Diary Of An ADI - A Driving Instructor's Blog

Doing Lessons Over Christmas

20/12/2012

I’ve had a number of hits from people asking about driving lessons over Christmas. Some appear to be from ADIs asking if they should give lessons over Christmas. Others seem to be from learners asking about doing lessons.

Get one thing straight: if you become an ADI intending to make a living out of it, you do not turn work away needlessly, and you don’t just do what everyone else does (or says they do) – you make your own decisions. But where do you draw the line?

Well, you’ll see people boasting how they “don’t work in December” or they’re “off now until February”, and I think this has spawned some of the hits. Many of these people who pull down the shutters for so long do the job for fun, not to make a living. Indeed, you rarely see them driving around and you never see them at the test centre. They’re part-timers who are living off other financial resources, and while there’s nothing specifically wrong with that, no normal or serious ADI could possibly afford to shut up shop for a month. Even with the oft-cited cancellations you get at this time of year any income is better than no income at all. No decent businessman whose living depends on it will turn away lessons like that.

On the other hand, everyone both needs and is entitled to time off. Quite how much time, and when to take it, is an individual choice.

Personally, I only ever draw a line through Christmas Day and Boxing Day – and even then I can envisage scenarios where I’d give lessons if there was a good reason to – and if I was being paid double time! It’s never happened, but I wouldn’t rule it out on my conditions.

Let me stress that you don’t get queues of people wanting lessons on Christmas Day!

If you’re a learner, chances are you’ve been given lessons as a present and you’re eager to get started. Good for you! Check out whether or not you can get lessons over the Christmas period – many decent ADIs will be working a few days between Christmas and New Year. Those that aren’t might also have funny ideas about not working weekends and evenings the rest of the year, and that might not suit you, so do your homework before committing.

Hazard Perception Test

18/12/2012

DOAADI

ADI, DSA, Training

I originally posted this back in February 2012. Something I saw recently made me think it was worth bumping it right back to the top. I’ve highlighted the relevant parts below.

It was the fact that people are still finding the blog on the search term “bsm on bbc watchdog” (or similar) that made me write this – harping on and on about a TV show that was shown over two years ago. Since then, BSM has gone bust and been bought up by the AA, and any issues that were reported on Watchdog back then are totally irrelevant now (and they were pretty irrelevant then). Oh, and then there’s the old one about “how much the BSM franchise costs” – that’s another one that is ancient history now that the AA is operating it, yet still gets bandied about as current. And then there are the repetitive comments about the HPT (usually by the same people), which was also introduced a long time ago. So…

There are a fair number of ADIs out there who hate the Hazard Perception Test (HPT) to distraction. There seem to be two main reasons. The first is that they simply couldn’t do it themselves when required to do so a few years back (sour grapes) and have developed an irrational hatred of it. The other is that their pupils can’t do it (or at least the ADI thinks their pupils can’t) for some reason. The first reason fuels the second in certain cases.

One of their main arguments was that it isn’t “real world” and is just a “video game”.

It’s funny, therefore, when you hear the same people trying to argue that because the HPT can penalise you for spotting hazards too early (i.e. guessing), it has therefore taught people to wait until the last minute before reacting to situations out there in the real world! This is absolute crap!

The HPT was never intended to replace the real world. It was never intended to directly reduce accidents. It was intended to introduce people to the kinds of things they needed to look out for as they began their driving careers. It was a foundation. Their driving lessons and subsequent driving experiences with their instructors would then fill in the gaps.

Prior to the HPT there was NOTHING. The ONLY introduction to hazard awareness pupils had was when they got behind the wheel. ALL their experience had to come from practice. They still have that as an absolute minimum.

There is absolutely no way that the HPT makes pupils’ awareness of hazards worse, and it is shocking to hear so-called driving instructors feeding their own personal prejudices by suggesting it does. I’ve even seen some try to suggest that accidents have increased because of it!

DSA Advice: Driving In Adverse Weather

18/12/2012

DOAADI

ADI, Bad Drivers, DSA, News, Training

The latest advice from the DSA is about driving in crappy weather – more of which is forecast for the UK.

