Most of my driving is in Westchester County New York. The roads are narrow and winding over mountain terrain. Great for motorcycles, sports cars and good drivers. Not so good for poor drivers. Almost every week some driver crashes due to loss of control of their vehicle. This, I believe, is because they were never taught how to drive. The driver's test requires you know the state laws of the road and your ability to handle your vehicle at very low speeds. Very few drivers are taught how to control a vehicle at 55 miles per hour on up and down hill curves. They are also not taught how to stop a car while retaining the ability to steer or recover from a high speed slide.

I took Skip Barber's Advance Driving course some years ago and my driving has improved every day since. Each student was tested at the first class. I had been driving more than thirty years and considered myself a good driver. I was a private chauffer while in college. Guess what, I was not doing anything correctly!!!

Here is what I was taught and how I have used it ever since.

1) Always hold the steering wheel with one hand at 9 o'clock and the other at 3 o'clock.
2) Never cross your hands on the steering wheel. Shuffle the wheel in your hands or, if absolutely necessary, keep on hand stationary and spin the wheel with the other hand.
3) Control the car by pressing on the steering wheel with the heel of your hand. Pushing on the wheel will hold you in your seat. Turning left by pressing up with the right hand and the left hand to turn right. DO NOT PULL on the wheel.
4) Reduce speed entering a turn and gradually increase speed exiting the curve. When the wheels are facing the direction you want to travel, increase speed to maximum.
5) While in a curve, increase speed to move to the outside of curve and decrease speed to pull to the inside of the curve. DO NOT USE THE STEERING WHEEL if possible.
6) You must control the vehicles weight. The car steers with the front wheels. At maximum acceleration, the ability to steer is decreased because the weight is shifted to the back wheels. When the weight shifts too far to either side your ability to steer, brake and accelerate a geatly reduced.
7) If you feel the car rolling too much in a curve, slightly reduce speed and straighten the steer wheel just enough to shift weight back to a more neutral position and brake gently. Now you can continue navigating the turn. This is an advanced technique and is only used as last resort. If you find yourself needing this maneuver, you entered the curve at wrong speed.
8) Most drivers cannot judge the right side of their car. I developed a way of teaching myself how to put the right side of my car where I wanted it to be. I adjusted my right mirror so I could see the full length of the passenger's side and the rear wheel. I would then check the passenger's side mirror while driving to see where I was on the road. I practiced this until I could correctly judge the right side of my vehicle while looking straight ahead. This can be critical making a tight right hand turn or passing on a very narrow road.
9) Finally, a good driver does not have any distraction to his/her vision or concentration. No cell phones, things hanging from mirror, anything that may move in hard corner or stop and gain your attention and eating or drinking while driving. If I feel my mind wandering while driving, I increase my speed to the point that my attention jumps into survival mode. WARNING: This can lead to speeding tickets.