Diary Of An ADI

People keep finding the blog on search terms like “bill plant pass rate” or similar terms with BSM or some other school added.

Pass rate is specific to the ADI, not the school he’s with!

An ADI with a pass rate of 60% (which is good) could be completely independent, or he could work under any franchise. Any franchise.

And the same applies to an ADI with a pass rate of 10% (which isn’t so good).

One thing to consider is that if a typical ADI has an ongoing low pass rate as a result of his tuition (which is the only significant factor if you are searching on this subject), in most cases many of his pupils will smell a rat and probably end up going elsewhere. If he is franchised, his franchiser will quite possibly not be too impressed – there are likely to be issues other than just pass rate being considered. So there is a possibility he will be kicked off the franchise. ADIs who are totally independent don’t have such quality control working against them. (Note all the italics in there: I’m not making absolute statements about anyone.)

Another important point is that at any given moment in time, any ADI could have a pass rate of anywhere between 0% and 100% depending on how they calculate it. Even an honest ADI could have a pass rate of 100% for his last 10 or 20 pupils, but that same ADI may easily find themselves with a 0% pass rate for the next 10 (something they are somewhat less likely to want to advertise, no matter how honest they are).

And a final point on this aspect: a normal ADI will encounter pupils who are great drivers but who – for various reasons – have great difficulty passing the driving test first time. When they know what to expect, many will pass 2nd or 3rd time, but there will still be some who take five, six, seven… well, a number of attempts before they crack it. No matter what the idiots on the web forums say, these pupils ARE ready for test. They can drive, and drive well. They just have problems with the test.

I’m sticking my neck out on this (possibly into a noose), but if you added all franchised ADIs together and put them in Group A, then added all the independent ADIs together and put them into Group B, I wouldn’t be surprised if Group A had a slightly higher average pass rate than Group B. I would be surprised if it were the other way round, though.

That’s not to say that everyone in each group is the same – you can have great independent ADIs just as you can have rubbish franchised ones. It’s just that the business arrangement with franchised ones acts as a sort of filter for a whole range of very complicated reasons.

Something else to consider is the accuracy of an ADI’s claimed pass rate. I know a few ADIs who look for any excuse not to include a test fail in their statistics just to keep it artifically high. Some happily only include the previous 6 or 12 months. I also know some (many of them openly do it on web forums) who claim 100% pass rates because “all my pupils pass eventually”. Obviously, they missed their maths lessons at school.

Be careful.

Someone just found the blog with the query “is it legal to park next to a chicane”.

Simple answer: it depends on the road markings.

Look at this chicane in Nottingham. It has “give priority to oncoming traffic” signs both sides – because it is on a bend.

Looking at it from this side, you see double yellow lines going right up to – and through – it. These yellow lines apparently mean “no parking except for parents dropping their brats off at Hollygirt School, and buses associated with the school”.

However, look at the other end of the chicane and you can see the yellow lines stop on the left side, and change to a single line on the right side. Obviously, parking is allowed here…

However, in 2023, the same chicane now looks like this:

The double yellow lines now extend along the entire road. Obviously, complaints eventually became voluminous enough for the City Council to take action somewhere between 2010, when this article first appeared, and 2023.

The way chicanes are marked, though, can be very inconsistent at first glance because it depends where they are. This one, also in Nottingham, is quite clear. At one end you have yellow lines and a hatched area, and at the other end there are school zig-zags both sides to prevent parking…

Generally, road markings stop you from parking absolutely snug with a chicane – but there is no reason why parking has to be automatically restricted. Usually, the restrictions are on the side where the driver has to give way – which makes sense, because it causes a blockage otherwise (as the idiots who send their kids and buses to Hollygirt School every morning prove conclusively).

Another thing to bear in mind is the guidance about parking in a safe place found in the Highway Code. Basically, if you have to ask the question about parking on a specific chicane in your area then the chances are you are causing an obstruction and that won’t go down too well if someone complains. If you park on the hatched area then you ARE causing an obstruction.