Rule 229

Before you set off:

you MUST be able to see, so clear all snow and ice from all your windows.

you MUST ensure that lights are clean and number plates are clearly visible and legible.

make sure the mirrors are clear and the windows are demisted thoroughly.

remove all snow that might fall off into the path of other road users.

check your planned route is clear of delays and that no further snowfalls or severe weather are predicted.

One of my pupils was boasting last week how his mate could drive the van to work safely with only a small patch of the window scraped free of ice. With the aid of a pen, his finger pointing at it, and opening or closing his eyes to track the pen as my moved it, I think I successfully managed to convince him what a twat his mate is.

Changes To The Driving Licence

18/12/2012

DOAADI

ADI, DSA, News, Transport

An email alert from the DSA advises that from 19 January 2013, driving licences in the UK will change to comply with new European Union rules.

To be honest, the changes aren’t that significant, so it isn’t anything to worry about.

Unfortunately, in keeping with the UK’s desire to remain backward for as long as possible, the licence will still consist of a photocard and a paper counterpart. Remember that the counterpart is that bit you put away somewhere safe and then can’t find when you need it, or which gets mangled because your wallet gets wet if you’re daft enough to keep it with you all the time.

The sooner we get biometric licences the better. But, being the UK, this is probably a decade or more away.

Another Example Of The Cream Of Society

16/12/2012

DOAADI

Bad Drivers, News, World

This story is also from America. Police in Indiana stopped Timothy Thompson, 23, when they caught him doing 100mph.

It’s full of “allegedly” statements, but it appears that he’d only been freed from jail that morning and was on his way to his wedding. He was driving erratically and changing lanes a lot – which I suppose is quite normal if you’re going 50mph faster than everyone else on the highway. As he pulled into the church parking lot, which had three of his relatives in it waving their arms at him, he accelerated and did a doughnut, creating a thick blanket of smoke.

The American version is here. Neither story tells why he was in jail to begin with – but from his “alleged” comments, stupidity would be my first guess.

Elderly Drivers – What Do They Expect?

16/12/2012

DOAADI

ADI, Bad Drivers, News, World

This story from California is interesting. It begins:

My neighbor said her 98-year-old father was beside himself recently. He told her he had failed his driver’s test. He’d been a Teamster, for heaven’s sake — he drove for a living without an accident — and now some DMV goon decided his driving was unsafe.

“I hear the same story on a daily basis,” said John Locher. “A senior will say, ‘I’m a safe driver. I drove all over Europe in World War II. I’ve driven all over the country and haven’t had a ticket my entire life.'”

In fact, he was failed for macular degeneration – which means he couldn’t bloody well see properly!

In the UK it is a huge issue because older drivers don’t have to take a re-test. All they do is fill in a form once they’re 70 (and every 3 years thereafter) declaring that they’re still medically fit to drive, and back comes the licence. And they don’t even have to pay for it!

The problem is that many septuagenarians just lie so they can keep driving.

I’ve mentioned before about my dad. He has macular degeneration (right now, he’s almost blind) but about 10 years ago when he was having trouble seeing properly he was planning to hire a car and travel 250 miles to Portsmouth (after I refused to lend him mine). I warned him there and then that if he did I would report him to the police. I confess to being selfish – I didn’t want him to kill himself – but having someone who can’t see out in a car or van is a frightening prospect as far as other road users are concerned.

The UK has no maximum age for driving. It should have, though.

Death Crash Teacher Gets Job Back

16/12/2012

DOAADI

Bad Drivers, News

Sometimes, you couldn’t make it up. Eleanor Brown, 28, served 10 months of a 20-month jail term for killing a man due to dangerous driving. She was jailed in January this year after hitting and killing a moped rider. She hasn’t even had a Christmas away from decent society.

The man, Lee Roberts, left a wife and two young children – the youngest of which cannot remember her father. So there’s a bunch of people who HAVE had their Christmas screwed up.

Incredibly she’s been given her old job back – teaching Latin and Classics at St John’s School, Marlborough.

