New Porsche Boxster
New Porsche Boxster

PCA’s Official Position On New Car Driver Aids For DE

As we previously mentioned in an article about whether new “safety systems” are potentially unsafe for track use, Alex Bell, PCA National DE Chair, has clarified the PCA’s official position on the issue:

“Many of you may already be aware of the concerns regarding Automatic Emergency Braking Systems available in some new cars and the potential issues for those vehicles participating in a PCA DE events going forward. Some regions have taken action on their own to address the concern. I, along with my DE Committee, are in the beginning stages of determining a National Standard which can apply to this issue going forward.

Our current position on this issue is as follows:

At this time it is not known how “Automatic Emergency Braking Systems” will react at speed in the HPDE environment. For the safety of all participants PCA has decided not to allow affected vehicles to run with our group at HPDE events unless the system can be and is turned off.  We have no doubt that this equipment is very helpful in street driving; however, we cannot risk endangering drivers, instructors and their vehicles at our on-track driving schools.

One final thing I would ask all PCA DE Leadership is to please keep me posted on what you are seeing at the track. If you could email your experience with vehicles with these features, then we can learn how these cars impact our future DE product.

Thanks for all you do for PCA and best to everyone in 2017″