AMERICANMUSL

Hey Gary!
With over 15 years experience on the Fire Service both as a grunt and driver/operator, I can personally attest to HPDE's having a positive influence both in my personal and professional life. Developing a sense of car/apparatus control in emergency and non-emergency situations as a result is quite noticeable but most especially the calmness and focus of mind that I have aquired while in operation allows me an accute situational awareness enabling me to respond accordingly. Most people drive in a state of tunnel vision and do not look at the big picture nor ahead.
Playing Devils advocate, our job security results from people negligence and panic more so than extreme environmental conditions(Most TC's I've found are do to what others here have already mentioned: cell phones, food, make up, drug influences...in other words a complete lack of focus to the surrounding environment.)
As a result, I 've found that I drive sightly faster or slower that the rest of the sheep. Going with the flow isn't necessarily a good thing in my book!

Ed

sperkins

I'm registered for a PCA event this weekend at Roebling, but I don't think I can make it. You wanna take my place?

JohnD60

Put one more check in the "don't drive fast on the street now" column for me. I get the same surprised look from passengers as they climb over the roll bar and shout over the exhaust asking why I'm going 65!

My 16 year old son just attended his first HPDE in Nov. Since that single event I've noticed a difference in his driving. He's shifting better, looking further ahead, and has better car position in turns.

John

RC45

+1. Track time (even from motorcycling days) has me just not needing to "speed" all the time.

I am often passed as I cruise 1 or 2mph above the limit in the center lane with SUV's, Camry's and Pruii wizzing by 10mph over the limit.

F.J.B.

It simple.....YES WE ARE BETTER DRIVERS!!!!!!!

ghoffman

Is "Pruii' plural of Prius?
I can't believe how stupid most drivers are, doing things like hitting the brakes in a straight line for no reason then wondering why they have no steering on snow. I don't understand why that is the reaction of most people. This lack of training flows down from the top. Former NHTSA head honcho during the Carter administration Joan Claybrook, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Claybrook) was asked about learning spin control as part of driver's training and she thought that would encourage irresponsible behavior .
I wonder how many street accidents Mario Andretti has had?

TedDBere

Yeah, but I remember an interview with Mario about 20 years ago where he said the most scared he's ever been while driving was while trying to navigate the Garden State Parkway at rush hour. 80 mph bumper-to-bumper in all four lanes!

stax68

Sometimes the consideration of other cars results in good things.
...ie..collision avoidance...however...
..at other times it takes away that one second we needed to avoid
something else...
..typical driver does not have this problem as they
are oblivious to what is around them and just focus straight ahead..

mgarfias

Ed speaks truth here. The last thing you want is to be bunched up with a bunch of distracted idiots on the interstate. I prefer to go a bit faster than traffic, as that makes me decide where to go, as opposed to other cars dictating what I do. Of course, its like skiiing, the faster driver has the responsibility to avoid the slower one. I avoid people that drive unpredictably (kids, old geezers, vw buses with grateful dead stickers all over them), and will blast past them as needed and get clear of them, then settle back down to the cruising speed I had before I encountered them.

Of course, I have gone hyperlegal speeds on the highway, so I'm not innocent. At least when I've done so its been at the "appropriate" time, aware of my surroundings, with the highway clear of traffic. I don't mind risking my own ***, but not going to risk others'.

RC45

Yep... I was trying for an intellectual angle.. but I may have left an i out

gonzalezfj

Locus --> Locii
Radius --> Radii
Prius --> Prii ??

Frank Gonzalez

Bink

Don't know about Mario- but Senna and Villeneuve Sr were known to tear things up, driving ballsout as teens.

RC45

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/P...0RR_208206.htm

It must a be a cultural thing (regarding Senna)... this Brazilian video appeared on a few forums a while back, and apparently the GT3 driver and bike riders are frequent track junkies (and might even be amatuer racers) in Brazil... and supposedly this behaviour is normal for "fast and skilled drivers" in Brazil, or so the guy who posted the video would like us believe.

Myself and a few others got into to it with him over on another forum.. and they dont think there is anythign wrong with this, because they have the skills.

gonzalezfj

So, they have a**holes in Brazil too! Somehow it's not surprising.

Frank Gonzalez

Everett Ogilvie

Lexus --> Lexii ?
Locutus --> Locutiaii?
pi --> pii?

ghoffman

I am Lucutus of Borg.

Everett Ogilvie

Ha Ha, I was wondering how many would get the reference!

AMERICANMUSL

"Live long and prosper" Gary!

AlwaysInBoost

I believe what I learned doing HPDE's saved my life last May.

I was on my way to Summit Point - Shenandoah, VA, traveling down Rt78 in rush hour traffic. It was raining pretty good, I was doing the speed limit and had just moved from the middle lane to the left lane to pass an F250 pickup truck in front of me. I was just about around the truck when all of a sudden he decided he wanted to be in my lane more then I did. so without even looking to the left he just came over. No turn signal or anything, just moved over into my lane. I nailed the horn and tried to move to the left to avoid an addicent but he just kept coming in my lane... all I heard was a loud "thud".

Next thing I knew he did the PIT move on me, putting his left front tire to the rear of my car and spun me sideways across 3 lanes of rush hour traffic. Its amazing I didn't hit anyone in the process! All that went threw my head when I was spinning was "when in a spin, both feet in". I put the clutch in and stood on the brakes and some how was able to straighten the car out. ONly thing is I was turned around 180* and still traveling at a pretty good rate of speed. I was also half off the road because I was seeing trees now instead of cars.

I came off the brake and while still traveling backwards managed to steer the car back into the aspahlt. I wound up coming to a complete stop right next to the jersey barrier in the left lane although still facing the wrong direction. amazingly the car wasn't damaged that bad except for grass everywhere and a nascar tire mark on the door.







thats where the front tire on an F250 comes up to on an EVO.

If not for what I learned about car control, weight transfer and smooth inputs who knows what would have happen. I don't know how much HPDE's help but in my opinion they sure didn't hurt anything.

longdaddy

depends. in some way yes, you will be better prepared to deal with an emergency and will have some skills to react to the car doing unusual stuff.

on the other hand, once you start getting comfortable pushing the car, the temptation is there to do it on the street, which is dangerous, given that the traffic and road conditions are much less predictable.