Went today for a teen driving program that basically teaches you all the extremes of your car...

Well, I already knew all those extremes and only went because it was court mandated from my ticket back in December.

They had us go through an obstacle course which included "speed" parallel parking, accident avoidance, driving in reverse at speeds greater than 10 mph around turns. I pretty much dominated that and the instructor asked me if I had done the program before because he was surprised with how well I did.

Next up was threshold braking at 30 - 45 mph within 40 feet. We would start about 300 feet from the instructor and he would wave us down. We had to hit the speed he told us to and then use the brakes accordingly from where he was standing to the end of the braking zone. I was amazed at how much 5mph can affect things. I went from stopping no problem in the distance allowed (35 mph) to almost locking the brakes up and going over the allowed distance (40 mph).

Accident avoidance was next. Almost identical to the threshold braking, we would start out 300 feet from the cones, and then accelerate. Once we got to the cones, there were 3 more cones 15 feet directly ahead of you that you had to avoid and then get over to your original lane and stop before you rear-ended the "semi truck." But, you weren't allowed to use your brakes until you got to the first cones. I started out at 35 mph because the instructor was starting to realize that I was getting bored. Ended up hitting the outside cone ("Little Johnny") the first time and the instructor ran out and gave it CPR. I nailed it the second time at 40 mph, though.




The slalom course was next. It was probably 300 feet long, 20 feet between the cones. We had to go down, and come back. Oh, we weren't allowed to use our brakes either. The class average was 32 seconds. I did it in 24.

In Car:


Outside Car:


Last up was offroad recovery. Easy as hell... I was the first one to go and did it perfect the first time at 45 mph. I was watching everyone else go and the instructor had to get out from the passenger seat and get into the driver's seat because nobody else was able to do it...

Overall, I had a blast. If any of y'all have kids that are getting ready to get their license or are new to the road I highly recommend it. I will probably be signing up as a volunteer to help the instructors out a little bit. Their 5 year goal is to have these types of programs at least once in each state. Their goal by the end of this year is to purchase a "Skid Car."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r04pbZBdI88

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBl7c...eature=related


If anyone's interested in signing up their kids for this, the website is:

http://www.fearthis4life.org/

Currently, they only have programs in Georgia but are doing whatever it takes to spread this around the country. I highly recommend this program for any teen driver. The head instructor of the program is one of the instructors at the police academy and teaches new recruits. I had a blast doing it! I also drove the sh*t out of my mom's company car.

Oh, I also saw this badass Viper right outside of YearOne (where the program was hosted) and snapped a quick picture of it.

 

Nice! Courses like that are fun. My dad took my to Bondurant for their 3 day high performance driving class when I turned 16. The accident avoidance, skid control, and slalom courses were a lot of fun I wonder if they have something like the program you did here in Phoenix?

 

If you really like dodging cones in a parking lot, you should find a local car club that does auto-x's. A lot of my friends are practically obsessed with it. Just not my thing, though. I can't read auto-x courses very well compared to open road tracks, so I just stick to those but on 2 wheels.