Category - ADI

Someone found the blog on that search term – presumably they found my recent post on wheel clamping near the Colwick MPTC.

I was told that some lorries had been clamped at the Colwick test centre when I suggested that it was only driving instructors being targeted.

I also did a quick search and found the photo (above) showing a lorry that had been clamped – obviously not using a proper clamp – when the driver had nipped to the loo (according to the forum the story is on).

Although the thread on that forum seems to have become an excuse for people to talk about urinating (those guys should become ADIs – they’d fit right in), one of the other posters gave a photo that shows he has also been clamped with what appears to be a chain attached to a steel rope (I haven’t a clue what the rope is anchored to, though). These are not on the Colwick Industrial Estate (to the best of my knowledge).

It seems that all they really need to do is put a big chain through the lorry’s wheel holes and padlock it. The first photo is just the front plate of a car clamp padlocked to the wheel. Let’s face it, most lorries could probably rip a wheel clamp to pieces if the driver tried to drive off with one on – but it would also damage the lorry and if he then got stopped by the police he’d quite possibly lose his job. So I can’t imagine many lorry drivers trying that with their livelihoods.

Also by searching, some companies supply ‘MEGA’ or ‘HGV’ clamps (they cost around £100 each), so it is obviously something that can be done.

So yes, you can clamp a lorry.

EDIT 10/11/2010: I was down near the Colwick Test Centre today and I saw a lorry which had a standard wheel clamp fitted to its front offside wheel. It looked almost identical to the one in the first picture, above.

I was driving back after dropping off a pupil (who’d just failed her test, so I wasn’t in the best of humour). I stopped at a set of traffic lights at the junction of Bentinck Road and Radford Road in Hyson Green, going straight ahead. Opposite me was a silver Mercedes driven by what appeared to be someone from a geriatric ward ( reg. no. S573 BVO ). To be honest, I don’t think he was indicating, but he was in the right turn lane.

Now, I just knew he was going to do it – his fossilised brain was unable to comprehend the change of circumstances separating “learner car” from “learner car driven by instructor” – but as the lights changed and we both moved off, he cut the corner by as far as it was possible to cut it (virtually hitting cars waiting up his road) just so he could go ahead of me. He had no right of way by any stretch of the imagination.

I saw this report on the BBC today. Southwark is trialling a countdown timer system near the tube station, and a total of eight busy crossings across London will also be involved in the trial.

Crossing Timer In Southwark

Half of me thinks it is a good idea. According to the BBC report, Transport for London (TfL) found that half of pedestrians crossed even after the red man appeared. I’m not surprised – it’s the same here in Nottingham (only yesterday I was with a pupil on a lesson, and at the top of Huntingdon Street two Neanderthals and a Neanderthaless – with a very small child – waited at a crossing, and after the red man came on and the lights had gone to amber they just walked across in front of us (the one holding the kid’s hand had his face buried in a mobile phone – probably trying to work out what it was)).

But the other half of me thinks it will have little effect. A bit like those “YOUR SPEED” displays, I suspect that initially people might take heed, but if the timers become prevalent then people will just ignore them the same as they do for the red man.

It would make far more sense (and make far more money) if people were pulled up for jaywalking! You can’t just keep widening the goalposts to cater for the growing stupidity of the general public.

Someone found the site through the search term “unlikely to pass driving test without adi”. I’m not sure what exactly they had in mind, but it’s worth a few words.

• Can you can take your driving test without having had any tuition at all?

Yes. Obviously, in the vast majority of cases this would be extremely unwise. You need to be able to drive reasonably well to pass the test.

• Do you have to be taught by an ADI?

No. Anyone can teach you – but they have to be teaching you the right things in order for you to pass the test and be safe on the roads afterwards.

• Do I have to pay them?

The DSA says:

It is illegal for a person to provide driving instruction for a fee if they are not suitably qualified and registered with the DSA.

Remember that this applies to private practice as well. If you are being supervised by a qualified driver then they are providing driving instruction – and that applies equally to nipping to Tescos with you driving as much as it does to going out specifically to practice.

• Can I use my own car for my test?

