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I can't agree with this enough. If you could just drive at 55mph in a straight line everywhere with nothing in your way, current education would be fine, but th

I can't agree with this enough. If you could just drive at 55mph in a straight line everywhere with nothing in your way, current education would be fine, but that's not reality. Part of driver's training should involve you driving a vehicle hard (autocross, slalom, etc), preferably of multiple different sizes/configurations so you can see the differences in handling. I know that idea will make people squeamish, but people panic in dangerous situations and do crazy shit like turn their wheel full lock and lock up the brakes because they actually have zero idea what that results in. On a similar note, maintenance should be mandatory training, as well. Basic ability to evaluate brakes, tires, suspension, etc. should be a given. I live in a state without inspections and the number of people whose reaction to metal-on-rotor in their brakes being "teehee whoops!" is shocking. If you can't afford the maintenance, that's fair enough in the sense that you need a vehicle to live in much of the US, but you should at least know the state of your vehicle and what that means when you're driving it.

Sohcahtoa82 2y ago
> I know that idea will make people squeamish, but people panic in dangerous situations and do crazy shit like turn their wheel full lock and lock up the brakes because they actually have zero idea what that results in. Yeah...people argue over whether to "steer into" or "steer out" of a skid, and what gets me is that sometimes, both people mean the same thing but are calling it something different, and the reality is that it depends on the skid. Every driver should know the difference between understeer and oversteer. Understeer? Straighten the wheel. If you have ABS, continue holding the brake, otherwise lighten up the brake pressure so the front tires can regain grip and steer the car. Oversteer? Forget arguing about steering into/out of the skid, and instead think about pointing the front tires in the direction you want to go. More importantly, DON'T slam the brakes! Any braking action will take weight off the rear tires and make the oversteer WORSE. Braking during oversteer is how drifters increase drift angle. If you're trying to straighten out, that's not what you want! But the squeamishness, yeah...I suggested to my wife that these courses should be a requirement, and she thought it'd be too dangerous. I kept saying, in a large flat concrete pad with no walls (or very soft walls), there's no danger. She wasn't convinced. I think she was worried about cars flipping over from sliding, and I said that it's impossible to make anything that isn't a tall SUV roll from just aggressive steering, and even the tall SUVs don't typically roll. When they do, they get really bad safety reviews.

Sohcahtoa82 2y ago

> I know that idea will make people squeamish, but people panic in dangerous situations and do crazy shit like turn their wheel full lock and lock up the brakes because they actually have zero idea what that results in. Yeah...people argue over whether to "steer into" or "steer out" of a skid, and what gets me is that sometimes, both people mean the same thing but are calling it something different, and the reality is that it depends on the skid. Every driver should know the difference between understeer and oversteer. Understeer? Straighten the wheel. If you have ABS, continue holding the brake, otherwise lighten up the brake pressure so the front tires can regain grip and steer the car. Oversteer? Forget arguing about steering into/out of the skid, and instead think about pointing the front tires in the direction you want to go. More importantly, DON'T slam the brakes! Any braking action will take weight off the rear tires and make the oversteer WORSE. Braking during oversteer is how drifters increase drift angle. If you're trying to straighten out, that's not what you want! But the squeamishness, yeah...I suggested to my wife that these courses should be a requirement, and she thought it'd be too dangerous. I kept saying, in a large flat concrete pad with no walls (or very soft walls), there's no danger. She wasn't convinced. I think she was worried about cars flipping over from sliding, and I said that it's impossible to make anything that isn't a tall SUV roll from just aggressive steering, and even the tall SUVs don't typically roll. When they do, they get really bad safety reviews.