posted by Ged Wilmot

“I Want to Complain About a Driving Examiner”

It’s a question we occasionally get asked – “How do I complain about a driving examiner?” Thankfully, we are hearing of fewer and fewer instances of people having issues with examiners’ bad attitudes towards driving test candidates and driving instructors. We have personally found most examiners to be very friendly, professional and approachable. This is likely to be down to the DVSA’s increased emphasis on providing excellent customer service. In this article, we explain how driving examiners are trained and continually assessed. We also look at how you can express your concerns or even complain about a driving examiner, should the need arise.

Firstly, let me share a true story…

Whilst sat in a Driving Test Centre waiting room one day, several nervous driving test candidates awaited the arrival of their examiners. Increasingly loud footsteps prompted their arrival, one by one. Each called the name of their candidate, whilst each instructor anxiously hoped their pupil wouldn’t get… ‘John’. John was the examiner notorious for his extraordinary ability to transform a reasonably calm and confident pupil into a gibbering, nervous wreck within seconds of him meeting them.

John walked into the waiting room, standing tall and firmly holding his clipboard, with his air of authority and self-importance. Without even looking around the room to smile and pleasantly greet the instructors in the room, as all the other examiners did, John called the pupil’s name. “Ben Smith. Can I see your driving licence?” Ben promptly stood up from the seat next to his mum, who had gone with him to the test centre. Clutching a flimsy A4 plastic sleeve full of, mainly unnecessary, documentation such as; his car’s purchase receipt, MOT certificate, insurance policy, theory documents, Highway Code and other paperwork Ben nervously handed John a DL-sized transparent plastic wallet, which held his photo card and counterpart driving licence. In his nervous haste, he dropped the entire contents of the A4 plastic sleeve all over the waiting room floor. As Ben scrambled around the floor to pick up his paperwork, the examiner tossed the driving licence, still in its transparent wallet, onto the table in front of Ben, and said, “Take the licence out of that.” The examiner then turned to stare blankly out of the waiting room window, still clutching his clipboard. As the seconds passed, he glanced impatiently at his watch whilst Ben gathered his belongings. By this point, Ben was visibly shaken, sweat forming on his forehead, blushing, and rippling with fear. Hardly able to keep his hands steady as he did so, he removed the paper counterpart and plastic card from the DVLA stamped plastic wallet and handed it to John.

As soon as the door to the test centre closed behind the last examiner and test candidate, Ben’s mum looked over at all the instructors in the room and said, “Wow – what a horrible, horrible man. Is he always like that?” We all nodded in agreement – Ben had drawn the short straw.

Why is it that the vast majority of driving examiners can be pleasant and able to put pupils at ease, whilst a very small number of others can turn the test candidate into a fearful mess before they even get into the car? How can it be fair? And as instructors, can we, and should we, do anything to complain about a driving examiner?

We all have bad days

It’s true that we all have our bad days – we all have personal ‘stuff’ going on in our lives that can sometimes negatively impact our mood. I’m sure that being an examiner can be quite challenging at times. Some Approved Driving Instructors might say that it’s the same for us. In an ideal world, we would all keep our personal stuff hidden – ‘fake’ a good mood so that our personal baggage doesn’t impact on our work. But let’s face it, we’re all human and from time to time, others might notice our aura of discontentment.

But that is not what this article is about. We’re discussing those examiners that have a reputation for instilling fear in test candidates or those that show little respect towards driving instructors – those who could at times be described as negative, condescending, arrogant or even rude. Thankfully these examiners are few and far between, but we’ve received enough feedback about it to take some time to provide you with an insight into how examiners are trained and assessed in terms of providing a positive customer experience, and what you, or your pupil, can do about it if you feel particularly aggrieved by an examiner at your test centre.

“How are examiners initially assessed and trained in customer service?”

During a recent visit to the DVSA’s Training & Development Centre in Cardington, Bedfordshire, we learned more about the examiner training process and we asked a senior trainer to what extent personality traits and attitudes are taken into account when examiners are trained. We also learned how the DVSA openly welcome feedback from driving instructors and driving test candidates, especially when someone feels the need to complain about a driving examiner due to their attitude or general manner.

We were pleased to learn that potential candidates for the position of driving examiner are assessed on their personality characteristics and customer service throughout the whole process, from the initial application form through to final test centre placement, and beyond.

All trainee examiners must undertake Situational Judgement Tests during training – some of these are scientifically designed to highlight any issues in respect to personal thought processes and responses. In addition, job-related role play assessments take place, in which professional actors are used in problem scenarios to see how the trainee examiner responds. This, again, highlights strengths and weaknesses in their ability to deal with members of the public.

Throughout their time at the Training & Development Centre, trainee examiners are continually assessed against 4 core competencies:

Control of the test
Assessment of the test
Completion of paperwork
Customer service

The ‘customer service’ element looks at how the trainee examiner relates to, and communicates with, everyone else during their 4-6 week training course. In life beyond the course, everyone that examiner could come into contact with in their working life is defined as the ‘customer’. This, of course, includes learner drivers and their instructors.

Trainees are closely observed on how they communicate with the test candidate during role play driving tests and to the trainers providing feedback and classroom training throughout the programme. Communication and behaviour during social gatherings, meal breaks, and even smoking breaks, is subtly scrutinised – this includes the trainee’s relationship with their fellow candidates, trainers and other staff members at Cardington, even extending to the cleaners, canteen and hotel staff. Nothing goes unnoticed.

In learning about customer service, trainee examiners are taught the need to be fully aware of, and adapt; their body language, the way they observe the candidate, their seating position, respect of the candidate’s personal space, suitable levels of eye contact, appropriate tone of voice, etc. A large part of customer service training is centred around how verbal and non-verbal communication can be interpreted, or misinterpreted. Therefore, all qualified examiners should be aware that it is how their verbal and non-verbal communication is interpreted by others that is important – more so than the intention behind that behaviour.

When training and assessing candidates for driving examiner positions, senior training staff at Cardington are looking for people with specific personal characteristics and customer service skills. They need to have a calm confidence, especially when in confrontational situations. But they equally need to be reassuring when dealing with test candidates who have emotional outbursts.

**“Yes, but what happens after placement at a driving test centre?”**

It’s all well and good for a trainee examiner to be able to demonstrate good customer service skills whilst in the presence of senior trainers at the DVSA Training Centre, but what happens when they’re out there in the real world? Isn’t this when the problems start?

The training team at the DVSA acknowledge the fact that no matter how many assessments, role plays and Check Tests are conducted during training and whilst out there on the job, trainee and qualified examiners are often able to ‘play the game’ when being assessed. Their actual conduct whilst out there on the job could be something entirely different. During a trainee examiner’s initial training programme, the environment at the Training Centre is very positive, and as such, the trainee examiners’ behaviours are positively influenced by those around them.

This same influence will affect them after they are placed at a driving test centre. They will continue to be influenced by their peers – if a more long-standing examiner, working closely alongside them, has poor attitudes, then the new examiner is much more likely to mimic their behaviour.

For the first 9 months, which includes the 4-6 week training period at Cardington, each new examiner is on probation. They are very closely supervised by either the LDTM (Local Driving Test Manager) or an experienced examiner at that particular test centre. During the first month, each new examiner has one day per week devoted to development – this takes the form of 4 supervised practical driving tests, 16 in total for the month, and time for discussion after each test. Assuming all goes well on those 16 supervised tests, each new examiner will continue to have one development day per month for the next 3 months, equating to a further 12 supervised tests.

In addition to the above, each new examiner will shadow another more experienced examiner from time to time, and be routinely assessed by a member of the QUAT (Quality Assurance Team) to ensure the new examiner is continuing to demonstrate the 4 core competency skills.

Outside the above 4 month period, all examiners will have a minimum of 6 check tests per year, assessed by their LDTM, plus further QUAT assessments. In total, most examiners will have approximately 12-15 check tests / assessments per year. And to think – we ADIs often moan about having 1 or 2 in every 4 year period!

“How do I complain about a driving examiner’s poor attitude and customer service?”

An examiner may appear to come across, intentionally or otherwise, as; negative, condescending, ignorant, rude, malicious, intimidating or bullying. Most of these examiners may be totally unaware of it. Their fellow colleagues may feel that they are not in a position to challenge it for fear of reprisals. Nevertheless – it still needs addressing. Do not be afraid to be the one to complain about a driving examiner to the DVSA – if nobody says anything, nothing will change.

If you or your pupil have an issue with an examiner’s customer service skills, the first point of contact should be with your LDTM. If you are unsure who that is, check on the local notice board in your driving test centre. If it is not there, you could either ask another examiner for the contact name and number of the LDTM, or call the DVSA on 0300 200 1122 and ask the advisor for the information.

Once you have your LDTM’s contact details, either have a telephone conversation with the LDTM or arrange a meeting with them to discuss how you, or your pupil, perceived the examiner’s behaviour. Express your concerns honestly and respectfully, remembering that the examiner concerned may not be intending to come across in that way. It’s important that your issues are conveyed in the right manner and for the right reasons. Remain calm and professional.

Listen to what the LDTM has to say – they should follow up your discussion by speaking directly to the examiner concerned about how their behaviour is coming across. If after having done so, you still experience issues with that particular examiner, put your complaint in writing. Written complaints MUST be followed up by senior management, so rest assured that your issue will definitely be addressed.

Remember – unless ADIs and/or customers express their concerns about such examiners, nothing can be done.

We do find that instructors often avoid complaining about a driving examiner’s conduct for fear of retribution from that examiner. We know this has happened on some occasions but thankfully, such problems are very rare. If an examiner does have an undesirable attitude, there’s likely to be little change unless the DVSA are made aware of it.

Thankfully, Claire and I have personally found examiners’ customer service skills to be excellent, on the whole. On the rare occasion that we have encountered issues, we have never been afraid to confront this issue, either directly with the examiner themselves or by contacting a more senior member staff at the DVSA. Incidentally, we have never defined the reason for our contact as being a ‘complaint’ – instead we discuss our ‘concerns’ or ‘observations’. Each time we have done so, the senior examiner has been very grateful for our feedback and has followed up on our concerns. In each and every case, we have found noticeable improvements, with no open detriment to that examiner’s attitude towards us.

