Diary Of An ADI - A Driving Instructor's Blog

GDE Matrix And Coaching

27/05/2010

This old post is experiencing a renaissance. Also have a look at Coaching + Having A Laugh and The Driving Test Marking Sheet. Oh, and Coaching And The Driving Instructor .

UPDATE: The DSA (now DVSA) has now embarked on its implementation of coaching, so read this article posted in November 2012.

There’s a debate/argument going on on one of the forums (the one where the crazy people all go) about the GDE Matrix and “coaching”.

In a nutshell, you have one group who believe that no ADI currently instructs properly unless they have been trained to “coach” using the GDE Matrix, and another group who believes that the GDE Matrix is anything from a complete waste of time all the way up to just putting into a lot of words what they already do.

One poster has said:

Imagine a 18 year old, who in training are great but how will their behaviour change going to meet a friend with 3 of his mates in the car. What is his main goals for this journey? Well, almost certainly to get there safely, but what other goals are there here? Perhaps showing his mates what a good driver he is? What could this mean in practice? Possibly driving quickly? And what happens if these goal causes a misjudgement – crash!

Behaviour is related to context, encouraging a driver to recognise this and to develop coping strategies is what level 3, is about, as well as the environmental issues outlined above. Of course the next question is how do your raise this awareness and get past the ‘Oh no I would never do anything like that, I will always drive exactly how you taught me’ response? Well one approach is coaching.

Tonight, after my last lesson, I was nipping to the local Asda. As I came down Loughborough Road, past the fire station where the speed limit drops from 40mph to 30, I noticed a silver Corsa (blacked out windows, of course) come flying up behind me. He came right up to tailgate me, then decided to overtake – which meant he had to go around one of those pedestrian islands – right outside West Bridgford school – on the opposite side of the road. There was a car coming the opposite way.

As usual, the little moron got away with it. But I bet mummy and daddy don’t know he drives like that. But if they did know, would they care? They’re probably out telling everyone how good he is.

You see, this is where the problem lies. It isn’t the driving instructor’s fault that little Johnny or Laurie drive like prats. It’s the parents who are to blame – for never having said “no”, and for buying their little darlings pratmobiles to try and kill themselves in.

You see it time and time again. There is no way some greasy-faced little chav can afford a brand new Corsa (certainly not as many of them as you see driving the damned things). It’s mummy and daddy again. It’s also mummy and daddy who are to blame for letting little Johnny get the sports model, fit a noisy exhaust, stick blue LEDs all over it, get a dodgy licence plate, and get the windows blacked out. In fact, all the things that say “I’m going to drive this like I’m at the Monaco Grand Prix, even though the ink is still wet on my licence”.

I recently got the urge (again) to get my motorcycle licence. I remember when I was 17, my dad told me that if I ever got a motorbike he’d kick me out of the house. When I told him I was planning to do it this time, he said if I did it while he was still alive he’d disown me. He meant it, too.

My, how things have changed.

But back to this crap about “coaching” people. The implication is always that by coaching someone on driving lessons, you can turn a pot-smoking hoodie into a prime minister. This is total bollocks.

As the example from tonight shows (and this is something I see every day – it isn’t just a one-off), these prats drive the way they want to . The only input an ADI can have is to make sure they at least know how to drive properly. That they have been given the right tools and taught to use them.

But whether they choose to use them is not going to be influenced by their driving instructor, with whom they spend around 40 hours in total. Over the 20 weeks or so that they have those 40 hours of driving lessons, they spend another 3,300 hours with mummy and daddy and their idiot friends. That’s 1% of their time on lessons, 99% with mummy and daddy and primates similar to themselves.

It isn’t hard to see where the responsibility for them driving like prats really lies.

Splitting My Sides III

25/05/2010

DOAADI

ADI

Over on one of the forums they’re having another go at the DSA (in relation to asking the candidate if they want their instructor on the debrief). One “expert” says:

Some people in the DSA get a bit above themselves at times and give the rest a bad name.

On the same forum, in another currently active thread, another “expert” posts (in relation to coaching):

Interesting discussion.

I myself am an expert – but what is an expert?

It’s a good job certain ADIs don’t get “a bit above themselves” isn’t it?

Ford Focus – Erratic Idle

25/05/2010

DOAADI

ADI, General

Please Note: This applies to the pre-2012/13 Focus model. The latest one doesn’t have the problem based on my own experience.

Request: If anyone actually benefits from this advice, please let me know so I can update the article. I’d like to identify if the problems I had were the same as those being experienced by others.

