In 2021, the police investigated 99,332 accidents, the vast majority of which were caused by human error. The year 2022 is pretty similar in terms of numbers. While a large percentage of accidents are minor and do without injury or loss of life, the damage alone this year is over CZK 5 billion.
So the ability to control your vehicle is definitely not lost on the roads. Because even years behind the wheel won't guarantee that you won't lose control of your car. And that's exactly what the safe driving courses, also known as skid school, prepare you for.
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href="https://www.adrop.cz/enWhat is a skid school?
A skid school is usually a one-day safe driving course. It is designed for all drivers who want to improve their skills behind the wheel. It's suitable for beginners as well as drivers who have done some driving.
Because even if you've been driving for years, there are bound to be situations that catch you off guard on the road. And you'll experience these in the safe environment of the polygon. Thanks to a specially adapted sliding surface, it can simulate real crisis situations, which you will learn to handle with a cool head under the guidance of an instructor.
href="https://www.adrop.cz/enHistory of the skid school in the Czech Republic
Today's safe driving courses are refined down to the last detail. But when they started in this country more than 25 years ago, it was all a bit punkier. For example, instead of a specially treated polygon surface that faithfully simulated a wet or icy road, they rode on rubber tracks that were sprayed with water. By hand.
As cars continue to evolve and the number of drivers grows, you need to keep up and use the latest technology to learn how to handle emergencies as authentically as possible.
href="https://www.adrop.cz/enWhen is it a good time to take skid school?
Do you have a fresh licence and need to be more confident in crampflicks? Are you a bit off and running out of points? Getting behind the wheel after not driving for a long time and worried you've forgotten everything? And that you bought a new car or got a new company car that handles differently than you're used to?
A safe driving course is really for anyone who wants to improve, get to know their car better and, most importantly, test their limits without risking an accident. You can even find special courses just for female drivers, or drifting school and other indulgences. But more on that in a moment.
Sure, you won't become a professional racer after one course. But you'll come away better preparedto handle the emergencies that can happen to you in traffic. And if you do miss it in the snow, you'll know exactly what to do in that situation. Count on improving your driving skills by some 10-15% after a one-day course. And that's not exactly low.
For the sake of argument, let's summarise the points. Who should attend skid school?
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Beginner drivers and female drivers,
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professional drivers,
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drivers who haven't been behind the wheel for a while,
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employees who drive a company car,
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drivers who need to deduct penalty points,
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anyone who wants to test their abilities and limits and improve their driving skills.
The good news is that safe driving courses run all year round, however, driving is also not a seasonal affair. So it doesn't depend on the time of year or the weather.
href="https://www.adrop.cz/enFor whom is skid school not suitable?
As with everything, there are exceptions. We do not recommend skid school if you suffer from epilepsy, or if you suffer from panic attacks or are unduly stressed by extreme situations in the car. The car will indeed skid. In such a case, you should consult your doctor or discuss the possibility of taking a companion to support you mentally.
href="https://www.adrop.cz/enWhat types of courses are there?
Among safe driving courses, you will find plenty of options from which you can easily choose the one that will give you the most. The price of a skid school depends on the type you choose. The price also reflects the location that the school's facilities are associated with. The cheapest way to improve your driving skills is from 2 999 CZK.
Classical safe driving school
The Safe Driving School teaches you how to handle basic emergency situations: such as skidding or aquaplaning. It is suitable for both novice drivers and those who need to get up to speed and gain more confidence behind the wheel after a longer period of time. It's also useful if you've just started driving a new car and haven't quite got the hang of it yet.
Where it takes place: Most, Hradec Králové, Jihlava, Vysoké Mýto, Příbram, Brno, Třinec, Ostrava
Skid school with points deduction
The skid school with points deduction is here for all those who are a little bit off the road and have less than 10 points on their account and need to get a maximum of 3 points back. You'll learn how to control your vehicle better and when you're done, you'll get a certificate to go and apply for a points deduction from your register. An ideal course for correcting road pirates.
