Hands-on driving skills course for teens coming to Colorado Springs this weekend

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - This Saturday and Sunday, teens in Colorado Springs will get the opportunity to train with professional drivers as part of 'Ford Driving Skills for Life,' a partnership with the Governors Highway Safety Association. 

"We've found through research that there are several areas that teens can become better at in terms of driving that will reduce their risk," said Ford Driving Skills for Life Program Lead Facilitator Mike Speck.

The Colorado Department of Transportation teamed up with the Ford Motor Company Fund to offer free teen driver training in Colorado Springs at Broadmoor World Arena.

"The basic idea here is speed and space management. So with teens when they first start driving, it's difficult to judge speed and space. So we do exercises here that help them with speed and space management. We put them on courses that have narrow confines so they can determine what a proper speed would be. They're free to go as fast as their little hearts desire as long as they stay on the course. So that's trick number one is determining what's a safe speed here based on the available space."

The hands-on training course teaches vehicle handling by putting teens behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang equipped with skid plates. These special vehicles will let teens experience “spinning out” and learn how to control a vehicle if that happens.

"We look at oversteer or the rear of the car sliding. We teach them how to control that with very simple techniques. They're going to get into a Mustang and drive in an oval. We've set the vehicle up so the rear of the car won't have much traction. The rear of the car is going to slide and they're going to try to control it. Another thing that we teach is called hazard recognition. So the ability to determine that a hazard is coming up, recognize that and then take evasive action."

They also simulate impaired driving by getting behind the wheel with "drunk goggles." Lastly, they simulate distracted driving by having the teen text and driving while completing the same course to see how their driving changes.

"Most crashes are avoidable. Some are due to an experience, but many are due to improper driver behavior. Doing things in the vehicle that you simply shouldn't be doing and not understanding the risk involved with it."

The professional instructors are experienced driving coaches and many are former professional racers. The instructors have access to a break on the passenger side to take control if need be.

"Our jobs as coaches aren't just safety. It's to assess what that teen can get out of this. To build confidence where it's lacking and to maybe re-check that confidence when it's beyond where it should be."

The course is free and there are still openings. Teens are asked to bring a valid driver's license or permit. To register, visit 'Ford Driving Skills for Life.'