How do you find customer service at your local test centre?
Do you have an examiner with a notorious reputation for his or her attitude?
Have you, or one of your pupils, ever felt the need to complain about a driving examiner?
If so, how have you dealt with it?
Might you handle things differently in the future as a result?

Please share your thoughts below – we love hearing from you and learning from your experiences! And remember, if you can think of someone that would benefit from this article, please hit one of the buttons below and SHARE it!

*Please note that the names within the story above have been changed to protect their real identities.

posted by Ged Wilmot

h4 Comments

A Simple Guide to Using Reflective Logs

“I have been reading various things on Facebook about reflective logs being needed for the ADI Standards Check, but I’m not really sure what they’re for and why the DVSA is forcing us to use them. From what I can make out, it’s something that the pupil fills in at the end of the lesson about what they have learned. Can you explain more about what a reflective log is and convince me why I have to use them?”

Thanks for your great question! Let’s first start by reassuring you that nobody is forcing you to use anything that you (or your pupils) don’t want to use. The DVSA’s Standards Check is intended to assess your ability to instruct and whether that instruction helps your pupil to learn in an effective way. A reflective log is simply one ‘tool’ you can use to encourage your pupil to reflect on their own learning and progress, and plan for their way forward.

So what exactly is a ‘reflective log’?

Essentially, a reflective log is a record of the pupil’s learning experiences, thoughts, feelings and reflections. It should be thought of as a critical assessment of how the pupil is progressing. In using the word ‘critical’, this should not be thought of as a negative assessment – quite the contrary. It should be seen as an honest and positively-framed appraisal of what things are going well, where improvements can be made and a plan for moving forward (the next steps).

Reflective logs (or journals) are nothing new – they have been used very successfully for many years in other educational establishments, including some primary and secondary schools. Therefore, it’s quite possible that your pupils will be very familiar with the process, even if it might feel alien to you.

Why is it a good idea for us to use them with our learners?

Some ADIs will advocate using a reflective log as an additional resource for their pupils to complete and keep. For others, the reflective log can be used in place of a lesson record. From starting out as an ADI in the late 1990’s, I have always kept lesson records in A4 landscape format. They looked like this (I could fit 13 lesson records to a double-sided A4 sheet):

This enabled me to keep a track of not just what we covered and when, but specifically how well my pupils carried out those tasks and where they needed to improve. Together, we would then plan what to cover next lesson (although admittedly I frequently ‘led’ the pupil with this decision).

I later replaced this ‘Lesson Record’ with a ‘Reflective Log’ (see below). It’s essentially the same format but now phrased with more client-oriented wordings, and with space for the pupil to add in what steps they can take to improve between this session and the next. This may be something as simple as reading a handout or a section of the Highway Code, watching a particular training video or observing another driver’s handling of a skill (such as dealing with roundabouts). Or they may record detail on what specifically they will focus on during private practise with a friend or relative. The new reflective log also enables the pupil (or me) to note down anything else of relevance, e.g. ‘advised to put test back a couple of weeks’ or ‘block booking payment due next week’.

From a learning perspective, keeping a reflective log will help your learner take more responsibility for the direction and content of lessons. It can also improve ‘flow’ throughout their course of lessons. As they become accustomed to using a log, you may find they progress quicker as they practise the skill of self-reflection. As a bonus, you get to better understand your learners’ thought processes – giving you a valuable insight into their view of the world.

When should it be filled in, and by whom?

Ideally it should be completed by the pupil at the end of a driving lesson. We say ‘ideally’ because sometimes the pupil won’t want to do it, and instead would rather the instructor took the notes. If an instructor is being truly client-centred, they will leave it up to the pupil to decide who writes it.

It is most beneficial for the pupil to write the log themselves so that they don’t censor their thoughts and feelings. However, as long as the record is a true and honest reflection of the pupil’s thoughts and feelings, it shouldn’t matter too much who does the writing. Personally, I have found that most clients prefer me to take the notes whilst they are reflecting on the progress and expressing their thoughts verbally. I then summarise what they’ve said and enter it onto the log. This also saves lots of time.

If I am doing the writing, I will still write the log in the first person, e.g, expressing the comments as “I”. I will also be careful not to alter the pupil’s terminology or wording. To make the biggest impact, it’s important that what is written on the log comes from them, with very little input from me, as their instructor.

It is best if the reflective log is completed in-car, as you can ensure that it is completely thoroughly. Expecting a learner driver to go into their home, school, college or work and complete it usually results in them conveniently ‘forgetting’!

Doesn’t it take too long to complete? Pupils want to be driving, not writing!

I think it’s fair to say that most conscientious ADIs have been completing some form of lesson record at the end of each lesson for some time anyway, whether that be giving a score for each particular skill on the training record, or writing some notes on progress during that particular lesson.

Yes it’s true that some ADIs choose to complete lesson records after the lesson is over and the pupil has gone, but for me personally, the end of session debrief is such an important and integral part of the lesson that ADIs shouldn’t feel obliged to exclude record completion from the lesson time.

Make it a normal part of your lesson and your pupils will accept it. In every educational setting, lessons have a start (recap), middle (learning) and an end (recap/debrief), so why should driving lessons be any different?

Completion of a reflective log will probably take no more than 5 minutes.

My pupil is always itching to get out of the car at the end of the lesson. How can I maintain their attention?

We’ve all been there – as soon as the pupil pulls up at their house, their hand is on the car door handle and they’re readying themselves to jump out! Their attention is on the missed text messages or phone calls on their mobile phone. They are mentally ‘elsewhere’ – certainly not in the right frame of mind to complete any paperwork.

Fortunately, there’s a really easy solution to this problem.

Pull up a couple of streets away from their drop-off point and complete the reflective log there. Their full attention is still likely to be on the lesson, as there’s still more driving to do! Therefore, you’re less likely to see them ‘switch off’. Once the log is complete, they can practise a bit of independent driving to their final destination.

Where can I get one of these reflective logs?

There are various options you could choose from.

Some instructors supply each of their pupils with a ‘Starter Pack’ when they start lessons (which might include a branded pen, terms and conditions, Highway Code, referral vouchers, etc). Adding an inexpensive blank notepad to this pack, labelled ‘Reflective Learning Record’ is one idea. Who keeps the learning record is entirely up to you, although in my experience 17 year olds can be quite forgetful. If you intend to leave the learning record with your pupil, you’ll need a plan in place for when they forget it, or it gets ‘eaten by the dog’.

The DVSA have conveniently supplied a sample reflective log in their ‘ADI1 Standard Operating Procedure’ (see page 77). You could print that off and maybe even develop your own, based around the headings used on the DVSA version.

You could click here to download our version. As I mentioned earlier, our reflective log is based on our previous ‘Student Lesson Record’ which has been publicly available for download on our www.activedrivingsolutions.com website for some time. It is double-sided and A4-sized to fit conveniently in a binder or plastic wallet, and you can record up to 6 driving lessons on each sheet. Simply print them out as you need them.

If you have access to an iPad, check out the ‘Robosoul Reflective Logs app’ designed by Neil Snow. It’s currently available for £2.49 on the iTunes App Store.

Using the app has the added benefit of you being able to directly email completed logs to your students from within the app, keeping them up to date and enabling them to build a personal record of their progress. It can definitely be useful for you both to have a copy of the log.

Will the examiner want to see my pupil’s reflective log on my Standards Check?

Not necessarily. This is what is written in the ADI1 Standard Operating Procedure (page 69):

If the ADI offers to supply training documents (such as the reflective log) you should discuss the content with them but if they do not bring such papers this will not invalidate the standards check.

If you and your pupils do use reflective logs successfully, we would definitely recommend taking your pupil’s log into the test centre to show the examiner before the lesson commences. If you’ve read our industry contributions in the past, you’ll know how much emphasis we place on making a great first impression – it can definitely make a big difference to the examiner’s initial perception of your skills before they even get into the car. If you want to do well on your Standards Check, your aim should be to set a fantastic impression from the outset.

Do you use reflective logs with your pupils? What format have you found works best? Do you complete it, or do you encourage your pupil to do so?

If you haven’t used reflective logs in the past, might you consider it? What other questions do you have that we haven’t answered?

Please share your thoughts, questions and reflections in the comments below. And remember, if you can think of someone that would benefit from this article on using reflective logs, please hit one of the buttons below and SHARE it!

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posted by Ged Wilmot

h3 Comments

6 Step Driving School Marketing Plan for Facebook

6 Step Guide – Driving School Marketing Plan for Facebook

Is Facebook a part of your business marketing strategy? Love it or hate it, you would be wise to invest some time in Facebook, as that’s where many of your potential customers are spending their time! Furthermore, many of your competitors are undoubtedly reaping the rewards of Facebook marketing – and if you’re not, you are losing out.

Are you stuck using the ‘old skool’ way of advertising and marketing your driving school, e.g. leaflet drops, advertising in shop windows, local newspaper and magazine adverts, Yellow Pages, Thomson Local? This type of marketing has its pitfalls – it can be very expensive to advertise in local media and directories and very time-consuming to traipse around your town delivering leaflets and postcards. Let’s face it, leaflets are generally perceived as more of a nuisance than a help to homeowners, so they might actually do more harm than good!

If you are using these strategies and you are seeing a good return on investment – great! Keep doing it. But if you’re looking to further increase your client-base and pupil numbers, definitely take a look at Facebook. It’s easy, accessible from your computer or mobile devices, and (for the most part) FREE!

Facebook can help significantly boost your profile

Most ADIs will admit that the best form of marketing is through word-of-mouth recommendation. So there is no better way to spread recommendation than through social media channels, where hundreds, if not thousands of potential clients in your area can hear all about you and your business. Furthermore, when you get to learn more about Facebook, you can actually target specific types of people, from their age, interests and home town, right down to the college they attend and other Facebook pages they may like. You can even legitimately target Facebook ads at people who ‘like’ your competitors’ Facebook pages! But we’ll save that for a later blog article…

We’ve found that having a Facebook page for our driving school is one of the most significant factors in boosting our online presence within our target market. It has been a huge factor in us building a highly successful driving school with 23 instructors, all of whom have full diaries.

