Driver Education UK Style

Hi Pete, I had a drivers ed. teacher that I liked, many, many moons ago. The goal is to turn out responsible drivers not just people that know how to drive. From what I remember, (forgive me if I'm stating the obvious), we started in rural areas until we were comfortable with driving, and gradually moved into higher and higher traffic areas, until ultimately hitting the highway. This particular teacher would gently, but persistently remind us of necessary rules for good driving to the point where it became habit, i.e.- proper positioning of the hands on the wheel, maintaining safe distance from car in front, checking blind spots always, when merging or changing lanes, etc. If anyone deviated from any of these rules, they were corrected over and over, until it became second nature. Most of that stuck with me over the years, and did then when in general driving conditions. I must admit though, that at that age, after getting our licences, my friends and I would go into the country and drive really fast, play chicken, etc. we're lucky we all made it through. One method they are using here to help prevent that type of behavior, is to show students grisly photos of actual bad car crashes, it's not pretty, but I think it does have an effect. Good luck, you're braver than I am.

That's almost certainly the right way to do it.

Years ago we had a high school Driver's Ed instructor who on the student's first day behind the wheel had them pull out onto a light-traffic 2-lane highway then after about 1 mile onto a busy 4-lane. It was basically "drive right or die". My spouse was one of the students lucky survivors and like some of the other kids hadn't ever driven a car on a road at all before. This was in a rural area with plenty of quiet side roads so there was no excuse for that kind of irresponsible "teaching".

Although admittedly I (foolishly) used a similar technique on myself when I drove my first manual-transmission car. You learn how to shift and use the clutch when stopped on a hill darned quick when there's traffic behind you.

My driver's education instructor was also a gym teacher who reminds me of Billy Bob Thornton.

He had me drive to the Dunkin Doughnuts and get coffee and doughnuts.

I passed.

Every year just before harvest I teach several teenagers how to drive Farm trucks, machinery and forklifts. Both in the field and on the highways in our area. Some have never driven anything bigger than a motorcycle. Each will learn in their own way.

Stressing safety, I usually set up an obstacle course and once they can manage it, make them learn it in reverse. Once they have mastered both ways, their confidence is up to where learning the rest is a breeze.

I teach by the rewards method, Bonuses for good work usually gets them paying attention.

The main thing I stress is just plain awareness. If you pay attention to all that is going on around you, there are few surprises. When a surprise happens, that awareness turns into instinct and accidents are more easily avoided or lessened by being able to react in the best way faster.

Some of our machinery is 26 feet wide and weighs as much as a loaded truck or more.

My oldest son had some serious spatial awareness issues finding the edge of the road. He tried so hard to avoid it that he would sometimes cross the center line. I finally took him to a little used rural road where the drop off at the edge was not severe. I had him purposely and slowly drive off the edge of the road and back to feel the difference. In time the spatial awareness also came to him.

Patience and repetition. And I'll second farmatt's note on awareness. Teach them to be aware of what's going on around them.

Since over correcting after getting one or two wheels off the pavement is a significant factor in teenage traffic deaths, you did you son a big favor. I did the same for both of my sons.

I can't help you. Any advice I could give you would be backwards, since you all drive on the wrong side of the road.

ah no WE drive on the correct side, in the US as they have no history they decided to follow the rules of the sea, and drive on the right.

we in the UK were fighting people and thus had to be able to withdraw our swords hence we drive on the correct side

Sound good ?

I thought the reason might be to allow driving without trousers.

Whatever you say. You're the instructor.

to be honest i havent clue why you lot drive on the wrong side.

the sword thing is supposedly why we drive on the correct side, though it would be difficult to get sword out of the window across the dash, a gun would be better.

Weren't the boxing-gloves-on-the-extendable-scissors apparatus invented in the UK and further refined into the semaphore turn indicators?

Semaphore indicators now theres a weird design.

surely flashing lights would have been better

the guys comments about the semiphores is good but as i have seen the insides of a semiphore, they were very complex given the time, when they were made

a bulb and a heated bi-metal strip (a flasher unit) would have been much easier

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_lighting#Turn_signals

At last a reason

I knew there was a reason.

