SkillDriving Level 1­

­ Powell Skilldriving has tailored this driver training course to suit both new licensed drivers and more experienced drivers who are taking Powell training for the first time. The courses are designed for groups of 8 to 16 participants. An eight hour program, the training encompasses both in car class room work (10%) and in car (2 participants per car) training with radio communication, separate skid car training (the skid car is a device designed to provide low speed training in higher level advanced skid control techniques.) Lunch is included, the course fees are $395.00, corporate and group rates slightly lower.

After the introductory class room session, drivers are then divided into working groups, two per car. Powell provides hand held or base station mobile radios for temporary installation in client provided vehicles; two participants per car works the best in terms of economies of scale, and the need to keep participants busy, either driving, observing or being “enabled” with information about the program, what and why they are learning by participating in a particular activity.

The training elements reinforce basic driving techniques and work on a “building block” approach, building skills with each training segment. Training speeds are low at first, and rise to no more than 80 k/hr (site dependent) and training elements encompass:

• Basic and emergency braking techniques.

• Collision avoidance and vehicle driver intervention systems; this segment includes technical explanation and driving actions to properly exploit ABS , ASR and ESP (chassis control systems) as needed for vehicle control.

• Skid control in the Powell Skid Car

• Reversing and parking exercises

• Traffic light activated three lane crash avoidance simulation

• Class room debriefing and certification.

Safety is our first priority. In all courses, a briefing is the first step. In the briefing drivers receive: a review of what and why you are learning; this includes company safe driving policies, and their statistical interaction with actual driving experience; updated information pertaining to individual state or province regulations for drivers, and the interaction of driving technique with ergonomics and visual tracking.

This sequence of photographs shows the school operating at a remote site (in this case Kitchener, Ontario)

The actual exercise is a traffic light actuated random collision avoidance simulation. Students approach three lanes of green traffic lights at a given speed in a central lane. They must chose the appropriate lane when two of three lights turn red - put another way, they must look for an escape road. Looking directly at the lights causes students to fail (choose the wrong lane) due to a combination of anticipation and insufficient time to react. Learning to look beyond the traffic lights, using their peripheral vision and attention switching to the horizon (big picture) permits students to react appropriately to what they see. Other driving techniques reinforced are correct throttle modulation, maintaining constant speed while changing lanes, and slowing the hands down to avoid losing tire grip through "jerking" the steering wheel when changing direction. As the exercises build, the instructors introduce a random red light after lane selection is made, requiring students to make a full emergency ABS stop while completing the lane change (avoidance) The exercise is done in a continuous rotation, with students maintaining minimum following distances throughout.