Minimum Standards

MINIMUM STANDARDS

The DE Team has comprised a set of minimum standards.  Any region that plans to run a DE event must strive to meet all the minimum standards. A region’s repeated failure to comply after warnings of noncompliance or a region’s refusal to adhere to these standards could prevent the region from obtaining PCA insurance for future events. Substantial compliance with these standards would be part of the Observer’s Report process. One of the functions of the advisory committee is to review and modify these standards, if required. All modifications will have to be approved by Council.

The list of minimum standards listed below are in no specific order.

·        Open Cars: Any make of car delivered with factory installed roll over protection meets the minimum standards for PCA DE events. In these cars the soft-top must be in the up position or the hard top installed. If a car does not have factory installed roll over protection a roll bar must be installed, which meets the “broomstick” rule (the driver’s helmeted head is below a bar placed on top of the rollbar and windshield). All targa tops must be installed unless there is addition roll over protection. All sunroofs must be in the closed position. The windshield is not considered to be factory roll over protection.

·        Equal Restraints: Both student and instructor shall have the same restraint system. All vehicles must be equipped with properly installed lap and shoulder restraint system.

·        Medical Personnel at the track: The minimum standards are two EMT trained attendants and emergency equipped ambulance.

·        Fire & Emergency at the track: There must be personnel trained in fire and emergency situations and the track must have either a fire truck and /or a tow truck equipped with fire emergency equipment.

·        Insurance: All events must meet the PCA insurance carrier’s requirements and everyone entering the facility must sign the insurance waiver.

·        Driver’s License: All entrants must have a valid driver’s license (state, country or province as appropriate).

·        Car Occupancy: If two people are in a car one must be an approved event instructor. and the other must be a registered entrant in the event. There are no exceptions to this rule.  Registering people for the sole purpose of allowing instructor rides is not an acceptable procedure.  A registered entrant is defined as a person who will be participating in substantially all appropriate aspects of the event (on track, classroom and exercises).  This does not mean, however, that a registered entrant must attend the event full time, or participate in classroom sessions or exercises that are not scheduled for such entrant (e.g., instructors and advanced students need not participate in classroom session or exercises developed for novice drivers.)

·        Corner Workers: A minimum of one person per designated station and the station must be equipped with a full complement of flags, fire extinguisher, and communication equipment (radio or track hardwire system).

·        Run Groups: The grouping of drivers into run groups shall be assigned in terms of their track driving experience and capability, as well as speed potential of the cars. All novice drivers shall be assigned an event-approved instructor to ride with them for in car instruction.

·        Clothing: All drivers must have a Snell approved helmet that follow the most recent PCR standards.  Footwear must be enclosed, non-slip, with a relatively smooth sole. Hiking type deep lugged soles are not acceptable.

·        Eye Protection: If the car does not have a windshield, the driver must be equipped with eye protection.

·        Drivers’ Meeting: All events must have drivers’ meeting prior to putting cars on the track to review event procedures and policies.

·        Car Safety Inspection: The car owner must certify that the car is safe to run on the track and that the car has been inspected by a qualified person within two weeks prior to the event.

·        Final Safety Inspection: A final safety inspection of the car shall be performed at the track. This should include inspection of the helmet, the restraint system, all loose objects to be removed, gas cap must be tight and any other items deemed necessary by the event chairman. The car is identified with a sticker or some other means as having passed the final inspection.

·        Passing Zones: Passing zones for all groups shall be well defined at the Drivers’ Meeting. All passing must be completed by the end of the passing zone as defined by the event organizer. THERE WILL BE NO PASSING IN THE TURNS. THERE IS ALSO NO PASSING UNDER YELLOW, –and/or RED FLAG CONDITIONS EXCEPT FORSLOW-MOVING VEHICLES WHOSE DRIVERS HAVE SIGNALLED THAT THEIR VEHICLES ARE DISABLED. Road courses associated with super speedways may use the super speedway turns as passing zones; e.g., Turn 3 at Pocono, or Turns 1, 2, 3 and 4 at Texas Motor Speedway. Kinks in a straight area of the track will not be considered turns unless specified by the Event Chairman. The Event Chairman shall take into consideration the areas of the track that are preferred for passing, and may restrict certain passing zones to advanced run groups.