So what can you do and where can you get started with Facebook?

Having a Facebook business page is a great way of marketing but it isn’t just about marketing you and your brand. It’s about building trust, engaging with present and future customers and positioning you as a respected and successful instructor or driving school.

When using Facebook, your aim should be to educate, inspire, share stories and post valuable, relevant content. Then every now and again, promote yourself – post a special offer, post photos of pupils that have recently passed with you or your driving school.

Many driving instructors use their own personal profile as a marketing tool instead of having a separate business page. That can work quite well, but you need to understand the pitfalls of doing so, especially if you have not correctly set up your privacy settings to control which groups of your friends can see your content.

I personally use both my personal profile and my business pages for work. But the friends on my personal profile are allocated to specific groups, so I can control who sees what. When I post content or photos relating to something personal about holidays, nights out or my children, for example, ‘Family’ and ‘Close Friends’ see everything I post. ‘ADIs and PDIs I know’ see a little less. ‘Other ADIs and PDIs’ see less still. Those listed under ‘Restricted’ and ‘Limited Profile’ see very little at all. And last but not least, those listed under my ‘Weirdos’ category won’t see any of my non-public content at all!

There are also many advantages of using a Facebook business page – insights, customer star ratings, reviews and advertising being just a few. For a list of 14 benefits of a Facebook Business Page over a Personal Profile, take a look at this excellent article by Jon Loomer.

With more and more people accessing Facebook on their mobile, and especially our target market of 17-25 year olds, can you really afford not to put your face on the book?

Here’s your simple 6-step guide to setting up a Facebook business page

(This guide assumes you are using the Facebook website directly rather than via a mobile app):

In the Facebook header bar, click on the drop down arrow on the far right and click ‘Create Page’. It’s probably best to opt for a ‘Local Business or Place’ as you will be wanting to let people know where you are based. Although your address will show on your page, you don’t have to add your house number if your work address is the same as your home address. On the category dropdown list, just opt for ‘Local Business’ for now. Complete all your details and click ‘Get Started’.

On the next page, you will be prompted to provide some more details about your business. You can now select ‘Driving School’ from the category section, complete the ‘about section’ and add in your website address. Also on this page, you can choose a unique Facebook web address to make it easier for people to find your Page. Make sure your URL has your driving school name, not just the default Facebook generated URL. Your Facebook address should be formatted in the following way: www.facebook.com/yourdrivingschoolname. This will make it easier for your customers to find you on Facebook and it will help with your search engine optimisation (SEO) as Google ranks Facebook highly. For this reason, don’t be surprised if your Facebook business page appears above your main website in searches. This is great news if your actual website doesn’t rank highly just yet!
(If you already have an active Facebook business page and want to change your Facebook URL, go onto your business page and click ‘Edit Page’ at the top, then ‘Update page info’ and then click on ‘edit’ next to ‘Facebook Web Address’. Note that you can only change your Facebook URL once!)

Choose an appealing profile picture. A smiley picture of you in your car will appeal to potential customers. People buy from people so make your page as personable as possible. Using your company logo isn’t usually a good idea – your potential clients aren’t interested in a logo – they want to see who they are going to be buying from. If you’re photo-shy or perhaps feel your photo might turn potential customers away, then perhaps use a photograph of a happy pupil, smiling broadly with their driving test pass certificate. Please don’t be tempted to rip a photo from Google images or use a stock photo – your profile image is your first point of contact from which your potential customers will glean their first impression. Make sure it’s a good one!

Once your business page is set up, make sure you link your personal profile page to your business page. Then if people find you using your name, they can easily click through to your business page. To do this, go to your Facebook personal profile, click on ‘About’ and add your new page to ‘Work and Education’. Then on your personal profile, your business will be displayed in your about section and people can click straight through to your business page from your personal page.

Make sure you also utilise the ‘About’ section on your business page. Let potential customers know that you can offer what they want. The about section also lets you add hours of opening, a contact number and links to other social media sites that you may use (Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Instagram, etc). Make sure you include links to your company website.

Use your cover photo wisely. Again choose an appealing photo for your cover but then add words including a clear call to action. For example, below you can see the cover photo we used this Spring on our Facebook business page – ‘Call us now and pass for Summer! 0161 345 3452’. Also make sure you add a description so when people click on the cover image there are more details and further calls to action, e.g. ‘Start learning now and take advantage of our great deals! Call us: 01234 567 890, Visit our website: www.drivingschool.com, Follow us on Twitter: @drivingschool’

So that’s how to set up your Facebook page in 6 easy steps. Easy, wasn’t it?!

The next step is to start using your Facebook page to grow a fan base (‘fans’ being people who ‘like’ your page). Don’t worry if your ‘likes’ don’t grow overnight. It’s more about QUALITY than QUANTITY. The key is to grow a fan base of people in your coverage area who match your target market. This won’t happen by itself and you will need to invest some time into growing your business page. Look out for our upcoming article on how to build ‘likes’ and use your new Facebook business page effectively.

There’s so much you can do with Facebook. We haven’t even touched on insights, apps and Facebook Ads yet!

What have been your experiences with Facebook? Have you been using it actively and what results have you got? Please post your comments below so that others can benefit.

Finally, if you liked this article, please share it by clicking one of the buttons below!

posted by Ged Wilmot

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10 Tips to Boost Your Driving Test Pass Rates!

“Hi, Ged & Claire. Like most ADIs, I really enjoy all your articles and posts, so keep it up! I was, however, wondering if you could offer some advice on improving driving test pass rates…

I’m scratching my head at the moment: I qualified a little under a year ago and started very positively with my pass rate – 8 out of the first 10! However, of late, I have had several unsuccessful attempts in a row. I prepare all learners in exactly the same way, and always ensure they pass a mock test before booking a real one. I am slightly concerned for my reputation, both with learners and with examiners, and am working hard to arrest the slide. Is it my fault? The learner’s? Or are peaks and troughs like this normal? Any advice would be appreciated, as I’m sure I’m not the only one who stresses about their pass rate!”

Well, first, what an achievement. 8 out your first 10 tests passed – that’s great! My first ever learner to test failed, and it was an awful feeling. Yes, peaks and troughs are normal and I’m sure many excellent instructors have had their fair share of ‘bad runs’. No matter how good we are, expecting to have a 100% test pass rate is unrealistic. We can, however, do everything we can to improve. It’s worth mentioning that this is no one’s fault or failure. You’re just learning from experience. After all, a FAIL is just the ‘First Attempt In Learning’ and if they do fail it’s not a matter of life and death. To put it into perspective, it’s just a test! And they can take it again until they do pass.

How to Improve Driving Test Pass Rates

10 Top Tips which I hope you will find useful in improving your driving test pass rate.

Tip 1 – Monitor

If you want to know what you’re good at and what you could improve on, measure your results. Taking a photo of the driving test report or copying a test report onto a blank one will allow you to keep records of what your learners are picking up faults on. Is there a trend? When I did this, I found that I was getting quite a few driver faults on mirrors, including the odd serious one. I decided to remove my eye mirror, and the learners became aware of when I was watching them. This prepared them for being watched by the examiner, and also became a subliminal prompt. After that, my mirror faults decreased significantly!

Tip 2 – Shut up (in the nicest possible way!)

This has always been a particular challenge for me. Even on ‘mock’ tests, and certainly in the lessons on the run up to the test, it’s easy to overlook how much help you are actually giving your learners. Getting them used to total independence for set periods of time will not only prepare them for the test conditions, but also give you insight into how much you actually help them without thinking about it!

Tip 3 – Use records

A common question after around 8 lessons is, ‘When can I book my test?!’ If you use records, it’s much easier to show the learner what they need to be able to do BEFORE they book their test and what standard they need to reach for all the topics listed. ‘When you have covered all these topics and can do them without my help, shall we crack on and get that driving test passed?’

Tip 4 – Syllabus

Sounds simple, but do make sure your learner can deal with everything required for the test and much more! Allow your learners to experience a wide variety of areas, types of road and traffic situations – the more variety, the better. They will become better all-round drivers, and much more capable of dealing with situations on their test. That said, if there are any tricky bits or junctions where ‘local knowledge’ is needed on test routes, it’s best to make sure they can deal with them confidently, too.

To download a copy of the DVSA’s ‘Safe and Responsible Driving Syllabus’, click here.

Tip 5 – Say NO!

We have all had the learner who books a test when you know you have more chance of winning the lottery than getting a pass from them. Some learners deteriorate after booking the test, some come to us with a test already booked. If they’re not ready, say NO and stick to your guns. It’s your car, and your reputation. If they can’t meet the requirements for the test, don’t take them. Make sure your terms and conditions cover this.

Tip 6 – Pick the best time

Some people work best in the morning, some in the afternoon. Find out what works best for your learner and book a test to suit. I also used to avoid the rush hour test times and the school kicking-out times. The kids from the school round the corner from my local test centre used to play ‘chicken’ with learners: not great when your learner is already under a lot of stress!

Tip 7 – Does your learner feel ready?

Irrespective how how ready YOU think they are, confidence in their own ability will help your learners deal with test day nerves. If they don’t want to do their test just yet, let them decide when they do want to do it. What do they want to achieve before they take their test? Can you help them achieve that first? Having goals will help create a sense of confidence. ‘When I can do Manchester Street roundabout, I know I will be able to deal with anything on my test’.

Top 8 – Deal with test day ‘nerves’

Learners will naturally have some degree of nervousness on their test day. What helps them relax? Is there relaxing music that they can listen to before the test? Do they need a cigarette (assuming they smoke, of course!)? Accommodate their needs and make sure you allow sufficient time to do so. Some won’t want to drive beforehand. If that’s what works for them, then great. Learn some basic breathing techniques to help them relax. Make them laugh. Encourage them to have a brisk walk to the end of the street and back. Have some Rescue Remedy in the car, even if you don’t believe it works. If they think it will, then it will! Ask them to tell you again what passing the test will give them. Motivation is a powerful force!

Tip 9 – Eliminate negative language and self-talk

Be positive, and encourage your learners to do the same. This applies not only to the test day but also to the days leading up to it. Those who have trained with me will know that ‘if’ is banned in my car, as is ‘hopefully’. They are equal to swear words! ‘If I pass my test’ becomes ‘WHEN I pass my test’ and ‘Hopefully I’ll do it’ becomes ‘I WILL do it’.