Why do so many people who come to this blog apparently do so using the above search term?

If you are looking for a franchise then you are undoubtedly unable to generate your own work (or enough of it). You’ve most probably discovered how expensive it is to advertise – and also how unsuccessful such advertising can often be. If you’ve been independent, you’re probably clawing in desperation at options which might save you – and yet you’re still ‘indie’ enough to refuse point blank to choose the ones more likely to save you simply because they go more against your ‘indie’ principles than the others do.

So what on earth makes you think someone offering a free franchise (if such a thing exists), or even a cheap one, is automatically going to do any better than you did?

You need a company that is established, and those will be the ones charging you a sensible amount for their franchise. If someone is likely to attract a lot of pupils as a franchise organisation, they will be spending money to achieve that. They’re hardly going to offer the results of that expenditure for free.

If someone is offering it for free, there are far more questions I’d want answering before flinging myself into a last chance to escape bankruptcy.

This is a very old post, and the DT1 quotes date from that time. DT1 is no longer a downloadable document but an online resource and it is somewhat different to how it used to be.

Someone sent me this link – it’s on Yahoo! Cars . Some guy – unbelievably, an ADI of 26 years – is giving advice on how to pass your driving test.

When you are teaching people to drive, one of the most important things you have to try and do is make sure they understand why they are doing something. That way, they can apply it to other situations. A good example is the turn in the road manoeuvre (or any manoeuvre which involves reversing).

You see, most people’s brains seem to be wired to steer in the exact opposite direction to the one they should do when reversing, so the absolute worst way to teach a reversing manoeuvre is to try and get them to remember it parrot fashion (i.e. “I’ve got to steer this way, then that way, then this way again”). As soon as they are under pressure their brains take over and they default to steering the wrong way once more. It is essential that they steer in a certain direction because they know which way the car will go when they do it!

Bearing that in mind, this guy says:

Turn in the road (aka three-point turn)

“Learners don’t turn the wheel fast enough… they sit in their seat and just turn the wheel with the wrist, so I get them to lean forward a bit from the hip joint, so the shoulders come into play.

“You can really move the wheel [that way] very fast. The faster you move the wheel, the car becomes more manoeuvrable, so you’re going to get round a lot easier than just fiddling around with your wrists.”

I’m sorry, but although this might be true of someone who has never done the manoeuvre before, after a few goes with an instructor who makes them do big, fast turns – and who doesn’t confuse hand-over-hand steering with ‘crossing hands’ – the main problems they have are related to steering the wrong way, looking around, and dealing with other traffic or pedestrians. Not being able to steer at all is absolutely not a problem after they have mastered pull-push steering (or something equally effective), and to suggest it is likely to be a major issue is ridiculous. Any decent ADI could fix it in a single lesson.

I’m not saying what I do is the only way of tackling the manoeuvre, but I take exception to someone trying to suggest that what they do is. But that’s typical of many ADIs, unfortunately.

He goes on to say:

Parallel parking

“I do it in a set, ordered sequence: drive up to the [parked] car, with a two-foot gap between the mirrors. Then stop when your head is opposite the steering wheel of the other car. Start moving [backwards], then turn the wheel one and a quarter turns to the left. When your head gets to the rear wheel of the other car, take the one and a quarter turns off.

“The car is now set pretty well. If you put the one and a quarter turns on and take it off at the right time, the car will be set perfectly – right hand down and the car will just slot in.”

Again, a definitive method. Not. So you stop when your head is opposite the other car’s steering wheel, do you? What if it is a lorry or truck? Or a stretch limo? Or a Ford Ka? Or a car with any wheelbase length in between? And this part about when “[your head is at the rear wheel of the other car]”… how does that work when you’ve likely turned into the side of – or under – the flatbed you were using as a target car?

