Cumulative Skills Courses

1. Challenge Course. This is used to develop within the driver the confidence to apply the learned accident avoidance, vehicle dynamics and vehicle cornering maneuvers during a simulated emergency run. The driver is to complete the cumulative skills assessment course in a controlled manner, by applying all techniques taught in the precision driving program. The driver is required to utilize both siren and emergency lights in this course which is a half mile long.

2. Emergency Response Course. (Day time) This is used to develop within the driver the confidence to apply the learned accident avoidance, vehicle dynamics and vehicle cornering maneuvers during a simulated emergency run. The driver is to complete the cumulative skills assessment course in a controlled manner, by applying all of the techniques taught in the precision driving program.

The emergency response course consists of a six mile round-trip pursuit chase of which 5.5 miles is on a black top country road with an average road width of twenty-two feet with no shoulders where speeds may reach up to 100 MPH or more (depending on the capabilities of the vehicle) in some areas. The last leg of the course consists of a half mile challenge course.

3. Emergency Response Course. (Night time) See above desription of the course. In addition the driver is able to gain knowledge of hazzards and dangers of pursuit driving at night time which includes: speeds exceeding headlamps ability to recognize objects, reaction times hindered due to drivers ability to identify objects and react, depth perception and judgement effects by indirect lighting, light refractions distortions of objects, windshild obstruction due to dust and bugs, and sounds at night are more audible and misleading.

4. In City Course. This is used to develop within the driver the confidence to apply the learned accident avoidance, vehicle dynamics and vehicle cornering maneuvers during a simulated emergency run. The driver is to complete the cumulative skills assessment course in a controlled manner, by applying all of the techniques taught in the precision driving program.

The course consists of 1.5 mile pursuit chase that represents a business or residential area. The obstacles in this course represent parked vehicles, and other obstructions and hazzards. Drivers in this course are required to not strike any cones representing a obstacle or they are disqualified.

5. Highway/City Emergency Response Course. This is used to develop within the driver the confidence to apply the learned accident avoidance, vehicle dynamics and vehicle cornering maneuvers during a simulated emergency run. The driver is to complete the cumulative skills assessment course in a controlled manner, by applying all of the techniques in the precision driving program. This course consists of 6 mile pursuit chase that gives the driver experience in highway and In City environments.

6. Gravel Road Emergency Response Course. This is used to develop within the driver the confidence to apply the learned accident avoidance, vehicle dynamics and vehicle cornering maneuvers during a simulated emergency run. The driver is to complete the cumulative skills assessment course in a controlled manner, by applying all of the techniques taught in the precision driving program. This course consists of 4.3 mile pursuit chase which ulitizes concrete, asphalt, gravel, grass, and dirt surfaces. This course is designed to give drivers experience in rural pursuits and surfaces found in the rural environment.

In addition to the above courses and maneuvers CLEET has a "skid car" available. While operating the skid car the instructor is able to simulate several driving conditions as experienced in ice and snow type situations. To go to the Official SkidCar Systems Page, click here.

A new area of training now offered is Tactical Vehicle Invention (TVI). TVI is a ulitized in deadly force situations and has been successfully employed in the field by several students. TVI offers the law enforcement officer the ability to strike a moving vehicle in a controlled situation and gain control of the suspect's vehicle. Click here for TVI Car Photo's.

Training Points

There are several items we emphasize through the training, I have also found some interesting information I would like to offer, some of these are:
1. We cover the "Smith System" while teaching students which is comprised of:
A. "Aim High in Driving"-Keep your view "up" rather than just "down" in the area in front of you. At a minimum, maintain an active view of one block ahead in city traffic. In our training, we emphasize looking down the roadway as far as possible to identifiy potential hazzards.
B. "Keep your Eyes Moving"-Continually look around you. Every few seconds, check near and far, to the left and right, in the mirrors and at the instrument panel.
C. "Get the Big Picture"-Be aware of the whole traffic scene. This is the process of putting together all of the data complied from "aiming high" and "keeping your eyes moving".
D. "Leave Yourself an Out"-Avoid being "boxed in." Always maintain a cushion around your vehicle. This requires constant adjustments to the traffic conditions.
E. "Make Sure They See You"-Avoid surprising other drivers by making yourself as visible as possible. Also try to make your manuevers predictable.

2. Statistics show that traffic collisions result in a fatality every fourteen minutes and an injury every eleven seconds. This is compared to one murder every twenty-two minutes and an aggravated assault every thirty seconds.

Law enforcement officers, are ten times more likely to be involved in a crash than the average driver. Law Enforcement Officers spend more time behind the wheel of a car and are forced to drive in varying conditions. On average, law enforcement personnel can expect to be involved in a collision every twenty-eight thousand miles of driving. Nearly one out of five of those crashes results in a personal injury or fatality. When you consider that, it should be no surprise that motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of injury and disability to peace officers. Law Enforcement Officers must protect themselves by taking advantage of the safety features in their vehicle.

3. Car crashes are the second leading cause of death among law enforcement officers across the country. As of September 2002, twenty-five of the eighty-two officers nationwide killed in the line of duty this year died in auto and motorcycle accidents or police chases. That total is second only to the thirty-five officers killed by gunfire.

4. Suspects who flee when law enforcement turn on their siren and lights more often are killed in a crash than are the police officers who pursue them. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported 314 deaths nationwide involving pursuits in 1998. Two of the dead were law enforcement officers, and 198 were occupants of the vehicles they were chasing. 100 motorists and 14 pedestrians not connected to the chases were killed.

5. Occupant protection devices:
A. Safety belts:
1) Redistributes crash forces. If all people wore safety belts, the number of serious injuries and fatalities would be reduced by about fifty percent.
2) Prevents you from striking the steering wheel, windshield, interior post, dashboard, or equipment.
3) Helps you to stay behind the wheel. This gives you a better chance to control your vehicle after the collision. It also prevent you from being ejected from the car. If you are ejected, the chances of dying increases four hundred percent and the chance of serious injury increases fourteen hundred percent!

B. Head Restraint: This protects your neck from whiplash. When adjusting it, set the head restraint at a height that equals the middle of your head, level with the ears.

C. Door Locks: help keep the doors secure in the event of a collision. A locked door can withstand ten times the impact pressure that an unlocked door can. This reduces the chance of a door popping open and you being ejected. Also, door that secure give you more structural integrity during a rollover, reducing the chance of the roof collapsing. You should keep the doors locked at all times.

6. We recommend at the least, maximum tire inflation and the selection of the proper tire for load ratings and speed ratings.

7. We recommend a 8 and 4 hand position with a "push-pull" steering technique along with "releasing" the steering wheel to allow the vehicle to correct itself. The reasoning is, the vehicle will correct itself faster than we can, plus this technique keeps the driver from over correcting the vehicle (excessive turning of the steering wheel.

8. We recommend the driver looks to where he/she wants the vehicle to go. If you lose control of the vehicle just look to where you want to go and the vehicle will follow.

9. A final item is something interesting, when rotating tires put the better ones on the rear. The theory is a person can steer on the rims of a car if necessary but not having tires on rear can create much more trouble.

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