SecurityDriver News

Queensland Raceway

Joe and Larry have just come back from conducting training in Australia. They were there for a little more than a week.  The training was conducted at Queensland Raceway in beautiful downtown Kurwangbah, which is not too far from Brisbane. The program is specifically developed for our corporate clients and includes not only driving, but also Surveillance Detection and working the principal.

 TSVDI will be conducting the same program in the UAE , Guatemala, and followed by Europe, and South America. Although we have a hectic schedule coming up with 20 programs in 17 weeks in 4 countries, for 20 corporations, with some PSD, government, police, and private security companies thrown into the mix, we do have some seats available in our open enrollment programs.

Dates

Registration

Protective/Evasive Driving Course – This three day program is designed for professional security drivers, executive chauffeurs and protection specialists.

Immediate Action Driving Skills  – For the security driver or protection specialist a program designed to survive the worst-case scenario – October 23^rd New Jersey  

Surveillance Detection Tactics & Techniques  – This highly interactive three day course is designed to meet the unique needs of security professionals responsible for executive transportation and personal protection, particularly those working with limited manpower and resources.  October 27 – 29     New Jersey

  Vehicle Dynamics and Exercise Design –  An advanced 3 day course is designed to provide students with the capability to develop training scenarios that closely replicate the conditions they are likely to encounter in the real world. Restricted attendance November 15^th – 17^th New Jersey

 Instructor Development Program – A 5 day course that is widely acknowledged as the most advanced train-the-trainer driving programs offered today. The course provides the student with an in-depth understanding of the scientific approach to driver training and evaluation that was developed by Tony Scotti and refined over the last thirty five years. Restricted attendance – November 15^th – 19^th New Jersey

1979 Volvo Ad

Cleaning out my garage the other day and I found an old ad I did for Volvo. I’m sure most of the people reading this do not remember the Volvo 242 GT; it was a hell of a performance vehicle. In the late 70’s Volvo had the reputation of a stogy old man’s car (kind of like today’s Volvos) – at the time my school was sponsored by Volvo – we were asked to conduct a  product testing and comparisons program for the Volvo engineers and some people from their ad agency. We were testing the 242 GT against vehicles like the brand new (at that time) BMW 3 Series.

The results of the tests and some comments I made, brought about this ad, the ad appeared in all the Car Magazines. It even made it into the News Weeklies and some other none automotive publications. The ad came out in 1979.

 When the ad guys and engineers were driving through the Lane Change most of the cars were having a difficult time getting through without hitting anything, and were breaking loose at speeds that the 242 GT had no trouble with. Just as we do today (31 years later) we measured the other vehicles handling numbers and compared them to the measured numbers of the Volvo GT. The GT’s numbers were 13 to 15 % higher than all the other cars being tested.

 One comment made by an ad agency guy was “These other cars are exciting to drive”.  My comment was “If you think that’s exciting – drive a Pinto through the Lane Change” My other comment was “ When compared to the BMW the Volvo GT handles better than cars that are known for handling ”. That’s where the tag line came from. It was a classic case of mistaking adrenalin for handling. Just as today when students drive around a race track or through a lane change, without being tested and measured, they mistake adrenalin for education. 

 By the way for all you old racers the picture and test were done at Bridgehampton Raceway on Long Island.

Protective/Evasive Driving Program  – August 18-20, 2010

It doesn’t matter whether the driver is confronted with a potential accident or a deliberate attempt to stop the vehicle; nor does it matter where they happen to be in the world when the problem presents itself – survival hinges upon the driver’s ability to – recognize a potential problem as it begins to unfold – manage the time, distance and maneuvering room available to them – stay within the performance limits of the driver/vehicle combination

 VDI’s highly acclaimed Protective/ Evasive Driving program  is designed to  provide executive protection, law enforcement and military professionals the knowledge, skill and ability needed to survive behind-the-wheel emergencies utilizing a methodology that has been proven effective over the course of nearly four decades, which incorporates: 

• application of the science of vehicle dynamics – how the loads placed on a vehicle by the drivers actions effect it’s andling
• a series of exercises designed to closely replicate emergency situations and configured in a specific sequence designed to maximize student improvement
• an objective, scientific process for measuring the individual student’s improvement and overall performance
•  the real world experience garnered from the nearly 150 years of combined security, law enforcement, military and driver training experience which Tony Scotti and VDI’s Scotti Certified Instructors bring to the training arena.

Contact us at –  Tel: 732.738.5221 – Fax: 732.738.5223

email:info@vehicledynamics.net

Protective Driving Operations

3-DAY PROGRAM SEPTEMBER 13-15, 2010
PROTECTIVE DRIVING OPERATIONS
ESI’s TRAINING FACILITY IN COLORADO
$950 (Limited Discount Price)

ESI and Tony Scotti’s VDI will be sponsoring a 3 Day Protective Driving Operations in Grand Junction Colorado.

