One for 'Learners' and their parents....

Try to resist the urge to rush through the learning.

It’s perfectly natural of course, but it is so short-sighted.  The DSA publicise the fact that many newly qualified drivers (ones that have passed the test) are feeling ill-equipped to drive independently. 

Obviously, we all have the right to make the choices that we want, about how we do things.  How you choose to learn to drive is no different.  You may choose to beat down the driving instructor to as low a price as possible, you may choose to do the absolute minimum to pass the test, you may choose to do the test at a test centre you think is easier, you may choose to throw caution to the wind and go to test when it is kind of ‘hit and miss’ whether you pass.  

These are all choices that you have the right to make.

Just remember who is making the choices though.  Most people when they hire the services of a professional eg accountant, solicitor, financial advisor etc,  they listen to the advice given – they are paying for the expertise that the person has gained by their experience.  If you therefore choose to go against that advice, then that choice you make is yours..... you live/die by that decision. 

Whether you pass the test or not is not really the point, the point is how capable you are to drive safely post-test.

Who actually chooses how to learn?

It’s interesting to draw comparisons to the learning required at schools/colleges and that required to learn how to drive.

Schools are bending over backwards to maximise results.  No stone is left unturned in the quest for good grades.  Teachers are so driven by this need for success that the question of who is motivated and who takes responsibility for learning can become a little clouded.

I see this on a daily basis but in a different context.  Although the motivations of some of my pupils leave a little to be desired, believe me, I’d rather take that, than have someone sat next to me with no motivation.

But the responsibility of learning is a massive factor in my work.  The subject of independent learning is key.  If a pupil has been conditioned to expect teachers to run around for them, then is it any surprise they require extra support from the large employers just to assist with the job application process. 

Part of the equation is how my pupil intends to learn, what is their motivation, what is their strategy to learn, giving themselves the maximum opportunity to learn well.  The other part is my responsibility.  How I go about nurturing learning.  Do I want my pupils to be fully prepared for life as an independent driver post test, or am I just concerning myself with covering the absolute minimum standards to pass the test only.  Am I conditioning my pupils by repetition to do actions ‘on command’ so to speak, or do I take the time and trouble to instil in them a sense of assessing as and when the need arises for such actions.   The driving ability outcome is hugely different between those two approaches.

You see if a pupil of mine sits in the driver seat and in mind only says “Ok Tom, tell me how to drive”, then that will have a fundamental effect in our instructor/pupil relationship.  In other words, they do not do any structured, quality practising outside of lessons with me, they do not learn the theory in a manner that the knowledge will be remembered and applied to the driving, they do not want to ‘learn’ they just want me to ‘tell’.  And I see that ‘approach’ being reflected in the parents that I liase with.  I normally end up speaking to one parent in particular.  Sometimes I sense that if the parent could, they would take the test on behalf of their child, such is their desire to get their child through the test.  Which is all very natural and understandable except it’s compounding this problem related to who is responsible for ‘learning to drive’. 

The main contributing factors of how a pupil learns to drive seem to me to be the approach taken by the parent(s), the opportunity the pupil has of other, reinforcing, learning resources and the instructor... probably in that order I would say.

Windscreen repairs

An HGV very kindly gave me a chip today in my travels.  I normally make the point to my learners to keep well back from them when they are in front of you,  but this particular one was oncoming, there was very little I could have done to prevent it.

To my untrained eye, it seems that some have pretty substantial mud flaps to the rear of the wheels, some have them but not quite so ‘meaty’ and some have none at all.  The bigger, wider wheels increase the chance of picking up stones, mud, water on the roads and so it’s quite a big deal really. 

I rang Waveneys, who after giving me a £20 admin fee for changing my address, put me through to their windscreen people, who just so happen to have a depot where I was about to do a lesson.  So when I finished the lesson, I popped in and within 45 minutes the chip was almost invisible to the eye.  On seeing my driving school signage the chap must have assumed that I’m bothered, and so started to explain that they drill a hole, fill this, do that..... honestly mate, just fix it.

So the theory goes, by getting a small chip sorted as soon as it happens, it prevents a crack from occurring later.  Cracks can develop from a sudden jolt as well as from extreme temperatures.   The only thing I did consider doing was popping into the test centre and running it past one of the examiners there (we are fortunate to have a very helpful crew at Peterborough), but it is so incredibly small now, I think I’d be wasting my time.

All they needed was my underwriters details on the insurance and my signature – I’m curious as to how that works financially for all concerned, but Waveneys assured me fixing the windscreen did not cost me a penny...... how they justify changing an address costs £20 is beyond me – it made no difference whatsoever to the premium.  One of our other insurers for the house charged £40 to do the same.

I was quite pleased all in all though, if they could not have fixed it, I would have needed to pay a £75 excess for a new windscreen so it could well have been worse.  I overheard a guy in the office talking to a customer on the phone, the size of the chip is clearly a big deal.  “Would you see it still if you put a pound coin over it?”, turned out, that the customer described the size of the chip as ‘pinhead’.  As such, the customer was advised that it is so small they cannot do anything for it as the drilling process alone would turn out to be bigger than the current size of the chip.

Ernie...the fastest milkman in the west

Judging by the hit count on a couple of my more recent blogs, I’m guessing that instructors are monitoring the blog.  The subject of failing tests seems to be a rather contentious one for some.  I don’t imagine for one second that learners are swarming to my blog because I’ve mentioned about the merits of driving instructors actually being accountable for test fails.