My last two instructor cars have been Ford Focuses (pre-2012 models), and both have had the same fault:

when idling, car sounds like it is gasping for air
sometimes makes whistling noises when idling (like a fan going fast)
sometimes makes clicking sounds when idling (like a switch operating repeatedly)
revs falling on idle, lights dimming when it happens
sometimes spontaneously stalling if rev count falls too much
with learners, can stall on a bend if they coast – and the power steering stops working (very dangerous)
with me, can stall when braking to a stop at junctions and lights (annoying)
starts up again easily
it might be playing up badly, it’ll stall, but after you restart it it will behave (more or less) until the problem gets bad again
tends to do it most when warmed up – but not always
occasionally, when decelerating, you can feel the loss of power in the background
sometimes when moving off, shudders as if not enough gas is applied

The dealer couldn’t find a fault with the last one (they just plug a laptop into it and if no fault is shown, as far as they’re concerned there isn’t one). Ford logo

They told me last time that there was definitely no fault, and that learner cars aren’t driven very hard so they clog up and it is necessary to run them at high revs for about 10 seconds (when coming off a motorway, slip it into 2nd, for example) to “blow it out”. They told me there wasn’t a known issue, and they even said that it is normal for cars to fluctuate a little.

Frankly, all of this was utter bollocks. But when my new one started playing up after I’d traded the old one in before the warranty ran out, I tried what they had suggested about “blowing it out” – if anything, it made it worse.

This time, they tried to suggest it was my foot mats under the pedals. They also told me I needed to put high-grade fuel in it! Yeah, I’m definitely going to pay 10p a litre more for 97 RON, when 95 RON is what the car is supposed to run on as a minimum – especially when I am filling up every other day sometimes.

But I looked into it this time. It turns out that there is a huge number of people who have this exact problem with their Focuses. All kinds of suggestions are offered, but it is common that the service centres cannot find anything wrong, when there clearly IS something wrong.

Now, I knew this new car would develop the same fault as the last one from the moment I took delivery. It was gasping and clicking even with just delivery mileage on the clock. And true to form, after about 8k it started to fluctuate noticeably, and by 12k it was stalling sporadically. A couple of weeks ago a pupil who has a habit of coasting (many years driving experience overseas) put the clutch down going round a tight corner and we nearly ended up in railings as the power steering cut out!

Armed with what I’d found, I confronted the local Ford dealer.

To cut a long story short, they replaced the “throttle case” (don’t blame me – I’m not a mechanic, but that’s what the dealer told me) and it has fixed the problem completely. The car now idles constantly.

Don’t be fobbed off. Make a nuisance of yourself if your Focus is playing up.

What is the normal idle speed of a Ford Focus?

Someone found the blog on that term (for a 2010 model). The normal idle is about 750rpm going by the rev counter. I’m sure it has a much more technical and detailed value, but it should be a steady 750 on the internal rev counter based on my own experiences with several Focuses.

If it moves around visibly (or audibly) without touching anything then you have a problem.

Note that certainly on older models, moving the steering wheel, braking, or doing anything which puts an increased load on the engine triggered the engine management system to attempt to compensate and you’d get a small rev counter movement.

My Focus ran out of diesel. Can that cause a problem?

I’ve added this one as of February 2016, after someone found the blog with that question.

Late last year I noticed that my Focus (which is now a diesel) was pulling back when I accelerated (over 40,000 miles on the clock). There were no idling problems like those mentioned above, but I took it to the garage and they replaced the fuel filter. That sorted it out completely.

I know that it isn’t recommended by some garages that you run your tank too low, as deposits which fall the bottom can get into the fuel system. I guess that’s why there is a fuel filter in the first place. So running out of fuel is the best way of sucking all that rubbish into the system (or on to the fuel filter).

I am not a mechanic, and I’m only surmising based on my fuel filter obviously being gunged up, but if you ran out of fuel and are now experiencing problems with idling or acceleration, maybe you should have your fuel filter checked.

Beef On The Rib

24/05/2010

DOAADI

Food

A while back, I bought some stuff from the Marr Green farm shop in Burbage, down in Wiltshire. I often do this to stock up the freezer – not just from Marr Green, but also Red Down farm shop near Highworth/Swindon (I get my eggs from them).

Beef On The Rib

Most of Marr Green’s meat is locally produced, and one item I bought some time last year was a large piece of beef on the rib. I’ve never cooked this cut of meat before, and that is probably why it spent so long in the freezer! But the weather-related food poisoning epidemic my pupils have encountered the last two days meant that I was going to cook a decent meal tonight.

