I saw someone post an online comment about having seen “a big school car” driving in the middle lane of a motorway, and then implying that this in some way meant that every ADI who works for that “big school” is therefore pants.
It’s just another variation of the “indie is better because I’m indie” or “all franchises suck” arguments.
The comedian who posted it then tried to argue that it wasn’t part of a driving lesson by stating that it was at 10.00pm at night – presumably because he doesn’t work that late (he certainly isn’t tonight, as he obviously has time to post this). That made me smile, because I have done lessons until midnight on various occasions. I frequently get pupils who can only do 8-10pm lessons because of work commitments, and I have one right now who is at a boarding school, and who does 8-9pm every lesson. He’s already mentioned upping them to two hours at some point. In the past, some who had tests looming, either because of their own availability or my diary loading, opted to take a few additional lessons between 8pm and 11pm.
Two of my super-late ones were Pass Plus motorway sessions, where the drivers had booked them in the middle of summer, and in order to get the night time module in, we had to start late. I wonder what some of these super-indies do when they have to cover that? My guess is that their mouth does most of the work, and the driver very little. And they say only franchised instructors are bad!
Then another one chimed in with an example of one of “the big schools” cutting her up, so therefore all big schools are pants. Like no ADI has ever been cut up (or overtaken) by another indie when we’re driving at the speed limit. The likelihood of that is all the greater when said indie is in an Audi or BMW. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, but people who drive Audis generally don’t buy them to drive within the speed limit all the time when the car can do 2½ times that with ease. Nor do they buy them with the intention of staying behind anyone else if they have the chance to overtake. This holds whether they’re members of the public or off-duty ADIs
And then there was the claim that phoned complaints are ignored by the big schools, as if the school involved is going to dish the dirt to the complainant so they can gloat over it. I know for a fact that several national schools contact the ADI in question and ask them about it. It is their name which at stake, and they take it very seriously. I have no idea what happens after that, because it’s none of my bloody business, but if there is sufficient evidence then the ADI in question will undoubtedly be reprimanded. If complaints are regular, they could easily lose their franchise.
What makes me laugh is that many of these super-indies used to be franchised – often to these same schools. And they still can’t see that they’re no different now, other than for what is written on their car.
My pet hate is the apparent arrogance of other instructors. I’ve mentioned this before, but the one thing that makes my blood boil is going into an empty car park – or an empty part of a car park if it’s a big one, like the Chilwell P+R – and having some total moron (and I’ve seen an AA car doing it as well as many indies) come into the same empty area, when there are at least half a dozen similarly empty areas they could go to. The other day, some dickhead indie was using the P+R as a nursery route, and so basically getting in everyone’s way, and he kept going round and round and coming into the far corner where I’d gone. And then there are the ones who go in there to practice one of the bay park manoeuvres, but instead of going to a quieter area, insist on doing it in the section marked “exit” where all car park users have to go through, thus guaranteeing that they’re in everyone’s way.
It isn’t arrogance, though. It’s just sheer stupidity. They simply don’t have a clue, and that’s what they’re teaching their pupils.