Yes. It just needs to be up to standard (head restraint for examiner, fully roadworthy, etc.) and insured properly. You have to make sure you have a separate rear view mirror for the examiner and L plates fitted – though in many cases the examiner will provide these if you don’t (I’ve seen jokers turning up with handmade L plates having to put ones on the examiner has produced so the test can go ahead).

In the past I have had pupils who have been taught by their parents (or friends), and those parents have done a bloody good job. The reason they then decide to hand over to professional tuition is because they don’t know enough to complete the job to the required level (and that’s just because they aren’t as up to date with everything as ADIs are).

I get far more people who have been taught by parents or friends who are absolutely awful, though. You can’t teach someone to be a better driver than you are, and most people are just not good enough to pass the test themselves these days, so they’re hardly gojng to be passing on best practices to those they are trying to help.

That’s not meant to be insulting: it’s just honest. Most people wouldn’t pass the test if they took it tomorrow, so they aren’t going to be able to teach someone else to drive or pass the test.

However, part of the problem here is that although most people wouldn’t pass the test if they took it again, most of those firmly believe they would.

I like to take one of the parents out with me at some point so I can show them what to look for when they are supervising the pupil. A bad habit can be formed in an instant, but it can take many months to get rid of, so it makes sense that the pupil doesn’t get mixed messages.

I was on a lesson with a pupil a couple of days ago. She’s an older woman and it’s taken a long time to get her to where she is, and she’s still nowhere near test-ready. It isn’t her fault (or mine), but she just learns things very slowly, then has trouble remembering them. If you didn’t know her, you’d say she is just very lazy – she’ll happily go into a junction or a roundabout without even trying to engage her brain. (I should point out that she has come along enormously since we first started, so she’s getting there – but it’s not easy going).

Anyway, we were looking at the reverse around a corner exercise. Without going into minute detail, the way I have taught her to do it is to reverse back to the turning point, then to steer around (keeping the kerb in the same place in the mirror), then straighten up when the car is parallel with the minor road’s kerb line. It’s taken many months to get to this point – she simply could not steer in the right direction when needed (or even steer at all as the kerb approached the rear wheel), and that includes all of the different methods I’ve tried in getting her to follow the kerb line.

Last lesson, as is often the case on her lessons, we’d done this and after several attempts she could do it right. So this week the idea was to see if she could remember how to do it.

Try #1: We pulled up near the kerb, did all the checks, then started to reverse back to the turning point. After about 10 metres, I stopped the car:

Where are we going?

[Grins] I don’t know.

Can you see the kerb in the mirror?

[Grins] No.

Well, why are we still going backwards? [Open door and point down the road we’re supposed to be turning into, which is now almost in front of us]

[Grins] Well, I couldn’t see the kerb when I first stopped – I hadn’t gone far enough forward.

[Expletives removed]

Try #2: She positioned it properly this time. We reversed to the point of turn and did all the checks. She turned the wheel about one turn (which is OK), paused for a moment, then took it to full lock (which isn’t OK). As the kerb flew towards us (relatively speaking), she started taking off small amounts of steering to try and control it. We hit the kerb almost immediately.

Why did we hit the kerb?

[Grins] I didn’t steer the right way.

No, your steering was fine and you were trying to do the right thing. How much turn do you usually need to start with for a corner like this?

One turn.

[Expletives removed]

Try #3: She did it perfectly.

Why the hell [word changed from the one I actually used] didn’t you do it like that the first time?

Bear in mind that I get on with this pupil really well, and we have a good laugh – which we were doing during this manoeuvre – so don’t take the above out of context or too literally.

When you get one like this, though, it can be really frustrating and demoralising. And that’s true for both the pupil and the instructor. When we first started this manoeuvre (and all of the others), she simply could not steer the right way. On the one hand, identifying the problem was easy – she consistently steered in exactly the opposite way required whenever she went into reverse. On the other hand, fixing it was a nightmare. I could get her to tell me which way she was going to steer, but the instant we went ‘live’ she’d steer the wrong way again. Even now, occasionally she’ll do it wrong if she isn’t thinking.

A few years ago I had a young lad who I thought would never make it. He just couldn’t control the clutch and I couldn’t seem to do anything to fix it – and I’d tried lots of different ideas. Then, one day, we ended up in a cul-de-sac near his house. It was one of those roads which has a circular space at the end with houses arrayed around it, but I had an idea. We spent around forty minutes just going backwards and forwards in a continuous ‘turn in the road’ fashion. From that moment on he became a great driver and passed his test easily.

