Session 3.  Watching the learner

Watching the learner is an essential skill for driving instructors, and this is where we start to rethink our relationship wit the "front passenger seat", in our workplace this seat has a more important purpose, it is the instructors' seat.  It is from here we are going to be offering knowledge, advice, support, encouragement and guidance.  None of which we can do productively without really knowing what is going on.

Many instructors are so busy watching the road ahead that they miss the obvious causal-issues that arise inside the car. The irony is that they watch the road in order to keep the car safe, when this can be done with great effect by simply watching the learner and seeing where they are looking. 

Example:

A learner is at a junction turning left.

In order to keep everyone safe the instructor looks left to check all is ok, recognising the learner is looking right. As they exit the junction the learner drives out wide crossing onto the oncoming lane and the instructor needs to stop the vehicle as a lorry is approaching. This causes a lot of friction and upset in the car.

Had the instructor been watching the learner correctly they would have seen them staring right, not looking left at all, this will have an influence on the direction of the vehicle. Before crossing the give way line the instructor would have told the learner to stop and ask questions relevant to observation, where is the learner driver looking and why.  The danger of the oncoming lorry would not have been an immediate issue as the instructor will not allow the learner to proceed without appropriate observation.

Driving errors can manifest themselves in many ways – but they all start with the driver. When instructors know what the driver is doing and how the driver appears to be feeling, they will be much better placed to identify and work with mistakes and omissions and to develop other aspects of driving.

With your students, tell them you will be watching them when they approach and turn corners and junctions exit junctions onto major roads.  You will need to watch the driver quite intently, explain that all you are doing is getting a real understanding of their observation.

As you are approaching any kind of turn / junction / exiting a junction turn your head and face the driver, look directly at their jaw line.  Watch how they check their mirrors, watch them and observe their observation practices approaching the manoeuvre, try to watch them until they are fully into the new road and driving away, then and only then, look forward.  Try to avoid looking into the new road, try to avoid looking where you are going.  Remember you are not a driver in the passenger seat, you are an instructor in the instructors seat. 

This takes a little practice, it may feel odd at first and you may think it is unsafe.  Remember with a brief turn of your head you can still watch the learner and gain a lot of information from your peripheral vision.  If anything feels wrong you can turn your head to check and bring the learner driver to a stop.  Whilst watching the learner you will be able to see the speed of approach, coasting, hand position, body language (are they tense / nervous), correct observation at junctions etc. 

During the workshop we will discuss how you felt during the exercise, in particularly how you felt about not looking where you are going.  How this helps with understanding driver actions and observations and safety aspects. 

Next Workshop TBC