Category - Training

This is a very old post.

I noticed someone was asking about pupil dropout rates – where someone starts taking lessons, then stops and you never hear from them again. They were worried that they might be doing something wrong.

The first thing is: it happens! Anyone who claims they don’t get any dropouts is being economical with the facts. But what are the reasons for it when it happens?

There’s no single reason, and in most cases it’s a complex mix of factors. Let’s consider a few of them.

I can’t afford the lessons

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a cheapo offering stupid lesson prices, or a canny business operator who charges the going rate. If someone can’t afford lessons then there is always a risk they’ll disappear completely at some point. Some instructors are so far out of touch with reality that they simply cannot understand how someone without a job and very little money is often going to turn out to be unreliable and highly likely to not be able to afford lessons at all at some stage.

Perhaps understandably, those who are so close to the breadline – and who see being able to drive as a means to gaining employment – are often embarrassed by their predicament and if they stop lessons at some point, some of them won’t come back to you when they start again. The unfortunate fallout from this is that they’re not going to tell their new instructor the truth and will concoct some reason for having switched instructors. Work out for yourself what possible reasons they could give that don’t involve them telling the real story.

I don’t like the lesson prices

Not quite the same as above. In my experience, people in affluent areas can be very bad for this. They live in huge houses, have three cars on the drive (at least two of which will be Mercedes or other top marques), and absolutely detest paying for driving lessons for their offspring. They’re also the ones most likely to start a conversation with you involving how they only had six lessons before they passed, or attempting to negotiate “a deal” (i.e. lower prices).

In a lot of these cases, it is the pupils themselves who are financing lessons through the handful of hours of low-paid work they do after school. Maybe mum and dad are trying to teach them how they have to earn their way through life. But either way, your hold on them could be tenuous if they resent having to pay you.

I don’t get on with my instructor

This is a tricky and very complex one. Assuming that you aren’t a complete arsehole in the car, the amount of baggage some pupils carry around with them is unbelievable. Angst-ridden teens are always ready to blame the world for their own shortcomings, whilst simultaneously holding on to the belief that they know more than the rest of the world put together. If you press the wrong buttons – and sometimes, pressing ANY button is the wrong thing to do – they could be history.

I remember a few years ago teaching a girl who was a nightmare in the car – she just would NOT talk, even with the most extensive prompting. It was impossible to hold any sort of conversation. I know it wasn’t anything I was doing wrong, but according to her mum (after I’d questioned this to see if there were any known issues) she was the “life and soul” when she was with her friends. Honestly, there was no way that could be true (parents are nearly always defensive about their kids), but you can’t help questioning your own approach when you get someone like this. Anyway, I got her through her test (2nd time) and later discovered she was doing Pass Plus – with another school, because she “wanted a female instructor”. I suspect the amount of prompting I had to do might have been part of the reason she said that, but it still doesn’t hide the fact that she had serious communication problems from Day One. And I dread to think what she was telling that female instructor about me!

I want a female (or male) instructor

I have to be honest, but this one does hurt. You’ve got to wonder why someone would be so stupid as to choose a male (or female) instructor, only to want to change for precisely that reason a few weeks later. It can be a particular (albeit less worrying) problem with non-UK nationals (particularly Muslims). I had one Muslim woman who needed a chaperone on her lessons (her husband or daughter), and who had to change to a female instructor because of the restrictions it placed on her availability for lessons. There were no hard feelings on either side – it was just something that had to happen. And Muslim males – especially older ones – sometimes resent being taught by female instructors, but this doesn’t seem to be as common as it once was.

As I said above, though, I worry what stories they tell their next instructor. I’ve picked up loads of pupils with what I’d consider to be ”serious issues”, and not one of them has ever said it was their fault they left their last instructor.

To be honest, if I went solely on the bad stuff I’ve heard from female pupils I’ve taken on over the years I’d have to conclude that over 90% of males on the ADI Register are “pervy”, “creepy”, “dirty”, and so on. Statistically, that doesn’t give me much chance, does it?

I want an older instructor

Older learners – especially non-UK ones – sometimes resent being taught by instructors who are younger than their own kids. I’ve never come across the opposite case of someone wanting a younger instructor, though if you ARE a younger instructor I’m sure you can convince yourself its some sort of selling point.

