http://youtube.com/watch?v=dQ-FEuX7wNE
As we announced some time ago, the General Directorate of Youth of the Junta de Castilla y León is carrying out several free driving courses in risky conditions aimed at young people between 18 and 23 years of age and preferably those who have had their license for a year. or less.
If you ran out of places or you simply didn't sign up and you've changed your mind, you can go to one of the places where it continues to take place (this week is in Valladolid and the next in Salamanca). Thanks to last minute absences and the interest of the monitors in involving as many people as possible, you can put yourself at the controls of the Modus and prepare to drift.
Today it was my turn. Almost half an hour late, on an empty stomach and with the sun shining at 3 in the afternoon, the truth is that I thought that the course was not going to be pleasant at all. Well, it wasn't like that.
The first lesson was about alcohol and driving. First they taught you to sit correctly behind the wheel and how to manage your hands on it. Then they put some glasses on you with which you could see as if you were very, very drunk (and you felt, because they made you feel dizzy) and you were the co-pilot. Your partner, without glasses, was driving smoothly around the circuit trying not to take a ball out of a bowl that the Modus had on the hood. If he left her, you had to pick her up… with all the drunkenness, a complicated situation. The strange thing is that we didn't drive with those glasses, because I have been told by people who took the course before that it was done, and it was a total disaster.
The second test, and the most enjoyable, consisted of driving normally, entering a straight line covered with wet canvas (very slippery), braking hard and dodging a row of cones, getting out onto the normal road surface and stopping the car completely. It was repeated several times without ABS until the maneuver was done correctly, and then a final one with ABS. The differences were abysmal; without ABS many "straights", without dodging cones (like the one in the video), or crossed and tops. With ABS, almost no one hit the cones and some were even able to stop before reaching them, without the need to dodge. Speed function of course...
Finally, we put into practice what we had learned about mass transferences in the typical slalom, where we also streamlined the movement of hands on the steering wheel. The speed of the tour was free, each one at their own pace. You were only limited by not being able to overtake the preceding car…. After the slalom there was a circuit in the form of "zero", typical scalextric, where we had to take the 180 degree turns at excessive speed, pretending that you "swallowed" the curve on an unknown road.
Conclusions…a very positive experience, especially for the target audience, young people with a few years of driving license and not much experience behind the wheel. As awareness, it is quite successful, not emphasizing too much how tragic accidents can be, but making things clear. No alcohol at the wheel, and realize that losing control of the car is easier than it seems.
In my opinion, a faster dodge test was missing, without braking, like the Moose test, but for a free course, what more can I ask for…let the example spread!!
Note: sorry for the quality of the video, being a mobile…
Very good course and very enjoyable, with a great atmosphere and a great desire to learn by all the classmates. As a participant of the course, I attest to the great usefulness of the course and I recommend it to everyone, it will not disappoint you. All the best!
I did the course a long time ago, in burgos and there were more tests. The one with the "drunkenness simulation" glasses was done with the glasses on and driving, and believe me it's impossible, you can't even get in first. Another test that is missing is that of the ESP, in which they let you test how the system worked.
In short, the course is very good, they know how to alternate theory with practice.