32 in a 30

I was asked the other day to keep an eye on the speed of one of my Learners.  Not unreasonable you might think, surely I do anyway others might think.

If I describe the context of the discussion....

This Learner likes to drive round at 30 in 3^rd gear, which is perfectly acceptable.  Personally, in my car, I like to be in 4^th at 30, but that approach does demand you are disciplined with monitoring speed to avoid just creeping over 30mph.  So when I raised this with my Learner, who is learning in his car, he told me that he likes to stay in third – this is what he’s used to.  Ok.  When I said it would be better on his pocket due to using less fuel*, his response was that he cares not about the fuel because it’s not his car, not his fuel.  Ok. 

But what he then observed was that he was consistently going just over the 30mph speed limit.  So when I said that fault can easily creep in when you are sat in 4^th in a 30 but should not quite so readily in 3^rd at 30, he asked if I could just keep a casual eye on his speed.

Now that was interesting to me.  This subject of being just over the speed limit had come up before with this Learner and I had explained about an extremely useful technique to combat this problem.  I had also directed him off to this video that I made several months ago directly on this subject....

   http://youtu.be/BQrsmRZHSA8

So when he asked me to keep a casual eye on his speed it raises an issue in my eyes.  Firstly, I won’t be there to keep a casual eye on his speed on the test, but he can be sure the examiner will be keeping more than a casual eye on it.  Secondly, I wont be there once he has passed his test, to keep a casual eye on his speed.  As I pointed out to him, my job is to identify a meaningful solution to this problem that is going to work for him, in the long term, not just in this short period of time I see him before the test.  I reminded him that as a newly qualified driver, if you accumulate 6+ points on your driving licence (that only takes 2 speeding endorsements), then he will need to start all over again.

I can of course just do as he has asked, and sit there like a parrot on his shoulder saying “speed” every time he goes 1 mph over that speed limit – one would have to question though whether this would be an efficient use of his money when hiring my time.  But then, perhaps he cares not about the money?

Alternatively, he could invest 3 minutes of his time to view the video, and then try practicing that technique so that he actually alters his mental processes while driving – it may take a while to develop that skill, but a skill it most definitely will be.... that if he chooses, could last him a lifetime. 

This comes down to ownership of learning.  Not taking the responsibility on board to learn so that you are truly an independent driver after your test is quite a stumbling block. 




*Take a look at your rev counter when you are doing 30mph in 3rd and 4th gear.  In my car, in 4th gear it's at 1500 revs, in 3rd gear it's at just shy of 2500 revs - that means the engine is working harder, more fuel is being used which costs more money.  Doing this from the start of your driving life, for 50 years will make a significant difference in the amount of fuel you pay for and consume.