It seems odd to me that in these days of 'coaching' and 'taking responsibility' instructors are still telling their pupils to check their centre/interior mirror...every 5-6 seconds. I've been on coaching days when highly respected experienced instructors have advocated and used this method. It annoys me when I have a 'new' pupil who has had previous instruction and you ask "when would you look in the centre mirror?" and they say "every 1-2-3-4-5-6 seconds" sometimes "every 2-3 minutes".
I was always taught that the best way to get someone to do what you ask is to get them to understand 'why?' give them a reason for doing it, isn't this what we tell our kids? "don't do things without a reason". What reasons do we give for checking every 5-6 seconds?
When a pupil moves out to overtake a stationery bus (for example) instead of saying check your right door mirror, wouldn't we usually ask "is it safe?" thus prompting them to check that right door mirror.
So, when to check the centre mirror? Think back to the hpt, doesn't that mouse click mean a centre mirror check? Do we not check the centre mirror before we slow down?
I have always believed in giving my pupils a reason for checking the centre mirror, so it's simple.
1. Every time you have to lift your foot off the gas pedal, check behind, you slowing down has an effect on anyone behind you.
2. Every time you THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE TO lift your foot off the gas pedal look in that centre mirror.
3. Every time you push down on the gas pedal look behind you.
Think how many times during a drive you have to lift your foot off the gas pedal,
Fixed hazards such as roundabuts, traffic lights, roadworks, cross roads, junctions, bends in the road, non fixed, brake lights, slow moving traffic, the list is almost endless - all reasons to check behind you giving you the comfort that if you do need to slow down more you can do so safely.
Also how many things do you see that MIGHT cause you to slow down, pedestrians straying close to the kerb, animals, cyclists again the list is endless.
Mentioning this to an experienced and respected instructor it was 'batted back' with that won't work on a straight road! Seriously! how many straight roads do we drive on that doesn't have something that would prompt a centre mirror check! This is the UK even our Roman built 'straight roads' have bends in them and traffic on them!
I'm sure that every one agrees that if you have a reason for doing something you are more likely to do it, give your pupils a reason for checking the centre mirror, rather than trying to remember whether they should count in seconds or minutes before checking again. What if a pedestrian walks out in front of them between counts?
I've had several pupils comment recently that using this method was just so logical, why hadn't their previous instructor mentioned it?
I used to have a sales guy working for (some years ago now) the way he used to decide when to put on his car headlights was when he'd counted, I think it was something random like 28, other cars with their light on, mad? But probably no different to counting seconds between centre mirror checks.
Friday, 27 May 2011
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Intensive driving courses from 121
There are driving schools that offer courses that claim 'pass your test in a week'. Sounds great doesn't it, so let's break this down a little...
The DSA research show that someone who passes their driving test has had 47 hours of professional tuition + (PLUS) a minimum of 20 hours private practice. If you adopt the 'drive in a week' principle (say a 5 day working week) 47 hours (based just on professional tuition) means 9.4 hours per day! Can you concentrate on wielding a lethal weapon for nearly 10 hours per day? Plus within this time you have to revise for and pass your theory test!
I accept that time can be saved by your passing your theory test before starting your training, but that requires time and resources.
Ok, let's suppose that you are a natural and you've turned up for the course with the theory test already passed, you get to a reasonable standard within the week, you then have to book your practical test, what's the waiting time for a practical test these days? agreed there are some areas that have shorter times but the average waiting time is 6-7 weeks!
What we offer at 121, is a professionally structured learning experience, 1 to 1 learner centred instruction. You will have access to the DSA theory question bank, plus many hazard perception clips, we will book and pay for your theory test, ensuring that you pass it first attempt (should you not pass, subsequent attempts you will have to pay for yourself), the teaching process is at your pace and designed to ensure that you get maximum from each lesson. We believe that taking into all considerations 6 hours per week (3x2 hour lessons) is suitable for most learners, this can be altered as the driving test looms! We allocate 40 hours of training to you, which is ample for most learners, if you are ready and pass your test before any extra hours are carried over to Pass Plus. When you are established with your training we will book and pay for your practical driving test (should you not pass any subsequent tests are at your expense).
