Be prepared

Just a couple of weeks ago I was dressed in a short-sleeved shirt, enjoying eating fish and chips outside in the Autumn sunshine. Today I am dressed like a Nepalese Yak herder while I top-up the anti-freeze and screenwash in my car and ensure my car boot is stocked with warm clothing, an ice scraper, an hazard triangle and bottles of water. I should carry a small shovel too, so will have to rummage in the shed for that. Other useful items include cat litter (for gritting), a torch, a first-aid kit and some bars of high energy food. A couple of websites with more advice are http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8443690.stm and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/4434099/Advice-for-driving-on-snow-and-ice.html .
Remember all those news reports of people being trapped in their cars overnight? Don't be so ignorant to think that it won't happen to you. It will only take a matter of minutes to prepare your car.
'Heavy snow' is forecast for parts of the Highlands over the next few days. The sensible thing is to decide whether you really need to make that journey? If so, then allow plenty of time, make sure your windows are all completely clear (not just a tiny hole scraped clear of ice) , keep WELL back from the vehicle ahead and let people know what time you are setting off and where you are going. I'm not just talking about the North of Scotland. There is no reason why this winter should be any better than last winter, so learn from last year and get yourself prepared.

Stomach-churning

Just wanted to share this:
http://newsthump.com/2010/11/16/jungle-controversy-as-contestants-forced-to-eat-iceland-party-food/?utm_source=NewsThump+Newsletter+Subscribers&utm_campaign=9e84715647-NewsThump_Weekly_Round_Up_19th_November_2010&utm_medium=email

Intense

A few months ago someone contacted me to ask if I do 'intensive courses'. They said that they wanted to learn as quickly as possible. This set alarm bells ringing in my head; learning to drive should not be something to 'get over and done with'. I tried to steer him towards a more conventional course, or even a semi-intensive course. He then explained that he was busy at work and college, including evenings and weekends, annd would rather take a week off work to learn to drive. Hmmmm..... Ok then, I agreed and explained the plan: I said he would have to study for and pass his Theory Test, then go ahead and book his test the week after his intensive course. He wanted to have the test in the same week, but I explained that he would have to pass a mock test at least one week before his driving test, or else I would advise postponing the test.
I have had a couple of enquiries like this before, but never heard anything from them after. So it was with slight surprise that, last month, he called me to say that he had passed his theory and had booked his test for 10.44am on Friday 19th November, in Inverness. He then said he would like to book a 20 hour course the week before. 20 hours? Had he already had some lessons then? No. Will he be able to get extra practice with friends of family? No. Well, in that case, 20 hours will not be enough. I have got some of my Ullapool pupils through their test in less than 20 hours (without any other driving experience), but never in Inverness. Ullapool has no roundabouts, dual-carriageways or even a traffic light, so 20 hours is feasible. But Inverness has it all: multi-lane roads, fiendishly complex roundabouts, plenty of traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, 70mph dual-carriageways, buses, cyclists etc.... in short, everything you would expect to find in a city. I was thrilled, a few years back, when Catriona passed in Inverness, first time, after only 23 hours with me, from scratch. But she was exceptional. So I suggested that we start with a 20 hour course, and see how that goes, but I would not make any promises and repeated my warning that he would have to pass a mock test with at least a week to spare.
So, Saturday 6th November, I met Calum for the first time for a three hour lesson: Cockpit drill; controls; Moving off/stopping; Basic junctions. That was the plan, but everything was going well, so I decided to push him and we covered crossroads and roundabouts.
Sunday 7th November: Recap of yesterday's lesson. More complex junctions and roundabouts. Use of signals. All going well, so time to introduce reversing and the manoeuvres (Turn in the road, reversing to the left, reversing to the right - important for him as he will need to drive a van at work - parallel park and bay park).
Monday 8th November: Recap of everything so far. Meeting and crossing traffic. Traffic lights, Pedestrian crossings, Emergency stop. Rural roads.
Tuesday 9th November: Recap. Making progress (not holding up traffic). Dual-carriageways. Overtaking. Independent driving.
Wednesday 10th November: Recap everything.
Thursday 11th - Friday 12th November: Days off.
Saturday 13th November: Practice, practice, practice. MOCK TEST. Hmmmm. Not too bad. Getting a little ahead of himself on gear selection - changing down before he had sufficiently brought the speed down - and being a bit too hasty to select 2nd and 1st gears. We analysed the possible consequences of this. However, he failed his mock test because he indicated left on approach to a roundabout when I had asked him to 'turn left, taking the second exit'. We had used 17 of his 20 hours. Options: Postpone his test, take more lessons, or work damn hard in the last three hours to iron out all wrinkles...... We chose the third option as he would be going back to work and not have much time, and I was fully-booked in Elgin, Gairloch and Ullapool in the days before his test.
So, this morning, I set off from Ullapool at 6am to pick Calum up at 7.30am for three very concentrated hours before the test. He had not driven for the six days since his mock test and, though fine to start with, nerves started to creep in, causing silly mistakes with the gears. To make matters worse, the morning sun was very bright and me cleaning the car yesterday had been a waste of time as, in 24 hours, the car and the windscreen were already covered in spray, making visibility difficult. Time to swap seats.
I explained that I would give him a break from his driving. I would drive to a drive-through car wash, giving him a commentary drive as I did so. An instructor may often demonstrate a technique, or manoeuvre, when teaching it for the first time; it is a useful tool. Occasionally, I have found it helpful to use a demonstration when the pupil can already do what is being asked, but is not quite getting it right. I demonstrated how much easier driving is when I use the brakes to give me plenty of time to decide which gear to select. Whilst in the car-wash we re-capped all the 'show me/tell me' questions and then I drove for another few minutes. "Now, I want you to drive like that."
It worked a treat. He stopped rushing for the gearstick and used his brakes to give him more time to assess hazards and junctions. His driving became much more relaxed and I hope he went into his test a little less nervous.