What I don’t think many instructors are prepared to consider is that although they may feel aggrieved at the audacity of someone like me, who should even suggest such a thing;  few consider why I take the view I do.  Unlike some academics sat behind desks writing books, I’ve actually witnessed with my own eyes the consequences of having newly qualified drivers who are ill prepared for driving independently.  It may be quite acceptable for some to read fatality figures on pages, and not consider what those figures really mean, but I DO think of parents who have lost a young one, young lives that have been cut short in their prime, how friends are affected for the rest of their life, not to mention the other parties involved in the collision.  Communities, tax-payers, the economy all ‘pay the price’ of these events.  It’s truly shocking, at least I think it is, but perhaps others in our industry find all the above quite acceptable.

But others ignorance is no reason for me to change my views.  This is the trouble, people become conditioned in what is the norm, if something goes on for long enough, such as low average pass rates, then that is fine.  Some instructors can appear incapable or unwilling of considering life outside of their ‘bubble’ and actually realising what is going on.

I hear instructors say things like, “A test fail may be all that person needed, for their own development, it’s actually a positive thing”.  I’ve heard “Well I can’t be going far wrong, because I’ve got a full diary, if my test fails meant that much to people, then I wouldn’t be in business”.  The fact of the matter is though, a learner does not NEED to fail a test in order to make them a better driver.  It is not essential, you wont find it in the DSA Driving Standard that recommended practice is for an instructor to strive to make their learner fail two times before passing, as it’s character building and will improve their driving ability in the long run.  As much as driving instructors try to find reasons that failing tests is somehow a good and necessary experience, there is only one person they are kidding. 

I know, I actually know, that there is no need for learners to go to test and fail.  If a learner is so keen to go to test to fail, then that is fine, it’s their choice, their right, and they can go and find another instructor very easily to assist them in their test fail.

But please don’t try to convince me that learners failing driving tests is a necessary evil. 

Driving instructors go about their business the way they choose.  I do not, have not, and will not openly criticise how someone does that.  If they choose quantity over quality, that is their decision and they need to LIVE with that decision but don’t criticise someone like me who chooses to provide good quality training.  I choose not to rush around like a headless chicken, leaving 5 mins between driving lessons, charging £7 an hour and contributing to the national average pass rate of below 50%.

How skills fade with time or lack of practise

I’ve recently joined a private members snooker club in the area that we’ve just moved to.  I’ve not played for I would guess at least 15 years.  I did not have a cue, and as will be shown, not much of a clue either.

Over the week-end, I got down to the club, with my new cue, and was invited to join some doubles.  I was a little nervy, I don’t know the members, how the table plays, my cue, basically, very little.

First thing I noticed was that I could not get my chin on the cue due to a neck problem which was as a direct result of an old lady driving into my door many moons ago.  She was on her way to a hospital appointment on a frosty morning, and literally could not see out her front windscreen.

Then I noticed that I did not have the reach on the table I once had.  It quickly became apparent I did not have the technique, the cueing action I once did, which meant I was not so accurate.  On one shot, I was playing up the table and trying to do a delicate, intricate shot between the green and brown balls that were very close to each other.  With the passing of time, I’d forgotten that playing up the table like that, affects the pace and direction of the cue ball due to the nap on the baize. 

Some of this no doubt I can improve on, some I would have to accept will restrict my ability.  With the passing of a couple of days, I thought how this is true of our driving too. 

I was training with a PDI the other day, doing some Part 2 training and looking at the overtake routine.  As he quite rightly pointed out, the actual car you are driving is a factor for assessing if the overtake is sensible, the power of it.  Think of all these business people bombing up and down the country using pool cars that they have very little knowledge of how the car handles, or the power. 

Although I’ve no personal knowledge of it, a break in your driving for a lengthy period would probably result in the feelings I discovered on the snooker table the other day.  The realisation that you may have forgotten certain techniques for overtaking, parallel parking, judging distance or speed of other road users, anticipating what may occur up ahead.  And of course, as we age, certain factor s creep in that may limit our ability.  I’ve been offering ‘refresher’ lessons for full licence holders at just £14 an hour ever since I started, all bar a couple of business chaps who wanted to sharpen up their driving skills, I’ve not had anyone who is prepared to say that they actually need some more training, and yet, as I’ve discovered this weekend with my snooker, there must be hundreds if not thousands of people that would benefit.  I wonder how many collisions occur each year  that could be attributed to drivers not appreciating their limitations, and not seeing the need for some refresher training.

New beginnings...

I spotted some spring flowers popping about 4” above the ground yesterday; what?!  It’s January 14^th, what are they doing coming through now?  It’s a cold January 14^th too, can’t imagine they will be liking the frost.

My family have just moved house, so I reckon there will be a few more of these kind of surprises coming my way.  Just like the sink leaking was a surprise, there were clear signs that a shower upstairs had leaked on the lounge ceiling and wall, I discovered a border had been wall papered on to another border the other day.... can you believe that?  Our bed does not fit into a space between in-built drawers, but when I move the drawers, I discover the carpet has been cut to the drawers!  Classic! And on it will go I’m sure. 

The boss of the house wants a new kitchen, and a wall down in the kitchen, so I’ve had the pleasure of builders doing their thing recently.  No pain, no gain is what I keep telling myself, as the constant and repetitive sound of a drill hammer causes a deep vibration throughout the whole house and my head.  And the dust.... oh the dust.  It gets up your nose, and manages to get in every room of the house, covering absolutely everything; how does it do that?  Shutting doors makes no difference, using ‘dust covers’.... forget it.   So we’re deep in the doo dars at the moment, it’s all happening.  I’m putting up basket ball hoops in the back garden, stripping wall paper, putting up coat hangers, a shed (that was exciting I can tell you, it had 60 odd steps to the instructions....nice), and the list goes on and on.  I secretly quite enjoy all these jobs, but don’t tell the boss.... it’s a rare and very valuable bargaining tool.