I don’t really want to learn to drive

This might seem surprising, but many young people are either pushed into learning to drive by their parents (or boyfriends/girlfriends), or think that they’ve just “got to do it” for some reason. The only drawback is that they don’t really want to, and it is therefore easier for them to come up with reasons to skip lessons and eventually just stop altogether.

As an ADI, I find it disconcerting to encounter a pupil who isn’t enthusiastic – and is never going to be. I had one last year who said “I don’t really want to learn to drive, and I don’t like driving, but I want to get it out of the way before I go to University in October”. We managed to get one test in, which he failed, and I haven’t heard from him since. No doubt his failure was my fault.

Another aspect of this problem involves older learners. These are sometimes far more nervous or self-critical. The nerves affect their enjoyment. Being overly critical of themselves can make them think they aren’t going to learn, and that can lead them to stop taking lessons. Of course, if someone tells them it’s their instructors fault they can’t learn, they could decide to jump ship.

I wasn’t getting anywhere

Another tricky one. If I pick up a pupil who has had maybe 10-20 hours of training but only covered quiet roads and none of the manoeuvres I’m immediately surprised. I rarely get pupils of my own – even those with huge sacks of “issues” to lug around, and no innate driving skills at all – who I don’t get out on to main roads and turning the car around within a few lessons (a turn in the road in a quiet industrial estate teaches a lot about clutch control and awareness of other if used properly). In the cases where those I pick up are actually normal, and can learn quickly, there must be something in their complaint about not progressing.

On the other hand, if there are “issues” and lack of driving skills, then some people WILL progress less quickly than others. The average 17-year old male “knows” that it only takes 10 hours to learn to drive because his dad said so. Or sometimes it will be his best mate, who has been stealing cars and driving illegally since he was three, and who passed first time after only a handful of lessons (but who had been learning “unofficially” for the previous 10 or more years). Or maybe again it will be a few gallons of extra testosterone resulting in someone who took 50 hours claiming only 20 (young males do that, believe me). So the fact that he has never driven before, and then turns out not to be a natural driver, tends come as a bit of a disappointment.

As I mentioned above, older drivers often expect to be able to achieve things more quickly than they’re capable of. Don’t get me wrong – some learn  faster than some 17-year olds, and some learn as fast as most 17-year olds – but it tends to be harder to learn new skills as you get older for most people.

My instructor [fill in the blanks with some alleged behaviour]

You can have shouting – that one comes up a lot. I’ve mentioned before that shouting is in the ear of the listener. I don’t shout AT them (well, I did once), but if I’m on a lesson and we’re driving at 70mph on a dual carriageway, and we start to drift towards the kerb, another car, or a tree lying in the road, then I will raise my voice. How much depends on how terrified I am by the impending catastrophe. I’m not shouting at them, but if they think I am it’s their problem. My life counts for more than their fragile and confused  emotional states, I’m afraid

I’ve had more than one conversation over the years which has gone something like:

“You make me nervous when you shout.”

“You were already about to hit that bus before I’d even opened my mouth. YOU scream or panic when you’re on a scary ride at the funfair, don’t you?

“If I am that frightened by something, I AM GOING TO RAISE MY VOICE whether you like it or not. It is my way of screaming in terror before I try and sort it out.”

Then there are the allegations about behaviour – I’ve already mentioned the “creepy” and “pervy” ones, but you’ve also got “stopping and talking for ages”, “talking about his/her private life”, “stopping for a smoke”, “smoking in the car”, “finishing lessons early”, “turning up late”, “cancelling lessons”, and so on. I’m sure you could add many others to this list.

You just have to remember that even though all things to do with driving might be your lifeblood as in instructor infatuated with cars, the whole learning to drive thing probably doesn’t even make it on to the top fifty for 90% of teenagers. Some of them are still mentally kids (you can often tell this from where you pick them up and drop them off – one of mine often gets dropped off near a sports field where she and a gang of her mates (and boyfriend) hang around smoking), and God help you if one of them falls in “love” while they’re taking lessons! Driving lessons disappear off the radar when that happens. Others might be more mature, but they are still young and have young people’s priorities – like work, University, and so on.