Where it takes place: Most, Vysoké Mýto, Třinec, Hradec Králové, Příbram
Skid school for women
This safe driving school is for all ladies and ladies who want to improve their skills behind the wheel. Whether you are newly 18 or going on trips with your grandchildren. Many women are put off from driving by inappropriate comments about women behind the wheel and are therefore afraid to even sign up for skid school to avoid having to listen to the rantings of a fellow driver.
A skid school for women will guarantee that there will only be other female drivers on the course with you. And you don't have to worry about the instructor either, he will explain everything and let you try it out.
Where it takes place: Most
Sports Driving School
Already have some miles on the clock and want to learn how to control your vehicle in cross-country and at higher speeds? Then the Sports Driving School is the experience for you. During the course, you'll learn how to take corners correctly at high speeds under the supervision of an instructor, as well as other manoeuvres that will help you find your limits and the limits of your car.
Where it takes place: Bridge
Motorcycle Skid School
Want to get better on two wheels? If so, take a safe motorcycle riding course. The course is suitable for new motorcyclists and those who want to learn a safer riding style. You'll learn better stability, practice dry and wet emergency braking, evasive manoeuvres and other skills you'll appreciate on a motorcycle in traffic.
Where it takes place: Bridge
Fun skid school
Don't worry about other courses being boring, but the fun skid school is a cut above the rest. You'll get a good grind, learn a gangster 360° turn or go through a handspring during the experience. Of course, you'll also learn to control your vehicle even better and learn your limits.
Where it takes place: Most, Hradec Králové, Brno
Other courses
There is always something to learn and try behind the wheel. That's why we're always looking at new courses and adding them to our offer. In addition to the ones mentioned above, you can currently try out the Mustang skid school in Dlouhá Lhota, specifically the supercharged Ford Mustang GT 5.0 V8, or you can go to Ostrava for the drift school, where you can take a ride in a specially modified car that is perfect for drifting.
href="https://www.adrop.cz/enWhere to attend the safe driving school
You can find skid schools in many cities across the country. There are specially adapted polygons in Most, Příbram, Vysoké Mýto, Hradec Králové, Prague, Brno, Jihlava, Třinec, Ostrava, Plzeň and Sosnová. Each school may have a slightly different focus of teaching, as we mentioned above. So don't choose just by location, but mainly by what you want to learn or experience.
All schools are equipped for both theoretical and practical instruction and you don't have to worry about not being in good hands. But of course, there is a winner here too, and that is the skid school in Most, which you will find right next to the Autodrom Most. It has state-of-the-art equipment and will be appreciated even by the most demanding. You'll find, for example, a skid pad with a double-sided hydraulic swing plate and water obstacles where you can try out skids, braking and evasive manoeuvres, a skid pad with an aquaplaning track and water obstacles, an asphalt practice area for warming up, and a hill with a curve and a seven per cent gradient for driving and braking practice.
href="https://www.adrop.cz/enHow does the skid school work?
The skid school always has a theoretical part first and then it's on to the practical testing. The courses are not individual and are held for smaller groups of participants. The final form always depends on the chosen school. However, you usually need to set aside a whole day for the experience, as it starts in the morning and ends in the late afternoon.
Theoretical part
In the first part of the skid school, you will learn about the subject theoretically. You will have a couple of hours (usually 2 hours) of theoretical explanation including explanatory video simulations. We recommend coming to the experience with a little bit of advance notice, so that you don't have to walk into an already running class.
During the theoretical part, you will learn, for example, how to adjust your seat properly, how the airbag works (and how you should sit in the car so that it doesn't hurt you), and the differences between the basic types of tyres. You'll also learn, for example, how a car that doesn't have ABS behaves compared to one that does.
And that they taught you to hold the steering wheel for ten or two in driving school? Well, you'll forget about that after the explanation. Your hands should never be in front of the airbag. From now on, you'll always have your hands on the steering wheel in the quarter to three position.
In theory, you'll also be prepared for skids and other tricky things that can happen in traffic. To give you a moment to absorb the information, there is a refreshment break in the middle of each course.
Practical part
Finally comes the practice. Don't worry about tackling the most challenging situations right away. First, you and your instructor will adjust the seat and steering wheel to a safe position and then you'll get some driving in.
