I did a Skip Barber class (driving, not “racing”) many moons ago right after graduating from high school. I learned a great deal about both theory and practice, got to practice skid recovery, etc. It has definitely saved my bacon more than once.
Understood, and as anyone who’s been a passenger in my car can tell you, I have been known to use my accelerator when most folks are using their brakes, too. 
I simply meant that while “vehicle work” in the context of a typical M4C discussion might seem like a cool class to take – and it would be – it’s not necessarily going to teach someone the sorts of skills one will actually use in a life-threatening emergency during day-to-day driving. Unless, of course, your job or lifestyle puts you in places where counter-ambush tactics and such are commonplace, of course.
Taking a 5-day “Special Operations Driving Operations Operator Course” might sound a lot more fun than a 1- or 2-day “Accident Avoidance” class, but it’s a lot like taking a 5-day “Special Operations Tactical Room Entry Team Course” instead of a 2-day CCW course … might be more fun, probably won’t be as useful.
I think with driving training you can end up with much the same situation as firearms training…people selling cool stuff to “students” who want to do cool stuff rather than really learn the fundamentals well.
In my mind, you shouldn’t be in a class teaching high-speed J turns if you don’t understand the importance of proper tire pressure.
graduate of the following- scotti school-orange, MA
BSR-W.V.
HK-scotti combined vehicle ops-lakeland,F.L.A.
HK-scotti combined E.P protective detail driving,
VANCE facility, maryland
all great training,don,t no if HK still offers any of these,but all were first rate in the day.
Go here. Look up Chuck.
I don’t know if it will happen this year, but I see a trip to BeaveRun in my future…
Awile ago I converted my Bo Gritz SPIKE VHS tapes to DVD format… One of his BEST SPIKE’s was the Defensive Driving video… Opinions on Bo Gritz politics aside, one thing is generally accepted is that the guy and his buddy, Scott, have been there, done that and know some serious stuff and do a pretty good job condensing it down into three hours or so of video.
The Defensive Driving video focuses on only 5 basic manuvers… I forget what they are all called, but I know the “J Turn” and “Ramming” are the best ones. A RENTAL CAR is the chosen donor for such exploits… 
For those of us lacking the funds for the schools or the priority of them, the video
has some good info… It actually looks pretty easy (and fun) once you get the principle down…
J Turn: Stop, put into reverse, slam the gas, soon after slam spin the steering wheel and let the car and the dynamics of wheel alignment take charge, then slam into drive and take off… Everyone on the video was able to do it easily by the second time… Key is slam spin the wheel and let the car do the rest… Even taking your hands off the wheel during the slam spin… Seems odd and counter-intuitive, but it works…
Ramming: High speed ramming is suicidal if you actually want to drive away or live… Ramming has to use PIVOT POINTS and slow speed ACCELERATION. Approach blockade at proper pivot point location and rapidly come to almost a stop about 5 feet from blockade, then accelerate slowly to contact and gun it when contact made, using engine power and inertia to move barricade out of the way… That way you have a dented bumper and sheetmetal but not a busted radiator or deployed air bags…
BTW, don’t do that with a rental in good concience… Find a clunker…
I hope to take a formal school one day…
Rmpl
Let me know which class and when, I might just go with. I’ve been threatening to go to driving school for about 15 years.
I did the one-day BeaverRun “007” course last year. While bought as a bit of a gag gift, it was certainly fun and somewhat educational. This course tried to cover a lot of high-end material (PIT move, Barricade ramming, Reverse J turns) but did start with the basics (Skid Control, Understeer, Braking). It was a great day and a lot of fun, but for real driving education it spent too much time on Executive Protection stuff. This course was sold for what it was however, an intro EP course, so it did what it said.
The instructors were knowlegeable, smooth and communicated well to students, if not well to the management (“well, we’ll do it this way 'cause it works better”) The cars we used were old cruisers with beefed up brakes and trannys. It was amazing how fast they could corner (from the perspective of a euro car guy) and how predictable they were to drive. One of my most gratifying moments was reversing the car around the track and through cones and not hitting them while bouncing the wheels off the apex curbs!
My take-away skill was the ability to out-brake my ABS. I’ve been an advocate for ABS forever, but to come home and outbrake my ABS was pretty amazing. I’ve also never felt a car lock up with understeer (which we did on the skidpad)…that gave me a whole new appreciation for the skill set of being able to unwind the wheel!
It was a great day. The course I took was not a great driving course, but was an excellent intro course. If it’s close, the EP courses are fun and keep you engaged while getting the basics.
best regards,