[Land-speed] Driving skills

[dan warner]

Yeah, Jim Miller and I have been discussing the subject of drivers recently.
   
  Jim had experiences at Speedweek with new drivers, specifically, older and heavier drivers who are rookies. He had several incidences of this group during the bailout drills. The new to the sport drivers with physical challenges appear to be a safety issue with potential legal consequences that could put our racing in jeopardy.
   
  Some, but not all, cases involved a gentleman who is partially paralyzed. He could get in the car but could not exit without assistance. At his pleading Jim spent a large amount of time designing a canopy fix and developing a bailout procedure. We went to their pits after they had practiced the drill and claimed that they were ready to test. As we watched I thought to myself that this is not a good thing. The driver was able to get out of the car with verbal coaching and support from the crew. I think that in a fire situation all that  would have been forgotten in an instant.

  After more practice they decided that they would use a different driver. Broke the gentleman's heart, a dream shattered.
   
  Other things we saw was a driver with an oxygen bottle, one car (four drivers) none of whom could exit the car unassisted with full gear while under observation. Another driver who became disoriented and dizzy even though he was wearing a cool suit and a fresh air pump to the helmet, I think I heard that the tube to the helmet was pinched shut in this case.
   
  All of these and more should be addressed by a doctor's release for  drivers over 60 maybe. Other suggestions?
   
  DW
Keith Turk <kturk at ala.net> wrote:
  Well I've pondered this question quite a bit and wanted to bring it up simply
as a topic of discussion.

We all assume we are gods at driving race cars... simply cause we're guys (
for the most part ) My question is how good are we really? Most of us are
semi older ( not all of us want to admit that-Tonya signed us up for AARP this
morning)... our reflexes are what they are... and our experience is truly
limited to the occasional opportunities that we have each year...

David's recommended a couple of different driving schools to increase our
skills and Both Tonya and I are interested in doing that... mostly because we
think it would be a blast and increase our knowledge base...

One of the things that I can say for both of us is that we don't drive over
our skill level... we have a tendency if anything to be a bit conservative...
but even with that said... what is our skill level and how can we increase it
with so few opportunities....

Any thoughts on the whole subject? or anything specific?

Keith
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