PROPOSED CHANGE (2/10/13): Electrathon drivers do not need to have a drivers license. They DO need to be 16 years old. There will also need to be a drivers approval systems set up.
-- Edited by Aimee Hart on Monday 11th of February 2013 04:12:17 AM
Aimee Hart said
Feb 11, 2013
In the NW we have practice lap time before the actual race so we set aside a time for non-licensed drivers to be on the track. We had several teachers watch them for 15 minutes at race speeds and communicated by radio what we saw from each driver as they passed. If there were no problems they were allowed to race. Their care was identified with small flags and they were watched closely for problems with their driving.
-- Edited by Aimee Hart on Monday 11th of February 2013 04:12:41 AM
Vic556 said
Feb 15, 2013
In Florida the age for a Restricted License is 15.
In order to grow the sport at the high school level if the age is set at 16 you lock out a lot of potential students. Younger students don't want to wait years to be able to drive in a race when they can drive drive the cars at school for testing and practice.
The idea of having them prove their abality prior to racing should be required. No one wants to see wrecks and busted cars.
I understand the Idea for having older drivers is the maturity and experiance factor. Younger potential drivers should not be totally locked out.
Our director has talked to the insurance company on several ocassions and he was told they don't care if a driver has a license or not. Its not on any forms we fill out for the races either. Some clarification is needed on this.
Vic Nieves
Program Director
Electrathon Of Tampa Bay
mhodgertt said
Feb 15, 2013
When we checked with K & K they told us that if the EA drivers were 16 or older the insurance rate would be the same with or without driver's license but if we went younger they would probably have to raise the cost to insure a santioned race. This was about 1 1/2 years ago. Since some states don't issue a license until you are 17 and in this economy many students can not afford to get a license (in Oregon must have insurance etc.) many responsible, mature, great students, who were 16 years olds could not drive. This is a way to let more drivers drive. I do think there needs to be some sort of driver rating for all drivers but for sure those without a license.
dlarsen said
Feb 24, 2013
Vic556 wrote:
In Florida the age for a Restricted License is 15.
In order to grow the sport at the high school level if the age is set at 16 you lock out a lot of potential students. Younger students don't want to wait years to be able to drive in a race when they can drive drive the cars at school for testing and practice.
The idea of having them prove their abality prior to racing should be required. No one wants to see wrecks and busted cars.
I understand the Idea for having older drivers is the maturity and experiance factor. Younger potential drivers should not be totally locked out.
Our director has talked to the insurance company on several ocassions and he was told they don't care if a driver has a license or not. Its not on any forms we fill out for the races either. Some clarification is needed on this.
Vic Nieves
Program Director
Electrathon Of Tampa Bay
First time poster, Saw the cars race today at the USF Engineering EXPO in Tampa, FL.
When my son saw the cars racing he said, "Man that would be fun its kind of like SAE Formula", then he saw that Brandon High School had a team.
I asked if there was a team at Durant High School, I found out they are trying to set one up.
Now to my point, looked up the Electrathon Handbook and saw only a "Licensed Driver" can compete and then found this forum.
I race with NASA / National Auto Sport Association and we have a 15 year old driver that races a 2012 Camaro, full sized race car that can reach speeds of 175 MPH, in American Iron and is looking to run in SCCA World Challenge.
I think the "Licensed Driver" rule is very short cited because it doesnt allow younger drivers to take part.
My son is "Licensed" to drive a completion Go-Kart and is learning to fly a glider (he plans on soloing this summer when hes 14) and hes only 13. One of his friends is 11 and one of the most completive drivers that runs at Anderson Motorsports Park.
Has any thought done into running a "Competition School" prior to the beginning of each season and another mid-way through the year?
I'm sure you could get help from NASA, SCCA, PCA, PBOC or any of the other racing clubs to provide instuctors........
You teach flags, on track etiquette, turn in, apex, track out, passing rules, no contact, etc.
Im sure some new street licensed drivers would benefit also.
Then a couple mini heats so everyone is familiar with the rules.
Any avoidable contact, that's what the black flag is for.......
