By Holly R.
Driver education and skill has a lot of room for improvement in this country. How many times in a day do we complain that driver’s licenses are as easy to get as pulling a prize out of a box of Cap’n Crunch Berries after watching some clown pull a Bozo move on the road? Even if we do consider ourselves above average drivers. How often do we practice ultra-safe driving skills and know how to react if a dangerous situation catches us while we sing-a-long happily to our favorite song on the radio? Or we get caught on a road slicker than Leisure Suit Larry picking up women at O’Leary’s Bar and the rear-end unexpectedly breaks loose and comes around. Do you know how to stay calm, instinctively countersteer and brake smoothly or do you snap into hyper-panic mode, scream like Fay Wray, and then drive your feet through the floor attempting to stop the car as you envision your life flashing in front of you?
Unless you spend a lot of time at the local raceway or kart track, your everyday driving skills could use some improvement. By the way, playing Gran Turismo 3 is a poor substitute for real seat time behind the steering wheel. Fortunately, Mary-Ellen and I had the opportunity to attend the driving school taught by Sia and Jeff at the Driving Safety Foundation (http://www.dsf-usa.com). Jeff was our instructor for the afternoon and introduced us to the Skid Monster.