Also, be aware of and eliminate any negative body language. Walk to the test centre with your learner proudly, smile and say ‘hello’ to your fellow colleagues and the examiners. Present a positive environment to your learner (even if you have to fake it!) 😉

Tip 10 – Be positive about all the examiners

Learners are influenced by what their mates tell them. ‘I hear one of the examiners never passes anyone there’. A simple reframe will quell any fears. ‘Really? I have an 80% test pass rate with him!’ People see what they expect to see. It’s much more useful for your learner to go in thinking that the examiners are all nice and looking to give out a pass than to believe they’re all evil and waiting for the chance to fail them – which, of course, they aren’t 😉

Have you any further advice that you would like to share? What has helped you improve your driving test pass rate?

Please let us know in the comments below.

If you like this article, please share it!

posted by Claire Wilmot

h32 Comments

“Just check your b****y mirrors!!!” (Part 1 of 2)

“Hi Ged and Claire, I’m getting really frustrated with my pupils not checking their mirrors, they do it sometimes when I ask or tell them to, but then go right back to forgetting again when I stop helping them. What can I do?”

This is probably a very common frustration for a lot of ADIs, so rest assured you are not alone! I know I’ve had the same issues in the past, too and you can feel like a bit of a nag or a broken record repeating yourself every 2 minutes!

The problem with some pupils is that no matter how many times we tell or ask them which mirrors to check, unless we keep at it, some will keep forgetting. So what can we do differently so they are less likely to ‘forget’?

I like to think there are 3 elements to effective mirror use:

LOOK

Many instructors stop after teaching this first part. So invariably the pupils LOOK but don’t SEE. This is more likely to happen when the instructor says things like:

Check your centre and right mirror before signalling
Which mirrors should we check?
New road, new mirrors
Remember – Mirror… Mirror… Signal
Come on, check this left mirror, you keep forgetting!

Any of these sound familiar to you?

Although these questions or commands may well instigate a mirror check, the check in itself has very little value. The pupil is simply learning by rote, or ‘parrot fashion’. They know they need to check them – after all, you’re there to keep reminding them! But this is not an effective approach for long-term learning. They are checking the mirrors because they think they have to check them to pass the driving test (and to stop your constant nagging!). You’ll get a similar effect with chants or ‘easy reminders’ like “One Two Three” relating to centre mirror (one), door mirror (two), signal (three). Another one we hear being used a lot on lessons is “Mirror, mirror, signal”.

Learners who are taught in this way can pass the driving test. And afterwards, they’ll breathe a huge sigh of relief and think, “Yes! I passed! Don’t need to check my mirrors all the time now!”

SEE

Many instructors get to this part easily, although not always often enough. This is where we start getting to the WHY. In the ‘look’ part of the sequence, they learner looks in the mirrors but they won’t always ‘see’ what’s there.

For the most part, the reason for this is that the learner has no idea what they are specifically looking for. They’ve simply been told or asked to check the mirrors (as in the examples above).

So how can we direct their attention a little further? Here are some examples of better questions to ask:

What’s going on behind?
How close is the car behind?
How fast is the car behind going?
Are there any bikes coming down on our left?
Is there anything overtaking us?”

These are much more efficient questions than some of those I used to ask in my early days as an ADI, such as, “What colour is the car behind?” [‘Red…. so what?!’]. And then there were also times when I would cover the interior mirror with my right hand and ask, “What’s behind?” These tactics don’t necessarily encourage the pupil to do much more other than check the mirrors more frequently to avoid getting caught out! There’s still no guarantee they’re considering the proximity or speed of vehicles behind.

And this brings us to a secondary issue that we need to be aware of – and that is ‘inattentional blindness’. This is a psychological phenomenon which relates to our failure to notice unexpected visual stimuli when we are focussing on another task. Driving demands a great deal of attention and focus for the novice driver, and their focus is largely on the control of the vehicle and the things going on in front of them.

Many of you will have seen this video (or ones similar to it) before, but if not, here’s a great illustration of inattentional blindness in action:

We could write a whole article on the perils of inattentional blindness when driving, but let’s focus back on the topic of effective mirror use for now…

In essence, we tend to notice what we are looking for – what we are expecting to see. By asking poorly-phrased or poorly-directed questions, the learner driver does not notice the things which they should be noticing – those things which are of a high priority and could have an effect on our driving plan. As experienced drivers and instructors, we may notice that the driver of the bus behind is glancing down at a newspaper, or that the driver of the car behind is more pre-occupied with their screaming children in the back seats than they are focussed on the fact we are braking to a stop.

Appropriately phrased questions will help bring these higher priority things to the learner’s attention – things which they may not have even considered paying attention to, or were ‘blind’ to due to overwhelm.

So ‘seeing’ isn’t about knowing if your pupil has checked the mirrors or even seen what’s there. Instead, it’s about creating a connection between using the mirrors and knowing what to look out for. It doesn’t really matter if they’ve seen the car behind, or if it’s red, blue or polka dot, what matters is that they realise they need to recognise what the car (or driver) behind is doing, e.g. distracted, driving close, approaching too quickly, overtaking, etc.

Now the pupil is looking and seeing what’s there, they’ve started to understand WHY there’s a need to check the mirrors… or have they?

RESPOND

If the pupil knows what they’re looking for, it might mean they understand what to check for, but not necessarily why that’s important and how to interpret and respond to it.

Let me share a short story…

I once asked a pupil of mine to turn right at the next traffic light controlled junction. We were travelling along a dual carriageway and we needed to change lanes. She looked in her centre and right mirror. “Great,” I thought to myself, “she knows which mirrors to check and so she’s seen the red car travelling at high speed who’s about to overtake us”. She then went to signal and steer. I pulled the wheel back and cancelled the signal and said “there’s a red car there!” She replied “Yea I know!” I was gobsmacked. If she saw the car, why on earth did she try to change lanes as it was about to overtake us?!

Her actions and words told me that she had looked in the correct mirrors and had seen the red car, but she simply didn’t know how to respond to what she had seen. She had actually thought the driver would let her go once she started signalling so we worked through what could have happened and what to do next time.

Fortunately this happened on a driving lesson and not after she had passed her test. Imagine that scenario on a crowded motorway! :O

The point is that until then, I didn’t realise how important it is to make sure (and not just assume) that the pupil knows how to respond to what they see in the mirrors. It meant that I hadn’t been doing my job properly and it was a valuable lesson for me to make sure every pupil knew how to respond correctly to what they had seen.

Because this golden opportunity doesn’t present itself all that often, and because there never seems to be a cyclist coming down the left hand side when your learner is turning left, sometimes we as instructors can forget this important step in developing our learners’ effective use of mirrors. The ‘what if’ question can be the most important question to ask.

How close is the car behind? What would you do if it was really close?
Are there any cyclists coming up on our left? What would you do if there were?
Is there anything overtaking us? What would you need to do if there was?

If you get a blank expression or “erm… I don’t know” as a response, then brilliant – you can save this driver from making a costly mistake once they pass their driving test! You know that they don’t really understand the significance of using the mirrors effectively, and this can be a big enough reason for them to ‘forget’ to check and for you to keep having to remind them over and over again.
You can also explore different options and how they may need to respond:

If the driver behind was really close, what would we do differently with our speed/signal before our next turn?
What would be the benefits of doing that?

If there was a cyclist coming up quickly on our left, how might it affect the timing of our signal?
What would be the problem of signalling to turn left if he was very close to our car?”
“What if he was a lot further away? Would you do anything differently?

What would you do with your speed/signal if you were being overtaken and you wanted to turn right?
How do you think that would benefit us and the driver overtaking?

Once we turn, if the new road is clear and the car behind is following really closely, what could we do with our speed?
If the driver behind looked like he was about to overtake us, what would we do with our speed then?

Finally, it’s important to notice that the diagram at the start of this article is cyclic. The process is continuous – after responding, we need to once again LOOK and SEE how the driver or cyclist behind/on our left/passing is in turn responding to our action.
Now what you should achieve is lots more value attached to mirror use.

The pupil has a deeper understanding of their importance, will want to become more aware of what’s going on around them and more importantly, will be able to make decisions on how to respond to what they see.

In the second part of this article, we will be looking further into how being aware of the actions of other road users around us affect our learners and how they can develop strategies to deal with these situations. Click here to read Part 2!

For now, please share your experiences! Please let us know how you develop your learners’ effective use of the mirrors – what questions do you find get the best results? Your comments in the box below could really help other instructors improve their skills 🙂

posted by Claire Wilmot

h34 Comments

7 Top Tips for Easy ADI Diary Management

ADI Diary Management and Diary planning is an art form in itself. Learning to plan your diary efficiently can help maximise your time, boost your profits and reduce your fuel costs. It also enables you to ‘work to live’ rather than ‘live to work’. Many new instructors struggle with diary management, so here are 7 tips on how to manage your diary more effectively, based on our own experiences. We hope you find the ADI diary management tips useful!

ADI Diary Management – Top 7 Tips

TIP 1 – Decide on your hours of work… and STICK TO THEM!

OK, this sounds pretty obvious I know. When you have a ‘normal’ job (i.e. in employment), you have a specific start time and finish time. You also know the days you have to work and the days you have off. Why make an exception now that you’re your own boss? For many of us, it’s the main thing that attracted us to becoming a driving instructor in the first place – working when we want to!

So what day(s) off do you want? What time do you want to start and finish work? Ok, so you may have to make the odd exception to fit in that new pupil on their birthday but having strict parameters will help you keep work contained within the times and days YOU want.

TIP 2 – Pre-plan your diary

Organising your diary into set time slots will avoid pupils requesting awkward lesson times which prevent you from fitting in other people… leading to more dead time! So for example, if you do 2 hour lessons, your regular slots might be something along the lines of 9.00am-11.00am, 11.20am-1.20pm, 2.00pm – 3.00pm, 3.20pm – 5.20pm and 6.30pm – 8.30pm (granted, you may occasionally have to deviate from these times for test bookings). Let pupils choose the best time for them in the slots available rather than allowing them to book when THEY want. A pupil deciding they want a 10.00am lesson can effectively cost you the first working hour of the day if you would normally start at 9.00am.

