[Reijo]

Similar to what has been done in Winnipeg and Ottawa, where there has been a winter driving school offered to the general public (and members, of course), I'd like to hold one here also. Some of this was precipitated by a long-time desire to do so (give back something to the public of what we have learned on the track - a public service in essence) and a concern of the carnage we continue to see on the roads in Alberta and throughout North America for that matter. The biggest factor in vehicle collisions is DRIVER ERROR.....or shall I add, the inablility of individuals behind the wheel to deal with emergency situations such as loss of control. I firmly believe most of these collisions can be prevented by taking a short course in car control!

Recently there was an accident at about noon on a clear day, no ice, good conditions etc. where 4 people died in a collision just north of Nanton. One of these young women was a student at SAIT and this revived my inspiration to begin this kind of a school. This is not a competition school. It is a competition-style of school with emphasis toward street driving and helping those around us to drive better and reduce the collision rates of drivers (young and old!) in our neighbourhoods. This school is meant for the everyday, ordinary driver.

Give us a day with anyone, and we will change their attitude and ability to drive!


We are looking at holding a winter driving/car control clinic on Sunday Dec. 27 at the Race City parking lot (114th Ave. SE and 68 St. SE). Map below:

http://www.racecity.com/index.php?option=c...2&Itemid=65

Travel south on 68th Street SE and you will see the parking lot on the east (left) side of the road in less than 1 km....and just south of the oval and grandstands of Race City.

An idea of what we will be covering will include some of the concepts noted below:

This is not a competition school although some of the concepts to be taught will be from competition-style schools such as:

1. Threshold braking (combined with steering)
2. Obstacle avoidance,
3. Focus/concentration/reaction
4. What to do when you have lost control - c/w exercises in said condition
5. Differences between good/bad traction surfaces and what can be done about it.
6. Looking ahead - the concept, exercises, the results
7. Hand/foot/sitting/driving positions
8. Shifting techniques, selection of gears
9. Etc.

There will be lots of driving on a loose/snowy surface.

FOR STUDENTS:

Continue to check here for further details on the school.

1. Bring your own car to use (empty it of belongings)
2. Bring a helmet (Snell-rated year 2000 or newer) if you have one - we have loaner helmets available if you do not.
3. Have your fuel tank filled up and car in safe running condition. If the car is not yours you will need the owner's permission to be using it (written/signed).
4. Anyone under the age of 18 requires their guardian/parent to sign a waiver. In fact, I would encourage the guardian/parent to also enter the school as a partner with the student!
5. Waiver to sign on-site.
6. If the weather is -25 C or less, the event will be cancelled due to the weather.
7. Cost is $30, parent/guardian plus student - $50 (for both) - bring cash or a check.
7. Start Time: 8:30 am.
8. Working Lunch break taken - discussion during lunch
8. Ending approximately 4 pm (or hopefully a bit earlier than that).


Club members/others:

1. Let me know if you are available to teach on that day. We will need perhaps a half dozen or so instructors (estimated).
2. Questions? Get a hold of me.
3. I will be developing a curriculum and will forward to the teachers once confirmed and completed.

If you have any questions, send me an email for further info etc. at rase_usa (at) yahoo (dot) com

Thanks!

Reijo

[Reijo]

For those intending on coming out to participate, please post on this forum and/or send me an email:

at rase_usa (at) yahoo (dot) com

We have to have a head count to ensure we have enough people to make a go of this school. Take advantage of this opportunity! Most schools cost hundred or thousands of dollars so this is a real bargain because we have volunteers and this is a non-profit club! You simply cannot go wrong. If you feel your driving is pretty good, by all means still take the school, I guarantee we can keep you entertained by teaching you some advanced techniques!

Thanks,

Reijo

[Reijo]

Other potential benefits from this school would be personal/passenger safety, collision avoidance (and the costs involved - physical, mental and monetary), and confidence in driving in snowy/slippery conditions and being able to better manage adverse conditions we encounter on the roads and highways.

This is cheap insurance.

Reijo

[Reijo]

Here's Alberta Transportation/Statistics Canada data (a report) on collision statistics FYI:

http://www.transportation.alberta.ca/Conte...tion/2008AR.pdf

Notice how many collisions (not accidents) are caused by driver error! Amazing! But not surprising....unfortunately.

There were 375 fatalities and 155085 reportable collisions (then add the parking lot fender-benders and other minor incidents to that!). As a comparision, H1N1 has claimed 61 people thus far in Alberta this year (since April - this might be a few more by the end of the year).

Notice on Page 20 - Table 4.2, that the most fatalities were a result of running off the road....and in second place was going over the center line.....driver errors.

Reijo

[Reijo]

I have not heard of too much interest in this school......it seems in some cases this is just too soon and perhaps even the timing is not so good (Christmas and all). However if you might be interested in another one later on, please let me know - email, PM or otherwise.

In the meanwhile I'll give this another couple of days and make a decision on whether to proceed on Tuesday, Dec. 22......please let me know before then whether you would be interested in attending next Sunday - Dec. 27th.

Thanks,

Reijo

[Sugarphreak]

This sounds like a pretty interesting course Reijo!

I am interested for myself and my wife, but unfortunately the date is tucked in too tightly with Christmas for me.

[JayZ]

Sugarphreak, on Dec 22 2009, 06:01 PM, said:

This sounds like a pretty interesting course Reijo!

I am interested for myself and my wife, but unfortunately the date is tucked in too tightly with Christmas for me.

