The student should not be cutting back in front of the passed car so quickly that they need to judge the distance by the right hand mirror. If they cannot see the car they passed in the center mirror, then don't move back in front of the passed car. Hans or no Hans, the instructor always uses the right side mirror for monitoring traffic.

 

for the track i adjust side mirrors to be further away from the car to get a wider view vs. street where i would see the side of my car. this way the passenger (instructor) would have a better view of the traffic as well. imo its far more important for safety reaons for the driver to be able to to see cars "besides" him/her. imagine if i'm coming to a right hander and a car is off line to the right of me who could not brake early enough and were are both at turn in almost side by side. or a someone is pitting out coming to my right. also there are flag stations that both driver and instructor should be checking to help make them aware of faster traffic behind them.

 

Yup.

 

Absolutely... we're talking DE here. Even with a HANS, the rearview mirror should be plenty for judging clearance on left sided passing. You shouldn't have to turn your head much to view a properly adjusted rearview mirror, and if you can see the car you just overtook, then you should have more than enough space to complete the pass.

With more advanced students and run groups, late passing is more likely. So, waiting to 'see' the car overtaken in the rearview may not provide enough time based on speed and track position. In this case, the instructor can aide the student through the use of the right side mirror. However, the student should not have to rely on the instructor to 'signal' when there is adequate clearance.

One major role of the instructor is to keep the student out of trouble and rearward vision is key to this role.

I take the right side mirror (when there IS one ) and this should be of minimal liability to the student. Regarding safety equipment, the more the better.

 

As a student I was wondering about the instructor's perceptions of advanced safety equipment and the student's attitude.

As a Blue (intermediate but still instructed student), I moved over the winter so will be at a new track this summer. I am in the process of adding racing shell seats with DAS bar and 6 point harnesses as well as will have an Isaac.

I would hope that the instructor would view this in a positive light and not have the addition of safety equipment such as this viewed in a negative light with the perception that I was just some boy racer who went all-out on gear "because they have it in NASCAR and we are racing, right?"

Marc

 

My view is that the more safety equipment you have, the safer I will be! So long as you give me the required equal equipment! Also the more secure you are, the more in control you'll be and the safer we'll be. Go for it!!

 

I'd rather have a student show up in a car full of safety equiptment than a car only modified for performance. Besides, your attitude towards driving on the track is what is really important, and that is typically easy to detect when talking to the student before ever getting in the car.

 

Shouldn't be to hard when you're slow.......right Randy Doh......

 

Mirror management: learn it and apply it whether you're on the track or not. Without an instructor: Adjust the rear view mirror to fully see the totality of the rear. The side view mirrors should be adjusted "out" enough to minimize any blind spots for the driver. There are techniques to use to accomplish this. The side of your car should be visible through the side mirror only if you slightly tilt your head toward the mirror. When set up properly, the mirrors work sequentially and give the largest panorama possible with little or no overlapping.
With an instructor: the right side mirror belongs to the instructor. Sometimes the mirror is large enough whereby the student gets to see some of the right side mirror. But the instructor must be in full control and have full vision of this side...and the instructor must use it!
Safety equipment is always a welcomed addition, of course. But for me it must be equal. Also, on older cars, check the dates on the belts, etc. to make sure that they are recent enough and were not installed years ago, particularly, in an older car which had the belts installed by the previous owner.

 

Bingo. Attitude is the key.

 

Can I drove your mirror?

 

+1 on taking the right mirror. I have had overly worried students that would see a car behind them long before it was time or place to let a pass and start driving the mirrors rather than the car. I would take the center mirror as well for some time to get the student focused on driving. I would tell them when and where to point. After they got the hang of driving a little bit I give them the center mirror back. You can often "feel" a car behind you in your students driving.

 

You be drovin' in my mirror

 

For me the first try is vanity mirror if the car has one.

If not or of that does not work then right side as said many times over.

BTW... in my race car with HANS & Sidenet I can't even see out the right side mirror anymore. To combat that I got 5 panel wink instead. Works much better for me.