Anyway, must crack on.  I have 4 hour lessons planned in the schedule today and tomorrow, I quite enjoy them, the amount of progress that can be made is phenomenal. 

Continued learning beyond the test

This subject of ‘continuous improvement’ is as relevant for us as driving instructors and trainers, as it is for our learners.

The DSA demonstrate the importance they place on it quite nicely in section 5.2 of the Driving Standard. 

It presents a challenge for me, one that I’m still working on.  How can I foster this idea in my learners’ heads that there is a need to always be open for continued learning after the test?  I can’t give them an analogy about bringing up kids, which is a great shame, because boy am I continuously learning in THAT regard!  I can’t really compare it to school academic qualifications.  I do make the point that good grades at school open doors to options at college/university, and that then opens doors to careers.

But generally speaking, this is a hard concept to get across.  ‘Safe driving for life’..... yea, I can see the need, I really can.  I speak to my learners about how our techniques of driving change with the passing of time, for the better and the worse.  I give real examples of that.... we sit up somewhere pre-chosen by me, and watch; if you pick a good place, 5 minutes observation will be time well spent.  I point out refined driving techniques and I show techniques that leave a little to be desired. 

I have found that occasionally, the attitudes of this subject can already be advanced by the experience of a tragic accident, or sometimes an accident involving serious injury.  And so those learners need little reminding of the need for constant attention at all times.  But I have to say, rarely do I hear a learner speaking about the desire to actually ‘improve’.  I have not had one learner take a Pass Plus session, I have not even had one learner take up a free annual refresher session that I offer – what does THAT tell you about this subject?!  About 60% of them will book up the free motorway session that I offer post test. 

I wonder how much of the resistance to the subject is related to the young age – it can take a wise head to be willing and prepared to reflect on how you can improve on any aspect of your life.  But seeing as I inform the parents of my learners of these free sessions before they even start the course, it surprises me that the parents don’t intervene either.   I mention it on the phone, it’s on the website, I Twitter about them, I put them on Facebook, I include them in the Starter Pack I provide.... it’s not for the want of trying I can tell you.  But people don’t seem to value the concept. 

I’m conscious that I need to work on it more.  Despite the fact that I know of no other driving school offering this free annual refresher session, I’m aware that I need to look at my attitudes and responsibilities on this subject.  It’s tricky.  I wish I had an answer to pass on to my PDI’s on this subject.... I find it difficult to even identify another driving school to benchmark on the subject.  It troubles me that although I know I cover the subject in my training, and I provide the opportunity, I’m not aware of very much active involvement by my passed pupils.  

Driving to a system

Driving training.....an alternative approach

We must make our roads safer by raising the standard of training for newly qualified drivers.

I’ve had 3 yrs experience in the driving instruction industry, and it seems to me there is much room for improving safety on our roads.  In my humble opinion (as they say), the DSA system for training new drivers seems fundamentally flawed.  I say that because there are signs that the training provided to learners is not fit for purpose.  The DSA openly quote the probability of newly qualified drivers having a collision for all to see, the insurance premiums for these new drivers seem to confirm that they are very likely to claim on the insurance. 

If the DSA are serious about improving the safety on our public roads, then taking a fresh look at how driving training is provided in the UK would be a good starting point.  Before I turn my attention to that though, there is another issue relating to learner training which is completely seperate but actually linked.  In many regions of the UK there are too many driving instructors for learners.  Some are specialising, some are getting second jobs and some are deciding it’s time for a career change.  The consequence of this supply/demand mismatch is that many instructors are making the training financially cheaper and cheaper with the result that standards in training have to reduce in order to make it viable as a business.  Many instructors are bending to the learners demands in order to keep the customer happy.  The average national pass rate for learners in the UK is just under 50%.  So many learners are failing the test, and even the ones that do pass are not feeling confident having done so.   This is not a healthy situation.

So you see the connection here?  Evidence tends to suggest that learners who go through the training are actually ill-equipped for driving independently after passing the test, and yet instructors are having to discover new ways of looking more attractive than the competition, to stay in business when there are too few customers around. Looks a little like a downward spiral to me.    

If the DSA were to raise the bar for the expected standard of training to learners, then not only would that pass rate of 50% increase, but also driving instructors of lesser quality would be slowly weeded out.

So without wanting to over generalise, the danger with this situation is that you have learners going to test, taking 2, 3 or 4 attempts and only just being of a good enough standard to pass.   The driving instructors are happy to comply, ‘the customer is king’, and they still get paid for use of their car even on these failed test attempts.   ‘Justifiers’ of this situation will say that if an instructor is no good, then by natural selection, they will get a bad reputation and be weeded out, therefore there is nothing to worry about.  Which under normal conditions of supply and demand would be correct, but these are not normal times.  As such, more and more instructors are offering cheaper and cheaper lessons, a certain number free, or £7, £8, £9 an hour lessons are increasingly common.  They are desperately trying to ‘hook’ more customers – the hook is not quality, the hook is cheap lessons.

Pause for a second.  Look at who is controlling things here.  Look at the consequences.  Is the DSA really satisfied with this current situation?

I have an alternative approach.

Any booking of a learner test HAS to be authorised by a qualified driving instructor (ADI).   When that ADI approves the pupil to go to test, not only are they saying that they fully agree the pupil is ready to go to test, but they declare to the DSA that all the syllabus as defined by the DSA have been covered; and they are prepared to put their name to that pupil. 

If an ADI gets a pass rate of lower than a certain threshold as set by the DSA, let’s say for the sake of argument 75%, then that ADI is automatically recalled for a check test, at the instructors expense.  The instructor is provided with his/her results from the tests for a set period, and if there are any common themes of driving faults that are exposed, the check test will in particular be looking at those areas.  A grade of 4 or above on check test, carry on.  Grade 3 or lower and you are facing being taken off the register.

