AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, but I needed to scream and I feel much better now.
What's the problem? With King Kenny re-crowned at Anfield and pupil numbers rising, what on Earth could make me want to scream?
A few days ago everything was rosy. England had comprehensively beaten the Aussies and I had bookings from couple of new pupils, along with several existing pupils booking extra lessons, meaning that business was looking good. My pupil, Alanna, passed her test, first time, in Elgin, with five minor faults, and the worst of the weather seemed to have passed.
This morning I had my regular lesson with 'Zoe' (not her real name). Zoe has been learning to drive, on and off, for years, with a variety of instructors. She began her lessons with me back in September and, at the end of the lesson, asked me whether I thought she could pass before February (because that is when her Theory Test pass expires). I don't like to make any false promises but, based on her driving in that lesson and the fact that we had 4/5 months, I was confident we could get her through her test before then.
Unfortunately, with her test only weeks away, things are not going to plan. In many ways, her driving is excellent - she has very good awareness and a good 'feel' for the controls - but she doubts her own abilities and this makes her hesitant (on manoeuvres, as well as in her general driving). She knows what she should do, so I thought it was just a case of practice to increase her confidence, but it doesn't seem to be working.
Whenever a pupil has previously had lessons with another instructor, I try not to change what they have already been taught as it may only confuse them. Also, you have to take what pupils say about previous instructors with a pinch of salt - it is very easy for them to blame their weaknesses on someone else. But with 'Zoe', I sometimes feel like tearing my hair out at some of the things she does - and I don't think it is her fault.
Last week, having no snow, we returned to the reversing manoeuvres and started with reversing into a bay. Nice, slow speed, good observations, but she had turned too sharply. Not a problem, all she had to do was take some of the turn off, just begin straightening up a little earlier. She did not do this and, consequently, ended up over the line.
"How did you decide when to straighten up?" I asked.
"When I'm almost at 12 o'clock."
"Why is that?"
"Because that's what my last instructor told me".
"OK. But why?"
"I don't know."
I explained (or reminded) that she should look to straighten-up only when the back of the car is heading towards the bay, and that if she straightened up at 'almost 12 o'clock', she would only finish in the bay if she had turned at precisely the right time and at precisely the right speed. If she turns too early or too quickly (in relation to the speed of the car) she will finish before her target bay, and, if she turns too late or too slowly, she will finish beyond her target bay. But either can be rectified.
While practising parallel parking today, everything was going well - nice control, effective all-round observation and it looked as though it was going to swing in perfectly. Then, for some reason, she straightened up too early and reversed into the curb. I praised her for the first 90% of the manoeuvre, but asked her why she had straightened up when she did.
"My last instructor said that I need to keep as close to the curb as possible."
"Why?"
"So that my car isn't sticking out and causing problems to other cars."
"Good. But make sure your back wheel is going to clear the curb first before you worry about trying to bring the car very close."
"That's not what my last instructor said."
All sorts of thoughts filled my mind at this point, few of which were positive.
"So it's ok to reverse into the curb?"
No answer. We persevered and, watching the gap between the car and curb start to appear first, started to have more success.
Towards the end of the lesson I noticed that we didn't seem to be getting the car going when it was safe to do so and a van was impatiently driving quite close behind us. Rather than looking up the road ahead, 'Zoe' was constantly switching her vision between the mirrors and the windscreen. I asked her not to worry too much about her side mirrors for the moment, but to concentrate on the road ahead so that she could keep to an appropriate speed.
We pulled up and discussed the situation.
"What's the speed limit here?"
"30"
"Good. Was it safe to do 30?"
"I think so."
"Yes, there wasn't much in the way of hazards, so the van behind you would have been puzzled at why you were only hovering around 20mph."
Problem identified and Zoe already knew the consequenses of holding up traffic, so no further analysis necessary. But what was the remedy?
"Why were you constantly checking your mirrors?"
"Because my last instructor told me I should."
This was beginning to sound familiar.
"Why?" (She must have been getting sick of me asking this question)
"I don't know..." (I was getting sick of this answer) "...He just told me I should keep sweeping my vision around the mirrors and if I didn't do it he would shout 'MIRRORS!'"
I had to be careful here; usually I have to remind pupils to check mirrors, so I was reluctant to ask her to check her mirrors less, but it was taking her focus off the road ahead and causing her to slow down.
I explained that she needed to know what was happening behind her whenever there was any potential for a change of speed or direction, but if she was about to move out to overtake a parked car (for example), it was unlikely she would need to check her left mirror on approach.
The point I am trying to make was not that she was struggling with some of the manoeuvres, or that she was holding up the van behind. What frustrated me was that she seems to have been given a lot of instruction without explaining why. I said earlier that when pupils refer to previous instruction I usually take it with a pinch of salt. It may have been the case that her previous instructor had explained why she should check her mirrors etc, but that's not the impression I am getting. Many instructors use reference points (although they don't use them themself when driving). That's fine IF you take it further and explain how those points may change in different cars and how to adapt. If you are learning to drive, do you always understand what your instructor tells you? If not, ask. There are lots of really good instructors out there who will know why 'Mirror-signal-position-speed-gear-look' is in the order it is. They will know why it is incorrect to find the 'bite point' of the clutch when your foot is on the brake. And they will know when and why you should check you mirrors. If they don't know the answers to your questions, consider finding a better instructor. I was horrified by a pupil's response a couple of years ago when I asked them why they need to check all round the car (after they had reversed into a bay without a single glance away from her mirrors) - she replied "Because my instructor told me I would fail my test if I didn't look round." I'm not joking, unfortunately.
Driving is not something that can be learned from a textbook. Basic skill have to be developed and transferred to more complex circumstances. But, at all times, there has to be a comprehension of why the driver needs to move a hand, eye, or foot. And is NOT becuase 'you will fail your test if you don't'.
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