Category - ADI

Unreasonable Refund Requests

12/04/2016

This is an older article, and the lesson prices given are not current – though they were correct at the original time of writing. Current hourly rates (2022) are £31.

Another recent forum discussion referred to unreasonable demands for lesson refunds by pupils.

I mentioned in my recently updated article on becoming an ADI that there are some very strange people out there. Imagining slights where none exist is definitely one manifestation of their strangeness, and for some it’s only natural that this will stretch far enough for them to attempt to make money out of it. Such an approach is most likely when someone desperately wants to pass their test, but has issues with driving which mean that passing inside 12 months is optimistic. So, when they decide that they “don’t think they are making progress”, they automatically blame their instructor. It would appear that an unfortunate ADI has recently fallen foul of this type of comedian, with a pupil stopping lessons – and then demanding a refund, including the money for those already taken! Naturally, this was then followed with threats to “take it to the small claims court”, even though the instructor in question seems to have been readily prepared to refund all outstanding monies.

The first thing most other instructors do when they read this sort of nonsense is immediately run with the assumption that a small claims court would even entertain the matter. Let’s just be clear on something, here. Unless an instructor was refusing to refund for unused lessons, a pupil demanding money back for lessons they’ve already taken wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. They’d need to demonstrate conclusively that their instructor spent whole lessons disembowelling squirrels or something instead of teaching them to drive. Small claims courts are not going to start poking into whether or not driving lessons were up to an acceptable standard – only whether they were given or not.

Speaking personally, I want as quiet a life as possible so that I can concentrate of teaching people to drive. If someone triggers my late-cancellation clause, they get a lecture and one or two more chances. In the absence of any mitigating circumstances, if they do it again after that, they’re history. There’s no point trying to hold on to them, because once they’ve shown their true colours they’re just going to cost you more and more money. And if you actually try to claim the cost of the lesson the majority of them will just stick two fingers up at you and go elsewhere. I’m not prepared to give them the satisfaction, and I think I’ve claimed for missed lessons maybe six times since I became an ADI (that’s out of many thousands of hours). All of those occurred after agreeing to it with the bill payer (at least three times, at their insistence). In almost all cases it was because the pupil was hungover or comatose following a late night.

As unpleasant as it might be to hear it, many instructors get themselves into a mess over these issues because they’re either too desperate or too greedy (often both) to deal with it logically or professionally, and end up trying to claim for lessons where discretion is needed (pupils with learning or mental health issues, bereavements, and so on). That drives pupils away and sets up a refund situation, the amount of the refund being complicated by the “claimed” hours. Even more worrying is the fact that far too many ADIs these days take block booking payments, spend the money immediately (or it gets sucked into the black hole that passes as their bank balance), and then effectively go AWOL when the pupil tries to book those prepaid lessons. This happens because once the money is spent, they are effectively working for nothing, and they would rather give lessons to those who are paying on the day. Thus, they become un-contactable via phone, text, or email – or they become unreliable and cancel lessons so they can take on paying pupils.

If you take block bookings, it is essential that you put the money away and only dip into it as each lesson is taken. If you don’t, any refund will have to come out of your own pocket – and not being able to cover that is another reason why ADIs go AWOL when pupils attempt to contact them. The pupils’ money doesn’t belong to you until they’ve taken the lessons, and you’ve got to be able to refund it immediately if they request it.

Another mistake instructors make is rooted in their desire to maximise their income and minimise their perceived losses at all costs. A pupil who sees an offer for a 10x block of lessons costing £200 is automatically going to conclude that lessons cost £20 per hour, even if the instructor’s single hourly rate is clearly stated as £25. This holds true no matter what complex wording is hidden away in the Ts&Cs (“refunds are calculated based on φ > Ω, but only when ϕ is less than 3, and not otherwise”). The thing is, if you are offering block booking discounts of £5 per hour in the first place, you are already “losing” £50 against your single-lesson rate. You have to face the fact that your hourly rate is £20 – not £25 – for those who block book, and it’s no wonder that a pupil who takes two hours of lessons out of such a block booking, and who then asks for a refund, becomes angry when you return £150 instead of £160. They’ll immediately start telling everyone that they’re being “ripped-off” which, while not being absolutely true, is definitely an understandable comment.

I offer block booking discounts which drop my current single-hourly rate of £24 down to £21.81 (if they book 10 hours) or £20.87 (if they book 20). I do this by giving them a free hour when they pay for 10, or three hours if they pay for 20 – but I make it clear that the free hour(s) are a gift, have no monetary value, and are taken at the end of a block only after the paid lessons have been used up. Thus, if they need a refund, it is at the £24 rate – they only get the benefit of the discount if they take all ten (or 20) lessons plus the free ones. They all happily agree to that, and it has never been an issue. Quite frankly, if anyone ever turned it into one, it’d be me sticking two fingers up at them! I certainly wouldn’t be worried about any threats to “take it to small claims”.

As a bit of an aside, being able to take card payments has an unquantifiable but very positive effect on pupil satisfaction. Almost everyone – and especially those who have had lessons elsewhere – expresses surprise at the fact I can take such payments. This week alone, at least two of my regular pupils have said for the umpteenth time that “this device is incredible” when I’ve given them my card machine to slot their card into – or even zap it from their phone. The fact that they can have a receipt via email or SMS amazes them, as does the fact that those buying single hours can just wave their card at the machine and complete a contactless payment. All of this has a strange knock-on effect among those who can’t afford block bookings, and they seem much happier being able to pay without physical money changing hands. As I have said before, the amount I save by not going to the bank anymore to pay in cheques offsets the transaction fee somewhat, as does the fact that I have put my prices up by £1 and fuel prices have fallen by so much [this is an older article, remember]. And you can’t really really put a price on the convenience of it all.

