Diary Of An ADI

A reader sent me the link for this story. Daniel Brownlee, 19, has admitted causing death by dangerous driving. It happened in North Shields, where Brownlee got up to speeds of around 104mph. His victim was Roy Toogood, 66.

Sentence will be passed in mid-September, but another interesting detail to the story (as pointed out by the reader who provided the link) is that Brownlee’s father was also in the dock. He is charged with making a false statement in order to get insurance for the vile scumbag who passes as his son.

I won’t pass comment on that yet, as the charges are still “allegations”.

I was thinking something yesterday, though. In fact, when I’m driving around I often start thinking about this kind of thing. There’s me and a pupil in a positive, life-enhancing situation (driving lesson) – but look out of the window and I see what could easily be part of a parallel universe. Dirty-looking, unshaven, hoodie-wearing people on bikes, hanging into car windows, or carrying open cans of Special Brew. It’s where they come from which can easily throw up people like the Brownlees (certainly the son, and allegedly the father).

In the previous article, I wrote about the appalling attitude of two young drivers who believed they had managed to scrape test passes by going to “easier” test centres, having failed at “harder” ones several times previously.

There is another hot topic at the moment, which deals with the suggestion that young drivers are not adequately prepared for driving alone when they pass their tests. The allegation is complete bollocks, of course, but it wouldn’t be right to just leave it at that – without explaining why it is bollocks!

The root of the story is found in yet more pointless “survey” material, this time by the Co-operative Insurance company. They have discovered the following:

40% of young drivers in the East of England say they have had an accident while driving.20% feel this this could have been avoided if they had taken more time to learn to drive before passing their test.60% think that people should have to learn to drive for a certain period of time before taking their driving test.

To make matters worse, the Driving Instructors’ Association (DIA) is quoted:

There is no mandatory requirement to learn for a minimum period with a qualified professional instructor. There is an advisory guidelines of 46 hours, with a further 20 hours accompanied practice with a parent, but many pupils are focused on the lowest number of lessons for the cheapest price. We need to start getting parents and learners focused on what an important life skills learning to drive is, and investing in the right number of lessons with a properly qualified, professional instructor.

There IS NO “advisory guideline” of the sort. The DSA’s statistics show that typically, those passing their tests have had 46 hours of lessons with an instructor, and at least 20 hours of private practice. It is not advice, or a prediction – it’s just a measurement of what is.

Another version of the same story adds:

Almost a third of young drivers felt unprepared to drive alone when they passed their test, according to research published today.

Many young motorists feel driving lessons are failing to get them ready them for life on the road, with 29 percent of those aged 18-30 feeling unfit to drive solo when they earned their full licences.

It’s not “research”. It’s just a survey, whose results cannot be taken as absolute evidence because they are based on opinion and are highly subjective. Why are they subjective? Well, the survey didn’t seek to obtain this information, but it is a pretty safe bet that of those people questioned did everything within their power to take as few lessons as possible – and quite possibly emigrated to “easier” test centres in order to avoid having to learn anything difficult.

In addition, 29 percent felt they were not ready for night driving, 21 percent considered driving lessons did not prepare them to drive with passengers, 19 percent avoided city centres, 14 percent could not face driving in the rain and 8 percent avoided right turns.

A total of 18 percent passed their driving test after spending three months or less learning to drive and 50 percent took six months or less to pass, the survey by Co-operative Insurance found.

It’s worrying that people of the standard alluded to even got their licences in the first place, but what do these figures actually prove?

In short, nothing! The driving test has always been the first step on a lifelong learning curve. No new driver has ever driven on their own when they pass their tests – not legally, anyway – so it has always been part of the deal that the first solo drive can be a little nerve-wracking.

I remember when I passed my test. I couldn’t afford a car straight away and so it was a year between passing and going out on my own in that Ford Escort Estate I’d bought. I’d not even thought about it until that first day – but that was when I suddenly realised I was really on my own, with no one giving me directions, and no one there to hit the brakes if I didn’t. I always explain to my pupils that the first time out alone is probably an experience they won’t have anticipated.

If I remember correctly, some of my lessons were in the dark. I learned during the winter, and even my test at Chalfont Drive finished in failing light. My lessons were usually around the rush hour on weekdays, or on Saturday afternoons, and my pick up location was always near The Dolphin pub (no longer there) just off Shakespeare Street in Nottingham – right in the middle of the City Centre. And I can remember the car steaming up in heavy rain because there was no air-conditioning back then.

Speaking as an instructor now, some of my pupils start their lessons in spring and pass before summer is over (I had one a few weeks ago whose 17th birthday was 18 June, he passed his theory test 19 June, had his first lesson with me 21 June, and passed his test first time on 26 July with no private practice between lessons). On the other hand, I get a lot of pupils who only ever have lessons in winter – indeed, my first ever pupil took all his lessons in the dark! Although I do try to get them to take at least a couple of lessons at other times, it’s horses for courses. Driving in the dark isn’t difficult – in many ways, it’s easier than driving in the middle of the day – and the only problems for new drivers in the dark arise from driving too fast and not realising their own limitations. It’s not their skills, but their attitudes which are lacking.

The second news story concludes:

AA president Edmund King said: “It is worrying that so many young drivers feel the driving test does not prepare them adequately for elements of life on the road.”

It would be worrying if they truly weren’t prepared. But as it stands, they’re just whingeing about having had accidents and looking for scapegoats, when the real problem is with the attitudes they carry about with them when they’re on the roads.