According to an older story, Brown had moved into the path of oncoming traffic to overtake a van and collided head on with Mr Roberts. She showed “little emotion” when she was jailed (something the school board seems to have overlooked). She already had a fixed penalty for overtaking on a left-hand bend and crossing double white lines – an almost suicidal manoeuvre at the best of times, and something else the school board has neglected to consider with due weight – yet the judge refused to allow the jury to know of it in considering the Roberts case. But that didn’t stop her defence claiming that it was “a momentary lapse”.

Of course it was. Just like the one the jury couldn’t be – but should have been – told about.

The judge said she didn’t even need to overtake in this particular instance. She just did – hardly the action of a good role model for children. He also said that he “must pass” a sentence of 20 months – which appears to be complete bollocks according to the Crown Prosecution Service, since the starting point for causing death by dangerous driving is 3 years minimum, with a maximum of 14 years. The previous case of Brown overtaking dangerously would have to be relevant, as well. Our law is a total ass, administered by complete asses sometimes, and I’m pretty sure that her sex was a valuable mitigating circumstance here (along with her “previous good character” and the “contribution she had made to her community through teaching”, and that she was full of remorse), when the bottom line is simply that she killed a man by driving like an idiot, and had been caught doing almost the same thing previously.

But on the subject of her getting her job back, how can a bunch of school kids ever respect someone they know is responsible for killing someone else? It’s bound to keep coming up in the playground (or whatever they have at these posh schools).

Learner In 60mph Crash

16/12/2012

DOAADI

ADI, Bad Drivers, News

This story makes you wonder how this guy will behave if – God forbid – he were ever to gain a driving licence.

At 37, Alexssandro Osti is far from being young – at least physically – but he sure could be considered extremely immature. The idiot was spotted not wearing a seatbelt, and when police tried to stop him he raced off at speeds of around 60mph. He drove on the wrong side of roads, narrowly missed colliding with another vehicle, appears to have cornered on only two wheels, and then crashed into a wall. He was unaccompanied and had no licence.

In a continuation of the comedy act which passes for The Law in England, Osti was given 200 hours of unpaid community service, some sort of course, banned for 2 years, and ordered to take an extended test. He should have been imprisoned and banned for life – and deported. Mitigation said he was “a man of previous good character” – so good, in fact, that he had obviously been driving around for an unspecified period of time without a licence, probably without a seatbelt, and also probably no supervising driver. Yes, a man of excellent character.

Compare that with this Scottish case, where Pauline Medhurst, an ex-driving instructor, was found slumped behind the wheel of her car and discovered to be four times the legal drink-drive limit. She tried the usual trick – post-natal depression – and although it prevented a custodial sentence (Scotland is still too close to England to be entirely free of stupidity in its laws), she was slapped with a two-year community payback order, 300 hours of community service, and banned for 40 months.

By my reckoning, her sentence was approximately twice as stiff as Osti’s.

How To Address The Problem With Young Drivers…

16/12/2012

DOAADI

ADI, Bad Drivers, General

I noticed someone on a forum comment that 20% of newly qualified drivers under 25 have an accident in the first six months of driving – therefore the remaining 80% are totally safe and responsible.

This shows a complete lack of understanding of the problem due to gross oversimplification of the statistics.

The fact that 20% of them have accidents is just the tip of the iceberg – the part that you can see. Under the waterline is the larger number who get away without having accidents, and yet who still behave recklessly or in an unsafe or inexperienced manner.

The only reason many of these people don’t have accidents is because of the evasive action taken by more experienced drivers. I frequently have to slow down to let some juvenile tosser in a Corsa with blacked-out windows and loud exhaust pipe cut in after they’ve overtaken at traffic lights when they shouldn’t have, or decided to turn left and need to cut across several lanes because they’ve approached a junction at speed in the right hand one. The reason they didn’t have an accident is because of me, not them. And I am far from unique in these experiences.

