Fast is Safe

Learning key car control and dynamics could save your life.

How can we cause fewer accidents on the road? By learning to drive fast.

First, let’s put you behind the wheel.

Your modern-day Griswold “station wagon” is packed full of gear, kids included, as you head off on a family road trip. The trip is smooth sailing until you hit the twisty mountain roads.

Oddly, you hit unexpected traffic, progressing at a crawling speed with no exit in sight. What could be going on here, you think?

Like a crab, you creep up on a large group of emergency vehicles, spanning both sides of the road with emergency personnel calmly standing around.

The accident begins to present itself; you continue to decrease speed, riding the brake while the car coasts.

Holy moly.

The emergency workers are looking down the mountain as a tow truck pulls a mangled car back up the mountainside. The car is so beaten and battered it’s unrecognizable.

There’s a group of folks sobbing endlessly close to a van marked “Coroner”. Your heart sinks.

As you pull away, you glance in your rearview mirror noticing the emergency lights fading away, followed by your kid's faces, fortunately, distracted by their Ipads.

Now wide awake with more questions than answers, you sit up in your seat, take a deep breath, grip the steering wheel tightly, and carefully proceed to your destination.

What happened to cause the driver to lose control?

Did they overdrive the tricky corner?

The road is damp; maybe they were going too fast?

Was there a mechanical malfunction or tire issue?

We’ve all seen these horrifying wrecks. They are a gentle reminder of how precious life can be.

In 2020, a total of 35,766 fatal motor vehicle accidents occurred on U.S. roadways— resulting in a total of 38,824 deaths.

With so many fatalities occurring, Forbes Advisor calculated one fatal car accident occurs every 15 minutes in the United States. Sadly, the number of fatal accidents is on the rise; increasing by 7% between 2019 and 2020.

So how can we prevent accidents? Obviously, we can slow down, be more aware, and put our phones away while driving.

If you really want to be proactive, the best way is to learn how to drive fast from a professional. This can be accomplished by taking a performance driving class at your local race track.

Here you will learn what a proper racing line is, threshold braking, drifting, cornering techniques, and hitting the apex. All of these exercises are important in helping the driver find their “limit” inside the race car and discovering the car’s true capability.

In a controlled environment and under supervision, you will discover skills & capabilities you had no idea you possessed.

I did this. My confidence behind the wheel skyrocketed.

Now I don’t practice any of this on the road, but instead, now I know what a car feels like when the rear end sways in one direction or the other. More importantly, I know how I should react inside the car.

By pushing a race car to the limits, I learned your reaction to the car’s movements is paramount to keeping it on the road. In nasty & tricky conditions, such as sideways snow on a mountain highway, I know how to confidently brake and slow the vehicle.

Professional instructors teach the skills necessary for avoiding accidents that will help you be a better daily driver. They help you understand vehicle dynamics, car control, and defensive driving better than any “student driving” course could ever deliver.

Try one out; the sooner the better, as it may just save your life by preventing you from driving off the side of a cliff.

Hope you learned something,

🏁Brent🏁