And the problem of dropout is going to vary by area. If you work in deprived areas, money is always going to be an issue, for example. If you work in more affluent locations, University will always be on the horizon.

So what should you do? Well, if you’re sure it isn’t you (and I know it isn’t me when it happens), just forget about them. Chasing them makes it look like you’re desperate for work, and even if they come back they’ll still be unreliable. It’s your choice, though.

But as I said right at the start. It happens.

This is a very old article, and unlike the main article on roundabouts it is not regularly updated. The technical detail is still correct, but references to Chalfont Drive test centre are not.

The article “How To Do Roundabouts” is very popular, and I add to it regularly based on search terms people use to find it.

I wanted to mention a particular example as a separate article. It happened the other day and is a prime example of how signalling using the “12 o’clock rule” can be dangerous and misleading.

Remember that there is no such thing as the “12 o’clock rule”.

I was on a lesson with a pupil and we were looking at the big Nuthall roundabout in Nottingham. This roundabout scares the wits out of most pupils, and the stories they hear about it have made it legendary for the terror it generates.

But it isn’t just pupils who have issues with it. I drive through it regularly and I’m not exaggerating when I say that more than 50% of people who use it haven’t got a clue how to do it properly. These people make it harder for pupils (and anyone doing it the right way) as they swing wildly across several lanes because they’re not in the correct one to begin with (and that’s true of many roundabouts).

My pupil had just approached it for the first time on this lesson. We’d come in from the A6002 and were intending to leave via the A610 towards the City Centre. The image on the left represents the sign you see on approach.

Note how the A611 is shown at 12 o’clock and the A610 at 3 o’clock (i.e. a long way after 12 o’clock).

Also note how the roundabout is oval, which illustrates another problem with the 12 o’clock rule – it assumes roundabouts are round like a clock face, which many aren’t. But it is enough for this example to point out that the roundabout sign would demand that you signal right for the A610 if the “12 o’clock rule” actually existed.

Anyway, the A6002 approach is a single lane, but as you come to the roundabout it opens into four lanes. The two left ones are for the M1. The third is for the B600, and the right hand lane is for the B600, A611, and A610 (plus that little blip which represents a minor road (5th exit) into a housing estate). There is a lane sign and lane markings to explain this, but as I say it’s a 60mph road, and these signs and markings only appear very close to the roundabout, so you need to be able to choose your lane quickly to avoid having anyone behind box you in as they over- or undertake you.

There is no way any instructor would – or should – be expecting their pupil to be able to negotiate this on their test without having been taught how to do it properly. If anyone out there is being taught by such an instructor, they should change to another one quickly, because they’re wasting their money. And it IS on at least one test route at Chalfont Drive.

On the lesson, my pupil had moved into the right hand lane for the A610 on approach. She’d already attempted to indicate once, but I’d stopped her. In front of us was another learner with their right indicator on. As we pulled up behind my pupil again tried to signal – I stopped her and said “you’re copying that learner! Stop it!”

Now, as we pulled up behind that learner car my thoughts were that he or she was either going into the housing estate or doubling back along the A6002 (I often do that when I’m covering this roundabout on lessons so we don’t have to drive miles to try it again). For all the world, that’s what the indicator was telling me.

The Nuthall roundabout is huge and light controlled at several points as you go around it. As you emerge on to the roundabout from the A6002 the right hand lane splits into two options at the next set of lights – the left of these is B600 and A611, the right (innermost) one is A611, A610, housing estate (and full circle). We needed the innermost lane, and the learner in front went there too – still signalling.

When you move through this second set of lights the roundabout now opens into a huge expanse of road – FIVE lanes, and lines everywhere. If you follow your set of lines for the A610, that alone opens into two lanes to choose from, and the right hand one of these also has the choice of two more which open out to the right for carrying on around – and these also split up to another set of lights. At one point – admittedly with small islands to segregate traffic – there are SEVEN LANES side by side. It isn’t easy for anyone.