If an instructor is recalled for a check test a certain number of times in a given period eg 3 times in 12 months, then a warning is then given that they face losing their badge.

If a learner with a diagnosed learning difficulty wants to learn to drive then there must be a mechanism in the test booking system that precludes the result of that learner’s tests from affecting the performance measure of that instructor, due to the unpredictable nature of performance from learners with learning difficulties.

If a learner suffers with excessive test nerves then it is the responsibility of the instructor to identify that early on in the training, and assist that learner to pass the test.  ‘Test nerves’ per se, are no excuse for low pass rates for an instructor (in the above example there is a 25% allowance on the threshold to cater for such cases).  If the instructor is unable to train the learner to cope/manage the test nerves then they would not sign them off for test, and the learner would need to find an instructor who IS able to.  Word would soon get round of which instructors are ABLE to assist in this regard.

Every test is taken as a separate case.  10 learners that take 20 attempts to pass in total will result in a 50% pass rate.  On the other hand, 9 learners that pass first time, and one that takes 11 attempts in total will result in a 50% pass rate.  Therefore instructors will be directly accountable for providing training for the needs of each individual.

The public would be able to search for any ADI on the DSA website and see their latest pass rates.

Any newly qualified ADI would have a certain period of time (eg 12 months) shown on the DSA website whereby the pass rate would not be disclosed.  This is to cater for odd stats that can arise due to low frequency of tests being taken (due to being new in the industry).   In that 12 month window only, their pass rates would still be calculated and run on in to month 13 but would not be displayed.

The public would not necessarily need to know what the check test threshold is, they would only see the pass rates of each instructor and would therefore be able to make comparisons between instructors.

The pass rate figure quoted should also have a figure following it in brackets, indicating the number of tests that pass rate relates to eg ADI 191010 INGRAM 84% (48), this is to provide transparency about the number of tests the figure is calculated on – the public can then be better informed by that information.

This would improve the current situation in a few ways:

1.        The standard of driving at the test stage would dramatically improve, due to the fact that there is accountability between the pass/fail and the instructor’s career.

2.       Learners would know from the outset that if they do not cover all the syllabus of learning, and reach it to the instructor’s satisfaction, the instructor will not sign them off for test, therefore the onus is on the learner to learn rather than the instructor to get the learner to test.

3.       Lesser able instructors would slowly be weeded out of the industry, allowing the higher quality instructors to flourish.

4.       Driving instructors would feel more valued, they would feel less pressured.

5.       There would be a direct incentive for an instructor to ensure that he/she maintains standards, and does not cut corners. 

6.       Instructors would have the opportunity to ensure a full range of training was provided that truly aims to provide a safe driver for life.

7.       Instructors would have more control of the timing of the tests, and would be less vulnerable to learners wanting to take the test too soon. 

8.       The public would be given the opportunity to make a more informed decision on who they select for driving training based on a meaningful, accurate measure.

9.       The attitudes and responsibilities of the learner would be more adaptable than the current system provides due to the balance of power for the learning process shifting from the learner to the instructor.

10.   Due to the clearly defined expectations, there would be more willingness for the learner to take ownership of the training and embrace independent learning to satisfy their personal needs.

11.   There would be less need to provide cheaper and cheaper lessons, as the quality of the instructor is more transparent to the customers.

How do you want to learn to drive?

It’s really important that you consciously decide how you intend to learn to drive.  You could learn, use and apply the routines that I give, so that it triggers in your head the important components, or you could devise your own method of remembering the key methods of good driving, or you could learn by repetition of the same experience.    Read these 2 situations of what can happen on test:

1.       Pulling over.  On test the examiner says “Could you please pull over Louise in a safe, legal, convenient place”. 

Ok, where, where, where, can I park over there near that bus stop?..... oh I don’t know, I’ll pull over past it just to be safe.... how far do I need to legally be from that junction on the left?  Oh, I don’t know, I tell you what I’ll pull over past it just to be safe.  I know I have cars behind me, oh no, this is going to be tough.  How do I pull over without annoying everyone?  Why did he have to choose here of all places, it’s crazy round here?  Now I know I need to signal but which mirrors do I need to check again?  Can I pull over near those kids on the footpath?

While all those thoughts are whizzing round your head, although you have already started to slow down, you are in fact doing 15mph in 3^rd gear, the car is annoyingly pulling you along faster than you really wanted to be going as 3^rd gear is too high for 10-15mph. Because you’ve been considering all these other things, you have passed the bus stop, passed the junction and now you are back to square 1 wondering where to pull over.

Meanwhile, despite being patient initially, the driver of the car behind is beginning to lose it.  “Why oh why is this learner going so slow?  COME ON!!!  We do have a life you know, I know you are learning but I need to get on”.  Following a learner down the road at 15 mph when you have an appointment in 5 minutes is not much fun. 

Eventually the driver behind runs out of patience and overtakes you when he shouldn’t have really, right near a bend.  He forces a car in the other direction to veer sharply to the left. 

Not a nice experience at all.  You feel trash, the examiner has failed you for that, your friends and family will be disappointed, you’ve now got to work a whole lot of hours to pay for another test, you can’t go and buy that car tomorrow like you were hoping, you curse your instructor as he is clearly trash too. 

