sport | 2005 Ford Mustang GT |2000 GMC Sierra |1992 Acura Integra LS | Super Westerfield Bros Acura Integra

One thing you may want to consider, have the people look into this school.

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Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

It's full for Raleigh. Here's the link...

http://www.streetsurvival.org/streetsurvival/default.asp

Phil

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Phil... Now I miss the ITR and the M3!!!
1990 Honda Civic SI

Steve, the next one is April 14. I got an email from Brian yesterday looking for instructors. I can forward it to you if you want.

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Todd Breakey
STS 42 - 1992 Sunburst Miata
Dammit!
"You souldn't play leap frog with a porcupine. You might get hurt." - Eliza

If you could, I'm interested in instructing. This would be a good opportunity to learn while helping them out at the same time.

Phil

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Phil... Now I miss the ITR and the M3!!!
1990 Honda Civic SI

Need any volunteers to work that course on April 14th? Yes, I am hoping for fun runs!

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~ RallyX VP 2009 ~
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'92 Prelude
'76 Celica

Apparently I suck...I managed to delete Brian's email before saving his address. I know that Rob H has it and I'm sure Mike W does also. The only address I have is for Gilbert Reynolds who is the event organizer.

And I'm sure that any volunteers would be greatly appreciated.

Rob or Mike, could you post Brian Marks' email addy?

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Todd Breakey
STS 42 - 1992 Sunburst Miata
Dammit!
"You souldn't play leap frog with a porcupine. You might get hurt." - Eliza

Gilbert Reynolds <GReynolds@pinpointrg.com> 833-2424
Brian A. Marks <brian@pfyc.com>
Miles Beam <mbeam@milestonetechnologies.com>

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

Second on the info on help for Street Survival. I'd be willing to help out again if they/you need it!

Continuing with the thread Hi-jack, what time do volunteers need to arrive for the April 14th Street Survival School?

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~ RallyX VP 2009 ~
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
'92 Prelude
'76 Celica

I know your probably talking about another BMW course but I'm going to throw you this anyway.

The Lead Instructor at the BMW Performance Center across from the plant in Greer, SC is Jim Clark. He is a busy man so if you get through to him, make it short and sweet. They do several teen driving courses throughout the year. See if he can give you some tips and maybe send you some course layouts. The phone number is (864) 968-3018, you'll probably get switched to his voicemail, so just leave a message.

Phillip.

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Common sense is NOT so common. ...Voltaire.