Drivers education

[redneck]

Drivers Ed while in High School.

Went to the Mercedes AMG Driving Academy last year at Lime Rock Park.

AMG Driving Academy - Home

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[MetroMPG]

High school driver's ed, skid/emergency maneuver school (several), performance course (closed wheel), performance (open wheel), motorcycle course.

Taught defensive driving part-time for a couple of years while going to school, which included a full-time month long instructor training course.

There's always more to learn!

[Soichiro]

Driver's ed isn't even an option at public schools here. If you want to take driver's ed, you have to go to a private company and pay hundreds of dollars for a course. Needless to say, I didn't take driver's ed, lol.

[nemo]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

There's always more to learn!

So true.

[Flakbadger]

I took a driver's ed course to better learn driving and to lower my insurance back when I was a new driver. It was a joke, the instructor (an older guy) was horribly out-of-touch with the younger generation and spent more time passing on "wisdom" like how to tell if you're being swindled at the used car lot, and how they "put sawdust in the transmission so it won't thump" or "use motor oil to hide scratches on the paint. If you see them running around with feather dusters you know to stay away because that car has bad paint."
Then the supervised driving instructor (the theory-instructor's son) assumed we were all there just to get lower insurance and didn't want to learn anything, and as a result each of us spent 2 hours behind the wheel (one hour per-week) in a car with an overly-touchy brake pedal. The extent of instruction was trying to teach us to do "push-pull" steering instead of "hand-over-hand" (I still steer hand-over-hand), EDIT: and how to adjust our mirrors, and really did not improve my understanding of driving whatsoever. It was a complete waste of time. I wish the U.S. had 20 hour requirements like Piwoslaw says Poland does. I think a lot more drivers in the U.S. would be a lot safer.

[user removed]

Drive a 1959 Austin Healey Bug Eye Sprite around a high density population area (Hampton Roads) in 1966 and you get a practical course in survival. A 1200 pound car moving around in the company of two ton behemoths will give you a serious dose of "Boy I sure am the smallest marble in this whole city."

It was good for 32 MPG driven by a semi crazy teenager when gas was 32 cents a gallon.Bias ply tires I could smell when I went around a corner. I could grab the car by the rear wheel well (facing backwards) and slide the rear end sideways. Could also plane a jon boat with a pair of oars. Weighed 137 pounds when I graduated High School. About 210 now.

One time I reached out and whacked a Ford LTD trunk when the driver was going to back up into my right door. Fortunately that was in a right hand drive MG that was my brother's wifes car, or I wouldn't have been able to reach far enough to whack his trunk lid before he hit me.

regards
Mech

[nemo]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

A 1200 pound car moving around in the company of two ton behemoths will give you a serious dose of "Boy I sure am the smallest marble in this whole city."

Should be an educational requirement.

[larrybuck]

What did you drive in High School Driver's Ed?
For me was '71 Plymouth's from local dealer, school had about 3, usually had a vinyl roof

[user removed]

Originally Posted by nemo

Should be an educational requirement.

A motorcycle is even a better "educational requirement" and should be required as "punishment" for agressive drivers. With a sign on their back that says, "I am a jerk agressive driver. Please tailgate me very close, pass and cut me off, and especially pass me and then slam on your brakes and make a left turn, or a right turn."

Do these things in heavy traffic so I can hopefully get run over by some other inconsiuderate idiot, who will drive off and leave me a bloody stain on a highway.

regards
Mech

[nemo]

Mech

You sound wee bit hostile, recent experience? I stopped riding a long, long time ago, in part because of the antics you have described. The sign only need say "Target".