Teaching a Learner Driver: A Guide For Amateur Instructors

By UK Driving Skills

If you're thinking of teaching someone to drive, this is the book you need -

Teaching a learner driver - how hard could it be? Many years ago, a sister of mine expressed an interest in learning to drive. Being a keen driver myself I thought teaching a learner driver would be fun. However, I didn't realise how unprepared I was.

Some years later I took training myself and went on to become a professional driving instructor. I worked for a local driving school for a while, before taking further training and joining the British School of Motoring for a couple of years. When I decided to start up my own driving school, the family came to me for lessons. Things went according to plan this time because in the meantime someone had taught me how to teach.

The Benefit of Experience

With four decades years of experience, both as a driving instructor and driving examiner, I will help you to train a learner driver to be safe, confident and capable. With the help of this book, you will learn how to:

• structure lessons
• deliver driving instruction like a professional
• avoid many of the pitfalls that amateur teachers fall into.

The instructions are easy to follow and all tricky points are illustrated with clear diagrams. The book covers everything you need including:

• basic car controls
• use of mirrors & observations
• approaching junctions & roundabouts
• learning the manoeuvres
• developing independence
• preparing for the driving test.

With a careful study of this book, you'll hopefully enjoy teaching a learner driver and improving your own skills; and as a result, your learner driver should pass first time!

Please note - this eBook is best viewed on devices with a full colour display.
This is one of the Learning to Drive series which includes:

• Learning to Drive - The Learner Driver's Manual
• Teach Yourself Traffic Signs
• Teaching a Learner Driver - A Guide for Amateur Instructors
• The Learner Driver's Logbook - Lesson Plan & Progress Record
• The Driving Test & How to Pass - An Examiner's Guide to the 'L' Test

© UK Driving Skills – All Rights Reserved
www.ukdrivingkills.co.uk

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9781446139127

Book preview

ALSO FROM UK DRIVING SKILLS

LEARNING TO DRIVE

Teaching a Learner Driver –

A Guide for Amateur Instructors

Learning to Drive –

The Learner Driver’s Manual

Teach Yourself Traffic Signs

& Road Markings

The Learner Driver’s Logbook –

Lesson Plan & Progress Record

The Driving Test & How to Pass –

An Examiner’s Guide to the ‘L’ Test

250 THEORY TEST QUESTIONS:

Cars - Motorcycles - LGV - PCV - ADI

HIGHWAY CODE & THEORY TEST QUESTIONS:

Cars - Motorcycles - LGV - PCV - ADI

The Highway Code

How to Drive on a Motorway

Driving at Night & in Bad Weather

All available from www.ukdrivingskills.co.uk

Teaching a Learner Driver

A Guide for Amateur Instructors

UK Driving Skills

Learning to Drive Series

Don L. Gates

www.ukdrivingskills.co.uk

Revised: 02/11/23

Teaching a Learner Driver

A Guide for Amateur Instructors

ISBN: 9781446139127 Imprint: Lulu.com

1st edition copyright © 1994 Don L. Gates

Latest edition copyright © 2023 Don L. Gates

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Contents

Introduction

Preparations

Driving Schools

You, the Instructor

The Training Vehicle

Mobile Phones

Planning a Lesson Programme

Variety

The First Lesson

The Experienced Learner

The Relative Novice

The Complete Beginner

The Cockpit Drill

The Driving Seat

The Head Restraint

Mirrors

Blind Spots

The Controls Lesson

Accelerator

Footbrake

Clutch

The Biting Point

Steering Wheel

Handbrake (Parking Brake)

The Gear Lever

Indicators

The Horn

Other Controls

Starting the Engine

Finding the Biting Point

Stalling

Creeping Forward

Normal Driving Position

Adequate Clearance

Moving off and Stopping

Practising Moving off and Stopping

Angle Starts and Hill Starts

Changing Gears

Changing Up

Changing Down

General Advice

Ending the Lesson

The Next Lesson

Approaching Junctions

Clutch Control

Junctions Stage 1

Turning Left

Turning Left into a Minor Road

Meeting Traffic

Pedestrians & Cyclists

Turning Left onto a Major Road

Variations in the Routine

Practising Left Turns

Instructions on the Move

Left into a Minor Road

Left onto a Major Road

Turning Right

Turning Right onto a Major Road

Turning Right into a Minor Road

Practising Right Turns

Cutting Corners

Instructions on the Move

Turning Right onto a Major Road

Turning Right into a Minor Road

Waiting at the Junction

Steering Faults

Junctions Stage 2

Observation & Emerging from Junctions

Zones of Vision

Junctions Stage 3

The Parking Brake

Crossroads

Flashing of Headlights

The Cause of Accidents

Roundabouts

Turning Left at a Roundabout

Taking the Road Ahead

Turning Right at a Roundabout

Multi-exit Roundabouts

Practising Roundabouts

Mini Roundabouts

Signals

Steering

Hill Starts & Angle Starts

Hill Starts

Practising Hill Starts

Moving Off

Angle Starts

Practising Angle Starts

The Emergency Stop

Skidding

Practising the Emergency Stop

Faults to Avoid

Reversing

The Straight Reverse

Blind Spot Checks

Practising Straight Reversing

Steering Confusion

Pull up on the Right

Observation

Left Hand Reverse

Reversing Practise

Stage One (A-B)