Pupils will fit in with YOU if you choose to run a structured system.

TIP 3 – Encourage pupils to take longer lessons

Many instructors offer lessons lasting 1 hour. Others have a minimum duration of an hour and a half or even 2 hours. Encouraging your pupils to take longer lessons will increase their rate of learning, decrease ‘dead time’ or travelling time between hourly lessons – thus maximising your work time and profits. A profitable ADI Diary Management tip.

TIP 4 – Book pupils in for several weeks in advance

If a pupil usually has the same time each week, it’s a good idea to forward book the same lesson time in the upcoming weeks. Booking pupils in only one week in advance can be a real headache and prevents you from planning further ahead and can result in regular pupils losing their normal slot. Also, changing a pupil’s lesson time each week will often lead to them forgetting their lesson or cancelling at the last moment. Just pencilling in the pupils first name, or highlighting the reserved lesson in a different colour on electronic diaries will keep it reserved until the pupil confirms their regular booking. This will make it harder for you to double-book or give a regular slot away by accident and can be done for many weeks in advance. It’ll also help you identify what spaces you have left for your shift workers and new pupils.

TIP 5 – Subtly manipulate your diary

It’s can be a real pain when a pupil wants their driving lesson smack bang in the middle of the day when the rest of your day is free, especially if your other pupils are already booked in! Or perhaps you have a couple of lessons in the afternoon and another pupil books the first lesson of the day leaving you with a gap in the middle of the day. There’s an easy solution to this…

If the pupil can’t see your diary (if you’re using your phone, for example) then just offer the times you want to fill first, “I have either 10.15am or 1.45pm available on that day”.

If you use a tablet or paper diary and your pupil can see it, this becomes a bit trickier and they may point to the middle of an empty day asking if they can have that time. To help you make sure pupils book the lesson slots you want to fill first, and to make your diary appear busy (great if you’re starting up), add ‘fake’ names or shaded areas to areas of your diary that you’d like to fill last. This will mean pupils wanting to book in only have the opportunity to take the available time slots you want to fill first. For example, if the last lesson of the day is empty and you still have availability earlier in the day, use a fake pupil name and the pupil will have to choose one of the other available times. If it ever backfires and the pupil can only do the later lesson, you could always say you will ask if the other (fake) pupil will swap, (which they always will of course!) and it looks like you’re going the extra mile to accommodate your pupil.

On another note, putting any “serial cancellers” as the last lesson of the day will occasionally net you an early finish! You can work on replacing any of these pupils with more reliable ones as you get busier.

TIP 6 – Manage your coverage area

Try to narrow down your coverage area, where possible. Yes, that’s easier said than done for some people. If you’re a new ADI, you’ll probably have to start with a wide geographical area and narrow it down as you get busier. Or it may be that you live in an area that’s not densely populated.

Either way, if you cover lots of areas, is it possible to give lessons in one area on one day and another area on another day to avoid longer travelling times and higher fuel costs?

TIP 7 – Learn to say ‘NO’

I know what you’re thinking… “Say NO? You’re kidding right?!”

If you’re building up a new business, this isn’t normally an option. But if you’re working your socks off and you get yet another customer wanting to book lessons with you, you have a choice. Start work earlier, finish later, work your day off OR simply choose to not take on the work at that time. You could start a waiting list – if the pupil definitely wants to learn with you, they will wait. Even if they don’t wait, the supply of new pupils won’t come to a complete stop because you said no, there will always be more! Finally, saying ‘no’ is proof of your popularity – any pupils that you turn away because your waiting list is full will still be more than impressed by how great you must be!

Let us know what works for you. Do you manage to get the time off you want? Do you find yourself hanging around in between lessons? We love hearing from you, so please add your thoughts and other ADI Diary Management tips in the comments below.

Finally, if you liked this article, please share it on Facebook and Twitter – simply hit one of the social media buttons below. Thanks!

posted by Ged Wilmot

h22 Comments

10 Tips to Reduce Driving Lesson Cancellations

Time is precious. And for driving instructors, lost time equals lost income. Using the top ten tips to Reduce Driving Lesson Cancellations can save you time and money. Yes, it’s great to be able to catch up on other essential business matters when last-minute lesson cancellations arise, but we all have bills to pay. So what can we do to minimise cancellations and loss of income? Here are 10 top tips:

Reduce Driving Lesson Cancellations – Top Tips!

Tip 1 – Be upfront and honest:

In our experience, this is the number one way to reduce your cancellation rate. Don’t take it for granted that pupils will understand the ins and outs of self-employment, because the vast majority won’t. For those of you that are franchisees, many learner drivers will incorrectly believe that you are paid a wage by the company named on your roof sign, so when they cancel, they’re actually not affecting you at all – as far as they’re concerned, the ‘company’ just loses out. For most people (and especially teenagers), this will be the first time that they will be held financially accountable for cancelling an appointment of any kind. Try to think from your pupil’s perspective – they don’t have to pay when cancelling their dentist, doctor or hairdressing appointment! So why does their driving instructor want paying for a lesson they haven’t provided?! Don’t expect them to be psychic or to just read the fine print about cancellations on your website or on the back of their appointment card. Whether you work for yourself or on a franchise, take a few minutes to candidly explain how important it is that they give you plenty of notice if they need to cancel. Don’t put it across in a threatening way – just explain in an honest and friendly tone how it affects you and your business if they cancel at late notice. At the same time, make your commitment to them – that if you ever need to change their lesson date or time, that you will compensate them too. This builds trust and shows your integrity – they are much more likely to respect you for it. Outline the conditions for cancellation (see below) and end the conversation by simply asking for their verbal understanding, “so are we OK with that, or do you need me to clarify anything?” Ignore this first tip at your peril – if you decide not to heed this advice, don’t be shocked when a pupil who’s called a few hours before their lesson to cancel gets a bit shirty when you tell them they’ll have to pay for it!

Tip 2 – Have clear, accessible Terms & Conditions

Having clear terms and conditions is a must if you want to enforce payments for cancellations. Terms and conditions need to be fair and work both ways. If your customer cancels and is held financially accountable, surely it’s only right that you offer some form of compensation if you cancel, too? Make your terms and conditions easily available, have them on your website and appointment cards. Go through cancellation policies at the time of booking and/or on the first lesson. Even so, it can be hard to enforce and if reliable customers have a genuine reason for cancelling, waiving the cancellation on that occasion can make good business sense. You don’t want to lose an otherwise reliable customer all because you charged her for a lesson when she was in hospital with her son.

Tip 3 – Don’t GIVE them the excuse!

I remember meeting an ADI for some skills development training a few years ago. He was really down-in-the-dumps about his cancellation rate, which in that particular week was over 50%! I asked him about his terms and conditions, how he explained them to his pupils, and how strictly he enforced them. His reply went something like this: “Yes Ged, I tell them that they have to give me 48 hours’ notice of any cancellations, otherwise I’ll charge them. But obviously if they’re ill, I don’t want their germs, so it’s fine to cancel then” When I asked him what the pupils’ reasons for cancelling that week was, can you guess what his reply was? Yes, you got it – “they’re all ill”. Hardly surprising, was it? It’s a good idea to waive the lesson fee if your pupil is genuinely poorly, but don’t tell them in advance that this will be the case, or else the same excuse will be used every time they just can’t be bothered with their driving lesson!

Tip 4 – Keep regular lesson slots

Where possible, keeping the same time and day for pupils can help reduce the likelihood of them cancelling. Having the same time allows the customer to plan the rest of their week around this regular commitment. When lessons are moved around a lot it’s easy for the pupil to ‘forget’ when their lesson was or double book that lesson time with some other commitment. Also, bear in mind that if you keep changing their lesson time around from week to week, they’ll expect you to allow them to do the same. Having said that, do bear in mind that learners will benefit from experiencing driving at different times of day, so moving a lesson time to another ‘regular slot’ for a few weeks should work well.

Tip 5 – Be reliable

This is one that I feel is extremely important. I like to treat others the way I want to be treated. So if you want your customers to be reliable, you need to lead by example. It may suit you to ask that customer if they can do their lesson earlier (because someone else has cancelled) or if they can do a different day (because you don’t want to go out for just their lesson that afternoon) but be warned! If you think it’s acceptable to expect them to regularly change their plans for you, they will the same in return!

Tip 6 – Take payment in advance

When Claire worked as an independent ADI, she asked for payment in advance. On the first lesson, she charged for 2 lessons. This never caused a problem and she always made her cancellation policy clear. If she had a cancellation, it was already paid for and they would need to bring payment for 2 lessons next time to be in advance again. If you’re on a franchise, you may be restricted by the policies of your franchise agreement, but if you’re independent this is a good way to reduce cancellations AND be paid for the cancellations that you do get. Claire noticed a big drop in cancellation rates when she started implementing this method. Great tip on how to reduce driving lesson cancellations and not lose money or a client.

Tip 7 – Encourage block bookings

It’s much easier to charge for cancellations when you have the money up front. Block booking discounts offer an incentive for customers to pay for 10 hours at a time, but is your incentive enough? We noticed a big difference in the amount of pre-payments for blocks of 10 hours when we put our hourly rate up but kept the block booking the same. Instead of a £10 discount, customers get £20 discount (almost the price of a 1 hour lesson!). Now customers are much more likely to take advantage of the £20 saving.

Tip 8 – Buy slots in advance

In really restricted weeks (such as the week between Christmas and New Year), it may be an idea to book slots well in advance. Not all of us like working these days, I didn’t as a full day of lessons soon became a day with a lesson in the morning and one in the afternoon after the cancellations had come in (family party/ill/hungover, etc). The next year I decided to ‘sell’ these slots on a first-come-first-served basis. I would have slots available for each day I worked and if my learners wanted a lesson between Christmas and New Year, they would pay for it in advance to secure the slot. Do keep the money separate though! If you can’t do the lesson for whatever reason (e.g. adverse weather or illness), they have still paid for a lesson and you don’t want to work the first week in January knowing you’ve already spent the money for those rescheduled lessons!