Nervous or not, Calum passed with 6 minor faults. I was particularly impressed when he described his route, as the independent driving section had involved him following signposts to Aberdeen, taking in several dual-carriageways with very careful lane-planning required and deceptively low speed limits.

Would I take on anyone else for an 'intensive course'? Yes. I would still recommend a more traditional, gradual course, but, there is no denying, it worked for Calum and it completed a successful week for me with 5 passes in 7 tests.

Wild is the wind

………. Not the best start to the day. I am staying for three nights in Ullapool and I woke this morning with an annoying headache - I don’t get headaches…. It must have been caused by Gillian McKeith’s constant whining on ‘I’m a celebrity….’ last night. Not only that, but the cold, bright, crystalline weather has been replaced by a howling gale that intensifies by the minute, I managed to spill boiling water on my leg whilst making tea and, worst of all, they forgot to put any biscuits in my hotel room…. I shall have to have strong words with the management.

Right…. Another three more pupils taking their tests today and all of them are first-timers. Cue lots of pep talks from me, explaining that it is ‘just like another lesson’. They are not stupid, they know it is NOT ‘just another lesson’, but they sometimes forget that it is not a matter of life or death either. Apart from a minor dent to their pride, and their wallet, it is no big deal if they fail, after all, most people DON’T pass first time (nationally).

I have just popped back to the hotel for a cup of tea and an update. It is a very wild day out there; the trees, even the palm trees (conned by the gulf stream into growing here), are swaying from side to side and I have twice had to stop to move wheelie bins that had blown into the road. So far so good. Jorg passed with three minor faults and my next pupil, Jonathan, is currently out on test as I write. If he drives the way he usually does not only will he pass his test easily, but the DSA will be asking him to star in instructional videos, I have rarely met a pupil who is so textbook in his driving, - all mirror checks, indicators, positions, brakes and gears are perfectly timed - let’s hope it stays that way.