We believe that this is the common sense approach to passing quickly, and the cost?
go to our web site....http://www.driving-lessons-leeds.com/Intensive%20Driving/
The DSA research show that someone who passes their driving test has had 47 hours of professional tuition + (PLUS) a minimum of 20 hours private practice. If you adopt the 'drive in a week' principle (say a 5 day working week) 47 hours (based just on professional tuition) means 9.4 hours per day! Can you concentrate on wielding a lethal weapon for nearly 10 hours per day? Plus within this time you have to revise for and pass your theory test!
I accept that time can be saved by your passing your theory test before starting your training, but that requires time and resources.
Ok, let's suppose that you are a natural and you've turned up for the course with the theory test already passed, you get to a reasonable standard within the week, you then have to book your practical test, what's the waiting time for a practical test these days? agreed there are some areas that have shorter times but the average waiting time is 6-7 weeks!
What we offer at 121, is a professionally structured learning experience, 1 to 1 learner centred instruction. You will have access to the DSA theory question bank, plus many hazard perception clips, we will book and pay for your theory test, ensuring that you pass it first attempt (should you not pass, subsequent attempts you will have to pay for yourself), the teaching process is at your pace and designed to ensure that you get maximum from each lesson. We believe that taking into all considerations 6 hours per week (3x2 hour lessons) is suitable for most learners, this can be altered as the driving test looms! We allocate 40 hours of training to you, which is ample for most learners, if you are ready and pass your test before any extra hours are carried over to Pass Plus. When you are established with your training we will book and pay for your practical driving test (should you not pass any subsequent tests are at your expense).
We believe that this is the common sense approach to passing quickly, and the cost?
go to our web site....http://www.driving-lessons-leeds.com/Intensive%20Driving/
Thursday, 30 December 2010
2011
Why am I looking forward to 2011? and why should my pupils be exited about their driver training.
2011 is the year when I'm really going to embrace 'coaching' not as a philosophy but as a natural way to perform driver training.
Coaching is something that I have always done in previous 'jobs', over the years come in for a great deal of flack from Managing Directors (you know who you are John England!)because allowing staff to make there own decisions and set their own targets wasn't the way they had always done things. I've even been accused of having no control because my staff never through tantrums and I didn't shout at them! To me this just seemed the natural way to do things. We even use coaching with our children,don't we, we always get them to think for themselves, make their own decisions and mistakes and to learn from them - isn't this exactly what driver training coaching guru's are telling us?
I don't for one minute think that because I've read a few books and been on a couple of courses that I know it all, like we tell our pupils, it's constant learning, make a mistake learn from it and do it better next time. The hard part is going to be stopping myself slipping back into 'telling' especially for someone who's such a control freak! One thing that the 'Instructor College' was good at is ramming home "don't let the pupil take control!"
So, all new pupils will be presented with a bound training folder that covers all the key elements of learning to drive, they now have control because they know what they are going to be taught, and more to the point they can plan the lessons, they do that week what they want to do, obviously within reason - but any objections to wanting to do overtaking on dual carriageways in the 1st lesson will lead to a better understanding. I'm also making the 'elements' signing off the responsibility of the pupil after all they are the ones who have to feel comfortable with it.
I just wish I had the Adobe Illustrator skills to make the training folders more presentable, but hey, they look ok.
All pupils get access to the Theory test data base on-line, this means that they can practise wherever they have Internet access -- no excuses! Doing it this way also allows me to keep an eye on what they are doing, how much practice they are getting and what type. It's going to be an interesting year Theory test wise, especially for those starting their driving towards the end of the year, but as I've always tried to drum home with my pupils is that they must retain the knowledge, not just use it to pass a test and then forget it. Maybe the threat of not having access to the test question bank will be enough to get them to learn correctly if not i will come up with some method to achieve this.