Every prat who turns a corner on a sixpence, believing themselves to be clever, is an accident waiting to happen, with their tiny, racing-car steering wheel, dropped suspension, and blue LEDs. Their underlying attitude and experience is the problem – not the basic percentage who actually get caught out and have accidents. In fact, even “nice kids” are capable of succumbing to this attitude thing because it isn’t something they set out to do on purpose – it goes with being young and immature. And new drivers are automatically inexperienced, by definition – no matter how “good” or “nice” they are. You don’t give a loaded gun to someone who is diagnosed as a psychopath, so why give the inexperienced and immature driver free access to a fast car? Restrictions are urgently needed.

And that’s why any legislation MUST apply to the entire group. Individuals who get caught driving dangerously should have a whole heap of further legislation bear down on them. And all legislation must ignore any namby-pamby rhetoric about rights of the majority and deal with these fundamental issues of attitude and inexperience.

It’s frightening that ADIs build up such a supposed relationship with their pupils that they feel they have to defend them as being blameless, or that legislation would victimise them unfairly. Every single young, new driver is capable of having a serious accident as a direct result of being young and inexperienced! The statistics prove it – if you understand them.

As I say, the recorded number accidents is just the very tip of the iceberg.

ITV Tonight Programme: 13/12/2012

13/12/2012

DOAADI

ADI, Bad Drivers, Driving Tests, Movies & TV, Training

Interesting programme on TV right now (available on ITV Player for the usual limited time).

They’re looking at possible changes to the driving test and post-test privileges. They’ve mentioned the statistics I’ve given here on several occasions, and the analysis given by some of the experts is exactly what I’ve been saying since I started the blog: that many young drivers think they know it all, but the fact is that they do not have the experience.

The programme is also giving airtime to that idiotic scheme where Young Drivers (as young as 11, in fact) are “taught” to drive. And they’ve shot themselves (well, the scheme, at any rate) in both feet by interviewing an 11-year old who now thinks he can drive, and says so confidently! Again, this is exactly the problem with this scheme – the only ones who benefit are the people who run it and charge premium prices to parents with too much money and too little sense. As I’ve said many times before, driving is for adults – not for children!

They’re also looking at “black box” schemes, which I have mentioned on previous occasions, as well as graduated licences, and the curfews – also covered here.

To try and make the programme more interesting they recruited three new, young drivers and “put them to the test” with an IAM observer (and remember that these people are just members of the public who think they’re good drivers and so join an organisation so they can tell everyone how great they are – they’re generally not proper instructors). They tested them on parallel parking – I’m not quite sure why, since parallel parking isn’t the reason young drivers have fatal crashes. The IAM observer reckoned they should have been able to do it with only having to turn to the left, then the right, with no adjustment – which is rubbish, since they don’t need to do it perfectly to pass their tests, nor do they have to do it perfectly in real life. Then they took them on a skidpan and two of them skidded (shock, horror!). Anyone who goes on a skidpan is guaranteed to skid the moment they do because that’s what they’re for. And then they did a night drive, and the girl misjudged a right turn and blew the front tyre on the kerb at speed. The IAM guy should have intervened, as this was extremely dangerous – except that I don’t think he was even aware of what was going to happen. They could both have been killed, yet he didn’t try and stop it – I’d even go so far as to say he wasn’t qualified to stop it.

To be honest, I find it insulting that IAM keeps implying that learners aren’t taught these things as standard when it’s own observers are clearly out of touch with real world driving and driving instruction. They are not instructors (well, some are, but that’s only because they decided they wanted an extra anorak). The only thing that my pupils don’t get to do is drive on the motorway, and even then I get them on the closest thing possible and do a long drive at 70mph. We cover country roads and night driving – and we drive on snow and ice in winter as long as they’re not beginners. IAM should get its facts straight for once and point out that even new drivers who have experienced those conditions don’t have the experience and can still have accidents. It’s because they lack experience. The IAM observer was completely out of his depth an all fronts on this programme.

The show didn’t conclude anything. It was merely presenting what I’ve covered on this blog over recent months because the information is freely available.

All that we have to wait for now is the number of pupils who will have seen it and so will conclude that the test IS changing and will want to know when.