Why has this happened?  Well it happened due to the need of pulling over as instructed by the examiner.  But the real answer is that your mind was busy trying to apply the law in terms of bus stops and junctions, it was busy getting affected due to other road users, your mind was not clear on the actual MSM system of pulling over – so you were not practised enough in pulling over.  Variations of this routine include pulling over with a cyclist just in front of you, pulling over near a bend, pulling over on a hill, near a parked car, without a kerb, in the dark, to pick up a pedestrian, with a lorry right behind you, when it’s pouring with rain, at the direction of a police car, when you have a pedestrian wanting to cross the road, in a 40mph road, due to an ambulance behind wanting to pass on blue lights.  There’s plenty of material here to make this difficult.

So how well practised are you in doing this routine?  Have you experienced all of the above?  Have you given yourself enough time and opportunity to experience these situations?  You see how not properly learning the theory begins to have a knock on effect?  Your mind is troubling itself trying to work out the law with regards to the distance allowable near junctions, or whether you can legally stop near bus stops.... and that is inhibiting your mind applying the MSM routine.  Is it a surprise really that some learners stall because they did not dip the clutch soon enough to take into account the slower speed due to being uphill, is it a surprise some stop too far away from the kerb, or don’t apply the handbrake, or did not put a signal on to warn others?

2.        Approaching a roundabout.  The examiner says “Can you take the 2^nd exit to the left please?”

Right, right, ok, ok, 2^nd exit, let me look, 2^nd exit......now, remember remember remember, what lane should I be in, what lane?  Not sure yet, but anyway, what speed should I be at, not sure, tell you what, I’ll go into 2^nd, can’t go wrong with that. 

You put the car in to 2^nd gear at 35mph.  The car jerks violently when you bring the clutch up, it is making a loud revving noise, you come off the gas, it begins to slow.  That really annoys you and kind of frightens you too, ‘why did THAT happen?’, meanwhile the bus that was a nice distance behind you is now really close behind you because actually you are approaching this roundabout too slow at 10mph. 

As you approach the roundabout, you desperately try to identify the correct lane to be in but the rain is not helping you see the road surface and any arrows, are there any arrows?  You miss the roundabout sign post as a result, but as you approach, you suddenly realise how busy and big this roundabout is, and how fast the vehicles are moving on it.  That’s scary!   

I wish that bus wasn’t so close behind me, that’s really putting me off.

After one stall, due to THAT bus, you finally make it on to the roundabout and make the 2^nd exit – not quite understanding why THAT bus was flashing the headlights behind you on the roundabout.

The examiner explains at the test centre that actually, you had been in the lane that was dedicated for 1^st left only.  The actual lane you needed was lane 2 as shown on the green sign post on the approach to the roundabout and confirmed by the white arrows on the road surface of the lanes too.  The driver of the bus had been annoyed as you had held him (and the full bus of passengers) up on the approach, approaching too slow, only for him to then discover that you were in fact in the wrong lane for the exit you wanted.  The examiner could see in his mirror that the bus driver was actually really cross.  It’s a fail.

Couple of observations to make about these.

You can embrace what needs to be learnt here, so that you could then apply that system of driving anywhere in the UK.  It would not matter where you were driving, you are still able to use the same method that you’ve been taught, so that you drive round, safely, efficiently with due consideration to other road users. 

Or you could just make sure that your instructor conditions you to knowing what to do and when.  So you say to him, just tell me what to do and when and I will pick it up eventually.  Taking example number 2 above, if you do that particular roundabout enough times, and if your instructor tells you enough, eventually you will be able to negotiate yourself round.  What you need to be very aware of, with this approach to learning to drive, is that it only works on the roads you are familiar with.  You are not applying a system with this approach, you are driving by rote..... what you have been repeatedly told to do. 

Skimping on learning the theory though is extremely short sighted.  Not having any depth to your learning of the law, sign posts, stopping distances etc is a recipe for difficulties in the future.

So if there was one thing I would advise you do, it would be, accept to take the responsibility to make an actual decision of how you intend to learn.  Only if you weigh up the choices above, and make that decision (perhaps with help from your parents), will you feel like you own the way you intend to learn to drive.  If on the other hand, you don’t accept that responsibility then you are fooling no-one.  What you’re doing is choosing not to be held to account.  The ‘false’ option is to learn only the absolute minimum, as little as you can get away with, but then expect to pass the test comfortably and drive wherever you like in the UK..... simply impossible.

This is your choice, it’s your life, but make sure you know that whatever happens in the future will be as a result of the decisions you make.  I realise that at 17yrs of age, this will be perhaps the first time in your life you’ve had to consider this, and so it may not sit comfortably with you.  But if you resist any sense of ‘owning’ the learning that is required, then guess what...... you won’t learn – it’s as simple as that!

Justifying failure

While chatting to some staff at a supermarket today about the possibility of putting up a business card on a notice board, one of the staff came over and started to explain how she was feeling about her experience of learning to drive.  Her story went along the lines of using two driving instructors, one indy and one from a national school, and yet she had failed twice.  The indy had been charging her £25/hr.  I listened politely, asked a few questions and then left her a card.  Who knows if I’ll hear from her.  But listening to her story and the sound of resentment and disappointment in her voice left me feeling quite sad for her.  There she is, a young lass of about 18 I would guess, I can’t imagine she would be on much more than £7-8 per hour in that supermarket, and it was clear to hear (if you chose to), that she was feeling quite bitter from her experience. 

It connected with me for two other reasons.  The national driving school she had invested in for her training was the school I had a very low opinion of after investing nearly £4000 of my own money to become qualified.  The indy instructor she mentioned had come to my notice about a year earlier.  A learner of mine told me that she had a discussion with a friend of hers who was at that time learning with this instructor.  The discussion was about the use of mirrors when driving.  My learners friend explained that her instructor had told her to look at the mirror every 5 seconds on the test, just so the examiner could see.  Now I appreciate that you have to be very careful with these stories, but if you re-read who is saying what to whom in the above, you will notice that the information being fed back to me was as a result of two learners discussing their experience with two instructors.  This is the same instructor who was charging the supermarket lass £25/hour, and she failed.

