How to become an intuitively good driver by Tom of www.BigTom.org.uk/home/

This blog is going to explore how a driver develops the skill of making the right decisions when driving, without making a lot of effort... intuitively being a good driver.

When we really get stuck in to learning to drive, there are a couple of things that occur.  Firstly, we start to get so used to doing the act of driving that it becomes second nature.  I am not talking about dipping our toe in the swimming pool here, or paddling in the pool up to our ankles, I am talking about properly warming up the muscles, putting swimming goggles on, and swimming 64 lengths of the pool (a mile) in a time that you are continuously improving.  You get my point?  

The second thing that happens when you drive for that amount is that you start to develop 'deep mind' skills.  You actually start getting really good at it. This does of course depend on a few things, one of which is that you are being provided with good training.  As such, you start to develop key driving skills such as the ability to anticipate and forward plan.  Good driving habits are forming, less conscious effort is being made, you are now becoming a 'good driver'.

A customer on my Intensive Driving Course this week, has a Sister who is learning to drive in another part of the UK (doing weekly driving lessons) .  They are calling each other and swapping notes.  He is covering aspects in his training that she has not even heard of, let alone had a chance to experience.  Her confidence is already dwindling having failed the driving test 3 times, but now her brother is talking about things like how to use "limit points" to assess the severity of a bend and properly prepare with the correct approaching speed and gear, something she has no idea what he is talking about.... her confidence is fading away fast.

And so if you learn to drive on an intensive driving course that enables you to be constantly, repeatedly practising good driving habits, then you are ticking that 'experience' box.  As long as you do that enough, you then start getting good at it, you are learning well, and you then find yourself becoming an intuitively good driver. 

You can't short cut that process in my experience.  You can't attend a course that calls itself an "Intensive Driving Course" in name, but actually doesn't provide you with that much experience driving.  The beauty of having a 4 hour driving session ahead of you is that you can drive further in that time than you could ever possibly drive in 4 lots of 1 hour sessions.  You can greatly increase the variety of driving conditions you come across; different towns/cities/counties will allow you to experience different road markings, road design, signage etc.  So when you are driving 80 - 90 miles in a session, and being given the opportunity to 'swim that mile', you start to truly develop skills such as intuition, reading situations on roundabouts as you approach, anticipating the likelihood of potential hazards BECOMING hazards.

Watch more about this subject of 'intuition' here

This has been a short blog exploring the advantages of being able to "drive more, to experience more, to learn more" and how that develops skills in the deep sub-conscious.  Hope it helps and good luck!

www.BigTom.org.uk