·        Passing Signals and Procedures: All passing in the designated areas will be with the use of hand signals to direct the passing car safely around the car being passed. It is preferred that the car being passed remains on line allowing the faster car to pass safely. In the event of drivers who, due to a physical impairment, are unable to use hand signals, the use of turn signals to signal passing will be permitted.  It is recommended that such drivers and their cars, if any, be identified in the Drivers’ Meeting.

·        Event Control Center: The event control center must have the ability at all times when cars are on the track, to be in radio communication with the corner stations and track fire and emergency center. 

·        Grid Marshall: The event organizers must designate a grid and/or pit-out Marshall to control the flow of cars on and off the track.

·        Chief of Course: The flag station or person that communicates with event control and all corners.  The chief of course is responsible for all reports and actions of each of the corner stations.  The person coordinates all of the actions of the corner stations.  It can be the same person as in Event Control but tracks that use professional corner workers will usually designate one person on their team for this role.

·        PCA Observers’ Report: The PCA observers’ report form must be completed by an impartial party (i.e., not the Event Chairperson or the Chief Instructor) at the event. 

·        Chief Instructor: The event chairman must designate an individual as Chief Instructor who may also be the attitude adjustment counselor.

·        Safety Inspector: The event organizers shall designate a person responsible for car inspection at the track.

·        Classroom: There shall be a mandatory classroom session for all novice drivers, which could include track etiquette and flagging responsibilities.

·        Erratic Driving: Four wheels off, spin, and/or contact, the driver must come into the pits to have the car looked over and to query the driver for the cause.

·        Entrant Age: The minimum age for any driving entrant is eighteen.

·        Identification: All cars must be identified with a legible number. Either the car or the driver must be identified by run group. The use of colored wrist bands to identify the entrant and his or her run group is highly recommended. 

·        Lap Timing: PCA DE Programs are not timed events. Any timing is done for instructional purposes only and is not part of the operation of the event.

·        NO ALCOHOL OR CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES CAN BE CONSUMED BY ANY PARTICIPANT DURING THE HOURS OF EVENT OPERATION, OR BY ANY PERSON AT THE SITE OF THE EVENT DURING THE HOURS OF EVENT OPERATION.  This is not intended to prevent participants from taking drugs for which they have a valid prescription, if such drugs do not carry a warning that they have an effect upon the person’s ability to control a vehicle at speed.

·        Event Registration: Every entrant must complete a registration form which must include an emergency contact and minimum medical information; such as, allergies, blood type, and any unusual medical conditions.

·        Instructor Qualification: Every region and Zone who organizes a DE event must have an instructor qualification program.

·        Track Contractual Requirements: The event organizers must adhere to any facility safety requirement that is more stringent than the PCA minimum standards; e.g., track density, open car standard, etc.

RECOMMENDED BUT NOT MANDATORY
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

·        Clothing: Long sleeve shirts and pants of natural fiber are highly recommended dependent on climate conditions.  The priority is driver comfort and attention. Additional equipment such as driving gloves and a neck collar can offer additional comfort, control and safety but should not deter people from attending a DE as a novice.

·        Car Windows: It is highly recommended that both the driver and passenger windows be completely down subject to weather conditions.  Drivers must have the window down to signal but rain may deter a person from driving if both windows are mandated to be down during such conditions.

·        Flagging School: It is recommended that the event organizers conduct a flagging school if entrants are required to man corners.  If professional corner workers are used the flags and their use should be covered in the novice classroom prior to the first time on track.

·        Additional Training: Exercises: It is recommended that additional training of the students be done during or prior to the event; using off track, low speed exercises such as slalom, braking and skid pad.

·        Pit Speed: It is recommended that a reasonable pit speed be used to minimize problems.

·        No Passing after the checker flag has been displayed to signify the end of a run session.     See mandatory Passing

·        All pets and children MUST be kept under control.

·        No pets or children should be allowed in the high traffic areas, such as, the pits and staging areas.

·        Track Density can be defined per run group and track.

·        Fire Extinguisher   It is recommended that all cars are equipped with a Halon fire extinguisher (minimum 2.5 lbs.) ( Halon is illegal in some states/provinces)

·        Flagging: A minimum of two people per flag station is recommended.

·        Preparatory Training: It is highly recommended that new entrants to the DE program attend a vehicle dynamics course.

·        In-Car Communicators: It is recommended that event organizers encourage the use of helmet to helmet in-car communicators in order to facilitate the instructional process.