Learning to drive is more than just taking a course with an instructor.
Over the years that I have been a driving instructor I have had people approach me for driving lessons in the mistaken belief that it involves little more than attending a course of a set number of lessons.
They are usually from another country with a fairly rudimentary and minimal driving test, although there have been a number of UK nationals as well.
Obviously there are topics to be covered, but it is not just a box ticking exercise.
You need to understand what it is you are learning and why.
More than just moving the pedals and steering the car.
Usually they are able to control the vehicle but not always with the skill and finesse a UK driving test calls for.
A common fault is that people will put the clutch down and coast for long distances.
They will have bad driving habits and faults, which will need to be un-learned.
When an unfamiliar or difficult situation arises, they will lapse back into their default driving which they have been practicing for many years.
You must have very fine precise control of the car.
It is not enough to just stop when danger threatens but to slow or stop in the right place, and to be able to decide what is the right place.
In countries where the driving is more manic than ours in the UK, these same people only stop and go.
It is often a whole new concept to slow down a little and let the problem pass by and then drive on.
At roundabouts, they will want to stop, even when the approaching car is several hundred metres away.
Here in Milton Keynes we are famous for our roundabouts.
Alternatively, they want to charge into a gap with no margin for error, and then say 'I would have made that!' even as the other vehicle is passing in front of us just centimetres away.
In 2004, I had a gentleman of about 45 from India.
He had driven in India, Canada, the United States and Europe.
He had moved to the UK and had been driving here for nearly a year and now needed a full UK license.
He said to me 'I thought, how difficult can it be?' and so went for a test in his own car.
After 24 minor, 6 serious and a dangerous fault, he had his answer.
That is when he called me.
Currently I am teaching a gentleman from Southern India who only wants to learn and practise the test routes, preferably in just four hours.
His driving style has needed seriously addressing.
More than just learning test routes.
The DSA do not like instructors' pupils being taught test routes.
I have been on tests where there has been a traffic problem and we have had to divert off the test route.
At that point, the examiner was making it up as we found a way around the problem.
As the pupils had been trained to drive anywhere and everywhere, it was not a problem for them.
In my local area driving in Leighton Buzzard is very different to Milton Keynes.
Bletchley is not the same as Buckingham.
Rural countryside is full of rural tractors.
Central Milton Keynes is full of buses.
More than just passing the test.
Some instructors may tell you what to do without explaining why you need to do it.
That is like telling a young soldier he must clean his weapon without explaining why and not demonstrating what happens if he does not.
i.
e.
it will jam or worse.
Why use this manoeuvre or technique and not that one in this situation.
` Different days will call for different ways.
· You need to interact with other road users.
· You need to understand what the other person is doing and why.
· You need to be able to think quickly and laterally.
· You need to have experience of different routes, in different situations.
· You need to be able to look out for yourself.
· You need to be able to drive for life, anywhere and anytime in any conditions.
A professional driving instructor will coach and train you to develop the necessary skills you need to pass a UK driving test.
Tomorrow - possibly this afternoon - you are on your own in the real world, and I will not be there.
You will never stop learning; everyday you will see something different to add to your learning experience.
Over the years that I have been a driving instructor I have had people approach me for driving lessons in the mistaken belief that it involves little more than attending a course of a set number of lessons.
They are usually from another country with a fairly rudimentary and minimal driving test, although there have been a number of UK nationals as well.
Obviously there are topics to be covered, but it is not just a box ticking exercise.
You need to understand what it is you are learning and why.
More than just moving the pedals and steering the car.
Usually they are able to control the vehicle but not always with the skill and finesse a UK driving test calls for.
A common fault is that people will put the clutch down and coast for long distances.
They will have bad driving habits and faults, which will need to be un-learned.
When an unfamiliar or difficult situation arises, they will lapse back into their default driving which they have been practicing for many years.
You must have very fine precise control of the car.
It is not enough to just stop when danger threatens but to slow or stop in the right place, and to be able to decide what is the right place.
In countries where the driving is more manic than ours in the UK, these same people only stop and go.
It is often a whole new concept to slow down a little and let the problem pass by and then drive on.
At roundabouts, they will want to stop, even when the approaching car is several hundred metres away.
Here in Milton Keynes we are famous for our roundabouts.
Alternatively, they want to charge into a gap with no margin for error, and then say 'I would have made that!' even as the other vehicle is passing in front of us just centimetres away.
In 2004, I had a gentleman of about 45 from India.
He had driven in India, Canada, the United States and Europe.
He had moved to the UK and had been driving here for nearly a year and now needed a full UK license.
He said to me 'I thought, how difficult can it be?' and so went for a test in his own car.
After 24 minor, 6 serious and a dangerous fault, he had his answer.
That is when he called me.
Currently I am teaching a gentleman from Southern India who only wants to learn and practise the test routes, preferably in just four hours.
His driving style has needed seriously addressing.
More than just learning test routes.
The DSA do not like instructors' pupils being taught test routes.
I have been on tests where there has been a traffic problem and we have had to divert off the test route.
At that point, the examiner was making it up as we found a way around the problem.
As the pupils had been trained to drive anywhere and everywhere, it was not a problem for them.
In my local area driving in Leighton Buzzard is very different to Milton Keynes.
Bletchley is not the same as Buckingham.
Rural countryside is full of rural tractors.
Central Milton Keynes is full of buses.
More than just passing the test.
Some instructors may tell you what to do without explaining why you need to do it.
That is like telling a young soldier he must clean his weapon without explaining why and not demonstrating what happens if he does not.
i.
e.
it will jam or worse.
Why use this manoeuvre or technique and not that one in this situation.
` Different days will call for different ways.
· You need to interact with other road users.
· You need to understand what the other person is doing and why.
· You need to be able to think quickly and laterally.
· You need to have experience of different routes, in different situations.
· You need to be able to look out for yourself.
· You need to be able to drive for life, anywhere and anytime in any conditions.
A professional driving instructor will coach and train you to develop the necessary skills you need to pass a UK driving test.
Tomorrow - possibly this afternoon - you are on your own in the real world, and I will not be there.
You will never stop learning; everyday you will see something different to add to your learning experience.
Source...