Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Require Driving School? Yes or No?

[Rick Lindsay (rolindsay]

Oh Mike, cut it out and tell us what you really think.


--- On Fri, 2/13/09, Mike Fleischer <themightytoe [at] gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Mike Fleischer <themightytoe [at] gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Require Driving School? Yes or No?
> To: "rolindsay" <rolindsay [at] yahoo.com>
> Cc: "Ferrarilist" <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
> Date: Friday, February 13, 2009, 9:31 AM
> OK
> 
> I have been reading this thread for a bit and as an HPDE
> instructor, I 
> will put it out there to my Ferrari list pals who I think
> are a great 
> and entertaining group...  Would I want to share track time
> with you 
> guys on a road course?   Hell no, I value my life too much.
> 
> Bunch of back seat drivers if I ever saw them...  I would
> be genuinely 
> surprised to see more than 10% of this list be able to
> execute a heel 
> and toe down shift consistently or to run a single lap in
> any car, let 
> alone their prized Ferrari at 10/10ths.  Seriously your a
> bunch of 
> waxers when it comes to real driving, the PCA and BMW CCA
> guys would eat 
> your lunches no question.   No question the rides look and
> sound better, 
> but don't fool yourselves into thinking the 370Z auto
> rev matching was 
> not built specifically for you just like those F1 paddles
> in 80% of new 
> Ferrari's. 
> 
> As for the ZR1, yeah its a monster of a car, and not for
> the 
> inexperienced, but in the hands of a bad driver, a Jetta is
> dangerous.  
> The problem is not the horsepower though, that's like
> saying the problem 
> with guns is all the bullets... (hope this stays on topic
> after 
> that)...  I am a firm believer that in the US of A, driver
> training is 
> abysmal, no one should learn anything more than the rules
> for dodge ball 
> and the proper form of a sit up from their gym teacher... 
> We Americans 
> start out with terrible training and then spend the rest of
> our lives 
> adding bad habits to that poor training.  I know many
> adults who could 
> not manage to parallel park to save their lives.  Take the
> bad training 
> and habits and throw in a total lack of regard for your
> fellow man and 
> you have a bit of a dangerous situation.   Before you point
> fingers at 
> all those kids who are getting bad training... What did you
> do to 
> improve the same bad training you received?  I learned to
> drive in the 
> UK and even that was not sufficient training in my
> opinion...  I pro 
> actively went out and attended many driving schools and car
> control 
> clinics right after I got out of college. 
> 
> I think that driver training is changing, here in IL (state
> of 
> corruption that it is) driver training is probably the most
> strict in 
> the country, they just bumped new driver seat time
> requirements from 50 
> to 100 hours of logged driving with a licensed driver
> (parent) or 
> instructor before a license is granted.  Kids here need to
> keep a log 
> book (like a pilot in training).  I think that is a step in
> the right 
> direction.  Next step is mandatory in car testing for the
> first few 
> years of driving, and retesting at regular intervals (like
> every 5 
> years).  (Hey that would create jobs too...)  No
> demonstration of safe 
> skills, no license.  Plain and simple. 
> 
> No matter how much training you give, there will still be
> someone who's 
> skills are exceeded by their egos and our insurance rates
> will go up...  
> I don't blame them anymore than I blame people in Texas
> for letting 
> black mold grow in their duct works for raising my
> insurance rates...  
> Rick go check your ducts man!
> 
> :)
> 
> 
> Larry B wrote:
> > You mean if I hand my wife the keys to my Ferrari she
> might not come back alive? Hmmm.  For as long as I've
> owned it she hasn't planted her rear in the driver's
> seat, but this gives me reason to rethink that position.  
> >  
> > Okay, just kidding.  Probably.
> >  
> > LarryDate: Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:14:12 -0800From:
> cavallino_rapante [at] yahoo.com
> > . . . . Do we really toss the wife the keys to our
> Ferraris and hope they come back alive? 
> >
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