It is a thought provoking article and it raises some good questions but it also has a level of unavoidable media sensationalism that is inappropriate. Statements like "The unacceptable danger of modern track-day coaching - The system is broken. We need to fix it." and "Ride-along performance-driving instructors are dying on the job. How do we stop it?" are overly dramatic and treat ALL high performance driving instruction as if it were uniformly dangerous. Is there a fear that if they actually treat the subject like the complicated, multi-faceted issue that it really is it will be too boring to sell copy? The truth is that there are hundreds of organizations that provide safe and controlled opportunities for drivers to participate in events intended to develop their car control abilities and improve their skills and painting them all with the same broad brush as broken and deadly is ludicrous. I have been in the right seat regularly over the last 14 years with multiple organizations and I would argue that, if anything, the death toll on PUBLIC ROADS is lower because of it.
It is tremendously unfortunate that the instructor in question lost his life - my thoughts go out to his family. Life is a contact sport and sometimes you roll the dice and the wrong number comes up on even impossibly long odds. Seemingly innocuous choices are made and the ultimate price is unexpectedly demanded. I have no data on the subject but I'm going to guess that an instructor in a well managed high performance driving event is probably significantly safer statistically than driving down the freeway on his way to the event. None of us wants it to happen or likes it when it does but it is a real risk, albeit small, so that should absolutely be considered when making the decision to participate.
Everybody's experience varies but I have never had to get out of a student's car. There are faults in my personality like over communicating and generally wanting to be in control of a situation that turn out to be good when doing high performance instructing. I have a conversation with every student before we ever start the car about what they are there to accomplish, how they feel about the upcoming experience, and what my unbreakable rules are. I make sure that the student understands that our time will be a partnership and only if we work together will we achieve our goals for the day. I have yet to come across a single partnership that isn't made better by both parties fully understanding exactly what is expected from them. My first requirement is that the moment either of us feels unsafe FOR ANY REASON it is time to immediately reduce speed and exit the track to talk about it. Looking back on all of the students that I have instructed it is clear that most had decent skills, all improved markedly over the course of the event, and every one of them was required to view me as a safety officer first and a tool to improve their skills second.
Sadly, articles like the one in question are a good way to get people asking the right questions but it never stops there. Nobody takes a look at the Conference and BMW programs where I have done the majority of my instruction and says "these have proven to be good, relatively safe programs that are a benefit to the driving community but we should always pay attention to where they can be improved". What happens is a bunch of people who know nothing about high performance driving will want to bring it under restrictive rules and then laws that will cause it to cease to exist. The young lady who died at a grassroots stock car experience in the middle of the state a few years ago inspired a state lawmaker to try to clamp a regulatory iron fist on ALL high performance driving events. This is not an appropriate place for political opinion, but it must be stated; close scrutiny of your hobby or activity by the government usually results in reduced freedoms. 'Nuff said.
I had the great opportunity to briefly serve as both IRDC's club president and chief driving instructor and I can assure you nothing is more important to the organization than safety and the avoidance of unnecessary risk and liability. The insurance industry has the ability to shut us down even quicker than the legislature if we don't keep people safe.
Now, I will step safely and carefully down from my soapbox because jumping down might hurt my old joints ....