TEACH Program Makes A Splash

On Sunday, Sept. 11, The Connecticut Autocross and Rally Team along with the Berlin Police Dept. and the South Kensington Fire Dept. held its second annual TEACH event at The Corbin Russwin parking lots on Episcopal Rd.

There were 12 students from Berlin, Wallingford, and Wethersfield. The students were split into two groups. When one group was out on the course driving, the other group of students received educational talks from some of the CART members, on subjects such as vehicle dynamics, why your car is under-steering or over-steering and what you can do to avoid or correct the situation.

They also received a talk about vehicle maintenance and distracted driving. Berlin detective Brian Dumais with assistance from patrolman Barry Hertzler gave a talk about the laws governing new drivers and what restrictions were placed on them.

In all, CART provided 32 volunteers to man this event. CART was fortunate enough to have a one to one instructor to student ratio and the students received a lot of driving time.

One of our CART members is a truck driver and he brought his tractor trailer rig to the event. CART placed members cars in positions around the rig as would be encountered out on the highway. Then students were allowed to climb into the drivers seat of the tractor so that they might get a better understanding of what a truck driver sees and doesn't see.

CART would like to thank the Berlin PD, The South Kensington FD, The Drain Doctor, Connecticut Tire, Central Pizza and Corbin Russwin for the use of its parking lots.

If it were not for these businesses and the folks who own/run them, this event could not have happened," said a CART spokesman. "So a big thank you to all who supported us. Especially the students and their parents."