Garrison's comment about being taught to apply the brake progressively when doing an emergency stop made me think about my driving instructor...
Even as a beginner, he stressed the importance of watching far ahead and anticipating threats in the distance as well as up close. That's not really in the driving test, and a lot of people don't seem to grasp that until they become more experienced.
So, what special skills did your driving instructor, or whoever taught you to drive (father, drill sergeant, etc.) try to teach you that you don't think other learners got? And does it still have an effect on your driving?
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I don't like to be negative but my driving instructor taught me to brake on the gears. Now, in my mind, I'd rather change the pads a little more often than knacker the gearbox. He did teach me to hold the button in when putting the handbrake on though, something more people would do well to learn.
On the plus side, he told me to assume everyone else on the road is an idiot about to do something stupid. It's true too often!
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I can but echo the last comment. I used to engine brake during lessons and often asked the ADI if that was a good idea. He was not against it. I did once do a stupid manouevre (overtake going up a hill) and he let me know in no uncertain terms that it was stupid, which is to his credit. In my experience the driving test gets you to a very basic level of car control and little more. Someone once said that it takes 60K miles of driving to develop observation skills and I can't say I disagree with that.
FWIW My instructor was a Sikh, about 60 years old, and a very pleasant man. He had a large number of brothers (about 4 if I remember) and all were ADIs!
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Gen - you sound like my mum. She brakes through the gears a lot, invariably pushes the button to apply the handbrake (although why anyone wouldn't is beyond me) and was told that by her driving instructor.
She's a bit slow but other than that, not a bad driver at all.
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>>I don't like to be negative but my driving instructor taught >>me to brake on the gears.
My (car) driving instructor used to advocate a combined use of braking using the gears and the brakes, but my HGV instructor drummed "Gears to go, brakes to slow" into my head until I was babbling it in my sleep!
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Haha...nice to be compared to a mum! Older and wiser...
Why press the button on the handbrake? Because some poor guy like me who buys old cars won't then fail the MOT on the ratchet being so worn the handbrake can be knocked off.
I like that 'Gears to go, brakes to slow'. I'll remember that to irritate someone with.
Here is another thing my driving instructor taught me, and wondered if best for car care. A very smooth gear change taking the clutch out very slowly while increasing the accelerator. Surely that wears the clutch more because the friction disk in use for longer than a 'sharp' change.
And here's something the instructor didn't teach me. How to recognise a brake fluid low light, a coolant gauge, an oil gauge...get the picture? Very useful in real life...and changing a tyre...
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Ah, if only I could get pupils who wanted to learn to drive, how satisfying the job would be! Most of those I have taught over the past eighteen years have only wanted to get through their tests in as few lessons as possible, preferably in as little as dad took in nineteen sixty something.
"Learn to change a tyre and check the oil! That ain't in the test, you trying to rip me off or something?"
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Tom: Do you really think you can teach someone to drive in 20 hours?
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The average number of lessons a beginner takes before taking their test is quoted as forty by the DSA. Even with this the average pass rate is around 44% and falling. People do of course pass with far fewer lessons, some take to driving quicker than others, but some take a lot more.
You have to bear in mind that today's driving test bears no resemblance to that of even five years ago, and compared to ten years ago it would be considered of a fairly advanced standard.
Unfortunately, no matter how high a standard someone manages to achieve as a learner they are still going out on their own as an inexperienced novice. Hence the number of teenagers involved in accidents has not been cut by tougher testing.
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Can't remember exactly but I seem to remember in Australia that for 2 years you drove with special plates on indicating that you were a new driver. So police could be extra picky with you and other rules etc.
So you were kind of on probation for two years.
Silly in this country where yesterday you were a learner and now you are a driver the same as someone who driven for 30 years.
I remember doing some silly things in my Pass Plus course too, which worried my instructor (I was too naive to be worried). I had insisted on doing the test after 17 lessons because I was 17. There was logic with that at the time, but I seem to forget it...
And yes, I think that first aid, basic car checks etc etc should be taught on driving course. If you can't afford a few more lessons you're not going to need your license because you clearly can't afford a car.
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Gen: A new driver is not quite the same as an experienced one. For the first two years the licence will be withdrawn, and a retake of the test required, if the person gets (if I remember correctly) 6 points e.g. two speeding tickets. At least that was the law when I passed the test 5 years ago (aged 35!).
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Tom: Do you really think you can teach someone to drive in 20 hours?
I was told that the minimum recommended amount of lessons is one and a half times the person's age (can't remember whether that was taking into account any or no practice in between lessons). That means for the absolute possiible youngest learner (16 year old physically disabled) it would be 24 hours. Going by the same logic mine should have been 30.5 hours but actually ended up as 52 (+10 with a first instructor I hated)!
I had to put petrol into my instructor's car once - don't know whether that would count as a learning experience. Possibly I suppose, as she knew I had no chance at all to practice between lessons.
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Yes I have heard a similar comment that the time required is proportional to age. In my own case I took 10 lessons at age 17 but I was a very poor driver and did not continue.
I eventually took more lessons at age 35 years old. I passed first time after 27 lessons. The ADI said I was ready after 20 lessons but the local test centre had a long waiting list. I think I was a much more responsible and aware driver at 35 than 17.
My step mother passed in her mid 40's. I think it was her fifth attempt. Oddly enough she seemed quite a capable and safe driver.
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David,, "Garrison's comment about being taught to apply the brake progressively when doing an emergency stop made me think about my driving instructor..." I can not find Garrison's thread but doing this is most unlikely as it is an emergency and the estra rear baking will totally loose the back of the car and for those with ABS then that will fool it. Were did this dumb comment come from. Regards Peter
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I don't know if other driving instructors do this, but he kept emphasising traffic flow and my part in keeping things moving, not just threats. Looking at where lorries and cars come from so they might be used to different highway codes (and driver may be on t'other side of lorry cab), having windows open to pick up noise cues during low speed manouvres, sometimes you can see the shadows of cars before you see the cars themselves and so on.
He was a BSM instructor and most of his work seemed to be company car driver tuition, so perhaps this was a thing he was determined avoid in his trainees. He was also a JP, and I would not like to appear in front of him!
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All sound advice. The sign of a good drive is to travel from A to B without anyone having cause to remember they came across you.
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Hi PeterD,
The thread is "ABS - boon or liability?"
It was not about emergency braking. It was about braking distance and shifting CoG to the front-axle to give more grip for retardation.
Best regards,
Garrison
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