Occasionally, you will get someone who wants to barter over price when they enquire about lessons. In those cases I simply point out that I am running a business and cannot cut my prices any lower, and that I already offer discounts. I also point out that anyone offering lower prices compared to me will be making less profit with similar overheads, and will therefore be looking for ways to reduce their expenditure – which usually means less driving and more lessons needed to reach test standard. And I also emphasise that I take card payments, so they don’t have to keep going to the cash machine to withdraw money. If they don’t call back after that I consider that I am well rid of them.

A good instructor should have to refund pupils to the extent that over a typical year the amount of income lost is negligible. I usually only need to do it if someone moves away, and I provide any refund immediately by bank transfer, PayPal, cash, or (as a last resort) postal orders since I don’t use personal cheques anymore. On the rare occasions when someone just isn’t happy – yes, it does happen, and the feeling is often mutual when it does – I don’t want them hanging around like a bad smell. Taking a small (and theoretical) financial hit to get rid of them is actually a sound investment.

Evening and Weekend Lessons – Are They Special?

21/03/2016

DOAADI

ADI, Training

Note that this is quite an old post, and the figures given are not correct in 2023).

I saw a comment recently on one of the forums where a newly-qualified ADI was asking if anyone had “considered” working after 4pm and weekends, since these apparently counted as “unsociable hours” and so a premium price could therefore be charged.

I immediately thought of the way Scott Adams depicted the “new guy” in a Dilbert strip some years ago. All arms akimbo and gushing with enthusiasm.

I mentioned in my recent update about becoming an ADI that to succeed in this business you have to start out with a wide open diary and a flexible approach. If you started as an independent right away, you’ll find it hard enough to charge even normal hourly rates, so the last thing you need to be doing is deterring people with “premium prices” before you’ve even got enough income to cover your bills. Working evenings and weekends – at least until you are established, which can take years – is pretty much mandatory if you expect to stay in business very long.

Once you’re established, of course, you can do whatever you bloody well want. If you want to put people off booking certain times, then by all means up your prices for those times – but just remember that anyone landing on your website home page who is confronted with an intimidating price structure that looks like it could be part of a Mensa test probably isn’t going to stick around long (nor are they likely to be impressed if they get their calculators out and realise what you’re doing). If you’re a newbie who sees it as a good way of making extra money to offset having too little work – no one else will have thought of it before you, naturally – just switch off your moral compass and go right ahead.

People who do it to deter pupils from booking certain times really need to think before they begin telling newbies, who are looking to earn extra pennies, that it’s all right to do it. The two reasons are poles apart. A newly qualified ADI is more likely to end up having to cut his prices than he is to be charging premium rates. You need to be a premium-performing ADI with a premium reputation before you can even entertain charging premium prices. Most pupils know if they’re getting a good service or not, and newbies need to accept that they will not be performing like someone with many years’ experience.

Charging more for lessons at times you don’t want to do is fine (I suppose, and as long as you’re still prepared to do them if someone falls for it). But charging more for weekends and evenings just to try and make money is – in my opinion – stupid. There’s no law against it, of course. It’s just… well, stupid. You’ll never be able to quantify it, but one thing you can be sure of is that charging premium prices for what you imagine are “premium times” is never going to get you any extra work. You simply have to face the fact that no one shopping around for lessons is dumb enough to be positively attracted to an instructor with a complicated price structure who charges them more for evening or weekend lessons. On the other hand, simple logic dictates that many pupils will be repelled by high or confusing prices so it’s almost certainly going to lose you work though – as I say – you won’t be able to quantify it and will probably go around promoting the idea instead.

Incidentally, I asked one of my pupils – making clear it was hypothetical, and explaining to her what I’d read – if she would be prepared to pay £5 extra for her occasional evening or weekend sessions. She initially surprised me by saying it wouldn’t really matter to her, but after a pause she added that she would have to think about it if her friends were paying less. There’s the rub: do you really want to introduce that sort of uncertainty to what is already an uncertain business to be in?

Evenings and weekends are the most popular lesson times on average. The last thing I’d be wanting to do is piss off potential customers of those slots.

In the past, I’ve worked as late as 11pm and 12am – both times for the purposes of completing night driving modules on Pass Plus courses taken in summer. I often take on pupils who can only do 8-10pm due to work, and when my diary is full many of the others are happy to do late evening lessons too. I prefer to start at 10am, but again when my diary is full many will happily book 8-9am lessons. I do explain at some stage that I am not naturally a morning person and that I hate getting up early, but I also make it clear that I am prepared to do it if that’s best for them, so I make no serious effort to prevent pupils booking these lessons or, indeed, 8.10am tests (which means picking them up at 6.30am). I tell them that they’re paying me for a service, and it’s what they want (within reason) that matters – not what I want. I’m smart enough to make sure that 9.30-10pm finishes dovetail with later starts the following day. Most days, I start at 10am and finish at 7-8pm. I charge the same prices… and I have a full diary.

I’m well established, but even so I cannot just hike the price for my existing pupils whenever I feel like it. I make it a point never to increase how much a pupil pays during the time they’re with me (it’s one of my selling points). My price has increased in stages by about £3 an hour since I became an ADI (2023 update: my prices are now about £10 higher than when I started out), but I am also acutely aware of the dividing line beyond which the price is too high for my area, and which would – logically – impact my work load. I have definitely lost enquiries as a result of the price I charge over the years and putting them up further has to be managed very carefully or just shelved.

Why do some instructors tell me to charge a premium price for evening lessons?

It’s quite possible that this job isn’t their main source of income, and losing work through being unavailable doesn’t matter to them as long as they have work when they want it. You, on the other hand, are probably quite new, desperate to get work, and are looking for ways of maximising your income. Putting your prices up – for any reason – in your situation is a very risky strategy, and the people advising you ought to understand this, though many don’t.

