Lt Goetz,
This is probably the wrong place to post this but hope that it is instructive to all my classmates. I'm the rider of the bat-outta-hell, floorboard scraping, black Victory Cross Country Tour in Ride To Live X.
Just 2 days after our class, I was commuting to work on the 210 westbound, splitting lanes as usual between the carpool and #1 lane. The sun is at my back at that hour so it makes rearview mirrors all but useless. Having gone without my commuter cup of coffee so I could ride, I'm trying to keep my head in the game, and sure enough a red Nissan 300Z decides he didn't want to be in the carpool lane anymore and started coming across the double yellow into the #1 lane. I saw him as soon as his front wheels started turning and slammed on the brakes. Now, riding on painted lines and Bott's Dots is not recommended in practice and emergency braking on them should be avoided at all costs. However, thanks to the skills practiced in the hard braking exercise, I knew I could trust the ABS to bring my speed down quickly and in a straight line. I was able to maneuver to the right into the #1 lane following the Z's bumper and came to a stop directly behind him with 6" to spare.
I know that the skills taught and repetition of practice saved me from an expensive and likely painful incident. Regardless who is at fault, the rider always gets the short end of the stick.
Thank you again for such an excellent program.