I wouldn’t have bothered posting this if it wasn’t for the fact that it was the tenderest, best flavoured beef I have ever eaten.

Cooking was easy – I just rubbed sea salt into it to season it, seared it on all sides in a little olive oil, then cooked it for 30 minutes in the oven on gas mark 9, reducing to gas mark 4 for 20 minutes per half kg. I let it rest in foil for 30 minutes before carving – it was like cutting butter with a hot knife!

I don’t know if it was the fact that it was from Marr Green’s herd, or just that this cut of meat is so good. But it was delicious.

Cancellations And The Second World War

24/05/2010

DOAADI

ADI, Funny, General

Someone should do a proper scientific study, but there seems to be a correlation between hot summer weather and the incidence of “food poisoning”. Because you can be bloody sure that as soon as it gets hot, people start looking for reasons not to have the lesson they booked as recently as last week.

I don’t mind too much, because it’s only a handful, and the last month or so I’ve not had a moment free or slots to spare for anyone wanting a lesson.

So, having acquired a free afternoon and evening, I came home and turned on the TV. Now, even with several hundred channels through the Sky dish, it is impressive that there can be almost nothing of interest shown on any of them for such long periods of time. And this afternoon is no exception.

After much channel-hopping, I caught the end of “Adolf Hitler – My Part In His Downfall” (one of Spike Milligan’s autobiography books, turned into a film). It occurred to me after only a couple of minutes how badly I would have coped with the Second World War or anything to do with the British Army anytime before the 60s. It reminded me of another war film that drove me nuts - “The Password Is Courage”; oh yes, and “The Great Escape”. And “Bridge On The River Kwai”. Come to think of it, all British war films (or films about the British during the war).

All the British ever seemed to do was sing bloody 30s and 40s songs and whistle idiotic tunes, and behave in obscenely stereoptypical ways straight out of Enid Blyton books. It would have driven me insane (assuming the reality was even close to the way the films portray it).

Test Centre Test Times

24/05/2010

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ADI

Someone used the search term “colwick test centre test times” to find the blog.

For the life of me, I cannot understand why this matters – tests are held in the early morning, daytime, and late afternoon – unless you are just trying to fit it in with work or something.

The earliest one they do is 08.10, then there is an 08.20 and an 08.40. From tests in this year’s diary, I know there is an 09.07, an 09.17, a 10.14, and a 10.44. Then there’s an 11.11, an 11.41, and a 12.38. In the afternoon there is a 14.32 and a 15.30. I believe the latest one (barring evening overtime slots) is 16.30.

I’m not saying this is an exhaustive list, but these times are definitely on the cards (maybe give or take a couple of minutes if I have rounded them up occasionally).

For some people who are worried about test times, it depends what it is they are afraid of, of course. If you convince yourself you are scared of traffic, then you might want to avoid the early morning or late afternoon ones – and throw away the opportunity not to have to drive very far. Likewise, avoid midday or afternoon to miss the schools, and you miss relatively clear roads and will probably end up travelling farther to larger roundabouts and the city centre.

If you are going to drive on your own you need to be able to drive in all kinds of traffic.

Public Image Limited

23/05/2010

DOAADI

Music

I was watching one of the music channels last night before I went to sleep, and they played Rise by P.I.L. I had forgotten how good a song it is.

When it was first released, it made me buy a few other P.I.L. albums, and the track Don’t Ask Me also came to mind.

Back in the 70s I absolutely hated the Sex Pistols – and to be honest, I still do. They were just too contrived. But there is no denying that John Lydon – and the late Malcolm McLaren, come to that – were very talented (even if Lydon spent the late 70s punk era pretending he wasn’t).

General Election 2010: Aftermath II

20/05/2010

DOAADI

General

Just caught the end of BBC Breakfast News this morning, and they had Jeffrey Archer on. It’s very funny how previous political losers – like Archer, William Hague, and so on – have miraculously been given a voice. It’s just a shame that they don’t have the skill to use it – although the idiots who gave them the opportunity in the first place (the electorate) are probably too stupid to pick up on what crap they are being fed.

Over the last few days, these has-beens have repeatedly been chirruping “we must do something about the deficit, we must do something about the deficit” . They then talk about how many billions of £s the deficit is (£160 billion for 2009). This is carefully worded to suggest that under a Tory government it was zero.

Firstly, the deficit has increased due to the recession . In 2006 and 2007 it was around £30 billion. In 2008 it jumped to £7 billion (and that was the year that I noticed the recesion affecting me). In 2009 it hit £160 billion.

