It didn't all go to plan last week.
I have one pupil who, clearly, can handle a car. He is so tall that, when sat in the driver seat, his knees are as high as his hands. Whether it is a result of being influenced by how others drive, or whether it is just overconfidence, I'm not sure, but we have spent a lot of time just slowing things down, especially on the approach to junctions. He has put a lot of effort in and I was very confident that he would pass his test with ease.
Wednesday morning, especially with his test being around the time of children going to school, I reminded him that the driving test is not a race, he needed to demonstrate complete control, awareness and safety. Perhaps I put too much emphasis on this because he failed for not getting up to speed when appropriate - he was doing 45mph in a 60mph road. Ironic, as it was on the road where he lives. But, with several hours of rain before his test, we had discussed the fact that 60mph would not be an appropriate speed in such conditions. So I feel especially responsible, although maybe 45mph was a bit slow.
Like many aspects of driving, it is quite a skill achieving the correct balance. There is a fine line between being cautious and being hesitant. And there is a similarly fine line between being confident and being cocky.
When I have very new, nervous pupils, I try to build up their confidence on quiet roads where it is not so important that we get up to an appropriate speed. But, although my pupils are my priority, I always try to consider the vehicles coming up behind us. So, when we start venturing out onto busier roads, we usually work on 'making progress' (looking for safe opportunities to get quickly up to an appropriate speed).
I had a lesson with Beth this afternoon that could not have gone more to plan. She has had about 5 or 6 lessons, and all is going well, but I just felt that we could get going a wee bit more when it is safe to do so. So we talked about the concept of 'making progress' and the consequences of not getting up to speed when it was safe to do so. She worked hard on this and, as we neared the end of the lesson, she was accelerating more confidently, getting up through the gears, and quickly reaching 'appropriate speeds'. As we were heading home we came up behind a Mercedes doing about 15 - 20mph on a clear 30mph road. The slightly winding nature of the road meant that overtaking was not an option. But it was interesting watching how Beth's uncertainty over the car ahead began changing to irritation at the fact that she was forced to go at a speed slower than she would have liked (a speed she probably would have been happy with at the start of the lesson). A queue of 5 or 6 cars had built up behind us and I reassured Beth that this was not her fault, but she could now understand why 'making progress' was important. We pulled over as the road opened up and watched as the queuing cars all accelerated above the speed limit to overtake the Mercedes.
A week or so ago, I wrote about the futility of overtaking streams of traffic travelling at appropriate speeds. But today was a good lesson in understanding why going too slow is equally inconsiderate and potentially dangerous.
I have one pupil who, clearly, can handle a car. He is so tall that, when sat in the driver seat, his knees are as high as his hands. Whether it is a result of being influenced by how others drive, or whether it is just overconfidence, I'm not sure, but we have spent a lot of time just slowing things down, especially on the approach to junctions. He has put a lot of effort in and I was very confident that he would pass his test with ease.
Wednesday morning, especially with his test being around the time of children going to school, I reminded him that the driving test is not a race, he needed to demonstrate complete control, awareness and safety. Perhaps I put too much emphasis on this because he failed for not getting up to speed when appropriate - he was doing 45mph in a 60mph road. Ironic, as it was on the road where he lives. But, with several hours of rain before his test, we had discussed the fact that 60mph would not be an appropriate speed in such conditions. So I feel especially responsible, although maybe 45mph was a bit slow.
Like many aspects of driving, it is quite a skill achieving the correct balance. There is a fine line between being cautious and being hesitant. And there is a similarly fine line between being confident and being cocky.
When I have very new, nervous pupils, I try to build up their confidence on quiet roads where it is not so important that we get up to an appropriate speed. But, although my pupils are my priority, I always try to consider the vehicles coming up behind us. So, when we start venturing out onto busier roads, we usually work on 'making progress' (looking for safe opportunities to get quickly up to an appropriate speed).
I had a lesson with Beth this afternoon that could not have gone more to plan. She has had about 5 or 6 lessons, and all is going well, but I just felt that we could get going a wee bit more when it is safe to do so. So we talked about the concept of 'making progress' and the consequences of not getting up to speed when it was safe to do so. She worked hard on this and, as we neared the end of the lesson, she was accelerating more confidently, getting up through the gears, and quickly reaching 'appropriate speeds'. As we were heading home we came up behind a Mercedes doing about 15 - 20mph on a clear 30mph road. The slightly winding nature of the road meant that overtaking was not an option. But it was interesting watching how Beth's uncertainty over the car ahead began changing to irritation at the fact that she was forced to go at a speed slower than she would have liked (a speed she probably would have been happy with at the start of the lesson). A queue of 5 or 6 cars had built up behind us and I reassured Beth that this was not her fault, but she could now understand why 'making progress' was important. We pulled over as the road opened up and watched as the queuing cars all accelerated above the speed limit to overtake the Mercedes.
A week or so ago, I wrote about the futility of overtaking streams of traffic travelling at appropriate speeds. But today was a good lesson in understanding why going too slow is equally inconsiderate and potentially dangerous.
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