The course provides participants with a unique opportunity to build upon their existing training and further develop the knowledge, skill and ability required to perform one of the most challenging aspects of protection, providing safe and secure transportation in a high risk environment.

This is accomplished through a series of informative discussions and hands on practical exercises, students will develop an understanding of what the driver/vehicle combination can and, most importantly, cannot do when confronted with a potentially life threatening situation while behind the wheel. An emphasis is placed on how the driver can most effectively manage the limited time and distance available to them as a safety or security incident unfolds.

Classroom discussion will include the role vehicles play in mission strategy and tactics. Students will learn how armored vehicles affects the decision making process, and how to select the proper vehicle for the mission – or how to maximize the effectiveness of the vehicle given.

All hands on exercises are scenario based and designed to train and measure driver ability. Hence students will be objectively tested, and are required to attain a standard. All test and standards are based on the laws of physics as applied to vehicle attacks. The scenarios used during the testing are from case studies of vehicle ambushes.

At the conclusion of the program students will have the knowledge too combine mission objectives, with the vehicles supplied, and if necessary, have the skills needed to escape the Kill Zone.

CLASSROOM

DYNAMICS OF A VEHICLE EMERGENCY

CASE STUDIES OF VEHICLE ATTACKS

ROADSIDE BOMBS

KILL ZONE THEORY

TACTICS AND SECURITY VEHICLES

ARMORED VEHICLES 

HANDS ON EXERCISES

BACKING-UP EXERCISE

ROLLING AMBUSH

ATTACKS AGAINST THE CONVOY

VEHICLE FAMILIARIZATION

RUN FLAT EXERCISE

VEHICLE COMBAT

DRIVE DOWN DRILLS

 For more information contact Brandon Delcamp at 888 718 3105

July 24, 2010

For the protection specialist or security driver the worst-case scenario is a deliberate attempt to stop the vehicle.  Surviving those scenarios requires the ability to keep the vehicle moving and clear the kill zone as quickly as possible – no matter what is happening outside the vehicle.

Focused, Intense, Effective Training

 VDI’s Immediate Action Driving Skills course is designed to provide security practitioners – from the entry-level protection specialist to highly experienced private sector, military and law enforcement professionals - the training and experience needed to deal with the worst-case scenario, a vehicle ambush. Where survival comes down to the driver’s ability to respond instinctively to the threat, when the difference between success and failure is measured in tenths of a second. 

This one day course provides students with an opportunity to:

 - Learn from professionals with real world experience

 - Experience the realities of driving through a kill zone        

 - Understand how to effectivelyoperate damaged vehicles

 Students will gain hands-on, practical experience in:

 - Pushing through roadblocks - (One & two vehicle ramming)

 - Defeating rolling ambushes - (PIT/Counter-PIT techniques)

 - Dealing with an incapacitated driver – (Driving from passenger seat)

 - Forced lane excursions – (Surface transitions)

For addtional information
Joseph Autera
Tony Scotti’s Vehicle Dynamics Institute
Tel: 732 738-5221
Cell : 732–586-4020   email: jautera@vehicledynamics.net

Or Tony Scotti
781 395 3097 email tonyscotti@securitydriver.com

First this is a rare occurrence, but it can and has been fatal. One of the fatal incidents happened in my home town – Medford MA.

 If this event happens there are two things you want to do quick – real quick. Slow the car down and disconnect the engine from the drive wheels.

 Here are some things you can do; Press on the brake pedal – brakes can and will overpower the horsepower created by the engine. In a test done by Car and Driver magazine here is what they found “With a Camry’s travelling 70 mph, the brakes easily overcame all 268 horsepower – and stopped the car in 190 feet—that’s a foot shorter than the performance of a Ford Taurus without any gas-pedal problems and just 16 feet longer than with the Camry’s throttle closed.”

 Also from the same  Car and Driver  article – “If this is a concern, in the future look for vehicles with electronic throttle control since the advent of electronic throttle control, many automakers have added software to program the throttle to close—and therefore cut power to the engine”.

 Shift into neutral this will disconnect the engine from the drive wheels – don’t worry about the engine revs going crazy – most cars have rev limiters. But if your gas pedal is stuck and you are travelling 60 MPH or 90 Feet in a second, the least of your concerns is the engine revs.

 Keep in mind where you are. If you are on a major highway you don’t want to stop in the passing lane, the people behind you will get cranky. Once the car is in neutral you can control the speed of the car with the brake pedal. Get the car safely to the side of the road and if you can, off the road. DO NOT shut of the engine while the car is moving. Shutting off the engine will make the car hard to steer, just adding more excitement to your life.

