Improve your driving skills, learn about vehicle control, take an observational rally, show off your car. Win awards for all of the above. Enjoy a lunch, a banquet and a barbeque. Take tours to historic sites, casinos, outlet malls. Visit local businesses. All this in 3 days this fall in and around Willows and the Thunderhill Raceway.

October 6, 2010 (Wednesday), check in at The Holiday Inn Express in Willows. Come early and play golf at the Glenn Golf and Country Club.

October 7, 2010 (Thursday), spend the day at Thunderhill Raceway Park learning about how to be a safer driver on the roads everyday. Hooked on Driving provides experienced (and patient) coaches to guide us in learning about how we can get the most from our Mercedes-Benz vehicles and ourselves. To do this we will participate in:

• Defensive Driving (classroom instruction and practice drives with a coach)
• Autocross (to learn vehicle dynamics and vehicle control)
• Driving Time on the track in Run Groups (based upon our demonstrated skills and the vehicles we are driving) NOTE: These are not "timed" runs or "racing."
• Hooked on Driving coaches will be working with each driver, giving feedback, and noting who is making the greatest improvements so that we can give some appropriate driving "awards" at the Friday evening Awards Dinner. It will be fun and interesting.

October 8, 2010 (Friday), we will offer an Observation Rally through the valley and foothills around Willows, Chico, and Paradise. Yes, Paradise is in the hills and a bit closer to "heaven" than the rest of the area. There will be awards for the top rally drivers and navigators at the Awards Dinner at Thunderhill Raceway Park.

October 9, 2010 (Saturday), we will meet at Sycamore Park in Willows for a Car Show. This is a "Show 'n' Shine" event where there will be "People's Choice" awards. Any Mercedes-Benz from 1886 to 2010 is invited to enter the show. We will group cars by age and body type so that there will be a nice variety of awards. Enjoy the Barbecue Lunch while viewing the car show.

Questions? Contact the registrar

Western States Driving Experience Registrar: Ann Bornstein
Phone: 831-786-0782
Email: sfbaclub@charter.net

Still not sure? See the other side for some real life stories about the value of "car control clinics."

Life-saving experiences after participating in car control clinics

"Several years ago my husband enrolled both of us in a car control clinic. I was furious and terrified. Why should I do this? How could I improve my driving? I had never had an accident! The day of the clinic I got into the car with my 'coach' and started defensive driving, autocross, and then car control practice on a race track. My coach tutored me, encouraged me, and pushed me to practice driving techniques that I had never learned from my parents or in driver education. I was anxious and worried that I could not do what I was being taught. But, I did it. I actually got the hang of it. I became proficient in learning how to respond to emergency situations and to trust the capabilities of my car. We left the clinic at the end of the day and I began thinking more about my driving, but did not practice the evasive maneuvers on the highway until… the day I was driving on the freeway at speed when I noticed that I was closing in very quickly on a very slow moving vehicle in front of me. I immediately knew that I could not stop in time, so I quickly checked that a lane change would be safe, made a change into an adjacent lane, and avoided not only a collision with the slow moving vehicle that was in front of me, but the likelihood of a rear-end collision with the car behind me that was tailgating. As I went past the slow moving vehicle, I saw the car that was behind me had slammed on his brakes. With tires smoking he drove straight into the slow moving vehicle in a horrendous crash! I'm not sure that he survived the crash, but I did because I overcame my fear of learning safe driving techniques in the car control clinic and saved my life by being confident that I could control my car in an emergency."
-- Kathy Schuett, MBCA member in the San Francisco Bay Area Section, CA

"I was going up a hill on a two lane highway at 55 mph while another car was coming down the hill on his side of the road. Just as I crested the hill another car passed him coming straight at me. Prior to taking defensive driving classes, I would have slammed on the brakes and screamed and he would have hit me head-on. But I actually heard my instructor saying "Look where you want to go". Without panic, I swerved the car to the right and avoided a life threatening collision."
"Defensive Driving classes saved my life."
-- Mary Alice Cozza, MBCA member in the Western Reserve Section, OH

"Hooked on Driving allowed me to learn a great deal in a very short time about driving, my car and myself as a driver. I recommend them to anyone who's looking to become a better driver while having a ton of fun doing it." Ed won his club's highest award by demonstrating situational awareness and superior car control while piloting his mechanically perfect Ferrari at speed on the challenging circuit.
-- Ed Muncie, a Hooked on Driving participant in the Ferrari Club of America

"I am writing to let you know that Hooked on Driving saved my life!!! I was driving south on I-880 in Hayward, CA at 60 mph. A Ford Bronco in the lane next to me slammed on his brakes and started to fishtail. All of a sudden he ended up stopped sideways blocking my lane. I had all of one second to make a decision as to what to do. I heard the voice of the Hooked on Driving coaches in my head saying, "look where you want to go … focus … hold the steering wheel steady … slowly ease on the throttle to steady the car. I quickly, and without thinking, swerved around the Bronco and avoided a serious collision. I really appreciate having the time on the track learning to handle a car at high speeds and the coaches' experience shared with me to greatly improve my driving. I know that Hooked on Driving taught me to keep my cool and do the opposite of my instinct which would be to have slammed on the brakes and skid into the Bronco. Instead, I knew to steady the car and pull around the stopped vehicle."
-- Sara, a Hooked on Driving participant

"I was taught to drive by my father when I was 12. I took driver education and driver training when I was 18. I taught driver education and driver training as a high school teacher and now teach the 'Driver Safety Program' through AARP. After driving for 47 years I enrolled in a 'Dynamic Driving School' (car control clinic) when my Mercedes-Benz dealer offered it to all new car buyers. During the intervening years I had not been in any accidents, but had had some close calls. After taking the course and becoming a more aware driver, I realized how much more we know about the psychology and physiology of driving. I am by far a better driver than before I took the car control clinic. In December2008 what I learned kept me from going in a ditch when I hit a patch of black ice. I'm a believer!"
-- Richard Simonds, MBCA member in the San Francisco Bay Area Section, CA