Tip 9 – Give out appointment cards

I think most ADIs use appointment cards, but there are still some that don’t. Yes, the pupil forgets to bring it sometimes, or they lose it. Simple answer for that – give them a new one. Just one lost lesson at £24 will pay for a bulk purchase of around 1,000 cards, so it really is worth the investment! Use one side of the appointment card to outline your terms and conditions – this way your pupil always has them to hand when they’re thinking of calling to reschedule their lesson.

Tip 10 – Reminder texts or emails

SMS reminders or emails can be sent out to your pupils, manually or automatically, to remind them of their lesson time and date. A message can be sent out a couple of days in advance of their lesson so that they remember when their lesson is booked for. Results for this strategy can vary. When we had these for our driving school customers, some instructors said they reduced cancellations and some said they had more last minute cancellations. We’d be interested to hear what your experience has been if you use reminder texts or emails. What other strategies do you use to minimise cancellations and loss of income? Was has worked well and what hasn’t worked so well? We’d love to hear your stories so that others can benefit from them too. Finally, if you liked this article, about how to Reduce Driving Lesson Cancellations please share it on Facebook and Twitter – simply hit one of the social media buttons below. Thanks!

posted by Claire Wilmot

h31 Comments

Dealing with aggressive tailgaters!

Another great question was sent in to us this week – this time about dealing with aggressive drivers. Find more information about what to do and how to deal with aggressive tailgaters and angry drivers during a driving lesson.

“Hi Ged & Claire, I love reading all of your articles and love the long detailed answers you give. Any advice on dealing with other crazy people on the road?

I had a few moments recently when I thought I was going to get my head kicked in! For doing the speed limit! Doing 30 mph in a 30 zone, this person comes flying up behind, driving an inch from my bumper. We are doing the speed limit, so what can I do? I asked my learner to pull up on the left, but then the other driver pulls up alongside us and gives a mouthful about nothing! People turn into ‘gangsters’ when they get behind the wheel.

I had another incident the other day. My learner was giving way to oncoming traffic at a meeting point in the road where a sign indicates oncoming traffic has priority. Then this woman comes up behind staring into my mirror screaming the words “F***ING GO THEN!” several times! I pointed to the sign, but then she overtakes, bouncing up the island and nearly smashing into the car that we were giving way to!

And they say it’s young drivers that causes crashes. No. It’s other peoples stinking attitude. The ‘always in a hurry’ kind of attitude.

I know the best thing to do is just try to ignore it, but it really gets my adrenaline going. It’s that kind of feeling when somebody starts on you – fight or flight.

I’m sure I’m not the only ADI getting stick for not breaking the law?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance”

When people find out you’re a driving instructor, do you often hear them say, “Wow, you must have lots of patience”? It’s true. We do. And we probably all have a lot of patience when teaching our learners – after all, they’re not getting things wrong on purpose!

Our patience really gets tested, however, when dealing with impatience and aggression from other road users, and I totally understand your frustration. I think most driving instructors have the same frustrations too. Here are some ideas on how to minimise and deal with aggressive actions from others on the road.

Tips for Dealing with Aggressive Tailgaters and Angry Drivers!

Fit some in-car cameras

Photo courtesy of Mark Oliver’s Driving School

An increasing number of driving instructors are choosing to install forward- and rear-facing cameras in their training vehicle. These serve their purpose if you’re ever involved in a crash, as video footage can be invaluable for proving who was at fault. However, having a sign in the rear of your car stating that you have CCTV fitted can act as a great deterrent to aggressive tailgaters and angry drivers. A local instructor has the above “You’re on CCTV” sign on the rear of his car and we think it’s a great way of letting others know that their actions are being caught on camera. He says he has definitely noticed a reduction in the number of drivers being aggressive or displaying impatience and that fewer drivers follow too closely. In-car cameras range from inexpensive £15 models to all-singing-and-dancing High Definition, GPS & WiFi models costing around £350 – £400.

Not interested in getting an in-car camera? Well, even if you don’t have CCTV, a sticker stating that you do may be just as effective! 🙂

Add a sign or message to the rear of your car

A well thought-out sign or written message on the back of your car can help encourage good behaviour. The level of effectiveness may depend on the language used, and of course the temperament of the driver behind! More tips about prevention and dealing with aggressive tailgaters.

If I stop, can you? Some following drivers may see this as more of a challenge to their ability, “Of course I can!”

Keep your distance – This should encourage people to keep back, but with it being phrased as an order, some drivers may rebel against you telling them how to drive.

You were a learner once – Most drivers can empathise with this, but this message alone may be a little too subliminal. “Yes I was” they may think while they drive 10cm from your bumper!

DANGER! Sudden braking! – Whilst it might keep people off your bumper, this message may not be not as encouraging for potential pupils or your current learners who see it every time they come out to the car for their lesson.

Please be patient – This is better for encouraging drivers behind to be courteous and patient if it is read as a question rather than an order. However, some people reading it might just think, “No, I won’t be b***dy patient!” 😉

Thanks for being patient 🙂 – This is our personal favourite. We all like thanks and there is a presupposition here that the following driver has been patient, meaning that they are more likely to be. A smiley face confirms the tone in which it is meant.
Black Dragon Kick Boxing – I always wonder if drivers who advertise their local martial art club experience less aggression on the roads?! Some drivers become intimidating once they get behind the wheel, I wonder if they would do the same if they realise the driver in front could be a black belt! I always remember one of my instructors telling me of one of his experiences… During a lesson, he asked the pupil to pull over to have a polite word with the driver behind who was being aggressively impatient and quite verbal in the safety of his own car. The other driver couldn’t say “sorry” enough when he saw the massive body builder physique of the instructor that climbed out of the little Vauxhall Corsa!

Ditch the roof sign and try just L-plates

For some reason, many instructors report that using a roof sign can attract a greater number of other drivers ‘making poor decisions’ than when just displaying L plates alone. We’re not entirely sure if this is actually true or just a false perception. If it is true, it may be that others may:

a) Perceive that a learner driver will almost certainly be behind the wheel of the driving school car. In the case of a car with L-plates on, it could be being driven by a full licence holder who normally accompanies their son or daughter for private practice;

b) Consider that a driving school car is under more control due to a driving instructor being present. Parents with their son or daughter at the wheel have less ability to stop or control the car is something goes wrong. Therefore the risky or aggressive driver takes more chances around the driving school car;

c) Have been conditioned by parents, friends and peers to HATE learner drivers – the bright decals and roof sign are like a red rag to a bull for some people, and they will do ANYTHING to get past ‘that damn learner’.

Whatever the reason, we’d be interested to hear your views on this. Have you tried removing your roof sign and just using L-plates instead? Did it make any noticeable difference to the way other drivers behaved around you? Let us know your thoughts and experiences!

Route planning

If your learners feel they are being pushed into situations that they find difficult to deal with (or are not yet confident with), they are more likely to be hesitant and slow on the road. This will inevitably lead to following drivers trying their hardest to get past. The more your learner gets overtaken, or experiences aggression from other road users, the more it can affect their confidence and ability. This is a vicious circle. I had a few rear-end shunts in my first few years as an instructor and looking back, I know I was too tough pushing learners into situations they weren’t ready for. It’s an easy trap to fall into!

A polite gesture

A clear (and polite!) gesture to the driver behind may encourage a bit more patience. A raise of the hand to apologise or thank a driver after making a mistake (e.g. stalling) will often be appreciated and can very quickly eradicate any frustration or aggression on the part of the other driver(s). Be warned though, if the following driver is a bit further away, the exact meaning of the gesture may be misinterpreted!

Pull over

When driving myself, I will often pull over if I think a driver behind is becoming excessively agitated by my adherence to the speed limit. As professional drivers and instructors, we have to accept that other drivers don’t always like keeping to the speed limit. It’s not our job to police, and by stopping the following driver from overtaking, we could actually encourage a much more dangerous situation to develop.

So, if someone is following dangerously close behind on a driving lesson, there’s always the option to pull over to allow let them pass. If the learner comes to accept this as a perfectly normal thing to do under certain circumstances, they will feel more in control and have a good coping strategy. Better that than to have them constantly looking in the rear view mirror and worrying about the thoughts and feelings of the driver behind.

Reason it out

Putting yourself or your learner ‘in the shoes’ of the driver behind may help you and your learner empathise with the other driver’s thoughts and feelings. Could it be that the driver behind is late for work and has already been threatened with the sack if they turn up late one more time? Maybe he’s just got a call to say that his wife has been rushed into hospital? Maybe her child has had a nasty accident at school? Maybe they’re just desperate for the loo? The fact is, we’re not mind-readers, so we don’t know what is going on in the world of the other driver.

One day it may be us in a desperate rush to get somewhere and we might just drive a bit too close or take a risk we wouldn’t normally take. We’re not perfect, and neither is everyone else. Recognise and accept it.

Make a choice

You can’t necessarily control aggressive tailgaters and the other driver’s behaviour, but you can control your own. If you choose to retaliate and show anger or aggression in return, you’ll suffer from palpitations and increased blood pressure. You’ll be demonstrating exactly the type of behaviour that upset you in the first place. And worse still, frowning encourages wrinkles! 😉

Or, you can choose to be calm, not rise to it, remain neutral and enjoy the rest of your day… and suffer no extra wrinkles! The choice is yours.

Remember, if you have a pupil driving, you are a role model. You have an invaluable opportunity to lead by example. By remonstrating with other drivers and calling them ‘idiots’, ‘crap drivers’ (or worse), you are teaching them how to behave negatively behind the wheel. That’s certainly not going to do them any favours once they pass their driving test and are driving independently.

Angry Drivers and Aggressive Tailgaters – So how do you cope when other drivers follow too closely, display aggression or do daft things? How do you encourage your pupil to deal with it? What are you going to try to minimise aggression from other drivers? Please share your experiences and strategies in the comments box below so we can all learn from each other. We LOVE hearing from you!
Finally, if you liked this article, please share it on Facebook and Twitter – simply hit one of the social media buttons below. Thanks!

posted by Ged Wilmot

h19 Comments

Motivating the Unmotivated

“Hi Ged & Claire. What do I do about a pupil that doesn’t seem to want to learn? He keeps paying me for lessons, but pulls up and demands to get out for a smoke when things aren’t going so well. I think he spends more time smoking than he does driving. I really feel like I’m wasting my time with him and I hate feeling like this. I love my job and I just want to teach! But how can I motivate him to want to learn?”