As we followed our A610 lines in the left hand lane, and with clear “straight ahead” arrows on the road by this stage, the learner in front continued to signal right – all the time I was concerned that they would swing across into one of the three lanes to our right (and the additional worry that my pupil would copy – which she has a habit of doing). Every indication was that they wanted to go right. Their signal was highly misleading, particularly when you consider the number of supposedly experienced full licence holders who routinely close their eyes, put their foot down, and hope for the best when they negotiate this roundabout!

The whole point is that at no stage of taking the A610 from the A6002 via the Nuthall roundabout do you NEED to signal. Only the “12 o’clock rule” says you should – but a signal is totally unnecessary for most routes because it has clear lane definitions (big white arrows and huge letters telling you where it goes). There might be occasions where on the approach you’ve left it a little late to move into the right hand lane and a signal tells whoever’s behind you’re moving over, or perhaps you could signal purely to note your intention to take a particular lane option where there are two available, or if you got into the wrong lane and want to change then you could signal.

But signalling just for the roundabout itself is extremely misleading – no matter what the non-existent “12 o’clock rule” says.

At some point in the training of many pupils it becomes necessary to explain how the gears work. Sometimes you can do it during the controls lesson – I usually mention it briefly then – but it often makes more sense to them once they have got a basic understanding of how to make the car move. Horses for courses, as the saying goes – you adapt your lesson to the needs of the individual.

Anyway, it seems that a lot of instructors don’t go into detail at all (and that includes how the clutch works). Not having had something explained to them – whatever it is – is usually why someone is having difficulty with it a long way into their training. As far as they’re concerned, they “aren’t progressing”, so they jump ship and find another ADI.

I’ve put this little animation together to help explain how gears work. If you want to play along, don’t fiddle with it until you read the explanation that goes with it. (Sorry, this post was written a long time ago before Flash was discontinued. I’ve only just rediscovered it, so I will find a replacement shortly)

In the animation above you can see the drive gear rotating. This is connected through the clutch to the engine, so if you put more gas on it goes faster (and if you slip the clutch it will go slower).

Click the “1st” button and the first gear appears – this is connected to the wheels, and when it goes round so do the wheels. In this demonstration it’s exactly the same size as the drive gear, so for each revolution of the drive gear the first gear will also revolve once (the red marker dots show the movement). You can get moving easily, but if you want to go faster after that you need to change up.

Click on the “2nd” button and the second gear replaces first. The second gear is smaller than first and for each revolution of the drive gear it will go round 1.25 times in this demonstration. By moving to this gear once the car is moving you’ll maintain your previous speed and be able to accelerate more without the engine having to do so much work.

Click on the “3rd” button and the third gear replaces second. This gear is even smaller than second and for each revolution of the drive gear it will revolve 1.7 times in this demonstration. This will allow you to accelerate even more.

Click on the “4th” button and fourth gear replaces third. This gear is smaller still and for each revolution of the drive gear it will go round 2.5 times in this demonstration. If we assume this is the top gear, this will allow you to travel at the highest speed for your car. Obviously, that means safe speed – not necessarily the maximum speed.

Click on the “All” button and all the gears are visible. See how the marker dots all move at different speeds.

Now, you have to remember that the car weighs quite a bit – typically, about 1 metric tonne – and it takes a lot of effort to get this moving. You need as much power from the engine as you can get to start moving before you move up through the gears as you gain speed. You can get that initial power transfer using first gear.

If you choose a higher gear than 1st, each revolution of the engine has to move the car by the equivalent of more than one revolution of the chosen gear (in the demonstration), and if you are going too slow it will be too much and for the engine and it will stutter or stall. But in first gear, one revolution of the engine will move the car by the equivalent of one revolution of that gear. That requires much less effort by the engine.

The demonstration is not intended to represent actual gear sizes and ratios in a real car. It just shows how different sized gears work.

Going into too much detail is a double-edged sword – both edges of which are nasty! You will either bore the pants off 75% of your pupils, or get caught out when it turns out 5% are mechanics and know more about the gears than you do. The other 20% might just be getting too much information – information that they don’t need, but are paying for.

ADIs are supposed to teach people how to drive – not how to strip down a gearbox. Keep it simple, keep it focused, and keep it sensibly brief.

