For me the timing was perfect. Six weeks earlier I bought a '97 BMW 318i with stick shift and I had yet to push it or even get the ABS to work. Having driven my 320i for the past 15 years, I knew how it behaves in all kinds of situations. The 318i, however, can be thought of as two generations of car technology newer and I had no idea what it was like to live with ABS, Traction Control, power steering, wider tires, a little more power, and a better suspension. The air conditioning I think I can figure out real fast this summer.

Why go to a safety school? These cars are so capable of cornering, braking, and transient response that our normal expectations of what can be done to avoid an accident are unreliable. It's like spending all your time sedately flying a transport (passenger) plane, but you're really in a fighter.

Let's say you're driving and suddenly find yourself having to take evasive action to avoid an accident. In a split second you have to evaluate the situation, consider the actions you might take, and safely execute the best plan. You might choose to purposely have a minor accident rather than risk avoiding any collision at all because you don't think the car can respond fast enough without losing control. How would you feel if you later discover the car could have executed the riskier plan? That's why we should attend Safety Schools and Driver's Schools. That's why pilots practice inducing and recovering from stalls and flying at unusual attitudes. If you think the average licensed American driver doesn't get enough training you owe it to yourself, those in your car, and those who love you to take these schools. It's totally non?competitive and low pressure. It's designed for those who don't want to race or even compete for points.

The Windy City BMW Car Club Safety School was just the activity for me, though I should also attend the next driver's school to learn about the handling characteristics. The Safety School was held on a parking lot and in a classroom at Gateway Tech College in northern Kenosha. The fee was $15. Can you believe it? $15 from about 32 participants and we got the track for the day, a classroom, half a dozen track workers, 15 or so instructors, the classroom instructor, and one guy, Alan Kerns, who stood right in the path of cars driving straight at him. Not only that, cars driven by students coming straight at him! Even if we were told the first goal of the lane change exercise was to avoid hitting Alan! Then there were all the preparation and organization required. I don't think I've ever attended a club event where the fee charged came anywhere near the cost of the event. If you look at the fee charged to participant benefit ratio there's no question every event is worth your while if you're interested.

We had both classroom time and car time. We were divided into two groups; one on the 'track' while the other was in class. I resisted the urge to get going in the car in order to get some description and theory first. In class we discussed the track exercises and learned what was behind the unusual behavior we were going to put our cars through.

In the morning we drove our cars on a wet circle at the limit of adhesion. You go above and below the limit most of the time, but right at the limit is the goal. You learn the car attitude, sounds, steering feel, throttle sensitivity, and amount of traction when you're just about ready to skid. Then you exit the circle and practice braking. It gets pretty exciting. It wasn't until the fourth or fifth time around that I realized I never even looked at the speedometer, something I had planned to do. In case you're interested, we were driving around 25 mph.

All the driving is done with an instructor in the car. There are many instructors so you get different things from different instructors. We didn't use helmets, racing harnesses, Nomex suits, or any of that stuff. Everything was done at low speed. That's why the skidpad was wet. One good way of starting is to enter the circular skidpad at low speed and get your hands positioned normally on the wheel even though the wheel is more or less constantly at 1/2 turn or so from straight?ahead. You drive in a circle trying to stay pretty close to the cones. Then you increase the speed slightly and repeatedly in steps until you hear this scrubbing sound from the tires. Part scrubbing and a little screeching. Your instructor will tell you if you can go faster. You'll know if you're going too fast; you'll start understeering. Understeering? It means you're starting to lose control. More specifically you'll start drifting away from the cones defining the skidpad circle. Your car won't be steered to the angle it would if you were still in control, it falls short (hence the under part of the term), making a larger circle.

In the afternoon we went trough a slalom course which ended with rapid acceleration and full force braking on a wet curve. If your car has ABS you simply plant your foot on the brake and observe the sounds, fluctuation of pedal pressure, ability to stop, and ability to steer (hold the curve). If you car doesn't have ABS you practice threshold braking: stop as quickly as you can but if you push the pedal too hard you lock up, loose steering, and plow through the traffic cones, if you brake too timidly you make the curve but stop beyond the last cone.

Also in the afternoon we ran a lane?change course. We accelerated toward a barrier of six cones across our path. Then, at the last split second, the flag man drops the flag he's been holding above his head to the left or right. Whichever side he drops on is the side you move toward to drive around the cones. Then you've got to get back to the original lane. It's all an exercise is seeing how smoothly you can drive you car because the smoother the more in control you will be. This course also ended in the wet, curving braking exercise.

So the goal is to find out what your car does when at the limits of control. If you know what it sounds like, what body lean it gets (fore and aft as well as side to side), what the brake pedal feels like, and how quickly you can get into and out of these conditions, you'll know when you're about to loose control and know you'd better have room to skid or back off on the steering, braking, or power.

Even though those running the event said it was the first time they've had a Safety School it clearly wasn't. This group was a team. They knew who did what and when, they had the schedule, the walkie?talkies, they had everything down pat. If they hadn't done it before, they actually had, but called it something different.

Lynn Kelly:

WHAT DID I REALLY LEARN?

The roar of an engine. The smell of brake dust and burnt rubber. The speed of race cars flashing by so fast one can't read the numbers. If that's what you want, then you're at the wrong school. But if you want to have fun and learn what your car can do before you really need to know, then you've come to the right place.

As for me, a fine Plymouth Grand Voyager driver, I had a blast. Whipping my minivan around the skid pad I learned exactly what throttle steering was (lifting off the gas when in a skid to shorten the radius of a turn). I learned just how far that old minivan could tilt before I got uncomfortable. And, I learned that my vehicle just wasn't meant to autocross (Tom's note: nothing some plus 2 R1's couldn't fix). I also learned threshold braking (and that I wasn't very good at it), and how a car without ABS just doesn't like to turn when in a full brake mode.

The accident avoidance exercise was tough, and many cars had trouble keeping on course. I tended to brake before I was told to go right or left, only proving my husband's hypothesis that I drive like an old person who still has a license. But the most important thing I learned that weekend was what it was like to be out of control. If you're like most drivers, the first time you are out of control, it's in an accident. I don't like that statistic. I don't know how much the school will help you, but do you want to take that chance? What are you waiting for?

Sign up for the next safety school (Understanding Vehicle Dynamics) and put your Queen Family Sport Truckster to the test. If you're like me, you'll be glad you did!