There’s also the fairly remote possibility that someone is telling you to do it because they know it will perhaps harm your career. It’s a horrible thought, but there really are people out there who are like that.

Is it wrong to charge more for evenings and weekends?

It’s not illegal. The morality of it is debatable and my personal view is that weekend and evening lessons are no different to weekday ones. The only time I would ever charge premium prices for any lesson – and I’ve been asked about it a few times – is if someone wanted to book me on the days I take off over Christmas. I’ve made it clear that it would be triple-time, which has successfully prevented anyone from taking up the offer, but which would also make it worth my while if they ever did (we all have our price).

Won’t I make more money if I charge more for weekends and evenings?

If people were prepared to pay, yes. However, most of them will not.

Look, there is no way that I am ever going to persuade you using mere words that people won’t pay, and that it would almost certainly end up being detrimental to your business, so why don’t you just go ahead and try it and see what happens. When someone skims through your website and is immediately put off by what they see, at least the rest of us will benefit even if you don’t!

Just remember that putting your prices up for any reason is almost certainly not going to bring in extra work. At best – and if you’re very, very lucky – you simply won’t lose any.

What if I just want to put people off booking evenings and weekends?

I can think of far more effective ways of not working evenings and weekends. Just saying “I don’t do evening or weekend lessons” is one that springs instantly to mind. Other than that, it’s not quite as morally questionable as just trying to make money.

5Day Intensive Driving Course

01/03/2016

DOAADI

ADI

Note the age of this article. Prices were correct at the time (5Day are still going, but as of 2022 the fees are almost double what they were in 2016).

I saw someone refer to this on a forum and looked the company up. I must stress that the following comments are my own opinion.

What 5Day is offering is an intensive driving course which lasts for – no surprise – 5 days. The words that will leap out and burn themselves into the brains of the people likely to apply are:

…cost effective theory and practical tuition that will allow an individual to learn to drive within 5 days… If you don’t manage to pass your theory or practical tests you will receive free, unlimited retraining to help you improve.

I’m sure that 5Day are aware of this, and that the various conditions they apply will be overlooked by many applicants.

First of all, there is the cost of the course – £964 (they use the adverb “only”) . The theory and practical tests – just one attempt at each – are included in that, which means that the training itself is valued at £879. The training is done between 9am and 5pm, and this includes theory test training. It is necessary to make a few assumptions here, but if there is one hour of theory training and one hour for lunch, and if the rest of the time is in-car (which is perhaps a little generous), that means the pupil will be doing 5 hours of training each day – a total of 20 hours.

If we also assume that theory test tuition is valued at the same rate as driving tuition (also generous), and lunch hours have no monetary value, driving lessons are being charged at a rate of over £35 per hour! I doubt that the pupil will actually be driving for 5 hours in a stretch – there will have to be breaks – so the actual lesson rate is probably even more than that.

Then we come to the conditions and small print. First of all, 5Day says that theory tests are pre-arranged to take place during the course. I guess they can risk that claim, because booking a theory test only has a short waiting time (though if someone booked a short-notice course, I wonder how they’d handle that). They then go on to say:

…once [the theory test is] passed, 5DAY™ will assist you in applying for your priority practical driving test. 5DAY™ guarantee to secure the test 75% sooner than the DVSA waiting list.

Now, in many places in the country the waiting time for tests is very long, and the subject of much controversy. DVSA is trying to address the problem. Here in Nottingham, for example, anyone booking a test today (29 February) will get a date in early June at Beeston, and mid-June at Colwick. That’s more than 14 weeks away. As I look at all test centres in my area – that’s Beeston, Colwick, Clifton, and Watnall – there is one cancellation/available slot for Watnall this Saturday and nothing else for any of the others until June. I’ve been actively looking for cancellations for pupils for the last few months and they simply don’t come up very often. Even so, the “75% sooner” claimed by 5Day would make the typical wait for a test approximately four weeks, and with no guarantees of even that.

That’s hardly the “Learn to drive in just 5DAYs” they claim on their website home page. It’s more like “complete the course in 5 days, then take the test in anywhere between a couple of days later if you’re lucky and can attend it at such short notice, and 14 weeks if you’re not”. People who sign up for this will be drawn in by the “5 days” hook and end up disappointed – it’s how bad reputations start.

If you book a course which is more than four weeks in the future then there is a non-refundable £200 deposit required – though the balance is required no less than four weeks before the course commences. You’d need to be a bit careful there, since if you booked today for a session starting on 4 April you’d have to pay £200 immediately – and another £764 before next Monday! If you didn’t, you’d lose £200 and not get on the course (that’s what their conditions are saying).

5Day has centres in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Peterborough, Bristol, Norwich, and three around London. Many people will need to pay for at least four – probably five – nights of accommodation. You can slap another £150-£250 on the price for that.

If you fail either of the tests, you will have to pay for further tests. The additional “unlimited” training is free but since it is outside of the “5 day” window you’ll have to consider how you would complete such training. You may need further hotel stays, or possibly travel costs, if the re-training isn’t residential. They don’t say what form this re-training takes, and I doubt that it is “intensive”. And you will have to pay for the “hire” of a car for the test – they don’t mention anywhere how much that would be, but assume at least £50, which would mean each re-test day would cost you at least £112.

The detailed conditions state that you might not go to test in the car you were training in.

Now we come to the all-important disclaimer:

The 5DAY course is designed to give an average pupil an overall grounding on all the topics of the DSA learning to drive syllabus and to help a pupil achieve if possible DSA test standard by the end of the 5 Days. There is no guarantee implied written or otherwise that a pupil will get to the required standard to be able to pass a driving test as achieving this standard is entirely down to the pupils ability.

