This is a new experiment in my business. I thought it would be interesting for me to hear of other peoples experiences and to express a few of my own.
I’ve been teaching driving since 1974 so have seen and experienced most things related to driving. It doesn’t get any easier on the roads and is definately harder for the learner. The cars are easier to drive if a little too technical but the roads, the traffic and the standard expected on test are all a serious challenge to the new driver. The hardest part of learning to drive is gaining enough experience to react to all the things that happen in everyday driving.
Just today we were blocked from overtaking just before our exit from dual carriageway and in another incident were stopped in the middle of the road by another driver looking for a parking space with no regard for any other road user. All everday incidents that only with experience can you cope with.
Most learners can drive the car in about 10 lessons but learning to cope on the road can take at least another 10 supervised hours and often a lot more. Everybody has their own rate of learning. The skill isn’t in the mechanics of car driving but in the dynamics of integrating that with everything that is happening around them. To a limited degree we all do it even walking down the street but when driving your travelling 10 times faster in a 1 ton box that doesn’t respond instantly alongside other 1 ton boxes over which we have no control.
It does make for an interesting challenge for both learner and instructor. The instructor needs to analyse the pupils emotions as well as watch the roads. Other road users often fail to appreciate that conflict of emotions when dealing with learners and fail to allow time and space.
Thats enough for now.
Watch this space for more rantings and please add your own
