The beauty of the 'chin to shoulder'

For some odd reason I’ve been thinking just lately about some of the accidents that we all hear of in our day to day lives.  The real shocking ones stand out a mile – where people died.  

Only yesterday morning, I was doing entry/exit points on dual carriageways with one of my Learners, and I was emphasising how many accidents occur due to drivers ‘forcing’ themselves on to a dual carriageway rather than being prepared to give way.  Initially I mentioned to my Learner the link I put on my Facebook page that shows the accident ‘blackspots’ in Peterborough – and you can clearly see how often accidents occur at entry points.  I remember speaking to Clare George who was at the time in charge of road safety in Peterborough and she was emphasising to me the volume of traffic on our parkways and therefore what the actual %’s these accidents represented – small comfort for those involved I thought (but I did take her point).

That then reminded me of an incident a while ago now, where an ex-Learners Mum rang me to say her daughter had been driving on a parkway near an EXIT slip, when an old guy in Lane 1 decided to move to Lane 2 with no warning or obs taken, resulting in catastrophic results for several vehicles.  I cannot tell you how relieved I was to see her daughter a day or two later.

It is so easy to take things for granted.  We all get so used to going about lives, day to day, often with little recognition of the hazards involved.

I had one such incident crop up this evening.  I was heading on down to Holme, on a parkway, behind a slowish lorry in Lane 1, approaching a roundabout.  We clear the roundabout, and I decide to overtake the lorry....... central mirror, right mirror, signal, begin to move..... right chin to shoulder – THERE HE WAS – a motorbike in lane 2 caught in my peripheral vision from the chin to shoulder.    I hadn’t encroached over the centre line of the lanes but quickly took signal off, got back into the normal driving position and gave a wave to the motorcyclist who reciprocated as he overtook me.  

How easily that could have been so different.  

I’m a great lover of these ‘chin to shoulders’, always have been.  A massive ‘wake up’ call to me however – any of my Learners reading this would justifiably be reprimanding me for a ‘trigger happy’ left hand doing the signal BEFORE the chin to shoulder.... and rightly so. 

I’ve not had a single accident in my driving school car since I’ve been in business, and I remember reading somewhere they reckon on average you get one every 18 months in our game, so I guess I’m due at least a couple.  But I’m working hard on it, I’m working really hard on it.

For all the benefits of mobility, freedom, independence, and the like that being able to drive a car brings, it brings great responsibility too – and that is at the forefront of my mind, most of my day; and something I don’t hesitate to emphasise to my Learners.