So – even if it kills me – I will teach her to drive properly!

EDIT 20/06/2010: We had another lesson yesterday – here’s a specific example of the problems I am dealing with.

We were driving along, and I said “at the end of the road, turn left”. Now, bear in mind she has had around 60 hours of lessons. I had to tell her to check her mirrors and indicate. Then – as we didn’t appear to be slowing at all – I had to dual her at the junction, because she hadn’t looked for any traffic on the major road. The picture below shows where we ended up (red arrow), compared with where we should have been.

End Of The Road

I pulled her over and asked why she had done it. At first, she said she didn’t know. But I pushed harder, explaining that it was important to find out why it went wrong and this is what she said:

Well, to be honest, I got a bit confused because I didn’t realise that it was the end of the road.

I mean, what do you do with someone like this?

(Hint: Anyone who is similarly confused, the white dashed lines, kerb on the opposite side, and the big thing – usually known as a “house” – are a bit of a give away).

Someone found the blog based on this search term and “how to do it”.

Reversing around a corner can be quite easy, but for a lot of people – to start with, anyway – their brains are hardwired to have a problem with which way to steer. Somehow, the brain decides everything is in reverse when you go backwards. It may be to do with the fact that the front of the car swings right when you steer left, and vice versa, or it might be deeper than that. It’s different for everyone.

Reverse Round Corner Graphic

One demonstration I do is to move the car forward using my dual-clutch and ask the pupil to steer towards the kerb. They steer left. Then I quickly move into reverse and ask them to steer towards the kerb again – and a lot of them automatically steer right, hesitate, twitch right and then left, and so on. Even a slight hesitation is enough to point to where the problem might be. I reckon 80% or more of my pupils initially react this way.

If you get them to look out of the back window and then steer towards the kerb, the vast majority can do it correctly… instantly (though you get the occasional one whose brain still tries to compensate and can get it wrong – I have one at the moment, who is dyspraxic).

I sometimes demonstrate driving around a corner forwards and keeping something lined up with the kerb as they steer (the wiper blade edge, the tax disc, or whatever). Then I demonstrate going backwards, using the mirror as if it was the windscreen to steer around and keep the kerb in a fixed position.

Obviously, they need to practice – and they need to stop frequently to think about what to do. If they drop into autopilot, the brain takes over and does it wrong again. Of course, you have to get correct observations in at some point, but that’s easier once they can steer.

Everyone is different, and the fun of the job is finding a method that works. And the satisfaction comes from seeing them gradually develop a natural procedure for something they simply couldn’t do when they first tried it.

I’ve edited this story as of 21/7/2012.

Here’s an interesting story from the BBC yesterday. It reports:

Windscreen wiper water may be the cause of 20% of cases of Legionnaires’ Disease in England and Wales, the Health Protection Agency says.

…adding screen-wash kills the bacteria and could save lives, the Agency advised.

I think it is important to put it in perspective and look at the HPA (Health Protection Agency) report. It says:

A preliminary HPA study, published in the European Journal of Epidemiology, has found an association between not using screen wash in wiper fluid and the risk of contracting Legionnaires’ disease.

Further studies are now required to further explore this finding, and to determine whether the use of screen wash in wiper fluid could play a role in preventing this disease. The HPA is exploring ways of taking this forward with partner organisations.

Note the word ‘preliminary’. The BBC hasn’t. And also note the fact that it is only as a result of looking at the lifestyles of 75 patients who contracted Legionnaire’s. Definitely something worth looking into, but not conclusive at this stage by any means.

I’ve always used screen-wash in my car – not because of Legionnaire’s Disease, but because if you don’t you can’t bloody see properly. But it makes you think. When I was younger I used to just use water sometimes, and during summer the nozzles would block up with algae!

I can remember having to poke out the nozzles and digging out green stuff, but this was back in the days of cars you could service yourself without having to spend a fortune on parts.

Mind you, the cold weather over the 2009 and 2010 winters has also had a bit of a shout about how much screen-wash I use, because it also acts as an antifreeze, and I hate it when my nozzles freeze up. I used to use something called Clearalex, which you can get in bulk on eBay (or get ripped off by the sachet for elsewhere), but I found it left white streaks when it dried. Nowadays I make my own using concentrated suractants and isopropyl alcohol.

