{"id":11731,"date":"2013-03-22T00:33:16","date_gmt":"2013-03-22T00:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diaryofanadi.co.uk\/?p=11731"},"modified":"2023-02-14T13:54:49","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T13:54:49","slug":"mixed-messages-or-what-learn-to-drive-in-24-hours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/?p=11731","title":{"rendered":"Mixed Messages, Or What? New Book Reckons You Can Learn To Drive In 24 Hours"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This came in on the newsfeeds<\/a>. A driving instructor has published a book which claims to teach people to drive in 24 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the article, the most bizarre list of contradictory nonsense is put forward, with the instructor \"Drivingin question claiming to take a \u201ctotally different approach\u201d to learning to drive. He says that he \u201clistens to his pupils\u201d and \u201ccut[s] out red tape\u201d. He claims that he lets them know from day one that he \u201cis their friend, not their superior\u201d. And it\u2019s incredible that he\u2019s stayed in business for so long if he\u2019s always followed the mantra about them paying as little as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love it when someone takes something that is really simple in terms of the skills needed – like learning to drive – and then tries to take \u201ca totally different approach\u201d to teaching it. It\u2019s like wanting to travel from London to Scotland – most people would foolishly believe that this involves driving North, but then some comedian like this guy comes along and that you should drive South instead! It\u2019s just a pointless complication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reality is that it doesn\u2019t matter how much of a \u201cfriend\u201d you think you are to your pupils, you are still taking money off them and providing a service – and that\u2019s above and beyond the fact that there is usually a 30+ year difference in ages. The average youngster doesn\u2019t consider \u201cold\u201d friends to be very cool at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instructors have business relationships and not \u201cfriendships\u201d with their pupils. If a cheaper deal comes along, most of them will be off like a cat in a rainstorm. No amount of perceived \u201cfriendship\u201d will hold on to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of all the people I\u2019ve ever taught, I remain in regular contact with just one of them (even though he\u2019s a Chelsea supporter). I\u2019ve lost count of the number of my ex-pupils who have seen me in the street over the years, or in the local supermarket, and who have tried to pretend they haven\u2019t if they\u2019re with their mates (one of them even did it while I was still teaching her). It\u2019s the immature mind-set of most teenagers, and anyone who thinks that they’re a genuine “friend” is just deluding themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can learn all there is to know about driving in a few hours, just like you can learn all there is to know about playing the guitar by reading a book in a day. But learning how to drive properly – or play guitar – takes longer. MUCH longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Driving instruction is about teaching people what to do, and how to do it properly through practice.<\/strong> By definition, practice results in experience, and experience takes time.<\/strong> Certainly more than 24 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you cut out the practice, you\u2019re putting people on the road before they are ready. But maybe this is what this instructor means by \u201ccut[ting] out red tape\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edit:<\/strong> I’ve noticed a lot of people finding this page having searched for “driving for dummies”. Come on, people! Even if there was<\/strong> a book with that title it wouldn’t help you. I made that image above myself as a joke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only book that comes close is Driving: The Essential Skills. But don’t think that it will teach you how to do the basics – the only way to learn that is to practice in a real car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n