Driving Suggestions....

[Kamikaze Sy]

The title may be mis-leading. It should be "Driving School Suggestions".



I'm betting many of you are thinking road course / autocross driving schools. Well, it could be one of these schools but here is what I am looking at:

I took classes at the Old Bob Bondurant High Performance Driving schools in Ontario Motor Speedway and Sears Point Raceway. I also took some classes at Skip Barber and Jim Russell. At nearly all of these schools, they had some interesting and good defensive driving schools that I thought would be great for beginning drivers. I especially liked the car control classes like Bondurant where they have the outriggers that could get the car into a slide or spin and the students would have to recover.

On another forum, some of you may know, I told the long winded story about my teenage daughter and her learning disabilities. She recently did a remarkable act of responsibility at her school that the teachers and administrators said she deserves a reward for.

So now I am looking at my teenage daughter who loves cars but I have reservations about just doing the normal drivers education and training, especially with private schools. I am thinking that it is more important to give her classroom and instensive hands-on skills from experienced car handling instructors to understand and gain experience before she goes out and gets into a situation, that she has to recall what to do, instead of knowing from experiencing it first hand and doing what it takes to keep the control.

I was also hoping that this would give her more respect and maturity with a vehicle and be a better driver on the street.

So, what are your opinions and thoughts on this and any suggestions or experiences you have are welcomed!

BTW, just for reference, we are in Northern California, and Mary Pozzi and I have discussed taking her out on a Autocross sometime...

Thanks in advance for you replies!

[406 Q-ship]

The title may be mis-leading as I'm betting many of you are thinking road course / autocross driving schools. Well, it could be one of these schools but here is what I am looking at:

I took classes at the Old Bob Bondurant High Performance Driving schools in Ontario Motor Speedway and Sears Point Raceway. I also took some classes at Skip Barber and Jim Russell. At nearly all of these schools, they had some interesting and good defensive driving schools that I thought would be great for beginning drivers. I especially liked the car control classes like Bondurant where they have the outriggers that could get the car into a slide or spin and the students would have to recover.

On another forum, some of you may know, I told the long winded story about my teenage daughter and her learning disabilities. She recently did a remarkable act of responsibility at her school that the teachers and administrators said she deserves a reward for.

So now I am looking at my teenage daughter who loves cars but I have reservations about just doing the normal drivers education and training, especially with private schools. I am thinking that it is more important to give her classroom and instensive hands-on skills from experienced car handling instructors to understand and gain experience before she goes out and gets into a situation, that she has to recall what to do, instead of knowing from experiencing it first hand and doing what it takes to keep the control.

I was also hoping that this would give her more respect and maturity with a vehicle and be a better driver on the street.

So, what are your opinions and thoughts on this and any suggestions or experiences you have are welcomed!

BTW, just for reference, we are in Northern California, and Mary Pozzi and I have discussed taking her out on a Autocross sometime...

Thanks in advance for you replies!

Didn't one the performance driving school have a course geared toward the teenaged driver? No it did not show them how to text while driving. I remember reading about it awhile ago.

[Kamikaze Sy]

Ha! I love it!
Yeah the Test while driving will always be an issue for the current and future generations!

There are several schools that do show courses for teenaged and inexperienced drivers.
I was desiring to hear anyones observations, experiences and / or suggestions.
Basically, I'm gathering different viewpoints to forumate a decision...

Thanks!

[rogue]

Track days. Free instruction, free food, polite driving with point byes and you get to explore your limits.

Varies per company, but the best instruction is seat time with an instructor

They have some track events catered to teenagers I've seen that are mostly autocross.

[Derek69SS]

My local autocross club has a teen-driving/car control school every year... we're in Minnesota though. Maybe another club in your area does the same?

[Kamikaze Sy]

Thanks rogue!

Got to keep in mind that this is a totally inexperienced and still unlicensed driver...

[Derek69SS]

non-competition based car control/teen driving schools: http://www.streetsurvival.org/school-schedule.php

[Kamikaze Sy]

Thanks Derek!

That is a really good program I heard about!

I recalled the Tire Rack sponsored school but the schedule is not convenient for us to make those dates in either Reno or San Diego.

[SLO_Z28]

I was told that : http://www.evoschool.com/ is pretty good, and this is from a guy that was a driving instructor for a long time. SCCA Autocross is probably the best way to build confidence and car control skills.

[79-TA]

I agree with Rogue. A trackday could be a bit much for your daughter at this point, but your average NASA trackday does have great learning potential. The quality of instructors can be amazing. I've only done two, but each time I got a regional champion as my instructor: Karen Salvaggio (FFR spec Cobra) and Ryan Walton (American Iron.)

[Kamikaze Sy]

James,

Thanks for the link on Evolution! That is what sort of structure and program I was thinking about! Would be a little bit of a drive down south but worthwhile for some bonding time while we still are talking to each other! LOL!

Brett,
I had something similar planned and thankfully, Mary Pozzi is willing to make the first introduction on a cone course to give her an idea. An open track day is something I hope we could share together if I ever get one of our toys back together!

Thanks guys!