Now I’m more than aware that you can’t jump to conclusions after listening to one or two people, you must always beware how things get twisted but I had heard what this lass had to say, and I could see that the experience has affected her greatly.  I posted up tonight on my Facebook a reference to this story, and I stand by that post.... you can view it if you like dated 7.1.12

Within an hour of the post, 2 instructors took it upon themselves to start questioning my pass rates to make such a comment, they started questioning my integrity in the business and one even suggested it is the comment of someone who has just come into the industry.  I have removed the comments as I do not ask any ADI to follow my Facebook page, and I do not invite them to post up their opinions on my business page – if they don’t like to hear the views of a professional who is passionate about providing quality training then they should be more selective who they choose to ‘follow’.  It says more about them and their approach.  You hold a mirror to your own beliefs, expectations and standards by what you express towards others, and this is a classic example.  Those 2 instructors are more than willing to question my integrity and professionalism than reflect on what is being suggested.  One of them directly queried what my pass rate is..... if she perhaps took the trouble to look at my blog here, or my website she would very quickly discover what my pass rate is.  And for the record, I literally cannot recall the last fail I had, I would need to look it up on my computer.  So that would perhaps give her some indication of the standard I am running at.  But in case they read this entry, please feel free to comment about a blog I write on the relevant blog..... not on a Facebook page.   I'm genuinely interested in debate and feedback.

Those 2 instructors choose to run their business the way they do.... it is their choice, and they have to live with the consequences.   No matter how much I personally agree/disagree with the way an instructor went about their business, I would never post up on their business network pages my thoughts on their approach.  But how sad it is that within the hour, 2 female instructors, on a Saturday evening have nothing better to do than pronounce their opinions on other peoples business pages.

A national average pass rate of just under 50% is appalling, I have stated before in other articles, we should all collectively hang our heads in shame at that result.  But I will sleep soundly tonight knowing my personal first time pass rate is over 90%.  When you hear driving instructors being so quick to defend failure and justify it to themselves, then it makes it very apparent why there is so much failure around.

Mock Test

Had a call from a chap late afternoon yesterday, opening gambit being “Can I use your car on a test I have tomorrow morning at 9am”. 

“Charming”, I’m thinking.  But if there is one thing this job has taught me it is to really try and see things from my customer’s point of view. So although this is not word for word, the conversation went like this:

“Hello, Tom Ingram”

“Can I use your car on a test I have tomorrow morning at 9am”

“Why?”

“Because I need a car”

“But why is it that you have a test booked tomorrow morning at 9am and you don’t have a car?”

“Because I went back home 5 months ago and I can’t find my instructor from ‘Red’ ”  (strong foreign accent).

“So when was your last lesson?”

“5 months ago”

“So why have you booked your test?”

“Because on my last lesson my instructor told me I was about ready to go to test.  So can you give me a car tomorrow?”

“How do I know that you aren’t going to trash my car tomorrow in the test?”

“Well you have insurance don’t you?”

“Yes”

“So you would just claim on the insurance”     (He really did say that, I’m not making this up)

“And then my insurance premiums would go up, do you understand what I am saying?”

“Yes”

“What I would be prepared to do is assess your driving standard by doing a mock test”

“What.... and if I’m ok I can have the car tomorrow for the test?”

“Yes”

“How much will it cost me for the car tomorrow?”

“£20”

“How much will it cost me to do the mock test?”

“£37”

“Can you do the mock test later on tonight?”

“Yes”

“Ok I will maybe call you in an hour or so”

I honestly thought that was the last I was going to hear of that chap.  This is the kind of stuff that occasionally comes our way.  You could argue the rights and wrongs of his approach to the test until the cows come home, anyone who reads my blog will instantly know that his attitude could not be any further in the opposite direction to my personal attitude on driving education. 

So from his point of view he is a cornered rat.  For whatever reason, the relationship between him and his instructor has deteriorated, he has taken it upon himself to book the test and yet he has no car.  As the test in question is the very next day, even if he were to cancel he would lose the cost of the test fee.... hence being a cornered rat; his options are few.  It turned out that he is 21, and I guess being a young man, he perhaps has not realised quite yet that getting yourself in these tight corners with few options, is not really the way to live your life.

So we met up last night.  He showed me his provisional licence that had 8 points recorded on it for licence and insurance offences. He gave me the £37, I wrote out a receipt including me writing his full name and drivers licence number and handed it to him.  (I would dearly have loved to have got a snap shot of his face on my mobile..... my extinct told me that would have been a good idea).   I drove somewhere quiet (damage limitation), and asked him about his instructor.  He stated that he could not find the guy since coming back from his home country, and as such he was ringing round about 20 instructors for a car tomorrow.  It turned out that he had since been taking lessons with his Father who is not an instructor.  So as I pass the keys over to him and I’m thinking “Ding ding round 1”.

First thing he did?  Looked at the controls, got himself instantly familiar with them with no assistance from me whatsoever, it was dark, raining and very windy last night.... testing weather conditions.  Next thing he sorted his seat position out, put his belt on (properly) but did not check it worked, he did not check the level of his head restraint although I could see it was set correctly.  He then adjusted all three mirrors with no input from me whatsoever (I later discovered that the side mirrors had both been set up to face down on the road in preparation for manoeuvres, so in effect his side mirrors were wrongly set up).  What he then did I thought was interesting, with the key not in the ignition, he tried out the pedals.  Now given the situation he was in, I thought that was quite some demonstration of clarity of detail..... I appreciate that he missed things out in that set up, he didn’t check the hand brake was on, didn’t check it was in neutral, got the mirrors set up wrong etc, but nevertheless the speed with which he apparently got accustomed to the car surprised me – got me thinking.

