Anti-skid course coming

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 8, Issue 382, 16 April 1991, Page 6

Anti-skid course coming

By the time a driver gets to know how to handle a skid it's usually far too late to

be learning. That's until anti-skid training came along. Waimarino drivers

will next month have the opportunity to learn in a controlled and safe way, how to handle a vehicle in various skidding situations, when the Nissan Anti-Skid Training course comes to the area. Until now drivers have had to travel out of the area adding to the costs of the course. The Skid Car Concept was developed in Sweden and is now hailed as one of the most effective safe driver training techniques in the world. The four-hour course involves placing a Nissan car on a steel frame which travels on four dolly wheels, with each corner of the car being hydraulically hoisted to reduce tyre friction to varying degrees - thus simulating different road surface or driving hazards. The tutor can call up any conditions at will, throwing the student into situations such as over or understeer, aquaplane, ice, gravel, mud and evasive manoeuvre. The operators of the course offer a six-month money back or retraining guarantee should the driver experience a skidrelated accident which is the driver's fault. "The tutor' s touch on the control panel can have the trainee unex-

pectedly experiencing any number of possible road horrors, but where in the real world one chance is all the driver normally gets to respond defensively, the trainee can practice handling the situation as many times as the tutor thinks necessary, and in complete safety," say the course operators. Waimarino 's course will be held at Waiouru, with the cost being $200 per person. Local contact person Raewyn Pearson said in the near future the course will be compulsory for those holding public transport licenses. She said those holding C, E, or N licences can have their endorsements reduced by nine months after completing the course. College pupils are eligible for a discount, she said. Mrs Pearson can be contacted for more details on 58 024. Payments can be made at the Ruapehu Bulletin office and should be made by 29 April.