by Jessica Howell

She was driving a Pontiac G6 sedan – pedal pushed full throttle, hands tightly gripping the wheel as she pulled into a sharp ninety degree turn, purposely inducing a fish-tail skid that sent the car every which way on the wet pavement before she regained control and veered the vehicle between two neon green track cones.

She glanced toward the passenger’s seat where she was greeted with a satisfied nod of approval from race car driver, and instructor for the day, Dominic Cicero.

“How old are you exactly?” I ask the young driver from my white knuckled position in the backseat.

She turns toward me and coyly smiles, “Fourteen and nine months.”

She is a teen driver – well, technically, she holds a driving permit. But here on the Michigan State Fair Grounds asphalt, she’s as much of a participant as anyone. Among her peers, ages 14 – 21, Amanda is honing her driving skills with the help of Bridgestone’s Driver’s Edge program. A free (yes, free!) program that tours the country teaching teens the driving skills they don’t learn in typical driver’s education programs.

Says organization founder and former professional race car driver, Jeff Payne, “None of us are really taught how to drive [in driver’s education classes,] we’re taught how to pass a test.”

Payne likens the driver’s education system to backyard pools. Kids have died in pools, he says, so we now require that fences be built around pools. But why, he questions, is nobody teaching the kids how to swim?

It is for that reason that Payne and his team of racing professionals, a.k.a. class instructors, have set out to inform, educate and sharpen the driving skills of America’s youth - and myself. So what exactly does that entail?

Driver’s Edge is a mobile classroom that tours the nation, stopping on this particular day, in Detroit. Parents can sign up their kids, or if they're over 18, drivers can register themselves at www.driversedge.com. (Waiting lists are available if classes are filled in your hometown, or you can sign up to be notified if Driver’s Edge has yet to schedule a program there.) (CONTINUE...)