So engine on, superb obs, and away we go.  Very deliberate movements, nice structure to POM and MSpsl on the 1^st emerge..... I was watching closely, he had my attention.  I asked him a couple of questions to see if he could speak while still applying that system, seemed that he could.  I’m now getting quietly impressed, but continued to watch him like a hawk.

He came to a right turn on a cross roads and paused too far back.  Not the end of the world, but I banked that one in the memory... along with the cockpit drill under the heading ‘lack of detail’.  He then came to another crossroads where I had asked him to go straight over.  At the moment he approached the give ways, a kid came from the nearside kerb on a cycle with no lights, straight across his nearside, straight across the crossroads into the new road where we would be going.  The kid had a buckled rear wheel but was still able to ride it.  I watched the learner, he did obs, and slowly entered the new road, at that very point of entering he did not check his mirrors in the new road, and what followed him in was a car that was so close up his rear end, that I could not see the cars headlights, I don’t believe it could have been any closer to the rear of our car.  The learner continued to ‘holdback’, really quite some distance from the kid on the bike that was in the process of moving across the road, diagonally right.  My learner had not seen the car behind, and continued behind the bike about I would guess 12 car lengths doing no more than 10 mph.  The inevitable happened, the car behind did an abrupt positional change to the right and then an overtake – this is in a 30.   I don’t have a problem with giving vulnerable road users space, but THAT much space and THAT slow speed was almost inviting the overtake.  A more appropriate response would have been to anticipate the overtake, mirrors, signal and pop over to the parking bays on the left side of the road, let Mr. Manic go about his manic life and then continue.  So I pulled him over (nice routine and accuracy) and he argued the toss about this incident.  Noted.

I then asked him to do a left reverse which is actually a junction the DSA use on test for a left reverse.  He initially set it up just fine positionally, but then we sat there with the reverse lights lit for I would estimate 2 minutes, waiting for the world to go by.  He did not make progress in the small periods of time when they momentarily became available.  He did the reverse, but he did not hug the kerb so he ended up in the centre of the new road.  I paused him, pointed out the positional error and we moved on.  He desperately wanted to do it again, but I told him we have plenty of other stuff to do (the fact is, you only get one go on the test, you can’t negotiate having repeated attempts until you get it right).

I then asked him to take 1^st exit left on a busy roundabout.  He was fine in terms of being safe for traffic to our right but I pointed out to him that the nearside wheels went over a hatched area on the left that is surrounded by a solid white line.

“Do you know the significance of the solid white line?”

“Yes”

“What is it?”

“I must not go over it”

“But you just did”

“No I didn’t”

Oh boy.  My reply.... “I do nothing else in my life, but drive round in this car with learners and trainee driving instructors, it is my job to know the position of this car in relation to the road, and I’m telling you, not asking, that you just went over that solid white line”

“No I didn’t”

Wrong answer.  It was precisely at THAT point that I had my suspicions confirmed as to why he was in the position he was in of not having a car available for his test the next day.  I could see he was getting increasingly angry with the realisation that he has blown £65 on a test fee.

We did a bay park where his nearside rear wheel drove over, cutting across the white line in the bay, we had some dual carriageway driving where the entry and exit were good.  His general driving lacked forward planning.  It was exposed by the fact that he was incorrectly assessing the necessary speed (and hence gear) for given hazards.  So the consequence of that was that he was braking on bends, he was changing gear on bends, he was changing gear while steering.  It’s not nice to see someone finding themselves in the wrong gear ON a hazard, or at the wrong speed on the approach.  Now I appreciate that we could all assess that differently, some instructors may give him a good few isolated driving faults for each of the end results, but for me, that was a biggy – I know that I would not allow that with one of my learners, it is a fundamental flaw in his driving ‘system’. 

On one right turn at some lights, he asked for me to confirm it was ok to go into the ‘right only’ filter lane – this is not a sign of someone being test ready.

I asked him “Do you know about the independent drive section on the test?”

“Yes”

“What is it?”

“Where I drive independently”

“How do they ask you to do that on the test?”

“They just make sure I drive on my own”

Wrong answer.  Knowledge gaps are fine, but it’s the denial that anything is wrong that is the killer.... it actually inhibits learning.

He then drove back home, and said “I guess you will not be providing your car for tomorrow”, which I confirmed.  His driving then took on a nasty twist bordering on recklessness, I was very close to terminating the drive.  I was anticipating something potentially quite nasty when we got to his.

When he stopped the car, he said he was still going to test in the morning.  When I asked how, he said an instructor had called him about an hour before our mock test, and she was able to provide a car for tomorrow.  Male bravado perhaps, although anyone who reads my blog will know that some instructors are more than happy to do exactly that. 

So I asked,

“So if you intended to go to test anyway, why on earth did you just pay me £37 for a mock test?”, he thought for a few seconds (an uncharacteristic delay).

“I’m going to take it anyway”

“But why? You will fail”

“I hope not”

“Well listen, do me a favour, no matter what the result is, will you please text me to say how you got on, pass or fail, it matters not, but let me know?”

“Ok”

As I write, it is 11am and I have had no text. 

I very much doubt he took his test this morning, but one thing I do know, is if he did, he would not pass.

I bang on about how important it is to give good consideration to how you intend to learn to drive.  It’s massive in my book.  It is one of the most fundamental causes for failing to achieve your goal.  By failing to consider your strategy, you are in effect, devising your downfall – anyone reading this who plays chess will instantly appreciate my point.   