If our insurance is still valid in January, there may be more interest then instead of Christmas.

[Reijo]

JayZ, on Dec 23 2009, 12:11 AM, said:

If our insurance is still valid in January, there may be more interest then instead of Christmas.

I guess the insurance is good to April (as per Rod or whoever it was who looked into it).

Very little interest for the Christmas date.....no way to fill the school......however there have been inquiries for later on.....Christmas time just did not work.....not enough time....etc.

That will give me more time to prepare too....been really busy lately marking exams......got home past 11 pm for the last couple of days.....bed time!

Reijo

[Reijo]

Reijo, on Dec 23 2009, 12:16 AM, said:

I guess the insurance is good to April (as per Rod or whoever it was who looked into it).

Very little interest for the Christmas date.....no way to fill the school......however there have been inquiries for later on.....Christmas time just did not work.....not enough time....etc.

That will give me more time to prepare too....been really busy lately marking exams......got home past 11 pm for the last couple of days.....bed time!

Reijo

Consider this event cancelled.....for now.

Nevertheless, I have some interesting responses and interest for this event so I definitely plan on pursuing this further. I believe the interest is there and from a "different" group of people so I think this is worthwhile.

Thanks and stay tuned!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Reijo

[Sugarphreak]

I just noticed some winter driving advertisements went up for Allen Berg Racing School. The cost of this ABRS program is quite a bit more than I would be willing to spend for myself and the wife though.

http://www.allenbergracingschools.com/road...ng-programs.asp

Who runs those events Reijo?

[Reijo]

Sugarphreak, on Jan 8 2010, 02:02 PM, said:

I just noticed some winter driving advertisements went up for Allen Berg Racing School. The cost of this ABRS program is quite a bit more than I would be willing to spend for myself and the wife though.

http://www.allenbergracingschools.com/road...ng-programs.asp

Who runs those events Reijo?

That would be Allen Berg - a former Canadian F1 driver. He has good schools I'm sure however it is out of reach for students and other folks who do not have a lot of money....and this is where we come in.

What I'm proposing is not meant to be in competition with his school at all. Our attendees would likely never consider his school and that is the void I'm trying to fill.

Reijo

[Reijo]

OK, I want to bring this winter driving school back to the limelight.

I have a course design and have started a short instruction/participant manual and should be finished soon.

Who wants to take a school?

I need some numbers.

This is NOT a school for racing but rather for the ordinary person on the street who wishes to feel more confident on snow and ice. I am looking at a venue on ice right now and that is where I would like to hold the school.


How does Saturday, Jan. 23 work for you is another question?

How about Sat. Jan. 30?

Say 9 am - 4 pm - approximately. To set up we'll be there a bit earlier and people are welcome then.

Cost is $30 per person - no affiliation expected. The cost is to help us cover the costs of equipment, insurance, etc. for the club.

Thanks,

Reijo

[Murray Peterson]

Jo and I are registered for the ASA event on Jan 24. We plan on driving up a day early and visiting friends, so we wouldn't be able to help out if the event is on the 23rd.

[Sugarphreak]

My wife & I would be in for the 30th; unfortunately the 23rd would not work for us.

As far as the program goes my wife is not an overly confident driver and pretty much refuses to drive on public roads when it snows for fear of getting into an accident. She is willing to work on her skills, I was hoping a winter course would help her with that. Do you think this course be right for her or will it be too intimidating?

[Reijo]

Sugarphreak, on Jan 16 2010, 11:04 PM, said:

My wife & I would be in for the 30th; unfortunately the 23rd would not work for us.

As far as the program goes my wife is not an overly confident driver and pretty much refuses to drive on public roads when it snows for fear of getting into an accident. She is willing to work on her skills, I was hoping a winter course would help her with that. Do you think this course be right for her or will it be too intimidating?

She is EXACTLY my target audience! There will be no timing (which can be intimidating) nor criticism of where people are at in their driving skills. We start wherever they are at.

So, please, by all means, let her know that she is welcomed into the school and should learn a lot about car control in slippery conditions.

Reijo

[Reijo]

I've got a course map done and a draft "manual"....so we're coming along....almost set.

Reijo

[Sugarphreak]

Reijo, on Jan 17 2010, 06:27 AM, said:

She is EXACTLY my target audience! There will be no timing (which can be intimidating) nor criticism of where people are at in their driving skills. We start wherever they are at.

So, please, by all means, let her know that she is welcomed into the school and should learn a lot about car control in slippery conditions.

Reijo

That is great!

She will need a loaner helmet though, mine is a medium size but unfortunately too small for her

[Reijo]

Please msg me or email me with your particulars (I don't know all these handles on this forum - so a real name would be helpful as you can imagine) - name, phone no. (where I can reach you), which dates you are interested in/can attend, instructor/student?, etc. etc.

I've almost got this setup with some minor writing to do and final set-up. I ran a test course on the weekend and it was a ton of fun!

Thanks

Reijo

[Reijo]

A couple of other items to cover:

1. All drivers must have a valid driver's licence (not a learner's permit - as per Terry Epp).

2. Minors (under 18 years of age), will need a parent/guardian's approval - we have ASN Canada forms to fill out and sign for this purpose.

3. Waiver to be signed on-site (I have copies).

Reijo

[Sugarphreak]

So I was telling a friend of mine yesterday about the winter driving course and to my surprise he said he already heard about it from his instructor at SAIT... who as it turns out, happens to be Reijo!

lol, small world sometimes!