 Once the car is stopped shut off the engine, take a deep breath.

A project we are working on requires us to put together a series of animations depicting vehicle ambushes. The Gus Boulis ambush is a rough draft of our first animation, which means you will need to read the scenario (below) to get an idea of what is going on. We will be adding voice over and making some small changes. Eventually we will have a series of animated vehicle attacks – all with lessons learned. The animation is the work of Larry Snow from SJC if you have any comments or questions you can reach Larry at  lawrence.snow@yahoo.com

The Scenario

On Feb. 6, 2001 Boulis left his offices on Southeast 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale about 9:30 p.m. and headed down Miami Road, a shortcut to Federal Highway on his way home to Hollywood.

 As he was driving down Miami Road a car stopped in front of him, blocking his way. A vehicle coming from the other direction pulled up next to Boulis.  A passenger sitting in the back seat fired on him with a semi-automatic weapon.

Boulis managed to drive out to Federal Highway before crashing into a tree. He died a short time later at Broward General Medical Center.

Background

Gus Boulis was the owner of SunCruz Casinos, a Florida company. SunCruz consisted of boats that would travel off shore onto international water, where the passengers could gamble.

 In September of 2000, Boulis sold SunCruz for $147.5 million. Problems arose between Gus and the people that bought the boats. Throughout his business career Gus had a knack of pissing people off. You can read about him in this series of articles.

 At the time we were doing some work with the people who bought the boats.  Because of the concerns they had for their safety they had bodyguards and an armored Mercedes (I was a consultant with Mercedes at the time). The people who bought the boats eventually ran afoul of the law and wound up in jail, but nothing to do with the Boulis attack

 In September 2005 Anthony Moscatiello and James Fiorillo, both Florida residents, were arrested in connection with the murder. Anthony Ferrari, who resided in New York, was also detained in connection with the killing. You can gather from the names of the individuals who Gus pissed off.

A short article I did for State Farm Insurance

It has been more than 20 years since the assassination of Alfred Herrhausen. The roadside bomb that killed Herrhausen changed the way protection was looked at. In the late 80’s surveillance detection had become part of the protection plan but it was not given the attention that was needed. It was unorganized, and most of the time the surveillance detection team had no idea what it was they were trying to detect. At that time most training was reactive in nature, basically protection teams were trained to ram or shoot their way out of a problem. This attack and another roadside bomb that occurred in Bogota made surveillance detection a top priority with companies working in high risk area. But, as time moved on, it seems we have gone back to the reactive approach to training. This is an article that appeared in Wired Magazine a few years back. The author highlights an article I wrote for Security Management Magazine in 1990, a year after the incident took place.

We have developed an iPhone Application on Distracted Driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) driver distractions are the leading cause of most vehicle crashes and near-crashes.  The App came about when we looked at a study released by the NHTSA and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI).  The study discovered that 80% of crashes and 65% of near-crashes involve some form of driver distraction – and the distraction occurred within three seconds before the vehicle crash!   For those in High Risk Security that number “three seconds” is familiar. It is the “Kill Zone”.

The Kill Zone Concept is used to train our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to avoid a vehicle ambush. Our iPhone Application uses the same theory to explain and avoid the dangers of Distracted Driving.

The theory is simple; a Kill Zone is a time-distance relationship. How much time does the driver have and how close is the problem (distance)?  The Kill Zone is directly related to the speed of the vehicle when the incident occurs.

An example of how Kill Zones relate to Distracted Driving look at the following scenario – You are 300 feet from a traffic light moving at 40 mph which is 60 feet per second. You get a text message; it takes 3 seconds to read the message – that means you drove 180 feet (3 seconds x 60 fps) without looking at the road. 

You were 300 feet from the traffic light, but as you were reading the text message, you moved 180 feet. When you looked up from the text message, you are 120 feet (300 -180) from the traffic light that has now changed from yellow to red.

You are 120 feet in front of the red light and closing in at 60 fps.  You are in the Kill Zone, a time distance relationship, the distance is 120 feet and some quick arithmetic tells you that you have two seconds to react. And you are driving deeper into the kill zone.

If you can get you foot on the brake in a half-second (that’s fast), you will travel 30 feet (half of 60 fps).  So at the point of applying your brakes, you are 90 feet from the traffic light (the initial 120 feet minus the 30 feet it took to reach for the brake). 

You will have to stop a car moving at 40 MPH (60 feet a sec) in 1.5 seconds. Life is going to get terribly exciting.

Our App uses case studies in the form of presentations, similar to the one above, and offers lessons learned.  The objective is to keep you out of the kill zone. 

You can direct any questions or comments to

tonyscotti@securitydriver.com

lawrence.snow@sjcwebdesign.com