Secondly, the national debt (as a percentage of GDP) was at around 45% when Labour came into power. Over the next 5 years it fell to its lowest of around 30% in 2002, and then it was annually 30% (2003), 33% (2004), 35% (2005), 35% (2006), 36% (2007) – but it next jumped to 45% in 2008 and then to 60% in 2009… in the recession .

So basically, the Labour government controlled the debt extremely well until the recession hit. The idiots who voted didn’t take this into account (probably because they didn’t know or understand).

Thirdly, Germany’s national debt is running at 60% of GDP. The USA’s national debt has been running at 60% since 1988! The Japanese national debt has been around 60% since 1980, and since 1990 it has rocketed up to 180%.

So here we can see that the likes of Jeffrey Archer and William Hague – who think thay can talk the talk, but who can’t walk the walk – have ample headroom to mislead the public. The only problem is that the public can’t think the think, and are taken in. But then, these were the idiots who voted for this new government.

The market economy depends on there being a debt. In fact, after a recession an increased debt is likely to fuel recovery. And during a recession, an increasing debt is unavoidable… if things are being managed properly.

With this new coalition, we have a mish-mash government with mish-mashed policies which NONE of the people who voted for Tory or LibDem actually wanted. If the LibDem voters wanted the Tories in, they would have voted Tory! The only reason they have all voted in hindsight that they approve of the deal is that it is the only chance in hell they have of getting anywhere near government.

So after all the bluster about non-elected Prime Ministers, we have what is effectively a non-elected government. This isn’t what people voted for.

Old Style £20 – Out Of Circulation

19/05/2010

DOAADI

ADI

Note the publish date – 2010!

Worth bearing this in mind, but the old-style £20 note will be withdrawn from circulation on 30 June 2010. You can read more/see confirmation on the Bank Of England website.

Official Withdrawal Leaflet

It’s worth also noting that you won’t suddenly be left with a load of useless money, because banks and building societies will still exchange/cash them for you for some time after the withdrawal date. But it is at their discretion, so be careful – they don’t have a good track record on being helpful of late. The Bank Of England will always exchange them, though.

But from that withdrawal date, the notes cease to be legal tender , and you won’t be able to use them to buy anything in shops. That also applies to your pupils, so be careful not to take them in payment for lessons unless you want to risk your bank or building society being arsey over it. At some point, they will.

I’ve noticed a huge increase in the old-style notes coming my way as people try to get rid of them.

Shocking!

17/05/2010

DOAADI

Funny, General, Music

I went to pick a pupil up a couple of weeks ago – he lives right in the centre of Nottingham. On my way through the city I hit traffic around the Trent FM Arena. This was due to the fact that Torvill and Dean’s ice show was on that night.

Now, I could start a whole new topic about the average age of the people going to this show, and the fact that being of that age somehow gives you the right to stop on yellow lines with strict No Waiting restrictions, right in the middle of busy multi-lane one-way systems during rush hour. But that isn’t my point.

Anyway, I picked up my pupil, and before we drove away I said to him that we weren’t going anywhere near the city centre because Torvill and Dean were on at the Arena, and the traffic was bad.

He said: “Who are Torvill and Dean?”

I couldn’t believe my ears. He had never heard of them. He justified this by saying that he knew about things from his own lifetime, but not before – but I still found it shocking, and I still wind him up about it.

To make matters worse, I was telling the story to a Pass Plus pupil a week or so later, and she’d not heard of them either. Better still, she said “Are you into ice dance then?” Bloody cheek! I can’t stand it, but I know who Torvill and Dean are.

I mean, what is the world coming to when young people haven’t heard of things that happened before they were born? Some of the best films and funniest comedians lived, worked, and sometimes died, long before I was born – but I still know of them, and I knew of them long before the Internet.

And it’s the same when it comes to music. Rush – who, behind only the Beatles and Rolling Stones, are the band with the most consecutive gold and platinum albums of all time – are totally unknown to most pupils. Last year, one chap (who was into rock music) had never heard of them, but when I gave him some of their stuff he was just blown away. He played it to one of his friends who said “I just can’t believe I’ve never heard of these.” At least I got a couple of converts out of it, though.

But anyway, I refuse to accept it is a sign that I am getting old. It’s just further evidence that young people are getting dumber – at least as far as history goes!

EDIT 19/05/2010: And it gets worse. Another one last night hadn’t heard of Torvill and Dean, either. The problem of ignorance amongst today’s youth is a bigger problem than anyone realises.