This seems to go completely against the gist of their homepage, where it says:

Learn to drive in just 5DAYs… With our 5DAY intensive driving course… There really is no quicker, easier or safer way to get your full driving licence.

Let’s digress to discuss the implications of this.

Even an above-average pupil would find it difficult to concentrate for more than 2 hours of driving at a time. Even with an hour break, a further 2 hours of driving would be less productive than the first two. Doing this for five days on the trot would be less productive still. I will admit that there is a very small number of people at any one time who might be able to handle it, but the vast majority couldn’t. It is a simple fact.

Going further, the official average number of hours taken to learn to drive by someone who hasn’t driven before is around 40-50 hours with an instructor, plus 20 hours or more of private practice. The quickest I’ve ever had anyone go from zero to test pass is 14½ hours (1st time pass). I’ve had another do it in 17½ hours (1st time pass), several in under 25 hours (1st time passes, some with no private practice), the majority in 25-40 hours (one to several attempts), and a fair number in 40-60 hours (ditto). The most hours any of my pupils has taken is 160 (3rd time pass). And one did over 100 hours with me (no test taken) until I finally persuaded her to switch to automatic, whereupon she did around another 100 hours (7th time pass – and has since given up driving because she had too many accidents). Obviously, I have had many who could already drive and just needed a bit of a wash and brush up – sometimes only having a single lesson – but I haven’t included these.

In other words, only two have done it in under 20 hours. I reckon that’s considerably less than 5% of those I’ve taught from scratch.

What about intensive courses? Well, I don’t offer them anymore, and here’s why. A long time ago someone contacted me for an intensive course – 20 hours over four days, with his test the next day. He’d never driven before, and after the first session it was apparent he was not a quick learner. We’d arranged the lessons so that he did 2 hours in the morning, two hours in the afternoon, and two more in the evening, with a 2 hour break between each session. Each day went from the good (in the morning), through the bad, and finished with the ugly (in the evening)! Each of the three lesson days also followed a similar pattern. And he failed his test. A couple of months later he contacted me again, and we did the same – 20 hours over four days. It all followed the same pattern, and he again failed his test. I felt terrible, he felt terrible – and that was the end of intensives for me. They simply cannot be relied on to work.

When I think back to him I can’t help but think of the very real dangers of putting such people on the roads if they should manage to get lucky and scrape a pass. It’s hardly “safe driving for life”, is it? I also wonder about the moral implications – over the last few years I’ve had several people pass, some of them first time, who I worry about as a result of what they were capable of on lessons. You get to know them and you know that a test pass doesn’t always tell the full story (one dyspraxic pupil was capable of the strangest actions).

Going back to what 5Day is offering, only a small percentage of the learner population stands a decent chance of passing in 20 hours – and it would still cost them considerably more £1,000 overall to do it. The same pupils could take normal lessons and pass by spending considerably less than half that amount, and when you consider that 5Day cannot guarantee a quicker pass due to test waiting times you have to wonder what the pupil is actually paying for. For the more average pupil, they might end up taking any number of tests at £62 a pop, with vehicle hire of at least £50 per test. They could end up spending closer to £1,500 – around double what it would cost them to do it normally. For below average pupils… well, how long is a piece of string? 5Day’s offer isn’t quite the “exceptional quality, cost effective theory and practical tuition” it first appears to be, is it?

I emphasise again that these are my opinions and my own experiences. Comments about 5Day’s course are based on their own freely available information and conditions, and I only comment on the nature of intensive courses based on their relation to normal training.

Show Me, Tell Me Questions

07/01/2016

DOAADI

ADI, Driving Tests, Training

I get quite a few hits from people asking about the Show Me/Tell Me questions that are asked at the start of the driving test. It didn’t occur to me until now that I’ve never written about them before!

When you turn up for your test, the examiner will come out of the office, usually precisely on time, and call your name. He’ll ask to see your driver’s licence (that’s just the photo card – the paper part is now obsolete and you should destroy it). He will ask if you’re still living at the address on the licence (if you aren’t, and/or you want your full licence sending to a different address you must tell him), then he’ll ask you to sign the test form.

When you get outside, the examiner will ask you to read a car number plate from the required distance (20 metres for a new-style plate). He won’t measure the distance accurately unless you have a problem, in which case they will usually go back inside to fetch a tape measure and do it properly. If you cannot read the plate then the test is immediately abandoned. If you normally have to wear glasses, then you must do so.

Now they will ask you two questions which relate to vehicle safety – these are what everyone refers to as the Show Me/Tell Me questions. DVSA lists the questions in full. I will go through each here with a bit of extra explanation.

Show me how you would check that the direction indicators are working.

Applying the indicators or hazard warning switch and check functioning of all indicators. (may need to switch ignition on, prompt not to start engine).

Make sure you know where the Hazard Warning Light button is. It is usually red, with a double triangle symbol on it, and will be in a very obvious position (often, smack in the middle of the dashboard between the driver and passenger seats. Remember that you are checking the bulbs, so point out that you would get out and walk round the car to have a look.

Show me how you would check the brake lights are working on this car, (if you need to switch the ignition on, please don’t start the engine).

Operate brake pedal, make use of reflections in windows, garage doors, etc, or ask someone to help, (may need to switch ignition on, prompt not to start engine).

The brake lights only come on when you press the brake pedal, so you cannot get out and have a look for yourself. That’s why you can either get someone to look for you, or use reflections. Don’t say anything like “put a brick on the pedal” (trust me: people DO say that when they don’t know). Remember that the brakes (and brake lights) only work when the ignition is turned on.