  

The 'N' reg Peugeot

One of the biggest problems for a 17 yr old when they want to learn to drive is that they have very little to compare it to.  Inevitably it tends to be compared to passing an exam.  Passing a car test and passing a school exam both involve learning, so that very often is the term of reference used.

Following this line of thought through, very often students will leave cramming for an exam to the last minute, sometimes quite literally.  You will hear students advising each other to leave it to the night before, that way, when you take the exam in the morning, it’s just been ‘learnt’ and will come to you straight away therefore making it easier.  Well I’m not in any position to question the rights and wrong of that strategy but I can draw some direct links with learning to drive. 

A written exam is measuring your ability to perform certain tasks in your brain on a given day.  Some of those tasks will require a routine/process/method to perform it comprehensively, efficiently and accurately.  If you can’t recall how that process is carried out, then it is a very uncomfortable feeling to realise that you have not prepared well enough.  Occasionally you may actually remember the process but you have not practised APPLYING that process enough, to cover all the possible variations.   If you miss out one vital step in the process, the answer is wrong and you are doomed.  On some questions you are actually drawing on learning that occurred throughout the academic year, facts, figures, processes, opinions; there is no better feeling than instantly being able to recall learning – it is a good demonstration of depth of learning from earlier in the year.

I remember doing an ‘HNC’ many moons ago, and speaking to a girlfriend on the phone I was relaying how frustrated I was at not being able to solve a maths equation.  To my astonishment she was able to answer it instantly, while on the phone.  Some people can visualise things better than others, they can identify patterns far quicker than others and they can run through a structure/process far easier than others. 

Learning to drive has similarities with the above, in terms of the necessity to recall and apply key principles from the brain.  However with driving there is the added factor of the physical element.  There is a need to be able to co-ordinate your hand and feet movements accurately, there is a need to be able to assess through your eyes certain aspects that are important such as spatial awareness of your position in the road, or how a junction needs to be driven due to the width of road or road users already on it.  The driving test is measuring your physical and mental ability and in that regard it has little resemblance to an academic exam. 

But one of the absolute key differences that can be very easily overlooked is the consequences of getting something wrong when driving.  If you find yourself struggling with a written exam, then you know that the consequence will very likely be a lower grade, perhaps feelings of frustration, anger, disappointment.  If you struggle on the driving test you could damage a vehicle, injure a person, fail the test, frighten a pedestrian, confuse a cyclist, and you might feel embarrassed, apologetic, resentful, angry, disappointed.  When you, me, anyone learns to drive, they are in effect putting up a clear sign of intention to take the responsibility of being safe, for the good of everyone, on the public roads.  You don’t automatically have a right to drive on public roads, you have to demonstrate a willingness to take responsibility for what that entails.

 Now we are talking.  Now we can begin to see how our attitudes to driving actually play a part in this process.  We can also see how our attitudes to LEARNING to drive will speak volumes about us as individual people.  If you hold little regard for how your learning to drive might impact other road users, then what does that say about you?  The mental skills required to pass an academic qualification will not be used every day for the rest of your life, but the mental and physical skills required to drive a car safely and efficiently certainly will need to be used constantly. 

Yesterday, the weather that we had was pretty extreme.  I don’t remember taking driving lessons in such extreme weather for a long time.  It was extremely windy, powerfully gusty wind, the kind that can easily catch you out.  It was raining very hard, the spray from the rain on the surface of the road was significantly affecting visibility.  My learner and I were doing a ‘rural run’, we were practising driving on country roads; reading the severity of bends, anticipating hazards that are specific to rural areas, discovering how the style of driving on rural roads differs to urban roads.  At one point, my learner was doing 50 on a country road with a 60 limit, a sensible speed I thought due to the conditions.  It was a thin 2 way road, 1 lane in each direction, verges and hedges both sides, no kerbs, no white paint.  Behind us we had a dark coloured N reg Peugeot, who overtook us at the very time when a black car could be seen to be approaching a T junction to our left up ahead.  The black car pulls out from the junction, a poor decision, and the Peugeot finds itself having to brake very very hard from 60+ mph on the wrong side of the road.  It’s not lost on me, that that particular situation could so easily have resulted in fatalities..... very easily indeed.  The Peugeot then continued on its way, very close to the rear of the black car for a few miles.  Not appreciating how his poor driving on the overtake nearly cost him or others lives, the driver then continues to drive staggeringly close to the other vehicle, I imagine as his emotions of anger are now kicking in, the adrenalin is overflowing, and the ‘red mist’ of emotion is further clouding that persons ability to drive safely.  Neither driver was a learner, they were both full licence holders, and neither of them were driving to the conditions.  You have to question whether they covered driving on rural roads on their driving lessons, you have to question if they did any driving lessons in extreme weather conditions or even spoke of the affects, you have to wonder if they did learn about it but simply disregarded this once they passed their test.  It makes you wonder if they had actually passed a driving test, were they foreign, did they have eyesight problems, were they rushing for any particular reason, did they want to simply overtake a learner car for the sake of it. 

So the attitude to learning, and the responsibility of the driver once the test is passed, makes the strategy of learning to drive a much different prospect to studying for an academic qualification. 

My advice for any learners is to first of all find yourself a trainer that is going to give comprehensive training, in terms of the subjects covered and the attitudes/responsibilities that drivers require to be a safe driver for life.  Forget about drawing any comparisons between learning to drive and academic qualifications; learning to drive requires a different mindset.  The sooner you realise that the onus is on you to learn and apply key driving skills for the rest of your life the better.  If you are going to rely on your driving instructor to keep on reminding you of the need for mirror checks so that you just manage to pass the test, and then you can forget about them, then welcome to the world of the N reg Peugeot – and I wish you the best of luck, as that is exactly what you will be needing for the rest of your driving life.