20/07: Driver's Education
Hello all:
So good to be back here at the Loft. Summer is in full swing, and it seems to be the time of year when my writing projects demand the most. It's a happy burden, however. Summer offers new sources of inspiration, and the latest came from a team of race car drivers. I took my son and his buddy to a Driver's Edge training course in Richmond, Virginia. This program is the coolest thing ever: It's free and it helps young drivers (16-21) deal with and learn to handle dangerous driving situations. They have brand new BMW cars for the trainees to take "to the edge": purposely driving fast into a skid on a wet road, quickly changing lanes and slamming on brakes--all under the instruction and supervision of race car drivers. The instructors are awesome. I would love to see every new driver get this kind of training. They have a national tour, and you can also bring the course to your area. Check out driversedge.org. So here's the lesson I took to heart:
According to the pros, the most important aspect of driving--and one that is often overlooked in driver's training programs-- is where you look. If you're spinning out of control, where do you look naturally? You look at what you want to AVOID. Then you hit it. This is why so many young drivers plant their cars into telephone poles. There may be open space all around, but the car precisely hits this small target.
The instructors talked about how hard it is to look to open space. When they taught the skid exercise, they trained the drivers NOT to look at the cones, but to look to where it was clear--to look to where they wanted to go. Wow -- what a great life lesson. In everyday life, it's easy to focus on the obstacles rather than where we want to go. We fill our time with concerns about what's getting in the way of what we want, and we get stuck.
The day we returned from the training, we got news that a friend of my son's was in a car accident: she hit a telephone pole. Fortunately, she and the passengers were uninjured, though the driver suffered a mild concussion.
It's a challenge to look to the open road, to entertain greater possibilities for our lives, to trust that the wheels will follow our eyes (they do!), and to cruise forward. I think we all could use more of this kind of driver's training.
Think about where you want to go and set your eyes in that direction. The telephone poles should stay out of your way.
Bon Voyage!
Laurie
So good to be back here at the Loft. Summer is in full swing, and it seems to be the time of year when my writing projects demand the most. It's a happy burden, however. Summer offers new sources of inspiration, and the latest came from a team of race car drivers. I took my son and his buddy to a Driver's Edge training course in Richmond, Virginia. This program is the coolest thing ever: It's free and it helps young drivers (16-21) deal with and learn to handle dangerous driving situations. They have brand new BMW cars for the trainees to take "to the edge": purposely driving fast into a skid on a wet road, quickly changing lanes and slamming on brakes--all under the instruction and supervision of race car drivers. The instructors are awesome. I would love to see every new driver get this kind of training. They have a national tour, and you can also bring the course to your area. Check out driversedge.org. So here's the lesson I took to heart:
According to the pros, the most important aspect of driving--and one that is often overlooked in driver's training programs-- is where you look. If you're spinning out of control, where do you look naturally? You look at what you want to AVOID. Then you hit it. This is why so many young drivers plant their cars into telephone poles. There may be open space all around, but the car precisely hits this small target.
The instructors talked about how hard it is to look to open space. When they taught the skid exercise, they trained the drivers NOT to look at the cones, but to look to where it was clear--to look to where they wanted to go. Wow -- what a great life lesson. In everyday life, it's easy to focus on the obstacles rather than where we want to go. We fill our time with concerns about what's getting in the way of what we want, and we get stuck.
The day we returned from the training, we got news that a friend of my son's was in a car accident: she hit a telephone pole. Fortunately, she and the passengers were uninjured, though the driver suffered a mild concussion.
It's a challenge to look to the open road, to entertain greater possibilities for our lives, to trust that the wheels will follow our eyes (they do!), and to cruise forward. I think we all could use more of this kind of driver's training.
Think about where you want to go and set your eyes in that direction. The telephone poles should stay out of your way.
Bon Voyage!
Laurie