Hanging around the edges of coaching last year, my pupils reduced the number of lessons to pass their test to 22-30, the ones that I really let off the leash nearer to 22 than 30. This year I want to get the average down to 20-24 hours. I don't see this as taking food out of my mouth, "are you more likely to recommend someone who gets you your licence after 20 hours or someone who takes 40+?" In theory this will also allow me to put my prices up way above average, do the sums. 40 hours at £20 = £800, 20 hours at £25 = £500, which instructor would you go with?
Ok, not every ones the same, some will take longer, but then they are going to take longer anyway!
So, despite the back end of 2010 were a nightmare because of this 'Thatcherite' government and the weather, I'm looking forward to 2011 with a big grin on my face because i know that the future is bright!
2011 is the year when I'm really going to embrace 'coaching' not as a philosophy but as a natural way to perform driver training.
Coaching is something that I have always done in previous 'jobs', over the years come in for a great deal of flack from Managing Directors (you know who you are John England!)because allowing staff to make there own decisions and set their own targets wasn't the way they had always done things. I've even been accused of having no control because my staff never through tantrums and I didn't shout at them! To me this just seemed the natural way to do things. We even use coaching with our children,don't we, we always get them to think for themselves, make their own decisions and mistakes and to learn from them - isn't this exactly what driver training coaching guru's are telling us?
I don't for one minute think that because I've read a few books and been on a couple of courses that I know it all, like we tell our pupils, it's constant learning, make a mistake learn from it and do it better next time. The hard part is going to be stopping myself slipping back into 'telling' especially for someone who's such a control freak! One thing that the 'Instructor College' was good at is ramming home "don't let the pupil take control!"
So, all new pupils will be presented with a bound training folder that covers all the key elements of learning to drive, they now have control because they know what they are going to be taught, and more to the point they can plan the lessons, they do that week what they want to do, obviously within reason - but any objections to wanting to do overtaking on dual carriageways in the 1st lesson will lead to a better understanding. I'm also making the 'elements' signing off the responsibility of the pupil after all they are the ones who have to feel comfortable with it.
I just wish I had the Adobe Illustrator skills to make the training folders more presentable, but hey, they look ok.
All pupils get access to the Theory test data base on-line, this means that they can practise wherever they have Internet access -- no excuses! Doing it this way also allows me to keep an eye on what they are doing, how much practice they are getting and what type. It's going to be an interesting year Theory test wise, especially for those starting their driving towards the end of the year, but as I've always tried to drum home with my pupils is that they must retain the knowledge, not just use it to pass a test and then forget it. Maybe the threat of not having access to the test question bank will be enough to get them to learn correctly if not i will come up with some method to achieve this.
Hanging around the edges of coaching last year, my pupils reduced the number of lessons to pass their test to 22-30, the ones that I really let off the leash nearer to 22 than 30. This year I want to get the average down to 20-24 hours. I don't see this as taking food out of my mouth, "are you more likely to recommend someone who gets you your licence after 20 hours or someone who takes 40+?" In theory this will also allow me to put my prices up way above average, do the sums. 40 hours at £20 = £800, 20 hours at £25 = £500, which instructor would you go with?
Ok, not every ones the same, some will take longer, but then they are going to take longer anyway!
So, despite the back end of 2010 were a nightmare because of this 'Thatcherite' government and the weather, I'm looking forward to 2011 with a big grin on my face because i know that the future is bright!
Monday, 11 October 2010
Theory Test
Because of the changes in technology and how we use technology I have decided to change the way in which I supply Theory Information to pupils.
More and more people are using Apple Mac's, NetBooks are becoming more prevalent and more people like to have access to things via Smart Phones. Taking all this into consideration rather than supplying 'beginners' with the PC DVD to get practice on the Theory Test questions and Hazard Perception clips I have made available to ALL my pupils on-line access to all the theory test questions plus hazard perception clips. I hope that this will make life easier for everyone concerned.