Then issue a Electrathon Comp License for those drivers under 16 who get it.
It would sure be a bummer if he would have to wait until hes a Junior to take part as a driver......
-- Edited by dlarsen on Sunday 24th of February 2013 01:02:17 AM
mhodgertt said
Feb 24, 2013
As I said above the insurance company said that the insurance rate would go up if we lowered the driver's age requirement below 15. The rule now reads that drivers must have a valid driver's license and we were able to convince K & K insurance that with a 'pre- race' driver tryout we would be sure that all drivers were capable of controlling their vehicles in race conditions. At this time many races are dependent on finding the money to host a race and insurance is a large cost of that. In the NW all of the races are free with no entrance fees which is one reason that we have so many races and so many vehicles. Our school is building 19 new cars this year and we have 13 to 15 days of racing each year. I realize there are a number of younger boys and girls that have been exposed to an abnormal amount of driving in races, etc. but if we open it up to ages lower than 16 first the insurance cost for a race would go up and then we would have to spend a lot longer before races to see if driver's could drive. In some areas where there are only 10 to 15 cars that race that might be possible but in the NW we have as many as 60-70 show up at a race. The days are already from 6:00 am to set up--8:00 when teams arrive to 4:00 for the end of the races and 6/7:00 when all is cleaned up and the hosts go home. This does not count driving time of up to 5 hours one way. Nearly all of our race are hosted by teachers at various towns and they are stretched as far as they can be to go to and host a race every weekend for all of April and May. Out here we also do not have many race clubs or organizations and have never received any assistance from one when putting on a race, etc. When thinking of younger drivers I think of the terrible accident and death that occurred in Kansas, when a high school took their cars to a middle school and let middle schooler students drive their cars. A girl panicked and closed her eyes, floored it, hit a curb, onto a sidewalk and ran into a handrail at head height. Others were able to drive OK but all it took was one person that was not mature enough for tragedy. From your message I could not tell if your son is 15, 14 or 13. If he is 15 then he has less than a year to wait. If he is 13, even though he may be more capable than most 16 year olds I don't feel that we can not open it up to that age because of so many that think they are but are not and panic in race conditions. Mike
Ron said
May 16, 2013
I unfortunately have to agree with Mike Hodgert....
I mean, Even though I personally was driving tractors (actually discing fields ) at 5 yrs old and was riding motorcycles alone at 5, driving at 7, and then driving race cars at 11 and motorcycle racing at 14.... unfortunately times have changed...
Cars (and drivers) that would have passed a race "tech inspection" back when I was racing (mid 1970's) wouldn't pass a simple "road worthiness" inspection today... and getting (and keeping) insurance can be a real hassle...
Yes maybe it is "unfair" to a few perfectly capable young people to have to wait to drive..... but would we rather have an accident... possibly caused by some "older" and supposedly "more competent" driver (or even the younger driver, not to lay blame any more on one or the other age group) and then not be able to get ANY insurance of any kind and then just have to quit having electrathon at all?
Then how many kids would lose such a great experience in their lives that electrathon can be......
Nicodemus Brothers said
Jul 11, 2013
I agree that the age requirement to race without a valid state issued license should be 16, but also allow students with a valid state issued learners permit to drive at 15. Having a learners permit shows that they have taken steps to learn to drive a motor vehicle in road conditions. Racing Electrathon cars isn't much worse. I'd say allow teams the option of EITHER a valid learners permit regardless of age, OR a minimum age (like 16) that will also allow you to race.
Olshan10 said
Apr 1, 2017
Driving licenses essential for the drivers. My sister is learning driving from a reputed Port Macquarie Driving School that is very famous for its services and affordable fee. I am also planning to join it soon to learn automatic driving.
PROPOSED CHANGE (2/10/13): Electrathon drivers do not need to have a drivers license. They DO need to be 16 years old. There will also need to be a drivers approval systems set up.
-- Edited by Aimee Hart on Monday 11th of February 2013 04:12:17 AM
In the NW we have practice lap time before the actual race so we set aside a time for non-licensed drivers to be on the track. We had several teachers watch them for 15 minutes at race speeds and communicated by radio what we saw from each driver as they passed. If there were no problems they were allowed to race. Their care was identified with small flags and they were watched closely for problems with their driving.
