Encouraging new thinking

A challenge for driving instructors can be the pre-conceived ideas that pupils sometimes have of how they are expected to drive.  It is natural for pupils to feel the need to copy how friends or family drive because that is what they consistently observe.  

"Would you drive in the snow?"  I like this kind of question as it stops pupils in their tracks and makes them think.  Another one I like: "Is there a limit as to how long you would drive for?", our young drivers don't tend to link the mental effort of driving, tiredness that creeps up over time, and the increased risks that bring - many would not associate any risk of constantly driving all day.  "Would you be prepared to overtake on a single carriageway road?", will get them wondering what the theoretically 'correct' answer is.

Going back to the snow though, it would be nice if your pupil started formulating thoughts around compressed snow through the weight of the vehicle, turning to ice as temperatures drop, which then creates risk due to lack of traction.  I would suggest that it is a chain of thinking that is not necessarily a given for some pupils.  In much the same way that thicker fog decreases vision which should result in lower speeds is not a given - it may be for you as a driving instructor, but it won't necessarily be for a pupil.

So for early beginner pupils ask them to visualise the following.  Let them know that all the following is complete imagination so that they can picture what you are explaining.

Imagine it snowing while they are driving.  A passenger sits on the roof of the vehicle with a bucket of grit - I personally like grit as you can see the colour of grit against the white of snow although I'm aware there are technical differences in literally how grit and salt react at different temperatures.  This is a visual example.

As they drive around, the passenger is throwing grit around the car on to the road.  As the pupil comes up to a right turn on either a major to minor "T" junction or a mini roundabout, the pace at which the car turns right should not make the passenger fall off the roof of the vehicle.  The path the car takes means that as the passenger is throwing grit around the car the position of the car is bang on, the pupil is not cutting corners or the white blob.  Let that sink in.  It starts to formulate this idea of the dynamics of forces playing on the vehicle when it is changing direction, and speed and position.  This chain of thinking is not a given.  Mention that before they start to drive the car into that new road, their eyes must look into that road to make sure that it is clear for them to proceed.

I would suggest to you that although this is completely make believe and arguably nonsense (if it were snowing they would not even be able to see the white paint at the junctions necessarily), it does start to make essential connections in the mind.  

For any PDI's reading this blog, pupils will not necessarily make connections between the speed they approach the right turn, how tight it is, how busy it is, what the vision is like (of the new road) and the possible practical consequences this has on stability/traction.  Please don't read this and now assume that all pupils won't, but be ready for the fact that many will not make that connection.  I would suggest for early learners, proactively bring up this subject to allow the thought to embed in the brain.

[Any frequent reader will know why I have chosen turning right.  But for new readers to this blog, turning right is increased risk generally speaking.  Regardless whether we be thinking of learner drivers or not, statistically, it is where the increased risk is.  Turning right across oncoming traffic - it is where it is all going on (not exclusively but frequently), and driving instructors should always keep that at the front of their minds.]