Dutch Mandel: Teaching my family how to drive

When I was 15 years old, my father did something that, to his knowledge, no other father in the United States had done until then. He sent me to the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Ontario, Calif., to learn how to drive.

While other driving schools did exist--armed with high-school coaches and retired shop teachers as instructors--no performance driving school was teaching blank-canvas teenagers how to handle an automobile. And that is what my father sought: To teach me, with no preconceived bad driving habits, the art of driving.

It was such a novel concept to have me go through this training process that Bondurant put his own son, Bobby, in the school with me. The rest is history.

Not that I became a high-performance driving expert--not in the least. What did happen: Besides learning to heel-and-toe shift in 20 minutes and to enjoy the sweet ballet of a car looping on a skid pad, I gained an incredible appreciation for the awesome power and precision it takes to drive a car.

I’d also like to think the story written about that experience helped codify an industry whose other performance driving schools began to offer professional driver’s instruction to newbies.

At the time, my dad called it the cheapest insurance money could buy.

Since becoming a father of three, I followed this reasoning and have sent each of my boys through various performance and teen-specific driving programs, too. I still owe my twins their turn in the Bondurant saddle, but they’ve at the least had professional driver’s training in a closed-course environment. And I am here to tell you they have benefitted mightily--I’ve seen the results.

The odd thing is that when I offered my wife a chance to become a better driver, she declined!

There was method to my obvious madness. I wanted her to take driver’s training so that when she shuttled our sons to and from school, or she was on her errands and chauffeuring them to athletic events, she would be best prepared.
I wanted my wife--again--to take training following my time with our eldest when he turned 16; he and I did it together, and we shared an extraordinary bonding experience.

Most recently, I asked her to take driver’s training with me so we can share something together and so she can feel confidence in herself on the road.

It is, I tell her, the cheapest insurance money can buy.

So, from where does her reluctance come? Why doesn’t she want to drive a car in a completely safe environment--and learn how to control it? Where is the problem in practicing quick-maneuver accident avoidance?

I’m baffled, but it won’t stop me from trying. I will tell her that she can go as fast or as slow as she feels comfortable. I will reiterate how this is not a competitive environment, but a nurturing one where instructors want to make her a better driver. I will share with her that while she’s a good driver now, it is never bad to hone your skills.

Who knows what extraordinarily bad driver waits out on the road to do her and my family harm--harm she can potentially avoid with the correct training?

If you’re interested in becoming a better driver, more aware of your surroundings; if you want a teen driver in your life to be the best prepared for driving he or she can be; if you want to share an experience with your spouse; here is a list of a few performance and/or teen-oriented driving schools that can help.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, just a list of some to get you started. Be sure to check out their Web sites to see location, price and the types of cars they use (if you own a front-wheel-drive car, you may want to learn on one). Know there’s something for every driver and for the future driver as well.

It is the cheapest insurance money can buy.

Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving; www.bondurant.com; 800-842-7223
The Mid-Ohio School; Honda Teen Defensive Driving Program; www.midohio.com; 877-793-8667
Miller Motorsports Park; www.millermotorsportspark.com; 435-277-7223
Driver’s Edge; www.driversedge.org; 702-896-6482
Tire Rack Street Survival; www.streetsurvival.org; 864-329-1919
B.R.A.K.E.S, www.putonthebrakes.com; 704-720-3806