I wonder if there is any benefit from either system

is it safer left or right now we have got rid of the horses?

thanks lyn gave you a GA for that

There's a benefit for me. With left hand drive, my (right) gun hand has room to pull my sidearm without interference from the door.

I live in Arizona. We all pack heat here!

Can we agree that in the US we drive on the right side of the road?

Can we all agree that in the US we drive on the right side of the road?

I went into the chip shop and said
' Cod & chip twice please'.
The guy said
'I heard you the first time'.
discuss
Del

Shame on you for making fun of a stutterer.

I think you should have Mrs. Cat spank you again.

In SM607's defense, perhaps the second post was for clarification purposes. The second post added the word 'all' which was omitted in the first.

SSSSSSorry. IIIIIII dddddin't realize.

I agree that we are all supposed to drive on the left hand side of the road in the US.

• Do not follow or linger alongside vehicles with "Student Driver" signs.
• Do not follow or linger alongside vehicles with temporary plates.
• Use caution when approaching liquor stores.
• Use caution when following portly people in the vicinity of fast food restaurants.
• Use caution of the vehicle is fitted with four emergency spare tires, has the rear bumper held up with a belt or necktie and the side view mirror dangling from the remote control cables.

Skid car is used here in the UK the police and fire service use them.

I have tried one and it is very good, very very close to actual ice control the slight difference is the way the back of a front wheel drive breaks and slides, but the recovery principles are the same, which is the reason for its wide spread use

Skids on ice are not the same as skids on dry pavement. Turning the wheel in the direction of the skid usually has no effect on ice. Skidding on ice serves to teach the driver how it feels to be out-of-control. It teaches you to not touch brakes or try steering, but to let the vehicle take it's own course. The reason why you are skidding is because you used your brakes and locked up the wheels. When that happens, there's nothing to do but to ride it out.

Skids on ice and dry pavement are the same. The differ only in the degree of coefficient of friction.

You can and I have changed the skid direction of a car and the car's orientation through driver input. However, the difference is not necessarily subtle.

Ice is not frictionless and simply surrendering when a skid takes place is the wrong reaction.

From my experiences, skidding is not initiated solely by application of the brakes, either.

Temperature effects the degree of friction available when driving on ice, if close to 32°F you're toast if -05° or less the surface of the ice is dryer.

It is much easier to initiate a skid on ice than on a dry pavement. Just a slight breeze at a low speed can throw you into a skid. It has happened to me. On dry pavement, you have to be going quite fast to initiate the skid. Changing a direction of travel in a skid on ice, is an iffy proposition and you don't have much time to achieve it. About the only thing you can do is turn the wheels in the direction of the skid and hope you hit a dry spot where the wheels can get a grip. This is iffy if the direction you are skidding is not the same as your original direction of travel. Skiding on dry pavement can be very dangerous as your risk of rolling over is greater than on ice.

You have more than the steering. You also have the rear or front wheels (depending on which is driven) to affect the attitude of the vehicle.

Also, brakes will affect the skid's direction or the car's attitude, even on ice.

I've done this many times.

I believe you but I believe you have driven on treated ice or a very thin film. These procedures you've suggested do not under average ice accumulation of 1/8"+ at about 32° won't help in the slightest bit.

While driving a rig noticed auto's begin to rotate; not spin-out rotate that's an indication to me the roads is beginning to get slimy. I've driven over 100,000 miles on ice & snow covered roadways during high wind conditions with horizontally blowing snow. In ice fog conditions and the antennas may get to be inches in diameter; conditions where you extend a cotton shoe string out between the door and glass and when it stiffens you've got icy roads. Winter time driving in the mountains and northern great plains with ambient temps average -20 - -35° and windchill to -70°F and ice forms on the inside of the windows. Come with and experience a slide down an icy roadway in a vehicle that bends in the middle

"These procedures you've suggested do not under average ice accumulation of 1/8"+ at about 32° won't help in the slightest bit."

Try it for yourself, in a safe and clear area next winter. There is always a bit of friction, otherwise you would not be able to walk on ice at all, but the friction is very minimal and the subsequent effect of driver input very diminished.

The best defense is not to put yourself in that position in the first place.

The best defense is not to put yourself in that position in the first place.

That's the correct answer though I have tried it in a few places. You maybe the the exception though I've been everywhere but I'm not singing that song and if the icy surface isn't level you may have to crawl on hands and knees and slide.

