A professional race-car driver might save your teen’s life.
At least, that’s the concept behind the Driver’s Edge program, in which professional drivers teach young ones skills that go beyond those measured by standard licensing tests.
Kansas City. About 75 area students attended Sunday, the second day of the event.
The young drivers - with a pro beside them at all times - drove souped-up BMW 3 Series sedans through cone courses to learn how to handle spinouts and on another course for lessons on sudden lane-changes to avoid objects on the road. There were also classes in vehicle maintenance and a lecture by police.
“Most parents won’t teach us how to do this, but it is necessary,” said Great Falls. “You have to be forced into something like this in order to respond correctly.”
Representatives from Prince George’s County Police Department. Both officers advised parents and teens to avoid testing the system.
The instruction is offered free, but is estimated to be worth about $450 per student. The program is supported through donations from large companies and private donors. Tires, which are replaced an average of every three weekends, are donated by Goodyear.
Driver’s Edge also dispelled some false conventional wisdom such as the idea that drivers should keep their hands at the 8 o’clock and 4 o’clock positions on the wheel. “That’s just silly, 9 and 3 is the only way to drive,” said Driver’s Edge founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Payne.
Mr. Payne used to run a celebrity driving school, but said that he was frustrated with all the bad drivers on the road and license tests that did not address the most dangerous aspects of driving.
“The worst drivers in the country are in the D.C. area, and we can try and fix that by pounding statistics into these parents’ and teens’ heads, like how there is about one police-reported collision involving a young person every 20 seconds.”
Driver’s Edge stops next in Boston, a new city on its circuit.
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