You're on your own in the car, but the instructor is on the radio to tell you what to do and how to do it. The good thing is that from the radio you can hear the instructor not only when he advises you, but also when other participants do the same actions. As we know, repetition is the mother of wisdom. And when it comes to safe driving, this is doubly true.
What will you learn on a safe driving course?
What you learn depends on the course you choose. In the safe driving school you'll focus on controlling your vehicle in a crisis situation, while the fun skid school will get you a little spicy with a good glide. The women's skid school will focus more on the situations that most often worry women drivers. The situations you'll encounter most often are:
Braking safely
The car behaves differently on dry, wet or icy terrain. And here you can try it out risk-free. Thanks to the special sliding surface, you'll be able to brake on both water and trampled snow. The authenticity is unbelievable.
Rear axle skidding
The dreaded rear axle skid. We all know that closing our eyes and screaming is not the optimal solution, but many of us still don't know how to get out of it. Even if you already know from theoretical training that you're supposed to turn the steering wheel in the opposite direction, in real life it's suddenly not so easy. And that's what skid school is for. You'll drill it until you get the hang of it.
Avoidance manoeuvres
What if an animal or child runs into your path? You can prepare for that by practicing an evasive manoeuvre. The key is not to brake continuously. You will learn the rest at school.
Aquaplaning
Sometimes there is so much water on the road that the tyres are unable to drain it away. The wheel loses contact with the road and, in the worst case, you lose control of the car. The car behaves similarly to driving on wet ice. With a cool head, however, this situation is easily resolved.
href="https://www.adrop.cz/enWhich car can I drive?
The very best way to take the skid school is behind the wheel of your own vehicle, or a company car that you drive frequently and need to get to grips with. Every car is a little different, so you'll benefit most from learning with a car you're used to.
However, it is quite important that it does not have any faults that could make learning difficult. And, of course, newer cars are easier to learn with, because they already have ABS and so on.
TIP: Some skid schools even offer the option of renting a car for a fee. If you can't come in your own car, there's that option too.
href="https://www.adrop.cz/enDo I need to prepare my car for the safe driving course?
It's not worth going to a safe driving course unprepared. At the very least, allow time for tyres that need to be inflated. And when was the last time you changed your tyres? The garage will tell you that a tyre has a maximum life of 4 years. We understand that you don't take it that seriously, and unless it's flat, you don't want to change it yet.
Just beware that the older the tyre, the worse the handling. The critical age is 8 years. It doesn't matter that the car has practically been sitting in the garage the whole time, if you arrived on tires that old, don't expect praise. You may well get a bit of a tan for tires older than 5-6 years.
If the age of the tyres is still within the limit, measure the tread depth, the minimum legal depth for summer tyres is 1.6 mm, and 4 mm in winter.
And because you're going to get into some challenging situations for the car, we recommend that for older cars you visit the workshop before the course so that you don't have a flat on the spot and pay unnecessarily.
TIP: If you'd like to climb, make sure you set up your steering wheel and seat correctly before the course.
href="https://www.adrop.cz/enHow should a participant prepare for skid school?
In order to fully concentrate on the course, it's definitely a good idea to choose comfortable clothing that you can comfortably stay in all day in the car. This goes double for footwear. Wear the shoes that you feel most comfortable driving in. Also, be sure to pack snacks and water so you have enough strength for a full day of training.
Of course, don't forget your ID and driver's license :)
href="https://www.adrop.cz/enCan I take a chaperone with me?
If you don't want to go to skid school solo, it's usually no problem to bring a passenger. It is always better to check with the school beforehand what the conditions are. Also be prepared that it will most likely be at an extra cost. And last but not least, choose well who will ride with you. After all, it won't be a cakewalk and there will be no shortage of hard braking and skids.
href="https://www.adrop.cz/enThey wrote about us
On our blog
Safe driving course at the Most polygon through the eyes of a woman driver
Mentioned elsewhere
7 reasons to donate to skid school: Topskolasmyku.cz
Skid School: How it works and for whom it is suitable: Autoweb.cz
Skid School: Safe Driving Course - review of the experience: Dobravila.cz
Do you know how to handle a crisis? Skid school trains even experienced drivers: Denik.cz
To the limit: Skid School will show you the limits and improve your work behind the wheel: Denikn.cz