And then:

Bay parking

“Bay parking is about giving yourself enough room. If you’re going to bay park on the right, make sure that you’re giving yourself enough room on the left so you can turn the car in. Look behind and try to pick up the rear end of your car and try to put the rear end of the car into a bay.

You don’t have to be 100 percent in the bay. Just stop straight, then go forward, then come back into the bay.”

It’s worth considering what DT1 says on the matter:

Candidates should park within a bay, but examiners should not be too concerned, when making their assessment, of the final position of the car in the bay. Parking outside the bay is unacceptable . Candidates should not normally be penalised for [being on the line]… Examiners should consider whether the car could reasonably be left, in that car park in the prevailing conditions, in that position.

Bold text is emboldened by me, underlined text is underlined in DT1. I think anyone with an ounce of intelligence would realise that ON THE LINE is not actually WITHIN THE BAY , and it is worrying that ADIs should find themselves trying to treat a poorly executed bay park as acceptable in this way. Furthermore, DT1 makes it clear that you must be 100% inside the bay to avoid the examiner having to consider whether the car could be left there or not. The only definites are that you don’t have to be exactly central, but you cannot be over the line in the other bay.

It’s pretty obvious: if you’re cleanly in the bay, great. If you’re really close to the line then correct it. If you choose to leave it cock-eyed, keep your fingers crossed, because you’re playing with fire – and don’t try and advise people that being cock-eyed is OK. It isn’t. It’s just barely acceptable… and only then if you’re lucky!

Some readers will have come here as a result of reading the monthly article about the blog in ADI News (which I must say is a ripping good read all round).

I mention this, because in this month’s edition of the magazine I noticed a news snippet about a new online ADI directory. The creators (referred to as ‘entrepreneurs’) apparently got the idea for the service whilst trying to arrange their own driving lessons. Now, I have nothing at all against these directories – of which there are many – but it is important to remember one thing: they exist to make money for the owners . Of course, they’re not sold on that basis – rather, they claim to provide any number of much needed services to the ADIs they are trying to snag.

Most directories make their money from advertising, listing fees, or some sort of commission. The one referred to here charges £1 for each pupil it generates – though it isn’t made clear whether this is £1 per lead, £1 per pupil who actually books a lesson, £1 per pupil who takes at least ‘x’ hours of lessons, and so on. That latter approach would be the one most beneficial to the ADI who is a member, but the least beneficial to the directory owners, so you can hazard a guess at what arragement it might actually be.

However, all this is part of a smokescreen. This new directory is selling itself cynically on the back of the slogan “cheap driving lessons” (I won’t use the correct terms, otherwise I’ll be giving them free publicity). As a cover story, it claims to provide price comparisons for prospective pupils, whilst offering online diary management facilities.

I’ve written before about the things an ADI needs to be successful (assuming he or she is already a decent trainer, of course). Basically, it’s a car, a diary, and pupils. Any would-be directory owner (especially one who is/was an ADI) knows this – and they should also know that for an ADI’s business to be profitable he will need to keep unnecessary overheads down.

It’s worth pointing out that the best sort of diary is one you can put your hands on and use with minimal fuss. It is perhaps ideally described by the acronym KISS – keep it simple, stupid. To that end, the ideal diary mustn’t crash or refuse to connect. It won’t ever be out of range of a phone signal, and it must always be on. You won’t have to squint at it to read it, or mess around scrolling it up, down, left, and right. You won’t need to worry about how to charge it when you are in the car and it dies on you. You must be able to run queries in seconds, and add or remove data just as quickly. Such a diary costs about £10 from any stationers, is made out of paper, and lasts a whole year. A pen with which to mark it, will cost less than £1, and lasts at least as long.

So why on earth would you want to move your diary to a remote server so that you can only access it via a computer or smartphone? Actually, there are people who are prepared to do that – and it’s usually the brand new, freshly-qualified ADI who doesn’t know what he is doing.

