Seen at a Jimmy John's: "The only thing that all humans of all religions and races can agree on... is that we're all better than average drivers...."

 

one more thing.

if you're going anything above 45mph, you will have about 1 second time to correct your spin out before the car gets to 45 degrees angle rear out.

that means as soon as you feel the rear kick out, you have to correct and back to normal while giving more throttle and backing out without taking the foot off.

if you can't do this quick correction, your car will spin out at high speed.

or you have enough whp to punch it hard when it goes and correct it with just throttle, which doesn't happen often, since you'll spin out the other way with that much power.

 

I have to admit that on the Jan 1st (couple days ago) in executing a u-turn, some wheel spin on the cold ground (was expected but) resulted in me just slightly over correcting and continuing the slide in the other direction. By the time I overcorrected I had already picked up a little speed and surprised myself slightly. All was fine in the end and it was overall a rather undramatic event. Just gets the heart beating a little faster

I suspect the residual effect from New Years Eve drinks is what numbed me to the feedback the car gave. I can appreciate why I was asked to come back another time when I showed up a track school once when I mentioned I had 3 drinks the night before.

 

A drink or two the night before a track day is officially not recommended but unofficially normal. But it all depends on how quickly your body metabolizes the alcohol (and whether we are talking dinner at 6pm and track day at 9am or the bar at midnight and track day at 7am, etc.).

 

I hear ya. I can drink copious amounts of alcohol in a night, but that doesn't mean the effects aren't there after just a couple because you don't feel them as extremely.

Either way I don't hold it against the driving school at all, better safe than sorry for everyone!

 

Americans are never average. We're all better than that.
Apparently we also have a unique definition for what "average" means.

A number of Mikes posts in this thread have really hit the nail on the head, opening the door to some discussion about driving skills in a way that shouldn't offend anyone. There are some clear classifications:

"Average" implies a distribution of skill levels that may be highly skewed. When I hear someone say something about "average drivers," I think about all the people who are driving around thinking about all sorts of things other than their driving. I think about people who will get in the left lane on a four lane highway and drive slower than everyone else, even as they drive past 27 consecutive large signs that say, "KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS." There are far more people driving around with their minds on other things than there are people driving around and constantly focusing on the task at hand, so the average is heavily skewed toward people who just aren't paying attention (along with all the other things that go along with their attitutes about driving). I consider anyone who drives without focusing on the task at hand to be average at best, and I consider average to be an extremely low standard that makes driving on public streets far more hazardous than it sould be.

People who focus on driving when behind the wheel are far more apt to be better drivers. Anyone who doesn't is average at best. That's the first major division. If you drive around unaware of what is going on around you, then you're in the majority, and average at best.

The next major division comes between those who actually learn and practice advanced driving skills, and those who don't. One who drives defensively all the time can be a safe driver, but if they haven't developed the skills to handle emergencies, then they're in a different class than those who have. Good drivers study and practice.

So, to be above average requires the right attitude, while being good requires a greater committment. Further, being a good driver in one or a few venues does not mean that you're a good driver in every venue, because being practiced at everything is more than most of us can manage.

Average = inattentive (bad attitude).

Better = attentive.

Best = trained and practiced.

Less than 2% of all drivers are trained and practiced.

 

I don't drink or do drugs, but I always have problems getting a good nights sleep before an event. It has a HUGE effect on my ability to maintain focus. I wonder if drinking something like a Mike's Hard Lemonaid to get to sleep the night before would be more of a plus than a minus? What do those of you who drink the night before an event think? Is it something worth trying?

 

Drinking enough to put you to sleep does not make your sleep more restful. Usually it does the opposite.

Take an OTC sleep aid or something. During allergy season I'll drop a Benedril, which will make me sleepy and also help me breath better during the night.

 

LOL, it is always allergy season here in central Georgia.

Interesting that alcohol makes sleep less restful. That's the LAST thing I need the night before an event.

I'm going to try the Benedril idea. Even if it doesn't help me sleep, I'll be able to breath through my nose rather than having to breath through my mouth half the night, so any sleep I do get should be more restful.

 

Can't you be a good driver with a bad attitude?