The ignition switch has four positions: off, radio (auxiliary) circuits, ignition, and start. The start position is spring loaded, and it is where you turn the key to fire up the engine. Then, it falls back to the ignition position. If you just turn the key to the ignition position, apart from the power steering and the engine, everything operates as if you were driving – including the brake lights. That’s what the examiner means when he says not to start the engine. If you have a keyless car, find out what corresponds to the ignition position (it’s usually a push of the start button, but don’t put the clutch down).

Show me, or explain how you would check that the power assisted steering is working before starting a journey.

If the steering becomes heavy the system may not be working properly. Before starting a journey two simple checks can be made. Gentle pressure on the steering wheel, maintained while the engine is started, should result in a slight but noticeable movement as the system begins to operate. Alternatively turning the steering wheel just after moving off will give an immediate indication that the power assistance is functioning.

It IS possible, though unlikely these days, for you to turn up for your test in a car which doesn’t have power steering. In that case, explain how you would do it if you DID have power steering, but point out that the car you are in doesn’t have it.

Power steering is like an amplifier, which translates small movements of the steering wheel into much larger movements of the car’s wheels. Vehicles which don’t have power steering typically require more force to steer, and more movement of the steering wheel to get the amount of wheel movement required. If the power steering is faulty, the steering wheel becomes harder to turn. Since it is powered by the engine, you can feel the steering wheel become loose when you start the car – and that’s what you are checking for in this question.

If you ever notice the steering become stiff, or if the power steering doesn’t kick in when you start the car you must not drive it and get it fixed as soon as possible. It is extremely dangerous to drive with faulty power steering.

Show me how you would check the parking brake (handbrake) for excessive wear; make sure you keep safe control of the vehicle.

Apply footbrake firmly. Demonstrate by applying parking brake (handbrake) so that when it is fully applied it secures itself, and is not at the end of the working travel.

The handbrake is operated via a cable when you pull the lever up. The cable can stretch or snap. You need to make sure the lever doesn’t go all the way to the end of its travel, and you must apply the footbrake to ensure that the car doesn’t roll while you’re testing it.

Show me how you would check that the horn is working.

Check is carried out by using control (turn on ignition if necessary).

You just push the centre of the steering wheel. Remember that you mustn’t sound the horn while you are stationary on a public road (unless another vehicle poses a threat). This question is usually asked in the test centre car park, which isn’t a public road, so you’re OK to do it. However, if you are parked outside then you could earn brownie points by telling the examiner this – if he still asks you to do it, then just do it.

Show me how you would clean the windscreen using the windscreen washer and wipers.

Operate control to wash and wipe windscreen (turn ignition on if necessary).

Make sure that you know where the washer and wiper controls are. They’re usually on one of the stalks at the side of the steering wheel, and you pull the stalk towards you to squirt water (the wipers will come on automatically). Also make sure you know how the rest of the wiper control works, since you may need to get rid of dribbles after you’ve done this – and it may rain on your test, where you have perhaps never driven in rain before.

Show me how you would switch on the rear fog light(s) and explain when you would use it/them, (no need to exit vehicle).

Operate switch (turn on dipped headlights and ignition if necessary). Check warning light is on. Explain use.

This one isn’t about the bulbs – just how to turn on the rear fog lights, and when to use them. It’s another one where you need to turn on the ignition first, and you will need to have at least your dipped headlights on for the fog lights to work. Make sure you know where the switches are for your fog lights – it varies from car to car. You should only use your fog lights when visibility is seriously reduced (i.e. to less than 100m). Don’t just say “when it’s foggy”, because you might also use them in heavy rain or snow, in smoke or dust, and so on.

Show me how you switch your headlight from dipped to main beam and explain how you would know the main beam is on.

Operate switch (with ignition or engine on if necessary), check with main beam warning light.

You usually turn on your main beams using one of the stalks either side of the steering wheel. Hopefully, you’ve already driven at night and know how to do it anyway, having used your main beams to light up dark roads. The precise mode of operation varies between cars, but it usually involves pulling the lever forwards or pushing it backwards (on some cars, it is two separate positions in one direction). One way flashes the lights, the other way latches them on. Your dipped beams need to be on for the latched position to hold the main beams. A blue light shows on the dashboard when they are on.

Show me how you would set the demister controls to clear all the windows effectively.

Set all relevant controls including fan, temperature air direction / source and heated screen to clear windscreen and windows. Engine does not have to be started for this demonstration.

How you do this varies from car to car. To demist the front, you need to turn the heating up, turn the fan to high, and then make sure the air is blowing upwards on to the windscreen. To demist the back you need to turn on the heated rear windscreen using the appropriate button. This answers the question sufficiently for your test. However, I would advise you to know how to operate the air-conditioning (which keeps all windows mist free), and the heated front windscreen (if the car has one). You might need to use them on your test.

Open the bonnet, identify where you would check the engine oil level and tell me how you would check that the engine has sufficient oil.

Identify dipstick / oil level indicator, describe check of oil level against the minimum / maximum markers.

As its name suggests, the dipstick dips into the engine oil sump (reservoir), and by looking at how far up the dipstick shaft the oil level comes you can tell if the car has enough oil in it. What you do is take the dipstick out, wipe it clean on a rag, dip it back in, then take it out again and look at the oil line. It should be between the maximum and minimum markers.

Make sure you know where the dipstick is on any car you drive. The dipstick has its own receptacle, and don’t try poking it anywhere else (and definitely not in the oil filler hole on top of the engine – yes, pupils sometimes try that). You will not need to actually do it on your test, just explain the out-wipe-in-out-read procedure.

Open the bonnet, identify where you would check the engine coolant level and tell me how you would check that the engine has the correct level.

Identify high/low level markings on header tank where fitted or radiator filler cap, and describe how to top up to correct level.