-- Edited by Aimee Hart on Monday 11th of February 2013 04:12:41 AM
In Florida the age for a Restricted License is 15.
In order to grow the sport at the high school level if the age is set at 16 you lock out a lot of potential students. Younger students don't want to wait years to be able to drive in a race when they can drive drive the cars at school for testing and practice.
The idea of having them prove their abality prior to racing should be required. No one wants to see wrecks and busted cars.
I understand the Idea for having older drivers is the maturity and experiance factor. Younger potential drivers should not be totally locked out.
Our director has talked to the insurance company on several ocassions and he was told they don't care if a driver has a license or not. Its not on any forms we fill out for the races either. Some clarification is needed on this.
Vic Nieves
Program Director
Electrathon Of Tampa Bay
First time poster, Saw the cars race today at the USF Engineering EXPO in Tampa, FL.
When my son saw the cars racing he said, "Man that would be fun its kind of like SAE Formula", then he saw that Brandon High School had a team.
I asked if there was a team at Durant High School, I found out they are trying to set one up.
Now to my point, looked up the Electrathon Handbook and saw only a "Licensed Driver" can compete and then found this forum.
I race with NASA / National Auto Sport Association and we have a 15 year old driver that races a 2012 Camaro, full sized race car that can reach speeds of 175 MPH, in American Iron and is looking to run in SCCA World Challenge.
I think the "Licensed Driver" rule is very short cited because it doesnt allow younger drivers to take part.
My son is "Licensed" to drive a completion Go-Kart and is learning to fly a glider (he plans on soloing this summer when hes 14) and hes only 13. One of his friends is 11 and one of the most completive drivers that runs at Anderson Motorsports Park.
Has any thought done into running a "Competition School" prior to the beginning of each season and another mid-way through the year?
I'm sure you could get help from NASA, SCCA, PCA, PBOC or any of the other racing clubs to provide instuctors........
You teach flags, on track etiquette, turn in, apex, track out, passing rules, no contact, etc.
Im sure some new street licensed drivers would benefit also.
Then a couple mini heats so everyone is familiar with the rules.
Any avoidable contact, that's what the black flag is for.......
Then issue a Electrathon Comp License for those drivers under 16 who get it.
It would sure be a bummer if he would have to wait until hes a Junior to take part as a driver......
-- Edited by dlarsen on Sunday 24th of February 2013 01:02:17 AM
When thinking of younger drivers I think of the terrible accident and death that occurred in Kansas, when a high school took their cars to a middle school and let middle schooler students drive their cars. A girl panicked and closed her eyes, floored it, hit a curb, onto a sidewalk and ran into a handrail at head height. Others were able to drive OK but all it took was one person that was not mature enough for tragedy.
From your message I could not tell if your son is 15, 14 or 13. If he is 15 then he has less than a year to wait. If he is 13, even though he may be more capable than most 16 year olds I don't feel that we can not open it up to that age because of so many that think they are but are not and panic in race conditions.
Mike
I mean, Even though I personally was driving tractors (actually discing fields ) at 5 yrs old and was riding motorcycles alone at 5, driving at 7, and then driving race cars at 11 and motorcycle racing at 14.... unfortunately times have changed...
Cars (and drivers) that would have passed a race "tech inspection" back when I was racing (mid 1970's) wouldn't pass a simple "road worthiness" inspection today... and getting (and keeping) insurance can be a real hassle...
Yes maybe it is "unfair" to a few perfectly capable young people to have to wait to drive..... but would we rather have an accident... possibly caused by some "older" and supposedly "more competent" driver (or even the younger driver, not to lay blame any more on one or the other age group) and then not be able to get ANY insurance of any kind and then just have to quit having electrathon at all?
Then how many kids would lose such a great experience in their lives that electrathon can be......
Driving licenses essential for the drivers. My sister is learning driving from a reputed Port Macquarie Driving School that is very famous for its services and affordable fee. I am also planning to join it soon to learn automatic driving.