Subject: RE: rules rant
Sorry, not quite finished ranting....
If there was one thing VSCDA could do to make its events safer, it would be
better qualification of its drivers. I witnessed a driver put me into the
grass twice, and the next guy that tried to pass him into the weeds twice,
during one of the sessions at Blackhawk. The guys line was completely
unpredictable. While I believe that VSCDA's drivers, as a whole, are among
the best in all the vintage organizations we race with, there are certainly
some that either never had the necessary skills to compete, or their skills
have diminished with age to the point that they've become a danger to
themselves and those around them.
Our driver's committee only deals with incidents. It doesn't address
repeated close calls, that only became a non-incident as a result of heads
up driving by other competitors. I believe that we should have a mandatory
"driver's school refresher" course, based on 5 year increments, and above a
certain age, just like the DMV, require older drivers to have their skill
level tested more frequently.
I realize it's a touchy subject with some. I started racing in my 30's, and
hope to race until I'm 70... if my skills don't diminish. In some cases, age
has nothing to do with the lack of driver talent. I'm not sure how some of
these folks ever did qualify for a competition license.
Illegal cubic inches, larger brakes, fatter tires, etc., can be the source
of some problems at our events...but more often, it is lack of driver's
skill, or driver's judgement that has presented dangerous situations.
WST
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