Make sure you know where the coolant tank is on any car you drive. Modern vehicles usually have a separate reservoir (header tank), filled with pink (antifreeze) solution somewhere under the bonnet. It will have maximum and minimum markers on it.

Older cars had a radiator cap, and you placed coolant directly into the radiator – making sure it was filled to just above the cooling vanes inside. It IS possible that someone might go to test in such an older vehicle.

Open the bonnet, identify where the brake fluid reservoir is and tell me how you would check that you have a safe level of hydraulic brake fluid.

Identify reservoir, check level against high/low markings.

Somewhere under the bonnet will be another reservoir for the brake fluid. Make sure you know where it is. It will also have maximum and minimum markers on it.

Note that some cars will have yet another reservoir for the power steering fluid. All the reservoirs/header tanks have symbols on them telling you what they are for, and the power steering one is a bit of a giveaway (it usually has a steering wheel symbol on it). Don’t guess which is which – make sure you know.

Tell me how you would check that the brakes are working before starting a journey.

Brakes should not feel spongy or slack. Brakes should be tested as you set off. Vehicle should not pull to one side.

The brake fluid is non-compressible, so when you push the pedal it should feel firm. If the hydraulic system has got air or water in it then this IS compressible, and the pedal will have more give and feel “spongy”. If one side of the system has air or water in it, that side will not work as efficiently as the other, and the car will pull to the more efficient side when you brake. Believe me, when it pulls it really pulls.

Identify where the windscreen washer reservoir is and tell me how you would check the windscreen washer level.

Identify reservoir and explain how to check level.

Yes, there’s yet another reservoir under the bonnet – this one usually has a picture of a windscreen with what looks like a fountain on it. I have never seen a car in which the level of liquid in the screen wash reservoir was visible except when it was full to the top. And unlike the other reservoirs, this one ALWAYS goes down. I advise my own pupils to explain that they’d top it up regularly, and that it gets used up quicker in wet weather because of the muddy road spray.

Tell me where you would find the information for the recommended tyre pressures for this car and how tyre pressures should be checked.

Manufacturer’s guide, use a reliable pressure gauge, check and adjust pressures when tyres are cold, don’t forget spare tyre, remember to refit valve caps.

The “manufacturers guide” is the vehicle handbook, which is located in the glove compartment in my car (some cars have it in fold-down flap under the dashboard which conceals the fuse box). Find out where it is in your own car, because it tells you what your tyre pressures should be. There is sometimes also a label on the door frame or under the petrol cap which gives tyre pressures. You should measure tyre pressure before you go anywhere (when the tyres are cold) and you use a reliable pressure gauge (don’t say “at the garage”, because their gauges are notoriously UNreliable). You don’t have to use the word “gauge”, either, if you don’t understand it – say something like “a pressure measurer” or a “tyre pressure tool” and you’ll get the message across. And remember that the car has four tyres PLUS the spare (or five tyres INCLUDING the spare) – assuming it has a spare tyre at all. Some manufacturers are cutting costs by supplying puncture repair kits instead of spare wheels.

Tell me how you make sure your head restraint is correctly adjusted so it provides the best protection in the event of a crash.

The head restraint should be adjusted so the rigid part of the head restraint is at least as high as the eye or top of the ears, and as close to the back of the head as is comfortable. Note: Some restraints might not be adjustable.

The head restraint is there to protect your neck, so it needs to be adjusted so your head can’t whip back in the case of an accident.

Tell me how you would check the tyres to ensure that they have sufficient tread depth and that their general condition is safe to use on the road.

No cuts and bulges, 1.6mm of tread depth across the central 3/4 of the breadth of the tyre and around the entire ~~outer~~ circumference.

This one catches everyone out – even though it is in the theory test! The legal minimum tread depth is 1.6mm, and this applies around the middle ¾ of the whole circumference of the tyre. Remember that: minimum 1.6mm, all around the tyre, in the middle ¾ (i.e. the bit that is most in contact with the road). Plus, there should be no damage to the side walls (i.e. no cuts or bulges, which show weak points that could blow out at any time). You measure tread depth using a “tread depth gauge” – but, just like with the pressure gauge you can make up your own phrase, like “tyre tool” or “tread depth measurer”. Don’t say “with a ruler” (most people do if they don’t know), because no ruler anywhere in the world is capable of reliably measuring 1.6mm.

Also note that, at the time of writing, DVSA’s official answer is technically incorrect, since the tread only has to be a minimum of 1.6mm across the central ¾ of the tyre, and all the way around that part of it – not the “outer” edge. Even new tyres will be less than 1.6mm at the edges. I have crossed it through in my quote from DVSA above.

Tell me how you would check that the headlights and tail lights are working (no need to exit vehicle).

Operate switch (turn on ignition if necessary), then walk round vehicle. As this is a ‘tell me’ question, there is no need to physically check the lights.

Make sure you know where the headlight switch is. On some cars, it is a rotary control or toggle switch somewhere on the dashboard. On others, it is a rotary control or switch on one of the stalks either side of the steering wheel.

Tell me how you would know if there was a problem with your anti lock braking system.

Warning light should illuminate if there is a fault with the anti lock braking system.

The anti lock braking system (or ABS) is a feature on all modern cars which prevents the wheels locking when you brake sharply. A computer under the bonnet detects when the wheels lock, then releases the brakes for a fraction of a second. It does this about 15 times a second, and you can feel the brake pedal vibrate when it kicks in. It is common for the ABS to kick in slightly when you are doing the emergency stop exercise. It MUST be working if it is fitted (and all cars manufactured since 2004 MUST have it) – if the ABS warning light was on the car would fail its MOT, so if you were pulled over by the police and it was on then, it follows that you would be driving an unroadworthy vehicle. Make sure you know where the warning light is. It comes on for a few seconds when you turn on the ignition, then it should go out.

