Winter skills course shows drivers their weak spots
MONTREAL — Not to sound overconfident, but I consider myself a pretty good driver.
That notion was quickly challenged after a few hours on the snow-covered obstacle course at the ICAR facility in Mirabel where the BMW Winter Driving Training is held.
The training, which has been offered in Canada since 2001, is an eye-opening experience on several levels, be it from the skills needed behind the wheel to the importance of the electronic gadgets on today’s vehicles.
After some initial exercises through a slalom course and some acceleration drills using both rearwheel-drive and all-wheel-drive BMW 335i sedans, participants are put on what is affectionately called the power circle.
In this drill, instructors deliberately force you to lose control of your vehicle while, as the name implies, going in a constant circle. The reason for that is simple, explains Philippe Letourneau, the lead instructor for BMW and a former race car driver who also doubles as a TV personality on Canada’s Worst Driver.
“When it (a skid) happens to you in real life, people panic and they don’t do anything,” Letourneau said. “Part of this course is to show you that even though the car will go out of control, you have to find a way to regain that control.”
The winter skills taught at this course and others like it are essential, Letourneau added.
After the power circle, Letourneau and his team took us over to a collision avoidance exercise, but before allowing drivers on the course, they disabled all the electronic traction aids, including the anti-lock brakes.
This is where you quickly realize that no matter how good a driver you are — or think you are — these systems have become an invaluable safety feature.
With all the systems off, it became almost impossible to make an emergency manoeuvre and avoid crashing into a row of cones from 50 kilometres per hour. Nobody in my group avoided any of the cones, which would have had deadly consequences on the open road.
With the systems turned back on, however, we had little difficulty slowing down, thanks to the ABS, and avoiding the cones — and that was from 60 km/h.
While Letourneau says all the electronic aids — stability control, traction control, ABS, etc. — on vehicles are great, they can lead to a sense of overconfidence.
“Which are the first vehicles we see off the roads? Usually they are SUVs, (with) all-wheel drive,” he said. “It (the AWD) gives people a false confidence.
“It goes back to education,” Letourneau, 40, said. “Show them the amount of work those systems will do” and they will have a better appreciation for them.
And speaking of ABS brakes, Letourneau was shocked to hear recently that driving manuals for courses offered in Canada are still teaching young drivers to pump the brakes.
That, he said, is an antiquated technique that is only useful on cars without anti-lock brakes, a figure that is shrinking each year.
“Sometimes we do stuff and we are not even aware that they are wrong,” he said.
Letourneau, who is also the lead instructor at the Jim Russell Racing School, had some advice for drivers that could help them improve their skills and keep them — and others — safer on the road.
“Awareness, I would say, is a key issue, especially in winter conditions,” Letourneau said, pointing to drivers who are distracted behind the wheel with cellphones, as well as those who do not pay attention to their surroundings and the road conditions. “There is more chance (in winter) to have a drastic change in the weather vs. the summer. Even on a beautiful day you can go from driving on a dry surface and in a split second you can end up on snow or on ice.”
To be more aware, Letourneau stresses vision. It may seem like a simple thing, but it is something most people do not do properly.
“Looking far (ahead) will allow you to give yourself more time to analyze what is going on, so it helps with awareness,” he said.
The former racer also says that getting your vehicle ready for the conditions is important.
In his classes at ICAR, which include people from across the country, he stresses the importance of winter tires for safe driving not only on snow, but also on ice.
And as essential as it to get your car ready, the most important thing is a driver’s seating position, according to Letourneau.
Make sure you can exert maximum pressure on the brake pedal without having your leg overstretched and reaching for the floor. And placing the hands at nine and three o’clock on the steering wheel is ideal.
For more information on the BMW Driver Training, go to http:// bit.ly/NmcGYq