Stage Two (B-C)

Stage Three (C-D)

Observation

Stage Four (D-E)

Other Road Users

The Public

Reversing Around Sharp Corners

Practising the Sharp Reverse

Observation

Turning in the Road

Practising the Turn

Approaching Traffic

Clutch Control Exercise on a Gradient

Parking

By the Side of the Road

Parking in Spaces

Reversing into a Parking Bay

Observation

Forward Parking

Observation

Parallel Parking

Parallel Parking Practise

Dealing with Traffic

Anticipation & Planning

Use of Mirrors

Mirrors before Signalling

Mirrors before Changing Speed

Mirrors before Changing Direction

Other Road Users

Following Distance

Positioning

Cyclists & Cycle Lanes

Crossing the Path of Other Traffic

Keep it Clear

Meeting Traffic

Pedestrians

Pedestrians at Junctions

Emergency Vehicles

Signs, Signals & Road Markings

Traffic Lights

Green Light

Amber Light

Red Light

Red & Amber Light

Pedestrian Crossings

Zebra Crossings

Pelican Crossings

Toucan Crossings

Puffin Crossings

Road Markings & Traffic Signs

Lane Markings

Double White Lines

Hatched Markings

Yellow Box Junctions

Lane Arrows

Bus & Tram Lanes

Speed Limits

One-Way Streets

Dual Carriageways

Speed Limits

Turning Right onto a Dual-Carriageway

Turning Right from a Dual-Carriageway

The National Speed Limit

Major Crossroads

The Offside Turn

The Nearside Turn

Filter Lights

Staggered Crossroads

Country Roads

Horse Riders

Tractors

No overtaking

Villages

Developing Responsibility

Signals & Stopping

Junctions

Manoeuvres

In Traffic

Traffic Lights

Traffic Signs

The Intermediate Stage

Becoming Independent

Independent Driving

The Driving Test

Annex A Show Me Tell Me Questions

1. About the questions

2. ‘Tell me’ questions

3. ‘Show me’ questions

Introduction

Many years ago, a sister of mine expressed an interest in learning to drive and being a keen driver myself I offered to teach her... what a carry on! We started off in the large car park of a famous furniture manufacturer, full of good intentions, but it wasn't until she was in the driving seat that I realised I didn't have a clue where to start. Needless to say, the venture was not very successful.

Some years later I became a professional driving instructor and, when I decided to start up my own driving school, the family came to me for lessons. Things went according to plan this time because in the meantime someone had taught me how to teach.

If you're thinking of teaching somebody to drive, this is the book you need. It's written by a professional who works with learner drivers every day of his working life. With decades of experience, both as a driving instructor and driving examiner, I will help you to train a learner driver to be safe, confident and capable. With the help of this book, you will learn how to structure lessons, and how do deliver driving instruction like a professional, avoiding many of the pitfalls that amateur teachers fall into.

The instructions are easy to follow and all tricky points are illustrated with clear diagrams (tap them to enlarge). Everything is covered from gear changing, through to manoeuvring skills to preparation for the test.

With a careful study of this book, you'll really enjoy teaching the art of driving and improving your own skills; and, most importantly, your learner driver should pass first time!

For more help in preparing your learner for the driving test, check out the rest of the ‘Learning to Drive’ series all available from our website at UK Driving Skills

L-ad.png

Theory Test Practise

Visit our website at UK Driving Skills and get access to around 800+ Theory Test Revision Questions, produced under licence from the DVSA. Each online test has 50 questions and is timed just like the real thing. They will be given a score at the end, plus an explanation of the answers.

Preparations

Throughout these pages I have taken a sometimes serious, but often light-hearted look at the task of teaching someone to drive. A sense of humour is essential if you’re to succeed in this potentially stressful endeavour! I have set down basic guidelines to follow, and pointed out many of the pitfalls which could take an unprepared tutor by surprise.

A professional instructor learns their craft through experience and practise. It’s not just a case of telling someone what to do... that would be easy. We must know what to say and when to say it, when to speak and when to be quiet. We must always be ready in case instructions are carried out wrongly or not carried out at all. Knowing where errors are most commonly made can go a long way towards averting possible disaster.

The purpose of this book is to give you the benefit of someone else's experience, so that you can hopefully, avoid making many of the mistakes that an instructor will make during the first years of their ‘apprenticeship’.

Firstly though, you must prepare yourself. The law requires you

to be over 21 years old

and to have held a full category B licence for at least three years.

Do you feel experienced and knowledgeable enough to take on the responsibility of teaching someone to drive? When was the last time you looked at a copy of the Highway Code? Too many drivers let basic standards slip after passing the L test and lapse into ‘bad habits’. These habits are not just bad but sometimes potentially dangerous and it is essential that they are not passed on to your learner.