Motivating the Unmotivated Learner Driver

This is a great question, and is an issue that I’m sure many ADIs have encountered, myself included. Let me first share my story of ‘Marc’ (not his real name) – a pupil I taught to drive about 13 years ago – and then I will offer a few suggestions on how to address this problem.

Marc had been learning to drive with me for about 6 months. I had always been very proactive in encouraging my pupils to study towards their theory test, and Marc had scored really well on all the mock tests that I had given to him after each lesson. But actually getting him to book his theory test was another matter. “I know, I know, I’ll book it tomorrow” was Marc’s usual response.

During his lessons, Marc seemed quite disinterested. He seemed to ‘plateau’ for a few lessons, and I was struggling to help him to improve. At the end of one particular driving lesson in which Marc hadn’t really shown much improvement, we pulled up outside his house. He wasn’t forthcoming with his feedback when I encouraged him to self-reflect on his progress. So I chose to ask him, “Why is it you want to learn to drive, Marc?” “I don’t”, came his reply. “So why are you having driving lessons?” I asked him. “Cos my dad wants me to”. Marc’s dad ran a successful Italian restaurant and a takeaway pizza parlour. It turned out that Marc’s dad had him lined up to do the pizza deliveries, hence was financing Marc’s driving lessons.

Marc didn’t want to learn. And neither I nor his dad could make him learn.

Tips about Motivating the Unmotivated Learner Driver or Anyone!

Instinctively, I took out my A4 notepad, removed a page, and wrote at the top, “What passing my driving test will mean to ME” and then wrote the numbers 1 to 5 down the left-hand side. “Marc, I want you to take this home and think about five opportunities that passing your driving test will open up for you. Think about the benefits to YOU – what positive changes will it bring?” Marc grimaced at my request but took the piece of paper, folded it up untidily and pushed it into his pocket. “OK, see you next week” he said, as he walked down the driveway to his house.

To be quite frank, I didn’t enjoy teaching Marc. He was the perfect definition of what I would term a ‘mood hoover’ or ‘energy vampire’ – over the course of a 1 hour driving lesson, he had this amazing ability to suck every piece of enthusiasm out of me and turn me from a happy, inspiring, smiley driving instructor to a sullen-faced, unmotivated instructor, who felt like packing it all in and getting a ‘proper’ job.

On the morning of his next lesson the following week, my heart sunk when I saw Marc’s name pencilled in from 3.30pm – 4.30pm, straight after he finished college. Whilst I waited for him in my usual parking spot, I rehearsed my end-of-lesson advice – to stop his driving lessons and save his dad’s money. After all, if his heart wasn’t in it, then he was unlikely ever to succeed.

But as Marc appeared from the college gates, there was something different about him. He had a spring in his step and a smile on his face. This wasn’t the Marc that I knew… As he opened the door, the first words of his mouth were, “I did that thing you asked me to do”. “What thing?” I asked (I had forgotten all about it). “The thing about why I want to drive. I did it.” He took the folded sheet of paper from his trouser pocket and proudly passed it to me. I prepared myself to read the 5 things that Marc would gain from passing his driving test. But instead of just 5 things, Marc had FILLED the sheet of paper with positive outcomes. I was absolutely GOBSMACKED.

I’ll be able to drive to my girlfriend’s house
I’ll be able to drive to college and back
I won’t get piss wet through in the rain waiting for the bus
I won’t have to listen to Radio 2 on the way to college ever again
I’ll be free to get out of the house whenever I want
My mates will respect me more
It will give me my confidence back
I’ll be able to get a job and earn some money…

This list went on and on, and some of the reasons honestly brought a lump to my throat. “I’m ready” he said. “And I booked my theory test – it’s on Monday after college”.

I have to admit, this was a real moment in my life as an ADI. Through one simple exercise, Marc TRANSFORMED. And that’s no exaggeration. He finally had his own reasons for wanting to pass his driving test, and none of them involved his dad. He passed his theory test the following Monday, then passed his driving test at the first attempt a couple of months later.

I am fairly convinced that had I not encouraged Marc to find his own motivation, he would still be having lessons today. And his dad would probably have sold the restaurant and pizzeria by now in order to pay for his driving lessons!

You CANNOT motivate others!

This has been a well-researched theory, and I believe it to be true. We cannot make people change. All we can do is help open them up to change. We cannot directly motivate our pupils to want to drive, in the same way that their parents cannot make them want to drive. I have been to see a fair few motivational speakers in my time – last year I spent a week in the USA in the presence of several wealthy motivational speakers. The fired-up, ‘I can do anything’ beliefs that we leave such events with are only short-lived. Before too long, we return to the way we were.

What motivational speakers do succeed in though, is in encouraging us to take the next step. The next baby step. And sometimes this is all it takes to start the ball rolling. In effect, this is what I did with Marc. I started the ball rolling. Don’t get me wrong – Marc wasn’t magically ‘fixed’ by this single exercise – we worked hard together over the following few weeks and I regularly had to help him to re-focus on his main motivational ‘drivers’. But the exercise was the catalyst that sparked the change.

Motivation versus Inspiration

Whilst working with my personal coach, she helped me recognise that our aim should not be to motivate, but instead to inspire. Which led me to explore the differences between ‘motivation’ and ‘inspiration’. There are a few different schools of thought on this, but here’s how I would define each:

Motivation is EXTERNAL
– It relates to the things we think we should do or that we’re supposed to do

Inspiration is INTERNAL
– It’s all about the inner desire, our passions, our calling

Motivation is the PUSH
– It is usually only very short-lived

Inspiration is the PULL
– Nothing can stop us from taking action when we’re inspired!

The short exercise I asked Marc to carry out encouraged him to become INSPIRED – to find and act on his inner ‘pull’, not the external ‘push’ from his Dad.

6 Steps to INSPIRE your pupils to move forward

Step 1: ASK
Help your pupil to get clear about what they want. I’m not simply talking about ‘passing the driving test’ here – we want the pupil to focus on what it MEANS to them to gain a full driving licence. What positive outcomes will it bring to THEM. It’s imperative that they focus on their OWN desires, and not those of their friends, parents, or even us! Most important of all, get your pupil to write them down. How will it benefit them to have a full driving licence? How will it positively affect them as a person? What opportunities will it open up to them?

Step 2: LISTEN
Actively listen, pay attention to what your pupils are saying and how they are saying it. Notice any body language cues. People feel great when they are truly listened to, especially teenagers – many have strained relationships with their elders, often having been pushed by parents and teachers. Give them the time and space they need to let you know what drives them. Most importantly, leave your thoughts and opinions out of it – this isn’t about you!

Step 3: REMIND
Even though inspiration will drive us for longer than motivation, we often need a reminder from time to time. If you’ve listened to (and made notes on) your pupil’s innermost reasons for learning to drive and passing the test, then you should be able to use these throughout the pupil’s lessons with you. Creating empowering pictures, sounds and feelings in relation to these goals will drive the pupil to success much faster. To use Marc as an example, I could ask, “how will you look, sound and feel once you’ve passed your test and you’ve got your confidence back?” or even, “so when you no longer have to listen to Radio 2 in mum’s car, what will you choose to listen to once you’ve passed your test?”

Step 4: BELIEVE
Some people are naturally negative. If we’re not careful, these ‘emotional vampires’ can suck out our positivity and belief that they will ever succeed in passing the driving test. They can even lead us to give up altogether and hope (or suggest!) they go and find another driving instructor to be miserable with. Don’t let them get you down! Instead, see them as being successful – able to achieve anything, irrespective of what they may tell themselves. It’s amazing how your perception of them will come through in your voice, tonality, attitude and body language. Switch your normally negative perception of them to a positive one, and you will start to notice a huge shift in their confidence. Try it!

Step 5: RECORD Earlier on, I talked about baby steps. And this is important. When learning something new, we all need to set and recognise ‘mini-milestones’ along our journey to our ultimate destination. Recording progress of this journey is important. Love them or loathe them, keeping good lesson records is a must (in my opinion). A written record of progress is so powerful in helping people like Marc keep track of their successes. It enables them to see their proximity to the end goal. If (like me) you’ve ever tried to lose weight, taking note of your weight loss progress on a weekly basis is tremendously motivating – it gives us an idea of our chances of reaching the end goal. Progress is accelerated even further if we ‘track’ or keep a daily record of what we have eaten. If we just decide one day to lose weight and don’t bother to track our progress, we’ll soon lose interest and never reach our target. I believe it’s the same with learning to drive and keeping well-structured lesson records.

Step 6: LEAD
As a driving instructor, you have a much more important role to play than simply teaching someone to drive a car. You need to lead by example. Develop, improve, be ambitious, aim to be the best. Set yourself daily, weekly, monthly and yearly targets. By being a leader and demonstrating your desire to succeed, your learners will follow. YOU want to be that person they name when asked in later life, “who inspired you when you were younger?”

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES! Have you had a pupil that just didn’t want to learn? How did you overcome it? What strategies did you try to help inspire them? What worked? What didn’t work? Please share your advice and experience – we’d love to hear from you.

Finally, if you liked this article about Motivating the Unmotivated (learner driver) or anyone for that matter, and know someone else that could benefit from it, please hit one of the social sharing buttons below!

posted by Claire Wilmot

h13 Comments

Overtaking – Are your learners fully equipped?

Back when Ged and I were training to become ADIs, the steps for overtaking in ‘The Driving Manual’ were stated as MPSLMSM. This remained the case in seven editions of the updated version of the book (retitled, ‘The Official DSA Guide to Driving: The Essential Skills’). But in the 6th impression (released in 2013), this guidance mysteriously (and without explanation) changed to simply MSPSL

So which method is best, and which routine should we be teaching?

The ‘Old’ Guidance

The following extract is taken from the 6th edition of The Official DSA Guide to Driving: The Essential Skills, released in 2007):

Mirrors – Always check in your mirrors to assess the speed and position of traffic behind.

