Free car control clinic returns to Thunderhill

Thunderhill Park will once again host a free car control clinic for teenage drivers on August 8.

The all day affair offers young drivers an exposure to the most critical elements of highway driving through classroom instruction and on track training with in-car instructors.

The class is limited to 25 students to allow for detail exposure and training. Students learn about and experience: threshold braking; over steer and under steer correction; what to do when you drive off the road way plus the basic physics of controlling a 4000 pound vehicle on four small rubber patches affected by steering, braking and accelerating.

"We are extremely pleased to be a part of this unique teen driver training program," noted David Vodden, Thunderhill Park President and CEO. "Allowing young drivers to feel and experience what it is like to lose control of a car and skid and then showing them what to do is brilliant."

"The driving skills and attitudes learned by new young drivers will shape their entire future behind the wheel," said Office of Traffic Safety Director Christopher J. Murphy. "As a parent of teenagers myself, I appreciate how valuable programs like this are."

Teenage students interested in participating in the August 8 event can contact Thunderhill Park at 934-5588 Ext 101 or access the Web site at www.thunderhill.com to get an entry blank.

Students participate for free and only need to fax a completed entry blank to 934-8794 or 934-7275.

Students arrive at Thunderhill Park by 8 a.m. on August 8, driving their personal automobile. Lunch is included in the program.

The car control clinic is part of the "Spotlight on Safety in Glenn County" Program targeted towards drivers aged 16-to-25-years-old.

The Glenn County Office of Education sponsors the program, and funding is being provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.