Driving Instruction Phase 2

In the second half of the test the examiner will always play the role of a learner driver in the trained stage, that is about test standard. Exercise 5 in Pre-Set Test 6( parking using reverse gear) may be an exception, usually you will not need to give him a briefing. It will be a matter of finding fault with some aspect of his driving which he has previously been taught but is not doing correctly.

At the end of the first phase the examiner will say something along the lines, 'That is the end of that exercise, I would now like to give you a couple of minutes to think about the next one. I would like you to imagine that I am a totally different character and I have a driving test in two weeks from now. I would like you to instruct me on. Here he will mention one of he following exercises:

Exercise 5. parking using reverse gear

Exercise 7. approaching road junctions turning left or right mainly from major roads into minor road

Exercise 8. a pupil with poor judgement of speed who also has difficulty with positioning the vehicle correctly in normal driving

Exercise 9. approaching road junctions turning left or right mainly from minor roads into major roads

Exercise 10 dealing with crossroads in particular emerging when proceeding ahead, turning right and turning left

Exercise 11 Here the examiner will pick any two of the first four mentioned below plus awareness and anticipation
meeting other vehicles;
crossing the path of approaching vehicles;
overtaking other vehicles;
allowing adequate clearance to vehicles and other road users.

Awareness and anticipation is always included because none of the exercises can be taught without being aware and anticipating, otherwise we would be guilty of driving without due care and attention. We would also be driving without showing due care and consideration for other road users.

12 dealing with pedestrian crossings and how to give signals correctly by indicators and by arm. So will you instruct me on that (whatever the subject mentioned) and if you see any other faults in my driving will you correct them as well?

After he has recorded his impressions of your performance in the first half, he will announce that he is ready. The thing to do is to treat him in the same way as you would treat any other pupil who you had not previously met.You would begin by introducing yourself and establishing first name terms. Next you need to find out what needs to be corrected, this will be found by asking one or two questions then seeing him drive.

In addition to correcting any mistakes made in control, judgement, or road procedure, you need to find out how he is reading the road. Remember he should be reading the road quite well and we shouldn't need to point out hazards. We should also remember although he is at test standard, he still has limited experience and in a true life situation we would still be responsible in law for his actions.

To keep ourselves out of trouble without pointing out hazards, we will need to ask effective questions to solicit feedback of his observations. For example, imagine you are driving along, ahead of you are some parked vehicle on the left creating a zone of invisibility on your nearside. There are also a number of oncoming vehicle which are restricting your view to the right. Between the vehicles you have seen the black and white stripes of a zebra crossing, because of your restricted visibility you are unsure whether there are any pedestrians intending to cross. In this situation if we say nothing, the result could well be the pupil approaching the crossing too fast, failing to stop, or last minute hard braking leading to a rear end shunt. On seeing the partial view of the zebra crossing I would ask the pupil "What are you anticipating?" or "Can you see anything which could affect our progress?" If you receive the answer, "I cannot see all of the zebra crossing, I need more information so I am checking the mirrors and reducing speed." You have received feedback that the pupil is acting correctly, so you can give him deserved praise. On the other hand if you receive an answer which has no relevance, then there will be no time to waste. You would bring his attention to the pending potential danger and instruct him to adjust his speed as necessary. You must now regard this as a serious fault, because you have taken verbal action to prevent, what could have developed into a serious situation. As soon as it is safe and convenient to pull up, ask him to do so. Then ask, "Had you seen the pedestrian crossing before I mentioned it?" If he hadn't seen it then you need to know why. Do not accept any excuses, you had seen it and he should have seen it so he has a serious fault in his observations if he says he didn't see it. You will then have to take steps to improve his powers of observation. Alternatively if he says he had seen it, ask him why he wasn't doing something positive about it. Do not just let the incident go without correction. Find the root cause and deal with it giving him appropriate remedial action.

In phase two some PDI’s are reluctant to return to basic instruction when necessary for the fear of being accused of treating the pupil as a novice in the trained stage. So let us examine this. Suppose your pupil is stopping on approach to all junctions controlled by giveway lines before he attempts to take observations to the right and left. He is obviously being unduly hesitant. After stopping him at the side of the road, you ask him why is he stopping at each junction before he attempts to look either right or left? He then gives a simple answer such as, "I have always done it that way." You explain that he is only required to stop if it is necessary to give way to traffic on the major road. If he can emerge safely without causing drivers of approaching vehicle to swerve or reduce speed he should do so. The explanation is accepted and you watch him at the next junction and he emerges too fast looking only to the right and his left foot is on the floor of the car when in your opinion he should have been slipping the clutch. So now you have corrected one fault and developed another. You again explain to him why he is wrong and how it can be potentially dangerous. When giving the remedial action he questions your comments on slipping the clutch and tells you that you shouldn't do that, because that is coasting. It has now become obvious you will have to go back to basic instruction to rectify his concepts. He obviously cannot draw the line between using the clutch for what it is intended and coasting. Unless you clear up this matter correctly your instruction will not be at the correct level. In this case the pupil needs to have these differences explained or he will never drive correctly. So do not be afraid of giving instruction if it is obvious it is required. To give basic instruction in the second phase before a need as been established, would certainly be wrong because you are not assessing the pupil's capabilities.

During the second phase you should keep asking yourself, would this pupil pass his test if he was to drive for the examiner as he is driving for me. If you think he needs more practice or he has faults of any kind, then you have some work to do. At the end of the exercise the examiner may well ask you, "How do you think I will go on when I take my test, do you think I will pass?" Now this is a loaded question. If you believe and say, "You need more practice you are not doing such a thing correctly." Then you might ask yourself why haven't I corrected him, he did ask me to do so. I think you can now work out for yourself what your result will be. If you say something along the lines, "Well you did have a fault with your ( whatever it was) but we have corrected that. So if you keep on top of it and drive for the examiner like you have driven for me, I can see no reason why you shouldn't be successful." If that is in fact true then you may well have passed the second phase. However, if it is untrue, and the examiner has been committing faults which you have not corrected for one reason or another, then you are saying. If you pass me I will be one of those instructors who takes learners to a test centre with no hope of passing.

I can assure you there are too many of that type already, there is no call for any more.