Delighted to report that Jonathan also passed, again with three minor faults, and wasted no time in going off to pick up his car to go out for a drive (just like I did when I passed). So far, all my pupils have been quite happy for me not to be in the car with them during their test, and, with Ullapool not having a cosy test centre for me to wait in, I am grateful that I only have a short walk back to my hotel while they are out on test. I say ‘short walk’, it depends on the wind direction. Amazingly, the wind seems to be getting stronger, so walking towards the hotel I stagger at an average speed of 0.01mph, but walking back to the car park I simply open out my coat to catch the wind and fly at 30mph (20mph when the school lights are flashing). On the bright side, the hurricane has blown my headache away (and messed my hair up).
Still no clean sweep in Ullapool because, sadly, my third pupil did not pass. Only a few minor faults, but their steering wasn‘t accurate enough. That’s easy enough to fix; it has never been an issue before, so perhaps they just felt a bit rushed on the day.

It is now Thursday morning and STILL no let up with the wind. Another day full of lessons in Ullapool, taking me right through to 8pm tonight. But I do have a couple of hours off this morning and, for the third time this week I am going to clean my car. The combination of melted frost and grit makes a bit of a mess of the black paintwork and sometimes it feels pointless cleaning the car because I know it will look dirty again in a few hours time. But another pupil’s test in Inverness tomorrow means I would like my car looking at least semi-respectable, so another wash it has to be. Speaking of which…. While Jorg and I were having a lesson yesterday morning before his test, someone else who was also taking their test in Ullapool stopped me and asked where they meet the examiner. As I gave her the information I could see that the back seat of her car was full of CDs, clothes and disposable coffee cups. I just hope she did not get asked to do an emergency stop on her test, otherwise someone else would have a headache.

From frozen Forres to the wild West

Six o’clock this morning, the temperature was -5°C and the sparkling ice carapace that encrusted my car mirrored the millions of stars in the Moray Firth sky. CD player loaded with Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs and I set off on a two hour journey to Gairloch.

Once again, the waiting time for a test has started to creep up at some test centres. Not too bad in Elgin and Inverness, but over twelve weeks in Ullapool at the moment. A little disappointing for those learners who are at, or near, test standard, but especially disappointing for anyone who has recently failed a test that they have to wait so long for another chance.
Last month, I had four pupils taking their test in Ullapool (see ‘And I ask myself ‘How did I get here?’’). Three passed, but the one that did not was a big surprise (insufficient observations on parallel park), I was so confident he would pass easily. Anyway, he wasn’t happy to wait so long for another test, so he asked if he could take it in Gairloch.

It may be a two hour drive for me, but, as I have said before, it is a stunning journey and well worth it just for the views of Slioch and Loch Maree as the sun rises. In the 100 mile section from Garve - Gairloch - Ullapool I barely saw another vehicle and, you can test yourself here, about the only road signs are these:

Now, Gairloch is not the hardest place in the world to take your test - sheep are the most likely hazard - and, before I let my pupils take their test, I like to be confident that they can drive anywhere. No such worries with my pupil, I am sure he could cope with any location.

I met my pupil, Gavin, and we had an unusually relaxed drive - he didn’t seem the slightest bit nervous - before he set off on his test. Unfortunately, disaaarrrrster then struck….. I went to Mountain Café for a coffee, but, zut alors! No marmalade scones! I had been looking forward to one of these lip-smacking beauties ever since Gavin told me he had booked his test here.

Oh yes…. Gavin‘s test…… Never in doubt. He passed with three minor faults.

This success was quickly followed by another of my pupils taking their test in Gairloch due to the lack of Ullapool tests. This was Neil’s first attempt and he passed with five minors.

So, well done Gavin and Neil. Enjoy your driving and I look forward to seeing Gavin again for your Pass Plus.