Try this http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1613634/driving_on_icy_road/

http://www.snagtube.com/watch-video/i-have-no-words-after-watching--/699433

The second video, 1:40 into it where the car is broadsided and rolls over a pedestrian was an amazing stroke of luck.

The pedestrian was basically unscathed. The impact from the broadside created a huge dent in the car and that dent rolled over the pedestrian and save him!

He doesn't need luck he's a Christian...

I myself lucked out in that I was really taught to drive by Nascar licensed, and Formula One race car drivers. These were my Boy Scout Leaders. They taught me to drive fast as hell, and I did on all sorts of surfaces. If there is a Red neck Zen, they possessed it for wildly out of control in a 440 Cutless Supreme on a gravel road with a 15 year old behind the wheel of their car, they may as well have just had a Thanksgiving turkey dinner.

I have long been grateful for the things they taught me by letting me, or telling me to do it from the passenger seat. 15 and a Tiger Sunbeam with a V8 as the second or third car you get to drive, and you get some real insights.

So anyway I suggest that if you can be taught by the best, you will do better.

Far as motorcycles, well, I've told my daughter not to get on the back of a motorcycle driven by someone that has not at least flown airplanes. I consider motorcycles very dangerous and say one ought not buy for status or brand, but for fit.

Left hand, right hand hardly matters really. You drive really in the middle of the road, which may just be the middle of your lane.

These days I am a very cautious driver, and don't enjoy it much. Tailgating at high speeds is common among amateurs. If on the superhighway around here where I live anymore if it starts to rain hard, I get off it as soon as possible for so many simply do not seem to understand that if you can't see, and the road is slick, you need to slow down.

P.S. The phrase "Lucked Out." comes from prison. When a prisoner gets out, the other prisoners would say, "They lucked out."

your comment about rain and highways is so true.

people just dont seem able to realise that if its foggy raining snowing Dark and you cant see where your going its a really good idea to slow down,

they even have to put up signs here to tell you its raining poor visibilty fog etc because most of the motorist here a just so stupid.

as an example of this, and this was a very common thing.

when i worked for the AA and i was stopped behind a broken down car.

I would have my hazard lights on and the roof beacons almost every time a que would form behind my van and when i asked the lead driver why he/she had stopped they would ask when am i going to move.

I would answer i have the beacons and the hazard lights what more do you want me to do

When conditions are foggy, a driver is faced with a dilemma. You can enter a sudden fog bank, and not know how long before you emerge from it. It's a classic example of Russian roulette. If he continues at the same speed, he may run into a slow or stopped vehicle. If he slows down, someone may ram him from the rear. If he stops on the shoulder, someone might be thinking to do the same and wammo. Driving in a dense fog scares the hell out of me. The best thing is to pull over at the first sign of fog ahead and wait it out. This is a common occurance on California freeways.

I work in flight simulation and the same principle is used. Normal flying (like driving) is quite straightforward. The pilot (driver) should be familiar with emergency procedures. Having some level of training with respect to emergency situations can save lives.

Some types don't appreciate these type antics but who cares...if you maintain a speed slightly less than the traffic around you then you'll likely never hit anyone.

Contrary to some driver ed instruction professional drivers use the 9 and 3 hand positions on the steering wheel, if things get squirrelly you can get plenty of correction from turning until your elbows lock and still maintain a good grasp of the wheel as you regain control. The 9 and 3 positions also help the driver maintain his/her driving position and keeps arms from going out windows too.

The one thing I remember best was the instructors calmness while telling me to brake when approaching and 2/3rds of the way through a turn before acceleration.

It's good exercise to require students to back-up for 100 to 300 meters between cones at gradually faster speeds while using only mirrors. One tends to have a greater grasp of vehicle geometries and limitations.

Simulators help considerably but spatial awareness comes with time behind the wheel and being required to maneuver in tight quarters (cones/saw horses) helps too.

Some years ago when i first tried driver training, I was with a 65 year old woman who had just lost her driver (husband) and she wanted to learn.

we were in an automatic because she only had one leg, and was using my vehicle because it had hand controls, because i taught disabled persons to drive.