Addendum: In spite of pointing out that the above explanation is not intended to represent the exact gear ratios in a car, and that it is intended as a brief explanation for pupils about how gears work, there are still some people out there eager to put down this advice and point out that the gears are different sizes and ratios in a real car. Yes, I know. I said that already.

But for anyone who still believes that it is an instructor’s job to give physics and engineering lessons as well as driving tuition, and who is desperate to shoot holes in this tutorial, the gear ratios in the simple demonstration above came about because I started with a 25-toothed gear and went down in 5-tooth steps. They ended up as:

• 1st – 1:1
• 2nd – 1:1.25
• 3rd – 1:1.7
• 4th – 1:2.5

These numbers of teeth were chosen purely to get an animation that wasn’t too complicated, but which showed how the gearing works when moving any vehicle. In a current Ford Focus, the actual ratios are:

• 1st – 3.67:1
• 2nd – 2.14:1
• 3rd – 1.45:1
• 4th – 1.03:1
• 5th – 0.81:1
• Reverse – 3.73:1
• Final drive – 3.82:1

In other words, the drive gear is smaller than 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears. Of course, the ratios will be different for all other Ford models (including the various Focuses), and for all other makes and models. And if you want to go still further, you could use this information to calculate the distance moved per engine revolution as long as you know the exact circumference of the tyres and then get on to the effect the differential gears have on the final power yield. Your pupils will marvel at your erudition on the subject!

I’ve got one girl who gets bored within 5 seconds if I pull her over to discuss why she tried to drive us off a cliff, and I don’t think I’ve yet come across anyone – even those studying physics at Uni, or who are apprentice car mechanics – who feel they’re paying me to lecture them on this topic.

If you’re going to lecture on something, the more detail you go into the more of an expert you need to be. Driving instructors need to recognise where their “skills” end and “nit-picking” begins.

Driving: The Essential Skills (TES) says:

The parking brake

You should normally apply the parking brake whenever the vehicle is stationary.

Apply the parking brake… unless the wait is likely to be very short.

Your foot could easily slip off the footbrake if, for example, your shoes are wet or if you’re bumped from behind. You could then be pushed into another vehicle or a pedestrian…

The use of the parking brake is even more important in vehicles fitted with automatic transmission. The parking brake will help avoid

• the possibility of ‘creep’
• the vehicle surging forward if the accelerator is pressed accidentally while in D (Drive)

Although it might seem a controversial comment to make, the people who learn in automatics tend to be the kind who can easily get their feet mixed up, so that second warning is very relevant. It’s bad enough in a manual with some learners.

TES also says:

Section 22 Automatics and four-wheel drive

The importance of the parking brake

Fully applying the parking brake whenever your vehicle is stationary is even more important on an automatic.

If the selector lever is in any position other than P or N, it will move off under power if the accelerator is pressed (accidentally or on purpose) unless the brakes are on.

If the choke (manual or automatic) is in use, an even lighter accelerator pressure can move the vehicle away.

I view of this, it is surprising to see some ADIs advising that you shouldn’t use the parking brake in an automatic. This alternative advice seems to be based on the belief that the drivers in question find it difficult to apply, or that automatic drivers historically have fallen into the habit of not using it. It even appears that some ADIs purposely criticise use of the handbrake because they believe that a pupil’s previous instructor told them to use it every time they stop!

Let’s just set a few records straight. First of all, brake light glare is a very real problem. At night – and especially if it is raining – modern high-intensity brake lights can be painfully bright. TES says:

Junctions at night

Brake lights can dazzle. Don’t keep your foot on the brake pedal if you’re waiting at a junction or queuing in traffic… use the parking brake.

[Similarly with indicators]

Sitting at traffic lights with your foot on the brake is ignorant as well as the sign of a bad (or badly taught) driver.

Secondly, there are many things that learners are taught to do or not do when they are taking lessons. A good example would be adhering to speed limits. The simple fact that many of them choose to ignore speed limits totally once they pass does not mean they are right, or that ADIs should start teaching that way too. For that reason, the apparent fact that most automatic drivers fall into the lazy habit of just sitting there with their foot on the brakes does not in any way make them right or indicate that ADIs who teach in automatics should fall into line.