Rules and regulations are constantly changing. You may not know as much as you think you do about modern driving so this is a good time to start brushing up. Get hold of a copy of the Highway Code and do some studying. You can buy The Highway Code as a PDF ‘eBook’ from our website.

This book is not an attempt to teach you to teach you to drive, this you can do already. There are descriptions of rules and situations which you may well be fully aware of (or perhaps a little rusty!) What I’m aiming to do is to show you how to pass on this knowledge to others.

Your pupil must have a valid provisional licence before taking to the road, but you must also make sure that their eyesight is up to an acceptable standard.

For the purpose of the driving test, a candidate must be able to read a vehicle number plate from a minimum distance of 20 metres. This as far as I am concerned is a totally inadequate standard for safe driving. Make sure to check your pupil's eyesight from a greater distance. Nerves can affect eyesight on the day of the test and we certainly wouldn't want the test abandoned due to poor vision.

Driving Schools

There may come a point when you want your pupil to take some extra training or an assessment with a professional instructor. I would not recommend that you do this too soon, as the instructor’s method of training may differ from the way you’re doing it and this could confuse your learner. But once they’ve gone beyond the novice stages and are showing signs of independence, then that may be the time to seek the opinion of another person to help put the final polish on your work… but if you decide to do this then you should choose with care.

Approved Driving Instructors (ADIs), need to pass exams and be registered with the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) in order to charge for lessons. An ADI must display a pink (part qualified) or green (fully qualified) certificate on the windscreen of their car when they’re doing this.

Unfortunately, because of serious flaws in the DVSA testing process, a lot of people can easily qualify for the ADI register even though they’re not very good at what they do. There are many poor quality ADIs on the register, and once an instructor does get onto the register, even though they may be notoriously bad at what they do, the DVSA is either unwilling or powerless to do anything about it. An ADI may repeatedly bring a very poor standard for test, including dangerous candidates, but the DVSA rarely takes any serious action to remedy this.

The DVSA does operate a system of standards checks on ADIs; once every few years an examiner will sit in the back of a lesson to assess the instructor’s ability and award them a grade. But these ‘lessons’ can easily be rehearsed in advance and are all too easy to get around by those who know how to play the game.

Find out what grade your potential instructor is. On the older system which is now being updated, 6 is the highest, and I would not choose anyone with less than a grade 5. Grade 4 is too easy to obtain and anything below this is substandard. ADIs graded under the newer system will either get A, B or fail. To be on the safe side I would insist on someone with only the highest grade; but even that is no guarantee of quality.

You may see advertising where instructors are claiming to have proof of high pass rates, this may be true, but then again this is something which can easily be manipulated. An ADI’s personal number will be taken from their certificate when they bring someone for test, and the data from these tests is then compiled to produce statistics. A rogue instructor will simply remove their badge when they’re expecting a test failure and leave it in when they’re expecting a pass in order to make it look as though they have a higher percentage of passes than they actually do.

Another point to be aware of, especially with larger driving schools, is the variation in ability from one instructor to the next. A tutor employed by a school, is not necessarily one trained by that same establishment. Driving schools operate on a franchise basis and are willing to take on any instructor, regardless of ability. The new recruit, in return for paying a franchise fee, is then given a car with a famous name written all over it and sets off to work. The instructor's method of tuition is never checked before agreeing to the franchise so, as a result, you may go to what you believe is the best driving school in the country and end up with the worst instructor in town.

When choosing your driving school don't try to make any false economies. People often complain about the cost of driving lessons; but when you compare the cost of a one-hour session to the amount a plumber or mechanic would charge for an hour's work, driving lessons are not that expensive! You should avoid cheap lessons and special offers; a good instructor should not need to sell themselves cheaply.

A personal recommendation may sound great, but novice drivers generally have no idea what a good instructor is, or whether they’re being taught correctly. Too often people recommend their instructors because they’re ‘nice’, or they have a laugh with them. You need more than this in order to make an informed choice. It’s very difficult and I wish I could be more positive about this, but the only way I would trust a recommendation, is from pupils (and preferably several) who have already passed with an ADI. The vast majority of those people should be passing at first or second attempt in order to be trusted as evidence of good training.

You, the Instructor

Now, on to you as the instructor; are you prepared for what to expect? Too many friends and relatives who try teaching each other wind up arguing in the car, often because of a lack of patience and understanding from the qualified driver.

Patience is the keyword. Just because changing gear is second nature to you, don't expect a beginner to have the same ability. Things like co-ordinating the movements incorporated in a change of gear and deciding when a change is necessary can take time to develop. Think about how much practise you have had since your first lesson - practise can make complicated operations seem very simple.

Some experienced motorists fail to understand why learners have problems with apparently easy tasks such as moving off without stalling. This shows a lack of memory on their part. Try to recall the difficulties you had as a learner driver.

Remember how many times you stalled the car at traffic lights, the occasions you pulled out in front of another vehicle at the wrong moment and the times you were afraid to move at all. And the instructions you were given which you failed to hear or simply misunderstood and went on to do something entirely different. The number of attempts it