Any way we were approaching a traffic island (UK call them roundabouts) it was a nice flat one

as we got closer for whatever reason she panicked and pulled back on the throttle.

and we took off across the round about

now its at times like this you wish you could eject, i couldn't get her hand off the lever, if i knocked it into N the engine would have been damaged i had both feet on my brake pedal and was fighting the engine.

I managed to get to the ignition and turned the engine off, from the passengers side through the hand controls whilst driving over a round about. we had by this time mounted the pavement and was about 3 feet away from a chemists ( pharmacy for US) and we stopped and it all went quiet, we had not hit anyone or anything except the roundabout.

She turned around and said. Was that the correct way to go at the roundabout, followed up with do you think i will need many lesson`s ??

Amazing people never cease to amaze me.

Then there was the guy who at 55 had recovered from a stroke, his doctor had arranged for him to be assessed to see if he was fit to drive.

well it would appear one side of the brain wasn't talking to the other side, quiet common i have since found out.

He recounted that he used to be a mechanic, and had driven all over the world.

And although he knew what the steering wheel was what it looked like and what it did.

he couldn't see one in the car,( he was sitting on the drivers side)

he could see a half round thing in front of him but didn't recognise it.

" it seems when you have a stroke sometimes parts of the eyesight transmission to the Brain is lost or the bit that process visual info does not or cannot relay this information to the thinking and memory part.

so although the eyes work and can see the brain is not aware of it.

a bit like a camera where the output video cable has fallen off.

He was in tears as he told me me this, He knew what i was going to say.

But i found out later and telephoned him to let him know, that sometimes the brain reroutes itself and normal service is resumed, but not always.

Any way i am about to venture back into the industry after some 6 years away from it.

i am having to becaues of an old back complaint and being old means no one will employ me, never mind at least i have a job.

And its an intresting job,

If i stay at home much longer i will go even more insane than i already am.

(no offense to those who really are insane)

(no offense to those who really are insane)

None taken.

Not everyone can or should drive a vehicle, at least not on our public roads. Since you are committed to teaching anyone who wishes to drive, my advice won't help you much. A good, safe driver is very similar to a fighter plane pilot or Grande Prix driver. Driving has to be instinctive. It has to become second nature to the driver. A good driver has to be able to react automatically in any situation. By automatic, I don't mean freezing at the wheel and tensing every muscle in your body. I mean the ability to remain calm when the world is falling down all around you as in a dogfight or road race. Obviously the type of people you will be teaching won't fall into this group. "Gear heads" in this country eat, sleep and breath cars. Although not quite the caliber of the pilot or race driver, they are very comfortable around cars and motors and things that go fast. These people don't get into accidents (unless there are other factors, like drinking). Most accidents are caused because the driver doesn't know his/her vehicle or what to do in an emergency. I consider myself a very good driver. I don't "freeze" in emergency situations, but remain calm. In an emergency, the thing most people do is jump on their brakes. When you do this, you lose all control of the vehicle. Braking to me is an option taken at the last moment when everything else fails before diving under the dash. I have many times avoided being involved in an accident, by steering out of harms way; going off the road if necessary. At such times, I was able to continue on past the accident without losing speed. My son is one of those instinctive drivers. When we used to go to snow country during the ski season in California, I would let him drive. He drove from age 12 so driving became second nature to him. When there was a big empty parking lot that was icy, he would drive our 1976, 3 ton Cadillac sedan Deville and do wheelies on the ice and spin all over the place. This way, he learned how to handle and control a car. In the 20+ years he has been driving, he has never had an accident. Well the only time was a few years ago when a woman rammed him from the rear while waiting to turn into traffic.

You will be trying to instruct ordinary people about the rules of driving, laws, etc. I would say that an important part of your instruction should focus on the mechanics and physics of the vehicle itself. Knowing one's vehicle goes a long way in avoiding accidents. Knowing the limitations of the vehicle and knowing how the vehicle reacts in various situations. I'm not sure how much one can learn in a short time. I think the earlier a person learns to drive, the better he/she will be. As kids can learn a different language early on, the same holds true for driving. The other bit of advice would be to take your students to a skid pad or an icy parking lot and let go. You may be able to contract with the police department to use their driving school facilities. I would not pass any student until I was certain they had enough competence to hit the road on their own. Passing a driving test is not enough.

I agree with you on all points.