SHOULD YOU LET YOUR SON/DAUGHTER PRACTICE IN YOUR CAR?

If you like the Idea of supervising you son or daughter while they practice their driving skills between lessons, then providing you follow the advice from this article, it can be very useful. I would wait until they have done about 10 hours of tuition with an ADI. (Approved Driving Instructor).

If on the other hand if the very idea fills you with fear and dread, don’t worry, it’s not essential. There are many parents who understandably would rather leave driver training to a professional ADI.

FOR                                     AGAINST
Save money as fewer            Some people find it very
lessons will be required.        stressful and scary.

It can be fun.                         It can be the source of
                                             arguments and rows.

Something to do together       It can be very expensive
(bonding)                               to insure your car.

It keeps you in touch with       If you have a company
thier level and ability.              car, it might not be
                                             allowed.
 
More practice makes a          Your family car may not
safer better more confident     be suitable.(big auto!)
driver.

THE LAW.
To supervise a Learner Driver you need to be over 21 years old and have held a full driving licence for at least 3 years. (if it’s a manual car you must have a manual car licence)
You must be insured to drive the car as well as the learner.
You must use L plates when the learner is driving and you should remove them when you are driving.
While you are supervising a learner, you are responsible as though you were driving.

GENERAL
I guess we could start by saying that things have probably changed a lot since you passed your driving test. Gosh when I passed mine, lessons were £5.00 P/H and I only needed 6 one hour lessons to get me through, on a test route that had no roundabouts, traffic lights or pedestrian crossings!
These days there are so many cars on the road that it feels like everyone can drive and from some of the driving you see, it may seem that even idiots, with very little skill can pass their Test.

It’s not true, gaining a full licence in today’s environment is a big achievement, it requires hard work and determination. But that’s just the beginning, the Test is only the minimum standard you need to achieve to be allowed to drive unsupervised on the road, new drivers are still very vulnerable to being involved in accidents.

YOUR ROLE

Your role as a supervisor is to allow the student to practice the things they have learnt in their lessons and to reinforce the skills and knowledge they have gained. In general the student will know what they need to practice and will be able to let you know what to concentrate on. Or you could always talk to the instructor for guidance.

Practice should be appropriate to their experience and skills.. country roads or big duel carriageways are not great practice to someone who is coming up to test standard and equally.. complicated roundabouts or busy urban areas would be too much for a student that has only done 10 hours of training.. and without duel controls would be both dangerous and damage the budding confidence of the learner.

Don’t assume that the learner sees the things that you see, even big obvious things. Remember that when you drive you can give your full attention to the road and what’s going on around you. The learner needs to also be thinking about what he or she is doing with the controls of the car.

Learners need much more time to think and to react to hazards and situations than an experienced driver.. so they need to slow down much earlier than you do. Remember that if you halve the speed you have twice as much time to operate the controls and to make decisions and to look.

Encourage the learner to speed up briskly after they have emerged into a new road or have exited from a roundabout.

Encourage the learner to look in the right places and not to stare in one direction.

I would advise that practice is limited to general driving. Leave the manoeuveres to the instructor as they are often taught with reference points at the beginning, which will not transfer to a different car. Students are often too focused on manoeuvers and those that fail their test, are more likely to have failed on general driving faults.

Finally I must mention anticipation. One of the biggest differences between an experienced driver and a learner (and indeed an inexperienced driver even after the have passed their Test) is the ability to read the road, to anticipate likely events and situations. Encourage your learner to think and ask “what if” These are life saving skills.

This link shows you how not to do it..
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7n_UTeNZioo

THE 10 MOST COMMON TEST FAILS:

Fail No1 : Not making effective observations and poor judgment when emerging out of side roads

Advice: Go slowly, use first gear, give yourself time to look in both directions and time to make decisions.

Fail No 2 : Incorrect use of the controls and/or poor observations when reverse parking

Advice: Choose an easy method!  Remember it doesn’t have to be very close to the kerb or very close to the car in front. Keep looking around you as you do it. Go slowly. Don’t use the brake and the clutch bite at the same time. (in the last 3 years of teaching I have only had 2 students fail this manoeuver!)

Fail No 3 : Not making effective use of the mirrors well before changing direction or slowing down

Advice: Work hard on practicing your mirror use. By the time your ready for test you should be checking at the right times automatically. (use a combination of Interior for slowing down or speeding up, door mirrors for direction change.) Remember Mirror, Signal, Manoeuver?

Fail No 4 : Poor use of the controls and/or weak observation when reversing round a corner

Advice: Don’t use the brake and the clutch bite at the same time. Go slowly. Keep looking around you as you do it. Pause to get your bearings if you need to.

Fail No 5 : Incorrect use of signals either by not cancelling signals or by giving misleading ones

Advice: Always use signals at the right time and remember to cancel them straight away. When stopping, don’t use a signal if it’s not needed.

Fail No 6 : Failure to move away correctly from stationary positions, usually due to poor observation

Advice: Always look all around you (not just mirrors!) when moving away from the kerb. Go very slowly and extra looking when moving off at an angle.

Fail No7 : Incorrect road position, usually on bends, and poor lane discipline on roundabouts

Advice: Don’t go too fast on bends or too fast when going straight on at roundabouts. Stay in your lane. Make sure your looking around on approach to roundabouts not staring to the right.

Fail No 8 : Poor steering control, such as when making left or right turns

Advice: Go slow enough to allow accurate steering, keep looking so you know where you’re going. Always stop with wheels pointing ahead. Don’t let wheel slip through your fingers when straightening up.

Fail No 9 : Incorrect position when turning right such as in one-way streets

Advice: Know the Highway Code, keep accurate position in lanes, Look all around (including where you’re going) Position on the right when turning right from or in a one way street.

Fail No 10: Hesitation causing delay, usually by not pulling out promptly at junctions

Advice: There is no substitute for experience for using the controls and making general driving decisions with confidence.. lots of practice.