You cannot directly fail your test even if you get both questions wrong – but let’s be honest about it, it looks bad if you do. You can only pick up a single driver fault for getting both wrong.

People come up with all sorts of reasons why they won’t be doing these things when they pass. A female pupil (a trainee beautician, always with a brand new set of nails) once said haughtily “I don’t know why you’re making me do this, I’m always going to get someone to do it for me”. At the time, as she tried to lift the bonnet with the tips of two fingers, I replied “look, just do as you’re told and open the bonnet. You’ve got to be able to do it for your test”. Nowadays, I’d probably throw in a few comments about reinforcing stereotypes.

It isn’t difficult, and it isn’t messy.

How Many Turns is Full Lock?

03/01/2016

DOAADI

ADI, Training

This question crops up regularly in the search terms used to find the blog, but since just before Christmas there has been a noticeable spike. It’s often asked in relation to specific models of car, so I am seeing people repeatedly asking how many turns they need for full lock in Astras, Corsas, Fiestas, and so on.

The obvious solution – to me, at least – would be to sit in the driver’s seat of the car in question and try it. However, if this job has taught me one thing, it is that simple logic is a difficult concept for many people, and you should never assume that what is obvious to you is obvious to your learners.

Full lock is when you turn the steering wheel as far as it will go in one direction. Sometimes even this information is not enough, and pupils need to be told – even shown – what full lock is. It’s not uncommon to have to demonstrate right and left full lock separately, as the pupil hasn’t made the connection that doing it to the left is just the opposite of doing it to the right! On other occasions, I even have to demonstrate the clunk-clunk-clunk you get when the wheel won’t go any further.

I think that some people have so much trouble with this because they see what they’re trying to do as an abstract concept. When I’m doing it, I simply steer as much as I need to in order to make the car do what I want it to do, and if I want the car to turn as much as possible, then I steer as much as possible. However, learners think in terms of “how much did I steer last time?” and not how to make the car do what they want – and that’s where their problems start. That same sort of thinking also explains why the question of how many turns are needed for full lock keeps cropping up.

If I get into a different model of car to the one I normally drive, I never – absolutely never – worry about how many turns I need for full lock. If I need it I just do it – you know: clunk-clunk-clunk, where it won’t go any further. How many turns it actually is is completely irrelevant to me. In my tuition car, the only reason I know how many turns equal full lock now is that I have to keep explaining it. What usually happens is that a learner will merrily flail their arms and break into a heavy sweat when they put full lock on, but when it comes to taking it off they do a wimpy little quarter turn – oblivious of the fact that the car is still swinging out when they start to move. It’s all down to that abstract reasoning, again.

Indeed, when it comes to straightening up a pupil will often be staring at the steering wheel, not at what the car is doing, and somewhere in the recesses of their mind a little voice will say that when the Ford logo in the middle of the wheel is the right way up they are straight – with no consideration of the fact that the logo is the right way up when you have one full turn to the left or the right (as well as straight). Sometimes, what I get them to do is count how many hand movements it takes to get full lock on in any direction, then point out that it’s going to need approximately the same number of hand movements the other way to straighten up again (assuming they have the appropriate steering technique).

Another problem that can manifest itself is pupils’ inability to translate steering wheel movement into fractions. The diagram at the top of this article shows a “straight” steering wheel on the left (the white dot at the top helps to illustrate the point). A quarter turn to the right shows the dot moved by 90° to the right (2nd image), a half turn of 180° (3rd image), and ¾ of a turn (270°, 4th image). A further quarter turn results in one whole turn of the steering wheel. Although the idea of quarter turns, or multiples thereof, can be confusing and should be avoided in some cases, it is ironic that those who have the greatest problems with steering can often be helped if they understand the concept of fractions of a turn (well, sometimes – it depends on the pupil). Some instructors go so far as to put a piece of tape on the steering wheel, much as I’ve used a dot in the diagram, though I don’t do that myself – I just refer to the Ford logo.

How do I full lock the steering wheel?

Turn it as far as it will go in either direction. Full lock to the left means steer as far as it will go to the left. Full lock to the right means steer as far as it will go to the right. You’ll know when it has gone all the way because a) it will make a clunk sound, and b) it won’t go any further.

So how many turns IS full lock?

In my car, it is just over 1¼ turns. However, I’ve used Ford Focuses since the MkII model, and back then full lock was almost 1¾ turns. On one of the intermediate models it was just over 1½ turns. I haven’t a clue what it is on a Fiesta, a Corsa, or any other car out there – you’re sitting in one so work it out for yourself.

How many turns to straighten the wheels after full lock?

I can’t believe someone actually asked this – and also wanted pictures to explain it!

You’re going about this all wrong. You need to stop overthinking it. If you look at the steering wheel in your car and turn it to full lock from the straight-wheel position, count how many turns are involved. It really shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to discover that in order to straighten your wheels up again from full lock, you turn the steering wheel the opposite way by the exact same amount. Conveniently, the logo in the middle of the steering wheel is the right way up when your wheels are straight (it is also the right way up with one whole turn left or right, but you can deal with that).

How far do the car’s wheels turn?

It varies from car to car. You may have noticed that the large taxis (Hackney cabs), for example, can do a U-turn on roads where you might have to do a three-point-turn instead. It’s because their wheels turn further than they do on your car.

For most vehicles, the angle the wheels can turn to varies between about 30° and 50°. Because of the potential dangers – and I’m only guessing on this – I would imagine that cars capable of higher speeds would be limited to the lower end of that. Steering too much is dangerous in the first place, but being able to do it at high speed has alarm bells ringing all over it.

How much do I need to steer on corners?