For big insect splats, I used to use Tar & Insect Remover from Wilkinsons – which they used to sell for 49p for a 750ml hand spray. Again, I now make my own. For the inside (general cleaning – not insect splats), I use my own formula detergent, white vinegar, or Autoglym Fast Glass, as required.

EDIT 16/06/2010: This story is being picked up on the various forums where – as we know – experts on every subject on earth reside (i.e. every ADI is an expert on every subject).

…makes you think doesnt (sic) it, is it just a ploy from the manufacturers to get you to buy windscreen wash fluid.

I have never Heard such scaremongering tactics ever. Legionnaire`s disease from car screen wash whatever next. I use water On its own does the job for me.

It [legionnaires] lives in the bacteria of stale water.

I will not be adding screen wash fluid because of some scaremongering. I once heard a news report entitled the dangers of your shower head. complete rubbish in my opinion I will take my chances and just use water I am not paying for something I don`t need Or want.

I tell You what I will not wash my windscreen now due to the worry of getting legionnaire`s disease I will drive around with is so dirty In cannot see through it. that should be safer

Legionnaires’ disease, caused by the legionella bacteria, is commonly linked to water systems such as air conditioning units, showers and fountains, where water is given off in a fine spray.

In another article, unconnected with the findings concerning car washer bottles, it explains:

The majority of cases are reported as single (isolated) cases but outbreaks can occur. All ages can be affected but the disease mainly affects people over 50 years of age, and generally men more than women. Smokers and the immunocompromised are at a higher risk…

The bacteria are widely distributed in the environment. They can live in all types of water including both natural sources such as rivers and streams, and artificial water sources such as water towers associated with cooling systems, hot and cold water systems and spa pools. They only become a risk to health when the temperature allows the legionellae to grow rapidly, such as in water systems which are not properly designed, installed and/or maintained.

Control and prevention of the disease is through treatment of the source of the infection, i.e. by treating the contaminated water systems, and good design and maintenance to prevent growth in the first place.

So, the bacteria are there all the time. The disease isn’t easily caught, and it isn’t easily spread – it needs certain conditions to trigger an outbreak, and it is certain vulnerable groups who usually succumb.

The original study was reported in the European Journal Of Epidemiology. Not the Screen-wash Manufacturers’ Weekly.

FACT: They DID find the bug in some car wash bottles. There IS an apparent skew in cases of the disease towards those who are professional drivers. But ADIs know best, eh?

EDIT 22/06/2010: Better late than never, the Daily Mail has now picked up the story.

The water in windscreen wash bottles might seem innocuous enough – but in fact it’s linked to about a fifth of cases of the deadly Legionnaires’ disease, the health Protection agency warned last week.

Mmmmm. I don’t think that’s quite what the HPA said, but it’s typical Mail reporting, i.e. “wrong”. But seeing as the HPA didn’t really say much other than that more studies were needed, the Mail saw a burning need to fill out the issue with some scaremongering about other diseases.

It lays into warm-air hand dryers, shower heads, mobile phones…

…mobiles harbour more bacteria than a lavatory seat, the sole of a shoe or a door handle…

…communion cups, childrens’ sandpits, make-up testers, and ATM machines (cashpoints)…

Little wonder that ATMs are one of the biggest culprits for leaving you bed-bound.

What the Mail fails to understand is that everything is contaminated to some extent. Just because someone comes out and says it doesn’t change anything.

EDIT 08/07/2010: Someone found this post on the search term “car air conditioning and legionnaires”.

There’s no suggestion that car air-conditioning has anything at all to do with this. All the aircon does is blows air through a sealed heat exchanger which has a refrigerant running through it. Hot air goes in, cold air comes out.

There is a by product of this, and that is condensed moisture from the warm air drips down on to the road (look at how much water pools under there if you park with the engine running and the aircon on).

I think people might be getting confused with the water cooling towers which are used in aircon systems in buildings. These can be a major problem in outbreaks of legionnaires. The aircon in your car is similar to the one which powers your refrigerator at home, and is nothing like the ones in large buildings.