Position – Be near enough to the vehicle ahead to overtake smoothly when you’re ready, but not so close that you can’t get a good view of the road ahead.

Speed – Be fast enough to keep up with the vehicle in front and with enough reserve power to pass it briskly. You might need to change down to get extra acceleration when you’re ready to start overtaking.

Look – Assess the whole situation

• the state of the road

• what the driver ahead is doing or might be about to do

• any hazards

• the speed and position of oncoming vehicles

• speed difference between you and oncoming vehicles.

Mirrors – Check your mirrors again to reassess the situation. Check especially for motorcyclists as they approach very quickly and may have been hidden from view previously. Be aware of, and check, any blind spots by taking a quick sideways glance if necessary, before deciding to pull out to overtake. Never begin to overtake is another vehicle is overtaking you or is about to do so. Overtake only when you are sure it’s safe to do so.

Signal – Always give a signal. This helps

• drivers behind

• the driver you are overtaking

• drivers coming towards you.

Manoeuvre – Make a final check in front and behind. If it’s safe, pull out on a smooth easy line.

• overtake as quickly as you can

• Check your mirrors to see that you’re clear of the vehicle you’ve overtaken

• Move back to the left again on a smooth easy line, but avoid cutting in.

This is all sound advice, especially when overtaking on a two lane, two way road and to overtake would require the driver to cross onto the opposite side of the road.

The ‘New’ Guidance

The latest version (6th impression, 2013) of The Official DSA Guide to Driving: The Essential Skills recommends the MSPSL routine:

Mirrors – Check your mirrors to assess the situation behind and look well ahead.

Signal – Give a signal if it will help:

• drivers behind

• the driver you’re overtaking

• drivers coming towards you

Position – Be near enough to the vehicle ahead to overtake smoothly when you’re ready, but not so close that you can’t get a good view of the road ahead.

Speed – Be fast enough to keep up with the vehicle in front and with enough reserve power to pass it briskly. You might need to change down to get extra acceleration when you’re ready to start overtaking.

Look – Assess the whole situation

• the state of the road

• what the driver ahead is doing or might be about to do

• any hazards

• the speed and position of oncoming vehicles

• speed difference between you and oncoming vehicles.

Make a final check in front and behind. Check especially for motorcyclists as they can approach very quickly and may have been hidden from view previously. Be aware of, and check, any blind spots by taking a quick sideways glance if necessary, before deciding to pull out to overtake. Never begin to overtake is another vehicle is overtaking you or is about to do so. Overtake only when you are sure it’s safe to do so.

So why the change of guidelines for Overtaking?

We believe that each method has its place. Most overtaking opportunities arise on multi-lane roads. Because there are extra lanes to use, it’s not necessary to have to cross onto the opposite side of the road. For these types of road, the MSPSL routine is perfectly adequate. However, on two lane two-way roads, the MPSLMSM becomes more relevant and effective. It is imperative that the driver plans more thoroughly with the possibility of meeting oncoming traffic, and that they overtake quickly so they can return to their own side of the road safely and in good time.

It’s worth recognising how an overtaking manoeuvre can be different, depending on the type of road and layout, and discussing this with your pupils. Bear in mind that if you are working towards your ADI Part 3 test, or you have a Check Test and are including overtaking as part of the lesson plan (e.g. a Pass Plus module on Motorways, rural roads or dual carriageways), you must know the correct recommended sequence. We have met several DSA examiners who are not aware of the changes, so it’s a good idea to refer to both the old method and the updated method as recommended in The Official DSA Guide to Driving: The Essential Skills, and considering the distinction between them.

Something much more important!

Regardless of which routine is used, what doesn’t change is the importance of selecting a suitable place to overtake and judging a safe gap in approaching traffic, especially on a two lane, two way road.

The DECISION to overtake can be the killer, rather than the routine itself.

I always remember reading a local news story about a young driver who overtook another vehicle on one of the rural roads near to where we live. He had four of his friends in the car and he hit a single-decker bus coming the other way. The driver and two of his friends were killed instantly, another two were left in a critical condition. It was a shocking (yet all too common) story. I couldn’t help asking myself if we as driving instructors are doing all we can in order to reduce the chances of this happening to those we have taught to drive.

How can ADIs help?

When we discuss overtaking with ADIs coming to use for development coaching, many will say that they talk about overtaking with most of their learner drivers, but don’t cover it in much detail because practical opportunities to do so rarely arise.

It might be worthwhile for us all to consider how much depth we go into with regards to overtaking. After all, it’s a far more dangerous manoeuvre than all the reversing ones we spend so much time and focus on!

As an ADI, do you explore safe and unsafe places to overtake while out on the roads and the reasons that would make it unsafe or safe? For example:

“Would you consider it safe to overtake on this road? Why not?”

“Where might be suitable to overtake on this road?” “What makes that a good place to overtake?”

Also, do you explore how much time and distance would be needed to overtake safely?

“If we did need to overtake, which gap in the oncoming traffic do you think would be suitable?”

Once a gap is identified, a hypothetical overtake commentary can establish if it is a safe gap. For example:

“So we’d check our centre mirror and right mirror to look for anything overtaking us, maybe gear down for acceleration, signal right, check for anything overtaking us again, move out….. we’d be overtaking the car about now… oh look that car has reached us now!”

This would help the driver see how quickly the gap would close. You could then go on to explore possible consequences of overtaking without a sufficient gap. Do this often enough and the ‘calibration’ process of what constitutes a safe gap (or preferably a gap with NOTHING approaching!) will be better understood and judged by the driver in any future possible overtake scenarios. What’s really important is that they qualify as drivers with all the information and skills needed to make a safe decision… EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Returning to the tragic local story I mentioned earlier, we can only speculate whether or not the young driver’s instructor fully explored safe overtaking during their lessons together. If the instructor did cover this area sufficiently, then lack of knowledge and understanding may not have been a factor in the crash. Perhaps the driver just made the DECISION to overtake, regardless of the risks. Maybe he was showing off to his mates, was distracted or thought he was invincible, a lot of young people have the ‘it will never happen to me’ attitude. Perhaps his brain development was a factor – the brain’s pre-frontal cortex, which governs emotion, risk-taking and decision-making, does not fully mature until the age of 25.

However, if the instructor didn’t sufficiently cover safe overtaking, then this could be considered one of the contributory factors. As ADIs, we are all responsible for ensuring our learners pass their driving test equipped with the knowledge, understanding and skills to tackle a multitude of real life situations, beyond that which is required to pass the driving test. This includes safe overtaking.

I know it’s hard to cover all aspects of driving in the limited time available, and yes – it can sometimes be challenging to change the pre-formed attitudes and beliefs of the people we are working with. I am sure Ged and I have not always explored overtaking as much as I have mentioned here with our own pupils, particularly in the early years of our career – nobody’s perfect!

But we like to think that all the ADIs we have trained realise the importance of teaching safe overtaking and go out there making sure that all the novice drivers they work with know and understand how to overtake other vehicles.

If you don’t already explore overtaking in depth with your pupils, please start now – you might just save some lives.

GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK! Do you teach your pupils how to overtake safely? What if no practical opportunities arise? How does your geographical location affect your ability to teach overtaking effectively? Please share your advice and experiences – we’d love to hear from you.

Finally, if you liked this article and know someone else that could benefit from it, please hit one of the social sharing buttons below!

We all have bad days

“How are examiners initially assessed and trained in customer service?”

“Yes, but what happens after placement at a driving test centre?”

“How do I complain about a driving examiner’s poor attitude and customer service?”

So what exactly is a ‘reflective log’?

Why is it a good idea for us to use them with our learners?

When should it be filled in, and by whom?

Doesn’t it take too long to complete? Pupils want to be driving, not writing!

My pupil is always itching to get out of the car at the end of the lesson. How can I maintain their attention?

Where can I get one of these reflective logs?

Will the examiner want to see my pupil’s reflective log on my Standards Check?

6 Step Guide – Driving School Marketing Plan for Facebook

Facebook can help significantly boost your profile

So what can you do and where can you get started with Facebook?

Here’s your simple 6-step guide to setting up a Facebook business page

How to Improve Driving Test Pass Rates

Tip 1 – Monitor

Tip 2 – Shut up (in the nicest possible way!)

Tip 3 – Use records

Tip 4 – Syllabus

Tip 5 – Say NO!

Tip 6 – Pick the best time

Tip 7 – Does your learner feel ready?

Top 8 – Deal with test day ‘nerves’

Tip 9 – Eliminate negative language and self-talk

Tip 10 – Be positive about all the examiners

LOOK

SEE

RESPOND

ADI Diary Management – Top 7 Tips

TIP 1 – Decide on your hours of work… and STICK TO THEM!

TIP 2 – Pre-plan your diary

TIP 3 – Encourage pupils to take longer lessons

TIP 4 – Book pupils in for several weeks in advance

TIP 5 – Subtly manipulate your diary

TIP 6 – Manage your coverage area

TIP 7 – Learn to say ‘NO’

Reduce Driving Lesson Cancellations – Top Tips!

Tip 1 – Be upfront and honest:

Tip 2 – Have clear, accessible Terms & Conditions

Tip 3 – Don’t GIVE them the excuse!

Tip 4 – Keep regular lesson slots

Tip 5 – Be reliable

Tip 6 – Take payment in advance

Tip 7 – Encourage block bookings

Tip 8 – Buy slots in advance

Tip 9 – Give out appointment cards

Tip 10 – Reminder texts or emails

Tips for Dealing with Aggressive Tailgaters and Angry Drivers!

Fit some in-car cameras

Add a sign or message to the rear of your car

Ditch the roof sign and try just L-plates

Route planning

A polite gesture

Pull over

Reason it out

Make a choice

Motivating the Unmotivated Learner Driver

Tips about Motivating the Unmotivated Learner Driver or Anyone!

You CANNOT motivate others!

Motivation versus Inspiration

6 Steps to INSPIRE your pupils to move forward

The ‘Old’ Guidance

The ‘New’ Guidance

So why the change of guidelines for Overtaking?

Something much more important!

How can ADIs help?

Skip to a Section:

**“Yes, but what happens after placement at a driving test centre?”**