Advanced driving for teens
Advanced driver training melds confidence with competence
In Canada, vehicle collisions remain the leading cause of death among teenagers.
It’s difficult to know the degree to which insufficient driver training contributes to this devastating reality, but it’s not difficult to accept the notion that advanced driver training reduces the risk.
Why then do we — and by “we” I mean parents — typically allow our new drivers to forgo all form of advanced driver training once they pass the government’s basic licensing test? Is there nothing that a professional race car driver with 20 years of track experience can teach them about skid control, emergency manoeuvres and controlled cornering?
The list goes on and includes eyes-up driving, looking where you want to go, and knowing the limits of your automobile. Think of advanced driver training as building competence to match the overconfidence that’s often typical in new drivers.
Often referred to as performance driving, advanced driver training comes in many forms and in just as many settings, all of which can provide value if delivered by legitimate, properly run organizations employing qualified driving instructors. Some research and user-reviews help in selecting agencies and courses that meet the highest standards of safety, training, and integrity.
Local sports car clubs are an excellent starting point when looking for advanced driving programs.
Many clubs convene their own high quality — and generally inexpensive — driving programs, or they may partner with bona fide advanced driving schools.
Either way, these clubs can be a gold mine of information and opportunity. And for the enthusiast driver, they can be a tremendously rewarding organization to join. In many cases, owning a sports car isn’t necessary. There’s plenty for non-owners, including time in the passenger seat in exchange for help setting up an autocross course (circuitous course laid out with traffic cones in a controlled environment) and keeping things running smoothly on the sidelines.
At the other end of the advanced driving spectrum are race-bred companies specializing in training highperformance enthusiasts and race car drivers. One such firm, which I’ve had the benefit of learning with, is Morrisport Advanced Driving led by Tony Morris Jr.
A championship-winning racer, Tony was raised in his father’s race car where as a child he would ride until falling asleep with his helmet banging against the side of his dad’s Camaro. A unique skill Tony Jr. learned from his father was how to win races in the rain, quite apropos given how our day would shake out weather-wise.
What I know about advanced driving would fit on the head of a pin compared to Tony Jr., nonetheless I’m a far better driver thanks to participation in several Inside-Track Days operated by Morrisport at Mission Raceway Park in Mission, B.C.
This week though, was about sharing that experience with a 19-year-old relatively new driver. My son Austin participated in the First Timer Inside-Track Day last year, and this year moved onto the full Inside-Track experience at Mission Raceway.
Ford of Canada generously supplied Austin with a 2014 Ford Fiesta ST equipped with a six-speed manual gearbox and a turbocharged 197 horsepower engine. The compact ST turned out to be the perfect track car thanks to its responsive steering, optimal balance, and torque-rich power plant.
Austin’s day consisted of five 20-minute track sessions spread over six hours. Interspersed during the day were the First Timer track sessions and a second group of experienced Inside-Track participants. For his three morning sessions, Austin had one of Morrisport’s professional instructors ride with him, giving one-to-one instruction on how to maintain control of the car and also read the track and what the other cars on it were doing.
Sessions four and five in the afternoon found Austin running without an instructor, which gave him the opportunity to apply all that he had been taught the first half of the day. Yes, it was exciting but more important than tweaking his brain for a thrill was the fact that he came away a better driver. While the instruction took place on a racetrack, the skills honed were completely transferable to everyday driving, and freeway driving in particular.
It was a damp, drizzly morning, which became wetter as the day wore on, yet neither of us complained. The rain-soaked track required elevated levels concentration and driving finesse to retain vehicle control though corners and braking zones.
Such skills are germane to living amid the West Coast rainforest.
There’s speed involved in participating in a track day, including high-speed cornering and controlled passing of slower vehicles. These elements pose risk, but the overriding doctrine of the day is safety. It trumps all else, and is never compromised. Questionable driving tactics will have a participant black flagged and cooling his or her pipes trackside.
Learning advanced driving skills is a unisex activity; no need for the Y chromosome to come away more confident and competent — and for the record, I counted three female drivers participating in the First Timer program.
As Tony Jr. stresses, confidence and competence must evenly co-develop. Whether on a racetrack with professional instruction or on an autocross circuit with expert coaching, building competence to match confidence is a sound method of mitigating risk for new drivers. And for the record, I’ve never seen a driver training car on a race track or autocross course!