It was tempting to sneak back to the café to see if they had baked any marmalade scones yet, but, with an iron will, I got back in my car and set off for three full days of tests, lessons and a quiz in Ullapool…………

(Gavin in Gairloch)

110% Pass Rate

Who doesn't use Google these days? Does anyone use Yahoo, Alta Vista, Ask Jeeves, Cuil, Lycos, Excite or Dogpile anymore? I thought I would give Microsoft's Bing a try this morning. I typed in 'Driving instructor' and added various locations and was then alarmed to see that it came up 'Martin's Driving: My pass rate plummets'. Not really what I want people to see when they are searching for a driving instructor! Of course, this was a link to a previous post where, after picking up my new car I had a run of passes (so, 100%), but one fail in seven tests dropped my pass rate (in my new car) to 86%.
So, to counter this adverse publicity I thought I had better write this post so that anyone in Lossiemouth, Elgin, Forres, Nairn, Inverness, Culloden, Ullapool, etc looking for a driving instructor might be enticed by Bing listing this post's title instead of the 'pass rate plummets' title. Yes, I know it is impossible to have a pass rate of 110%, but if footballers and talent show contestants are allowed to say they "Gave it 110%", why can't I?
I'm sticking with Google in future.

(Edit: I totted up my pupils' test results since I started Farle Driving School at the start of July and, over 36 tests, there have been 27 passes and 9 fails - A not-too-shabby pass rate of 75%. On the X Factor  this weekend Simon Cowell just made some reference to "One hundred million percent".... That would be an impressive pass rate)

From the ridiculous to the sublime

Awww, I'm disappointed today.
The other day I started off with a six hour Pass Plus course, followed by a two hour lesson with someone who has their test next week, then, to finish the day, the last lesson for a pupil before her test. A long day.
The Pass Plus pupil was someone who had passed their driving test in England, last Spring, but had recently moved to Scotland. In between they had not been able to much driving due to working abroad. I was horrified. Pass Plus is part instruction, but part assessment. They have already passed their test, so I should not need to teach them the basics, but we look at how we can improve their driving with respect to Town driving, rural driving, night driving, bad weather driving, dual-carriageways and motorways. There are no motorways within 100 miles of here and they had to be back in Inverness by 3 o'clock, so night driving and motorways had to be addressed in theory, but not in practice.
To say their driving was 'rusty' was a severe understatement. After fifteen minutes driving around Inverness I asked them to stop so that I could put the 'L'-plates back on. I lied and told him that it was because he was 'under instruction' and I had forgotten to put them on to start with. In truth it was because I wanted other drivers not to expect my pupil's driving to be that great. He had wanted to do the six hour course in one go because he lived so far away from Inverness. I always interrupt a 6-hour lesson with a tea break, otherwise it is too long for someone to concentrate, but it was still a very long 6 hours. Instead of me assessing his driving and offering advanced instruction only when necessary, I found myself having to give almost constant instruction. In fact, at the end of the course, for the first time ever, I had to explain that I did not think he was yet at the required standard (and I was being very diplomatic) and more instruction would be needed before I could sign off his Pass Plus assessment. It was not the most pleasant lesson I have ever given.

The next lesson wasn't great either. This pupil's driving has improved rapidly and, with his test booked for next week, he was easily at the required standard.... until this lesson. I don't know what happened, maybe a lack of concentration, but he began making quite basic errors and this led to worse driving and more errors. Not a good day so far.

My last lesson, was therefore, like relaxing in a scented bath, sipping Lagavulin and listening to Beth Orton's The sweetest decline after eight hours sitting in a tub of ants while chewing tin foil and being forced to listen to the X Factor's Aiden Grimshaw and Wagner take it in turns to sing Westlife songs and scrape their nails down a blackboard. Tracy's lesson was so good and so smooth that I could have nodded off. Where, a few weeks ago, she had been very worried about taking her test, we were both now full of confidence.
So today was the day of her test. The lesson before was not her best, but that often happens. She asked me to sit in on the test and, unfortunately, nerves just got the better of her. One early minor fault played on her mind and she began to make more mistakes, including a couple of serious faults. I just need to reassure her that I think her driving is (usually) excellent, but rushing around the test route will not get the test finished any earlier. I will just add that I thought the examiner was excellent, particularly in the manner she tried to relax Tracy.

My birthday today, and it was great to receive so many emails and facebook messages. Just a shame that Tracy passing her test would have been the most welcome present. On the bright side, it does mean I get to enjoy her driving again.