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Re: rolled my BMW at the Bridge...

>i was outraged to hear your chilling and heartrending story...
>grave doubts about the safety of the BMWCCA driving schools...
>is your car equipped with a roll cage?...
>has an investigation into your accident been launched...

I'm not sure I like the tone of this note.  I hope it
doesn't signal the begining of an effort to regulate
and restrict driver's schools.

By far the majority of people who attend them feel that
the fun and learning we receive are well worth the risks.  
I hope noone tries to step in and protect us from ourselves.


I'd like to make a couple of comments on the saftey
of schools.  I've been attending schools as a student
and instructor for 9 years.  I've totaled my own car at
a school once, and partly as a result have been involved
in trying to improve the saftey of our chapter's schools.

Noone should attend a school without realizing there
is an element of risk.  I've seen many accidents over
the years, more than a few totaled the car.  Considering
the number of people at each school and the incidence of
accidents, I'd guess the odds of someone getting into an
accident during a day at the track are one in several hundred.
I've never seen or heard of a serious personal injury.

The odds definitly depend on personal attitude.  Go in cocky
and you are asking for trouble.  Don't let yourself be 
preasured into pushing harder than you feel comfortable
(e.g. "Wow, everybody is passing me, I'd better speed up")

The number of accidents seem to be decreasing over the years.
There has been a lot of effort into improving the quality
of instruction and I think it's working.

The majority of accidents seem to occur in the intermediate 
groups, with some in the advanced groups.  I've seen very few 
in the novice groups.  My personal opinion is that the 
intermediates go through a phase where they have enough
skill/conficence to go fast, but not enough skill to get 
themselves out of trouble (that is what happened to me).  
The advanced drivers usually have the skills to avoid problems,
but they push their cars very hard and a small mistake
can escalate very quickly.

Skid pad time is invaluable.  On the high speed track we
never let our cars go much beyond the limits of adhesion,
so we don't learn what to do when it does.  On the skid pad
the student learns how to recognize and control a sliding
car at a safe speed.  I encourage all chapters running schools 
to make skid pad time available to students early in their 
driver's school careers.  I don't think it is a good idea for 
complete novices, but by the time they become intermediates 
they should have spent some time on the pad.
I would encourage all students to seek out skid pad time after
they have spent more than a day or two on the high speed track.

rick