It depends – but you’re thinking about it all wrong.

How much you need to steer on any given bend will vary from car to car, because it depends on how much the wheels move when you turn the steering wheel a set distance. But it isn’t case of memorising how much you need to turn the wheel. What you should be doing is turning the wheel enough to make the car do what you want it to do, and you assess that with your eyes and brain.

Learners initially have difficulty understanding that if the car isn’t going round a bend as much as it needs to, then it needs a bit more steering. That happens because in the early stages they aren’t seeing what’s happening in front of them. This often then develops into not realising that if you do add more steering, it only needs a small amount – not a dramatic yank towards the kerb, and that is usually because they are going too fast to be able to think about it calmly.

It all comes good with practice, though.

Learn to Drive, Dummy!

29/12/2015

DOAADI

ADI, Bad Drivers, Transport

This time of year you get some real idiots on the roads. I’m not talking about boy racers, but middle-aged plus fossils who simply don’t know how to drive. To make matters worse, they usually have big 4x4s specifically to advertise how much money they’ve been able to borrow in order to get it. If only they’d spend some money on refresher lessons.

A good example came just now. I was doing a merge in turn just after a set of lights, and so as not to cut anyone up I was dropping back to merge behind a grey 4×4 in the lane next to me (registration number: FN15 CDK). In actual fact, this would have meant I was giving up my “turn” in front of the 4×4, who had accelerated away just fast enough to show that he was going to “fight” over the issue. At no point did the front of my car extend further forward than his rear bumper while this was happening, so it was obvious I was not in any way trying to get past him. I was freewheeling at about 15-20mph – no gas whatsoever – so he could make progress into the gap. The problem then was that just as the road narrowed the f***ing idiot slowed right down, forcing me to brake quite sharply as I found myself alongside him. He had no reason to do this – the cars in front had accelerated away, and there was a gap.

This, of course, gave him the opportunity to shake his head and explain to the woman sitting in the passenger seat next to him how great he was and also, no doubt, to utter the immortal phrase “[insert adjective] learners”.

He was a silver-hair, and these are among the worst drivers on our roads – irrespective of how many accidents they have. A minor accident was only avoided in this case by me taking evasive action. I have no idea what was going through his fossilised brain cells. He didn’t want me to get past him, that was clear. But having “won” he then proceeded to slow down unnecessarily. Quite possibly just to “make a point”.

Drivers – and especially older ones, who have difficulty in the brain department – need to understand the concept of “merge in turn”. When a road splits into two lanes at traffic lights, it is not a mandate for you to block both lanes or attempt to prevent anyone overtaking you at any cost (it’s actually illegal for you to do that). Nor is it a mandate to sit in the right hand lane and then pull away slower than everyone else (technically, that’s illegal these days, too). Yes, your aged grey matter is probably already thinking fixedly about boy racers going faster than you, but although they are also wrong if they break the speed limit or drive discourteously or dangerously, the simple fact that they’re younger than you and drive faster (both of which are liable to put you off your Horlicks) is not reason enough for you to get involved.

And if you can’t understand that, hand over your licence before you kill someone.

Changing a Wheel

30/11/2015

DOAADI

ADI, DIY, Training

I was surprised to hear that some ADIs have never changed a wheel before. How times have changed.

When I first started driving on my own after I passed my test, I couldn’t wait for an excuse to get the jack out and have a go. Mind you, this was back when just about everyone (who was male) did their own brake pads and stuff on the banger they’d managed to scrape enough money together for in order to save it from the knacker’s yard! Nowadays, I drive a leased car which includes all maintenance and “breakdown recovery”, so it’s really only punctures I have to worry about.

I have to confess that for the first few years of being an ADI I used that free recovery option whenever I did get a flat tyre. The reasons for this were that I didn’t want to get dirty, I hate scissor jacks (my dad was once nearly crushed when one gave way when he was under a car), and… well, if you have a dog you don’t do all the barking yourself.

What made me start doing it myself again was the reliability of the recovery company. I am supposed to have priority service, but if that was the case then I’d hate to have been a pleb who didn’t! On the occasions I have actually broken down, they have turned up in less than an hour once. All the other breakdowns have seen me waiting for between 90 minutes and several hours – and we’re talking about breakdowns in the city of Nottingham here, not the middle of the Sahara. Several waits have been in the dark, and one involved a pupil for whom I had to pay for a taxi to get her home as the wait was over two hours. Yet another situation saw a passing breakdown truck from the same company stop and see if he could help as he was just parking up, but who was then refused permission, whereupon I had to wait for at least another hour – only for a third party contractor to arrive! When you call them, you always got that absolutely bullshit recorded message “we are experiencing high call volumes at the moment”. Every time without fail you hear that, and it doesn’t give you any hope at all that they will turn up within a reasonable time frame.

The last straw came when I called them for a flat tyre about 8pm one summer evening about three years ago and no one was answering, even after repeated calls. So I got the jack out and did it myself. Apart from skinning my knuckles a few times on the tarmac (bloody scissor jacks), and losing about 10lbs in sweat, I changed the tyre in less than 30 minutes.

Next day, I went straight to Machine Mart and bought a Clarke trolley jack (shown above) for about £20. It easily fits in my tool chest in the boot, and I can change a tyre in not much more than 15 minutes without breaking sweat now. I have a torque wrench but my spare tyre is a space saver, so this is academic since I have to get the tyre fixed before I can do further lessons anyway.

I don’t waste time showing pupils how to change a wheel (except when a puncture occurs on a lesson). They’re not paying me to teach them how to do that, and in most cases they have no inclination whatsoever to try it. I would demonstrate it if anyone ever requested it, but no one ever has. However, I do tell them how easy it is, and explain the basics. I also advise them to buy a trolley jack!