Drivers school and your stuff

[jongchen]

I'll be attending the Nov drivers school and it will be the first time I've ever been to one. After reading through all the materials in the packet it says that all items from your car including the items in the trunk needs to be removed. Where do you put all the removed items while you are at the track? Do people just bring a big box and dump their stuff into that?

Thanks.

[1996 328ti]

You leave your stuff near your car on the grass in the paddock.
Some people use large plastic storage containers.
You can also use a large tarp.
I have a small popup tent.
You need to keep your stuff dry and prevent it from blowing away.
The best advice is to leave whatever you can at home.

[OwnedbyDuncan]

And clean out the interior. CDs and empty soda bottles need to go along with cleaning out your glove compartment just in case. There have been instances where either the driver or a passenger has been decapitated by a piece of paper in high speed accident. Lucky this hasnt happened at a CCA school but there have been incidents where something has gotten stuck underneath the accelerator or brake pedal.

Rubbermaid tubs are great and then you can use for sand bags in the winter time.

Dave Apker

[AlfaEric]

...and empty that pile of loose change. It's distracting to take a turn and hear all the coins sliding around.

---Eric

[OwnedbyDuncan]

And take your wallet out of your back packet. Seriously it helps!

Dave Apker

[AlfaEric]

And take your wallet out of your back packet. Seriously it helps!

Dave Apker

But then I would be sliding into the hole my wallet has formed in the seat over the years.

---Eric

[hoyabmw]

...and empty that pile of loose change. It's distracting to take a turn and hear all the coins sliding around.

---Eric

that rattling wasn't loose change....

[AlfaEric]

that rattling wasn't loose change....

...It was just what's left of my brain rattling around.

---Eric

[Dirichlet]

There have been instances where either the driver or a passenger has been decapitated by a piece of paper in high speed accident. . .

That was sarcasm, correct??

[OwnedbyDuncan]

No I can get you the page # but it is from the book Motorsport Medicine. Has lots of very nice charts about g loads your body will take into a fixed object at different speeds. And little facts like pices of paper decapitating a driver or passenger. When Big E had his fatal crash at Daytona I knew he was dead or crtically injured at the moment of impact. And knew the bone he fractured.

I used to keep it by the phone with pages tabed when I was drivers school coordinator and students questioned NCCs safety procedures etc.

And besides the book my brother and sister are volunteer firefighters and brother in law a battalion fire chief at Reagan National and they can tell stories about incidents when some was killed or decapitated by a piece of paer or other object in the car in a high speed accident. They ar e loads of fun at Thanksgiving along with my sister in law the vet describing neutering dogs.

Sorry no sarcasm intended or implied which is why a full face helmet is not a bad idea.

Dave Apker

[Scotty]

Sorry, I have a hard time believing that any object having the mass and surface area of a piece of paper is going to hurt anyone seriously -- let alone cut through 4 inches of bone, muscle, tendon, and flesh. Yeah, yeah, a tornado can blow a toothpick into a tree trunk -- an entirely different set of physical parameters, no?

I'm thinking "urban legend".

[AlfaEric]

Sorry, I have a hard time believing that any object having the mass and surface area of a piece of paper is going to hurt anyone seriously -- let alone cut through 4 inches of bone, muscle, tendon, and flesh. Yeah, yeah, a tornado can blow a toothpick into a tree trunk -- an entirely different set of physical parameters, no?

I'm thinking "urban legend".

The piece of paper was in a metal binder at the time....

---Eric

[1996 328ti]

Let's stay 'on track' with this thread.

[SharkD]

When I attend an HPDE, I clean out the car the night before, removing everything that I don't want or need on the drive out or during the track day.

• For track-day stuff, I've found that a big rubbermaid snap-lid container (usually, the largest that will still fit in my trunk) makes an excellent track box, for things like tools, paper towels, extra qt of oil, etc.
  
• A decent size tarp is also a good idea -- it always seems like it's either recently rained or threatening to do so, while at the track.
  
• Other than a cooler, I also bring a small messenger bag or backpack -- for stuff like my wallet, watch, cell phone, clean t-shirt, hat, book and sunscreen.

(Knock on wood) I've never had any problems with things walking off at an NCC school (or any track event, for that matter). Generally, everyone's out there for the same goal and there's a strong sense of camaraderie. That, of course, doesn't mean you should leave expensive stuff lying about in the open, however.

BTW, for a good list of stuff to stick in your rubbermaid box/day bag, look at this thread here: http://forum.nccbmwcca.org/showthrea...ighlight=bring (Ignore that it says "autocross")

---
Off-course excursion: Not to say that Mythbusters is truly scientific, but a rebuttal to the "Killer Tissue Box" legend.

[woodym3]

I'm thinking "urban legend".

You took the words right out of my mouth Scotty. But bad things can happen with stuff left in the car, either on purpose or accidently. One time between sessions at Road Atlanta I drove out to turn 7 to take pictures and video of friends. Returning to the paddock I got distracted by a pretty blonde student, and then later went out in my car. At the end of the session I opened my trunk to investigate a clunking noise. There was my SLR and Camcorder, lenses, film canisters, etc that had been thrown all over the trunk from the open camera bags.
Then there's the National Capital Chapter member who drove his tow truck over a nice set of Nikon camera gear belonging to someone else in the paddock at VIR.