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Driving Schools/Bridgehampton

Let me suggest  to any in the NE that new drivers attend an event at Lime 
Rock.  This is good track that's not far away from the NY metro area and 
its particularly excellent to learn at.  The flaggers there were a lot 
better than Bridgehampton and Mid-Ohio (have yet to attend a Watkins Glen 
or NIH event) and the course is a bit shorter and a whole lot safer in 
general.  The track is a little scary at first, with high pucker factors 
due to the elevation changes, however it is probably better to learn on 
since a little bit of fear will make you hold back more and with fewer 
turns you can spend more time working on skills rather than learning the 
track.  The surface is a whole lot better than the Bridge and the runoff 
areas are perfectly manicured with no sand (it looks more like a golf 
course than most tracks I have seen).  The events have also tended to be 
a bit safer and the Conn. chapter _has_ kicked people out due to unsafe 
driving unlike the one event that I have attended with the NYC chapter at 
Bridgehampton.  

Sand is really not the overriding danger that is present at driving 
events, its mainly a failure to enforce/stress safety issues.  From my 
sample of one 3 day event at Bridgehampton in July of '95, NYC chapter 
has a lot to learn about enforcing/teaching safety issues.  Particular 
instructors were very good (mine was excellent), however many were 
extremely tolerant of _VERY_ dangerous driving and the track organizers 
did nothing about calming drivers down that were going far too hot for 
their abilities.  In the 3 days at the Bridge, I saw more accidents (two 
of them were just a matter of time 'accident waiting to happen' kind of 
thing) than I had seen _TOTAL_ at about 12 other CCA track events.  The 
most amazing thing about this was that it was treated as if were 
normal...  It is most definitely _not_ normal at other chapter events I 
have attended at Mid-Ohio, Lime Rock, and Summit Point (particularly at 
Summit Point, the NCC has historically had the best safety talks and 
activities I have attended and others could certainly learn a thing or 
two about running a safe and fun event from these guys).

This isn't meant to flame the NYC chapter, its just that safety is too 
important an issue to let pass by.  I had a great time at Bridgehampton 
and it was a fabulous bang for the buck, however I was very nervous about 
being around certain cars that were behaving erratically (that is until 
they chucked themselves into sand banks and then there were no more 
problems in the group). 

I would like to stress that most chapter's schools do not typically have 
major accidents!  Don't let this thread scare you from attending a track 
event!  I feel safer at most track events than I do on Interstates during 
rush hour...

Just my $0.02 on the issue, and if you want to flame me, do it privately.



Jackson Zimmermann

[email protected]

Charlottesville, VA - Blue Ridge Chapter

'85 535i 191K