Skid control. Emergency and quick stops. Serpentine and special parking.

Warsaw Community Driver Education Co-op Inc. took local media, school board members and others through those skills/activities Wednesday at Lakeview Middle School to show what students are offered through driver's education courses. The sample of the complete 30-plus hours of classroom and more than six hours of driving instruction was tailored down to 45 minutes.

Before the journey began, each person was given the chance to sit in the driver's seat of a semi tractor-trailer. From the driver's seat, the "no-zones" (areas on the road where a semi driver can't see) were pointed out.

According to information provided, if you can't see the driver's face in his side-view mirror, he can't see you. For rear no-zones, trucks and buses can't see large areas directly behind them. And in front no-zones, truck and bus drivers need nearly twice the time and room to stop as cars. If passing a semi, look for the whole front of the truck in the rear-view mirror before pulling up in front, and then don't slow down.

The group I was placed in included Betsy Sudhoff as the group guide, Warsaw school board member Cathy Folk and WCDE board member Keith Reinholt.

Our first stop was a visit to the driving simulators, hosted by Jim Houvener. The simulators are not used as a substitute for driving, Houvener said, but as an additional tool for handicapped use and general student use in basic concepts such as blood alcohol content effect on stopping distance, adverse conditions, etc.

"It gives them a feeling of being behind the wheel," Houvener said.

Folk, Reinholt and I took turns driving the van we were traveling in from station to station. To the second station, Reinholt drove. During the short drive, Sudhoff gave Reinholt emergency stop situations where Reinholt had to react in such situations as engine failure or emergency quick stops.

At station two, our group then broke up into two smaller groups. Folk first went with Nick Walenga for a manual shift vehicle while Reinholt and I were given information from Denny Cornelius on trailer backing.

Reinholt practiced trailer backing three times and did well. He said he learned something new from the practice.

The key to trailer backing is to go slowly and make small steering corrections.

To back a trailer, pivot to the right hip and have your right hand on or behind the passenger seat. Keep the left hand on the steering wheel - on the top to turn opposite the turn of the trailer, on the bottom to turn the same as the trailer. Back slowly, making small steering corrections. Watch for jackknifing. Recorrect by pulling forward and starting again.

When Reinholt and I switched with Folk, I got to drive a stick shift for the very first time. And while everyone I've talked to says that is easy once you get used to it, don't count on me driving a stick any time soon. I didn't do bad for a first time, though.

To station three, I drove the van and got to practice serpentine and special parking. Driving between close cones, amazingly I didn't knock one over. And I didn't park too bad either in the tight parking spot prepared. The parking station gave insight into how important forward and backward skills are when driving and parking.

The last station was skid control, hosted by Zach Dock and Chris Boyd. This station demonstrates why students need to know the difference between traditional brakes and the relatively new ABS system. Reinholt drove the vehicle while Dock took the passenger side as instructor.

Steer out of a skid by steering in the direction you want to go. Do not use sudden braking or acceleration during a skid. If driving a front wheel drive vehicle, slight acceleration during a skid will help. Some common errors during skids include freezing at the wheel, turning the wrong direction or using the brake and/or gas pedal incorrectly.

For the last part of the "journey," each person put on Fatal Vision goggles and tried to walk a line. The goggles give the wearer an idea of what it feels and looks like to be intoxicated and trying to walk a straight line.

WCDE Co-op is a not-for-profit educational organization that exists to fulfill the state mandate for Warsaw Community Schools and began in 1980-81. The purpose of the co-op is to meet the needs of educating the community in safe driving skills in a reasonably priced, year-round quality program. More than 110 community patrons assist in this endeavor, according to information provided by the co-op. [[In-content Ad]]