Explorer Post 900 Members Receive Basic Emergency Vehicle Operations Training

On October 17, 2008 eighteen members of Explorer Post 900 participated in an all day training event at the St. Petersburg College Criminal Justice Institute.  The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office provided five FDLE certified driving instructors to teach driving techniques to the Explorers in an effort to improve their understanding of vehicle dynamics and strengthen their individual driving ability and skill level.  The emphasis of the day was safety.

The training day consisted of a two hour classroom session taught by a certified driving instructor, followed by approximately four hours of actual driving instruction.  The classroom portion included subjects such as vehicle dynamics and weight shift, corner apexes and vehicle alignment, steering techniques and braking techniques.  The remainder of the training consisted of low speed driving courses including a backing exercise, a serpentine exercise, a star exercise, and decision and controlled braking exercises.
 
The Explorer’s individual driving experience ranged from having very little to several years with many only having received previous instruction from parents.  A few others had also completed a driver’s education course at their respective public school.  Ultimately, each member completed the day having a much broader understanding of the physics involved while driving and significant improvement in their skill level. 

The Basic Emergency Vehicle Operations Course was a great success!  Skills learned during this training will not only be helpful during an Exploring competition event, but more importantly, be a real benefit to each driver whether employed as a law enforcement professional or a private driver in Pinellas County. 

Many thanks go out to the SPC Criminal Justice Institute and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office for its continued encouragement and support.

Please click HERE to view a slide show of the training. Be patient as the file is large and may take time to load, depending on your connection speed.