To get access to the Theory Test questions you can go via my home page www.driving-lessons-leeds.com and click the link, or directly http://121.theorytestpro.co.uk a "secret word" is required to get access to the questions.
More and more people are using Apple Mac's, NetBooks are becoming more prevalent and more people like to have access to things via Smart Phones. Taking all this into consideration rather than supplying 'beginners' with the PC DVD to get practice on the Theory Test questions and Hazard Perception clips I have made available to ALL my pupils on-line access to all the theory test questions plus hazard perception clips. I hope that this will make life easier for everyone concerned.
To get access to the Theory Test questions you can go via my home page www.driving-lessons-leeds.com and click the link, or directly http://121.theorytestpro.co.uk a "secret word" is required to get access to the questions.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Sunday, 19 September 2010
Independent Driving
4th of October brings changes to the driving test, there has been a number of articles about the changes in the press and also on TV, a lot of it inaccurate.
Several years ago when the DSA introduced the safety check questions to the test (show me tell me) the press had a field day:
- pupils were going to have to change wheels,
- details of how to change the oil were to be imparted... all a load of rubbish as everyone found out.. the popular press never let the facts get in the way of a good story!
So what is going to happen for those taking the driving test after October 4th?
1st check out the video on this link http://www.driving-lessons-leeds.com/Driving_information/Independent_driving/Vid_on_independent_driving.html this was made last year when quiet a number of 'guinea pigs' had independent driving added to their driving tests.
2nd Good News! you will only have to do one manoeuvre! however you don't know which one it is so you still need to be confident with all the ones you could get. Also, do remember thet the 'controlled stop' although a manoeuvre is over & above the Turn in the road, reverse park etc
3rd You will be pulled over at some point in the test (remember to check mirrors!) and the examiner will inform you that for the next 10 minutes or so you will be driving independent of instruction,
i.e. the examiner will not being telling you 'next right' roundabout straight ahead 2nd exit' etc.
You will be given either verbal directions "follow A647 the turn right onto A657 at the roundabout turn right" or you will be shown a diagram that you will have to follow, just as if a friend has drawn directions for you. Or a mixture of both.
The idea is that you have to remember the instructions while not letting it effect your driving - you will not be failed for not following the directions to the letter! Your driving has to remain the main focus, if you take a left instead of a right, or miss a sign telling you where to turn, it's no problem (as long as correct driving procedures have taken place eg MSM).
Most pupils approaching test standard will already have had experience of driving independently, without really noticing - "You can find you're own way home from here" "let's drive over to the test centre, take which ever route you want". However, more test specific independent driving will be carried out in the later stages of your tuition.
In the mean time - don't panic!
Several years ago when the DSA introduced the safety check questions to the test (show me tell me) the press had a field day:
- pupils were going to have to change wheels,
- details of how to change the oil were to be imparted... all a load of rubbish as everyone found out.. the popular press never let the facts get in the way of a good story!
So what is going to happen for those taking the driving test after October 4th?
1st check out the video on this link http://www.driving-lessons-leeds.com/Driving_information/Independent_driving/Vid_on_independent_driving.html this was made last year when quiet a number of 'guinea pigs' had independent driving added to their driving tests.
2nd Good News! you will only have to do one manoeuvre! however you don't know which one it is so you still need to be confident with all the ones you could get. Also, do remember thet the 'controlled stop' although a manoeuvre is over & above the Turn in the road, reverse park etc
3rd You will be pulled over at some point in the test (remember to check mirrors!) and the examiner will inform you that for the next 10 minutes or so you will be driving independent of instruction,
i.e. the examiner will not being telling you 'next right' roundabout straight ahead 2nd exit' etc.
You will be given either verbal directions "follow A647 the turn right onto A657 at the roundabout turn right" or you will be shown a diagram that you will have to follow, just as if a friend has drawn directions for you. Or a mixture of both.
The idea is that you have to remember the instructions while not letting it effect your driving - you will not be failed for not following the directions to the letter! Your driving has to remain the main focus, if you take a left instead of a right, or miss a sign telling you where to turn, it's no problem (as long as correct driving procedures have taken place eg MSM).