Going back to the comment I made above, people who learn in automatics very often do so because they can’t handle manual cars. I’ve persuaded several to move to automatics because they just don’t have the coordination to handle the clutch, gears, and brakes. Once they pass their tests, that lack of coordination is bound to lead to not using the handbrake for most of them. But it doesn’t mean they’re right – it just means they’re not very good drivers! (Before anyone rises to that, just think: no matter how nice someone is, how dedicated they are to learning, how desperate they are to pass, whatever their disability or other domestic circumstances, etc., it has no bearing whatsoever on whether they are a good driver or not. It’s just the way it is.)

On the driving test, you won’t immediately fail for not using the handbrake. But you will fail if not using it leads to some other problem, or even if the examiner perceives that there is a significant risk. ADIs shouldn’t be making their own rules up just to fit in with difficult learners.

Not using the parking brake by default is already half way to a fail. And nearly all of the way to being a bad or inconsiderate driver from the moment they get their licence!

But some automatics don’t have a parking brake.

All modern cars have some sort of parking brake. The dangers of not using it have already been outlined. Whether you operate it with your hand, your foot, or through some sort of telepathy, it is there for a reason.

If you’re stopped, brake light dazzle isn’t going to cause an accident, is it?

Driving at night and having to put up with dazzle can lead to tiredness or loss of concentration or awareness. Having bright lights shone unnecessarily in your face in uncomfortable at best, but can potentially lead to more dangerous situations.

If you are teaching people to avoid using the handbrake and not teaching them to think of those behind them, you need to take a serious look at what you are doing. Brake light dazzle IS a significant problem. Holding the car on the footbrake for too long, and especially at night, IS a sign of a bad or inconsiderate driver.

I hate it when I pick up pupils who have been told to use the handbrake every time they stop.

Well, good for you. However, you ought to allow for the fact that most new drivers find it difficult to assess when to do something that should be triggered by judgement or common sense, and often fall into the habit of either always doing it, or always not doing it as a result. They try to pigeon hole everything. So there is a good chance they were not actually told to apply the handbrake “every time”, but have developed that habit themselves as a “just in case” strategy (they do it with signalling to pull over or move off, amongst other things). Mine often try to do it, in spite of me never having taught them to.

TES makes it clear that you should use the handbrake where it would help you prevent the car from rolling.

So it comes down to two options for many learners. Do you:

• NOT use the handbrake and risk rolling?
• use it EVERY TIME just in case?

Only the first one carries any significant risk. The second is not a fault, nor is it a danger to other road users in itself. The only people who see it as a problem are certain ADIs who seem annoyed by it.

Someone found the blog on that search term! It depends on many factors including where you teach. Someone teaching in Central London is hardly going to be able to cover as many miles as someone in a less urban location.

Taking my own pupils as an example, a typical 2 hour lesson can cover anywhere from less than 5 miles to more than 60! It just depends on what you are trying to cover.

The one thing to remember is that although some people can learn new things very quickly, the one thing that cannot be hurried is experience. By definition, experience only comes with time and practice, and that means time on the road practicing driving. Inevitably, that translates into miles.

Many pupils are anxious about how much it will cost them to learn to drive, and I make it clear from the outset that if they can get a lot of quality private practice between lessons then they will learn over a shorter time period. I just tell them straight that if they can get insured on mum or dad’s car then that will avoid having to pay me for the road time instead. I also tell them that it is important that mum or dad prevents bad habits forming, so I suggest that they accompany us on a lesson and I show them some things to watch out for.

If I get someone who passes quickly (especially without any private practice) then I feel glad for both them and me. But I always have a nagging worry that they might not have had enough road experience to drive safely once they’re out on their own. That’s why I don’t try to scrimp on fuel and am happy to drive long distances and do manoeuvres a long way from the test centres.

I know that the primary consideration for many ADIs is fuel costs. I’ve written before about the cheapos and their stupid hourly rates. That’s one group that will avoid racking up many miles like the plague, because it eats into their already tiny profit margin.

An ADI should be teaching their learners whatever is necessary to make them safe new drivers once they pass their tests, and make allowances for whatever they are/are not doing in between lessons.

An ADI should not be teaching the bare minimum required to pass the test.

You can work out for yourself which of those groups the cheapos are likely to fall under.