Fun with Ford Driving Skills for Life
A few weeks ago I travelled to the Netherlands to participate in Ford’s driving school called: Driving Skills for Life.
I’ve been driving for about 2 years now but a bit of a refresh is never a bad thing and that’s why I participated in Ford’s Driving Skills for life.
But what is it really? Most people who participated had almost never heard of it. It’s a program run by Ford and aimed towards young people since they’re the most inexperienced drivers.
The program is divided in 4 different segments: Recognising dangers, handeling the vehicle, showing how modern tech can help you save lives and finally keeping distance between you and the vehicle in front.
First of let’s start with recognising dangers. We started with driving 2 laps on a small twisty course. First lap was getting to know how the track was set up. The second lap was somewhat different since the 3 occupants could try to distract you as much as possible: shaking your seat, moving your wipers, taking a selfie, changing your radio,… It’s somewhat extreme but it gives you a good impression of how your attention can slack and influence your driving. Along with that there was a fun suit to simulate the consequences of being drunk. The first test was really to sensibilise the dangers of driving under influence and when you’re tired. Onto the next instalment!
Second was the most fun part of the Driving Skills for life. It was time to drift a Fiesta! The key was to keep the car fitted with plastic rear tires in control when driving in circles. Driving with the plastic tires was difficult at first but very satisfying when you got the hang of it.
Third test was showing of how modern tech in cars can help prevent accidents like automatic emergency stop for example. You had to roll the car towards an obstacle and let go of the car’s pedals. 9 out of 10 times it worked but when you touch the pedals a little bit, it’ll brake too late. Furthermore you could sit in a truck and find out how big those blind spots are. Again to make you more aware of what you’re doing while driving.
The last test was to show off how important it is to keep a certain distance behind the car in front of you. First time you’ll drive up to 30 kph before hitting the brakes hard and see how long it takes to stop the car which was about 3 m. Then I did the same but now sped up to 60 kph and saw how my brake distance didn’t double but quadruple. Basic science yes but far too little people are aware of the consequences.
During the wait you could test your reaction skills with a game of pressing as much buttons in 30 seconds as possible and 2 winners would get a prize at the end
Finally it was time to pick up your Driving Skills for Life certificate and announce the winners for the social media prize and the button pressing game. The first one got a JBL Bluetooth speaker and the latter got a ride in the Focus RS, drift mode included!
Overall the Driving Skills for Life is a very good initiative from Ford. It helps reducing risks on the road and you get to experience the cars they make. Over 100.000 people have already participated and the best thing? It’s totally free so you have no excuse of not participating. And if you don’t have the time, you can participate online in The Academy.
