QUESTION: I have recently helped purchase a car for my younger deaf sister so she could go back to school in Rochester, NY. She is now thrilled with her 1995 Corolla. It is an automatic transmission, and I believe it has "all-weather" tires. Although she is 29 years old, this is her first car and she doesn't have a lot of driving experience. Of course being in Rochester, NY, she should have better snow tires such as the Blizzak brand that you're endorsing. Can you recommend a good driving school where Lori could learn to handle the car in adverse conditions?
ANSWER: What a nice gesture on your part.
The best bet would be to enroll your sister in the Dodge/Skip Barber high performance driving program offered at Lime Rock Park in northwestern Connecticut. There are one- and two-day formats for this course. Although their programs are not offered during the winter (they resume in late March), this is the one program that allows students to learn how to extract 100% of their car's performance capabilities in order to teach them how to avoid making common mistakes behind the wheel that result in spins and slides. (Exercises are conducted in part on wet surfaces to simulate slippery road conditions.) It also teaches how to best avoid collisions and handle most emergency situations encountered in the future.
There are no "winter driving school" programs that I know of in the northeast at this time of year. Driving in winter weather is much like driving in the rain, roads are slippery. Under icy conditions, drivers and cars should try to drive as little as possible. No school can teach safe driving techniques on ice, because there aren't any. Tires lose all grip on ice. If a driver encounters ice in the road, the car will slide until it finds pavement again. The control can be regained. Snow covered roads provide reasonable grip for most "all weather" tires. Driving prudently -- slowly and carefully -- in those conditions is the wisest thing we can recommend.
Contact the folks at Skip Barber for current program costs, they are about $525 per day. This is a "must take" course for new drivers who may lack self confidence or those with little driving experience. This would be an exciting experience for your sister, and she will learn a great deal. Her hearing impairment may require some special handling, but I'm sure the school can easily accommodate her special requirements.
Good luck,
Robert Prevost
President & CEO
I M E Corp.
This response is provided by the friendly staff at Interactive Motorsports Entertainment, the largest source for racing and high performance driving school program information and enrollment services in the world.
DISCLAIMER: Responses to questions posed by users of NEW CAR BUYING GUIDE are offered only for general education purposes. User expressly agrees that the information contained herein will be used at its sole risk. Neither NEW CAR BUYING GUIDE nor any of its information providers, licensors, employees, or agents warrant that the responses will be error free nor make any warranty as to the results to be obtained from use of the information contained herein. Neither NEW CAR BUYING GUIDE nor anyone else involved in creating, producing or hosting the response shall be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages arising out of use of the response information. User agrees that it will not in any way hold NEW CAR BUYING GUIDE responsible for any selection or retention of, or the acts or omissions of, third parties in connection with the response information.