Computerising your diary adds absolutely no value – and that’s if it is working all of the time. In reality, it won’t be working all the time, so it will actually have a negative contribution to your business. The whole idea reminds me of that Tom & Jerry cartoon, where Tom builds The Better Mousetrap…

The point is that the mousetrap is so horrendously complex – even allowing for the cartoonists’ artistic licence – that it couldn’t possibly work reliably or reproducibly. It’s the same with a diary: a paper one is so simple that it is impossible to improve on it without damaging its functionality.

But all this glosses over the main issue concerning this directory service: promoting cheap lessons, whilst purporting to be providing work for directory-listed members. The site in question somehow believes that promoting cheap lessons and price comparisons is

• not going to prevent the higher priced ADIs on the list getting any work from their listing
• not encouraging those ADIs to slash their prices if they want any work from their listing

It’s Catch-22. The whole concept is fundamentally flawed. On the one hand they want ADIs to join, but on the other hand they want potential pupils to search for the cheapest deal. Confronted with two listed ADIs in their locale, one charging £23 an hour and the other charging £19, which one is the prospective customer going to choose? Any ADI who isn’t cheap would be cutting their own throat to advertise through that site!

There’s a UK TV show called Dragons Den, where various “ordinary” people pitch for investment in their ideas and inventions. You frequently see people seeking investment for things which are clearly totally unmarketable (or which simply don’t have a market), and who have already invested tens or even hundreds of thousands of their own money. They get so wrapped up in the fact that they thought of something and were able to build it that they don’t consider that no one else will ever want it!

It’s a similar thing with these directories. To start with, and as I’ve already said, there are loads of them around so any newcomers need a different angle to set them apart. And then there is this specific case, where the ‘entrepreneurs’ either

• aren’t sure who they are targeting, so have contradictory sales pitches
• are dead sure who they are targeting, but are trying to disguise the fact

You see, the biggest threat to this industry is cheap lessons.

Any learners reading this may not understand, but in a nutshell the £20-£25 per hour you pay to a decent ADI does not all end up in their bank account. A typical instructor will only hold on to about 50-70% of that (which is then subject to tax) once they pay for their car and fuel. That means someone offering idiotic lesson prices under £20 – often with special offers for good measure – is sometimes going to be earning as little as £5-£10 an hour before tax… unless they cut back somewhere. Easy places to cut back include:

• fuel – try not to do too much driving
• pupil retention – keep people for as long as possible to avoid having to advertise

You can see how it might pan out for the typical learner driver who falls into the clutches of such an instructor. Spend the first lesson talking, then do very little driving for at least the next half dozen. Hang around on test routes a lot, and spend entire lessons just covering a single manoeuvre. If you’re being taught in a diesel car, never use the gas to move off (so you’ll end up stalling every time you try and move once you get that petrol Corsa or 106.

Not all of the cheaper ADIs are like that, but I can assure you there are a lot out there who are. And this new directory site is encouraging them.

This story has been covered by much of the media this week – in print, online, and on radio. It deals with the issues surrounding supervising learner drivers – e.g. when their parents or spouses take them out.

The AA is suggesting that supervising drivers are risking breaking the law – even jail – because they don’t know the rules. They surveyed around 19,000 people and the results show that:

• around 25% didn’t know you can’t use a mobile when supervising a learner
• around 10% didn’t know you mustn’t fall asleep
• some didn’t know that you mustn’t drink
• some didn’t know that you mustn’t send texts
• around 15% didn’t know that you must wear glasses if you normally need them

The report goes on to say that 4% of supervisors admitted to breaking at least one of these rules (or 22% if the supervisor was in the 21-24 age group).

The president of the AA, Edmund King, said the issue was highlighted by a case in which a person who was supposed to be supervising was over the drink-drive limit.

“This is where the legal point is quite serious because you are actually deemed to be in control of the car, even when you’re supervising. And in fact there has been a case where tragically the learner driver actually had a crash, two people died and the supervisor was actually deemed responsible and actually went to jail.”