Most pupils approaching test standard will already have had experience of driving independently, without really noticing - "You can find you're own way home from here" "let's drive over to the test centre, take which ever route you want". However, more test specific independent driving will be carried out in the later stages of your tuition.
In the mean time - don't panic!
Independent Driving
4th of October brings changes to the driving test, there has been a number of articles about the changes in the press and also on TV, a lot of it inaccurate.
Several years ago when the DSA introduced the safety check questions to the test (show me tell me) the press had a field day:
- pupils were going to have to change wheels,
- details of how to change the oil were to be imparted... all a load of rubbish as everyone found out.. the popular press never let the facts get in the way of a good story!
So what is going to happen for those taking the driving test after October 4th?
1st check out the video on this link http://www.driving-lessons-leeds.com/Driving_information/Independent_driving/Vid_on_independent_driving.html this was made last year when quiet a number of 'guinea pigs' had independent driving added to their driving tests.
2nd Good News! you will only have to do one manoeuvre! however you don't know which one it is so you still need to be confident with all the ones you could get. Also, do remember thet the 'controlled stop' although a manoeuvre is over & above the Turn in the road, reverse park etc
3rd You will be pulled over at some point in the test (remember to check mirrors!) and the examiner will inform you that for the next 10 minutes or so you will be driving independent of instruction,
i.e. the examiner will not being telling you 'next right' roundabout straight ahead 2nd exit' etc.
You will be given either verbal directions "follow A647 the turn right onto A657 at the roundabout turn right" or you will be shown a diagram that you will have to follow, just as if a friend has drawn directions for you. Or a mixture of both.
The idea is that you have to remember the instructions while not letting it effect your driving - you will not be failed for not following the directions to the letter! Your driving has to remain the main focus, if you take a left instead of a right, or miss a sign telling you where to turn, it's no problem (as long as correct driving procedures have taken place eg MSM).
Most pupils approaching test standard will already have had experience of driving independently, without really noticing - "You can find you're own way home from here" "let's drive over to the test centre, take which ever route you want". However, more test specific independent driving will be carried out in the later stages of your tuition.
In the mean time - don't panic!
Several years ago when the DSA introduced the safety check questions to the test (show me tell me) the press had a field day:
- pupils were going to have to change wheels,
- details of how to change the oil were to be imparted... all a load of rubbish as everyone found out.. the popular press never let the facts get in the way of a good story!
So what is going to happen for those taking the driving test after October 4th?
1st check out the video on this link http://www.driving-lessons-leeds.com/Driving_information/Independent_driving/Vid_on_independent_driving.html this was made last year when quiet a number of 'guinea pigs' had independent driving added to their driving tests.
2nd Good News! you will only have to do one manoeuvre! however you don't know which one it is so you still need to be confident with all the ones you could get. Also, do remember thet the 'controlled stop' although a manoeuvre is over & above the Turn in the road, reverse park etc
3rd You will be pulled over at some point in the test (remember to check mirrors!) and the examiner will inform you that for the next 10 minutes or so you will be driving independent of instruction,
i.e. the examiner will not being telling you 'next right' roundabout straight ahead 2nd exit' etc.
You will be given either verbal directions "follow A647 the turn right onto A657 at the roundabout turn right" or you will be shown a diagram that you will have to follow, just as if a friend has drawn directions for you. Or a mixture of both.
The idea is that you have to remember the instructions while not letting it effect your driving - you will not be failed for not following the directions to the letter! Your driving has to remain the main focus, if you take a left instead of a right, or miss a sign telling you where to turn, it's no problem (as long as correct driving procedures have taken place eg MSM).
Most pupils approaching test standard will already have had experience of driving independently, without really noticing - "You can find you're own way home from here" "let's drive over to the test centre, take which ever route you want". However, more test specific independent driving will be carried out in the later stages of your tuition.
In the mean time - don't panic!
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