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Thursday, July 14, 2005

Police Driving Course (Day two/three) -- Initial C

(i was really soo tired last nite that i didnt manage to update here... so now u get 2 days in one go.. hehe ;p)

Day Two

Day two kicks off with a video (from UK) showing the basic defensive driving...it's abit old (year 1996), but nevertheless, it was quite a good one coz it really explains everything...understeer oversteer, grip, braking etc. After which, it's driving around again. Once i got on the car, imediately i tried what i thought of yesterday... push the seat back... and finally i got myself a more confortable position.. and starting to get used to the high clutch. Now more relax, i'm able to enjoy more...since i gotten my licence, i'm only able to stick to the left lane and "enjoy" the beep beep beep once i hit 70kmh in my van... Now is the first time i could take the right side of ECP and go all e way down at 90,100kmh, without any beepss and fully still legal... shiok! haha...

Fastforward to after lunch, it's the braking exercise... Not the E-brake we learnt during L-plate times, but the more efficient ones like ThresHold and caden (forget spelling ;p) which is actually "manual" ABS... We are suppose to drive down the track at 60,70kmh and apply the brakes...if done correctly, it would stop within 20m (as indicated by a row of 5 cones) ..But of cos it's not easy to do it...for me when i did the latter technique, while we have to jam and release the brakes repeatly and quickly, mine was off rhythm and too light... If i was really to avoid crashing into a kid that dash out of the road, guess i would have knocked him down and still drag him along for some distances already... haha...! Too bad, it's only for us to have a feel of it... 3 days course is certainly not enough time for us all to master all the skills...

After this, we are given a chance to try braking in a newer car which have ABS... (ABS: Anti-Lock Braking system, prevents the wheels from locking during hard braking, hence not sliding over the road. Braking distance is much shorten.) Same rows of cones, drive in at 70kmh, and slam the brake pedal. Cars jerks, feels vibration and the "Kong Kong Kong" sounds rapidly from underneath, and cars stops much much within 20m. Cool.

FYI: The so-called track is actually a old ex army camp compound, at the west of singapore... A big place, with open space and sweeping roads, perfect playground for drivers. Comes with many rambutan trees too...fully grown with the fresh red fruit all over. Tired after driving? Have a rambutan feast there, simply by pucking them off the trees... haha

Day Three

As usual, days starts with a lecture on proper method of cornering, and off we go, for the cornering exercise at the ex-army camp. My most favourite moment now. To drive around a part of the camp, on something similiar to a circuit, at 80,90kmh (or more, if u can handle) Near a turn, downshift, rev rises, attack the apex, straight, and off with acceleration... Shiok...! Although some parts of my turns wasnt quite well done, but the feeling was really great... It's only during "hard" driving then u can really feel the characteristic of the car... How i wish i have more experiences beforehand, to fully enjoy the handling of the car...

After the exercise, no more driving already... haiz.., after lunch, it was filled with lectures on safety and conduct of police drivers, procedures and etc. Finally... sign on the doted line, course completed.. yeah!! haha... police driving permit to be ready some days later... so for now, still a passenger at work.. haha

p/s: Through-out this course, valuable experiences was shared from the instructors... Some of them was from Traffic police, and they had seen soo many accidents and deaths, and you can really feel the dangers of speed... so please be careful... confident + ignorant kills... even you are the passenger, you can warn the driver too... 'cos when something happens, you are going to be the innocent one... just my after thoughts...

..and...Mazda 323 is really a good car... hehe..despite the stupid clutch (which i guess is spoilt le la) Power is there for a 1.6l, and steering weight is nice. Very spacious at the back, and cabin is well built. But Honda engine still sounds better than her unit...(still addicted to the Honda's sound... hehe..)

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