The AA has also launched a new course for parents and supervising drivers – it’s called Supporting Learner Drivers. Obviously this media coverage is timed to coincide with and promote the course, but unless you’re one of the hardcore cynics who can’t see the wood for the leaves this doesn’t really make much difference. The BBC report continues:

Road safety charity Brake said it wanted to see the minimum age for accompanying drivers raised to at least 25.

Katie Shephard from the charity said: “It is vital that learner drivers gain suitable supervised experience behind the wheel, to ensure their safety and the safety of other road users. Accompanying drivers should also be registered as ‘approved accompanying drivers’ by completing a questionnaire to prove their suitability, which could be checked by their insurer.”

RoSPA has also echoed those sentiments:

Duncan Vernon, road safety manager for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said there was “no doubt” those who supervised learner drivers would benefit from being given more information about how best to teach.

“All-round good practice should involve better co-ordination with approved driving instructors, as well-planned private practice can be invaluable,” he said.

I’m not completely certain what the AA’s course involves, other than what’s on their website, but I’ve been taking parents or husbands/wives out for years. It makes perfect sense – there’s nothing worse than teaching a new driver something only to have them come back a few weeks later with a load of bad habits (or ones that conflict with what I’ve been teaching them), and “my dad said…”

If nothing else, the fact that “dad” can meet you prevents an us and them situation developing behind the scenes.

Honestly, I’m not looking for these stories – they just fall into my lap.

I was on a lesson with a pupil this afternoon, and we were in a car park practising bay parking. I was prompting her through it, and when we came to straighten up inside the bay I leaned forward to look at the line in the wing mirror to check that we were parallel.

Now, the pupil is quite small – not tiny, but just a bit on the short side – and she has the seat quite a long way forward, and the back rake angle at about 90°. But even so, I nearly gave myself a hernia leaning forward to see anything other than the side of the car in the nearside mirror. I then noticed that I could see the side of the car in the offside mirror from where I was in the passenger seat!

I opened the window and put my finger tip on the end of the door handle (I get them to adjust the mirror to the same position every time we have a lesson so that they can see the same things in it, and the position I recommend is the one that shows the maximum side-rear view).

Me: [finger on door handle] Can you see my fingertip in the bottom right corner of the mirror [point to bottom right corner]

She: Umm… no.

Me: But what have we… well, adjust it so that you can. Remember, you want to see my finger nail here [point to bottom right corner again] – and not below it.

She: [mirror goes up-down-left-right-up-down-up-right-left… etc. Eventually it stops]

Me: Have you done it?

She: Yes.

Me: So you can see my finger nail in this corner of the mirror? [point to bottom right hand corner, then put my finger on the door handle]

She: No.

Me: [put head in hands]

She: [giggles]

Me: Adjust it so that you can see my finger nail, and not below my finger nail.

[We eventually confirm that that’s exactly where it is, and I can now see the road without dislocating my pelvis]

Me: Now do the other one. I’m not getting out to put my finger on the door handle, so adjust it so you can see the same part of the handle you can on this side.

[I notice the sweeping panorama that unfolds as the mirror coasts along the length of the car and out into the road where it should be]

Me: Just out of curiosity, how much of the car could you see where you had the mirrors before?

She: Quite a lot.

Me: When I have said to check your mirrors, what exactly could you see?

She: Ummm… [giggles]

[We get to the end of the lesson and finish the lesson summary]

Me: Can you adjust that mirror inwards to where you had it before – I want to see what you could see when I get in that seat.

[I watch the sweeping panorama of her street get sucked into the black void of the side of the car]

Me: This is going straight on my blog. You do realise that, don’t you?

You’ve got to bear in mind that we’ve been through mirror setting before, and how important it is for normal driving and certain manoeuvres (the way I teach them). And she doesn’t usually set them like this.

When I got in to drive away, about 90% of the mirror was filled with the side of the car!

Sometimes, you couldn’t make it up.