Customer Complaint

Oh dear! It doesn’t happen very often but I’ve upset a customer. If there is a complaint it would normally come from the pupil, because sometimes pupil and instructor just don’t get on and I am happy to change instructors to keep the customer happy. It is very important that pupils feel they are gaining from their instruction and there is no risk of damage to their confidence. In this instance, and I think it is a first, it is the mother. She has decided her son is not making enough progress after 10 hours of lessons and having taken her son out for driving practise, she is not satisfied as she feels he should have dealt with more demanding traffic situations than just basics. She suggested her son’s instructor was deliberately making slow progress for personal gain and said also during our telephone conversation, that other parents with recently trained sons and daughters agreed with her. In our defence I said her son’s instructor was very experienced and thorough. She retorted “at what cost?” I sent the following e-mail to my instructor:- “I've had a call from Mrs . . . . She has expressed concern at her son's lack of progress. She says that after 10 hours of lessons he hasn't done roundabouts, traffic lights and you still drive him to and from home to Surbiton. Unfortunately she has been talking to other parents and has implied you are deliberately making progress slowly. I of course defended you, referring to your thorough training program and high pass rate but she retorted "At what cost?" I said I would raise her concerns with you but I think she is going to request change of instructor. It seems she is being influenced by the unsupported stories of other people and is putting cost before safe driving. Have you had any feedback from the son suggesting he is unhappy with his driving lessons?” I had suggested a change of instructor may be the best way forward, but after approaching the instructor in question and his response, I changed my mind. Apparently his pupil had shown no sign of dissatisfaction and the problem was emanating from the mother. The integrity of my instructor and therefore my driving school was being challenged. If I were to change instructors, there may still be a problem with this lady disrupting the learning process. I informed her by e-mail I would not recommend a change of instructor and was withdrawing instruction for her son. She has sent me an e-mail by return attacking my professionalism and conduct accusing me of being offensive and insulting. This of course was never my intention. Whenever I receive a complaint about a driving instructor I will always follow it up and act in the best interests of the pupil, but I have every right to defend myself and that of my instructors from any accusation based on the opinion of somebody who is not a qualified driving instructor and on the unsubstantiated hearsay of others. Such opinions might be better directed to the Driving Standards Agency who oversee the industry as a whole, including the grading of driving instructors and their ability to teach. What has really upset this lady is in her own words – “at what cost?” She made the comment – not me! And it is staring her in the face that quality of instruction has been placed second to the cost of the process. Unfortunately it has backfired. She now has to find another driving instructor, who I doubt is as successful as my instructor. Her son will also have to get used to another instructor’s method of teaching in a different car. Hopefully the interruption will only be temporary and he goes on to pass his driving test at the first attempt. With the grounding he has had from my instructor as well as his new instructor, let’s hope he develops in to a safe driver.

I'm a Pedestrian

Now that I’ve reached the dizzy heights of 65 and in receipt of a pension, I am looking at getting used to an ever increasing older age and its limitations - and that includes driving – or the lack of it!

Every UK citizen from the age of 60 is currently entitled to a “Freedom Pass” from the government allowing free travel on public transport and this is something I finally applied for recently. Living within the area of London Transport, I find I have a huge opportunity to travel the length and breadth of our capital city without charge using London Buses, the Underground and British Rail. No fuel costs, no traffic jams, no parking restrictions – it’s marvellous; at least while I am fit enough to get around on foot!

I have been a driver for over 40 years, rarely using public transport. I’ve notched up nigh on a million miles over my working life and I am having to learn bus and rail procedures, times and routes. It certainly gives me a more focused insight into surviving as a pedestrian. I’ve already had one brush with a 4-wheel drive – my fault entirely – I was waiting to cross with others at a busy traffic light controlled junction and for some reason unknown to me, I looked the wrong way and stepped onto the road. As I did so, I looked to the right just in time to avoid stepping into the path of this 4-wheel drive accelerating across the junction.

I was completely in the wrong but I must point out that the driver of the 4-wheel drive made no allowance for pedestrian error as he shot across the junction. Elderly people and the young are the most vulnerable and a safe driver should make allowances and perhaps drive with a little more caution in the presence of pedestrians. If I hadn’t looked to my right I would have been hit and the risk of an accident could be reduced with more driver awareness. It has certainly brought home to me the vulnerability of the pedestrian.

Sadly, many drivers fail to anticipate the actions of pedestrians and this is one reason why many zebra crossings are being replaced by traffic-light controlled pelican or puffin crossings. Drivers today have the added distraction of sat navs, mobile phones and texts and it’s no wonder fatalities and serious accidents have increased during this last year reversing the trend of the last decade or so. Be vigilant. You cannot rely on them seeing you.

Private Lessons

I had a call from a young lad’s mother the other day requesting a couple of driving lessons before her son took his driving test in a few weeks time. She said he’d had 10 hours lessons with both parents and was ready for his driving test. I shuddered at the thought! 10 hours no way. If they were 2-hourly lessons it was still pushing it with just 20 hours training – and without professional guidance! I declined saying we had no instructors available. I felt they were just trying to cut corners, by-pass a professional driving instructor apart from using us for a couple of hours just for driving test guidance.

She didn’t give up and e-mailed me a second time, so I offered the pupil to my instructors in the area and Graeme came back to me and took the details. After a 1-hour lesson, Graeme explained to the pupil, that he was nowhere near ready for the driving test, offered some advise for further preparation and refused to accompany him on test. He also advised the mother of what was needed. We heard no more.

It is clear to me Mum was looking at her son’s driving with “rose-tinted glasses" and not recognising safety issues. Like many who practise without a driving instructor, there is a distinct lack of highway code discipline, especially regarding use of mirrors, checking the blind spot before moving away and lane discipline (keep to the left). The driving test examiner judges how a test candidate applies the highway code over a set route for 35-40 minutes, so if the trainer doesn't adhere to the highway code when they drive, how can they teach a new driver to pass a driving test? This is why the pass rate for non-driving instructor test candidates is much poorer, a false economy.

It makes more sense to use the skills of a driving instructor who is fully up-to-date with the ever increasing demands of the UK driving test, than risk passing on bad habits just to save a few pounds – and finish up spending more following a failed driving test.

Dealing with Buses

Must get past! That is the first thought of many drivers as they find themselves following a bus. The Highway Code states a driver should give way to public service vehicles but of course this could mean a few seconds delay on a journey and for many this is not acceptable. So the poor bus driver is left stuck at a bus stop with right indicator on and vehicles doing their best to get past with little thought for road safety or basic good manners.

What are the dangers around a bus at a bus stop? They block your view and you may not see a passenger alight and cross the road in front of the bus. Okay, so you say they shoudn’t cross there, but it is the pedestrian who gets hurt and an aware driver will anticipate this type of situation arising and pass a bus a little slower so that there is more time to react to a developing hazard. Then there is the pedestrian running (across the road) to catch the bus before it moves away. Try to remember when you are/were a bus traveller. You probably did exactly the same – so plan for it and don’t get caught out.

The bus is an automatic vehicle. This means the driver has to apply the footbrake before he can select “drive.” In other words, the brake lights come on. So, if you are approaching a stationery bus and his brake lights come on you can anticipate he intends to move away. Then the signal comes on, but because you are ready for it there is no problem as the bus driver moves off.

When I approach a bus at a bus stop and I see he wishes to move away, I will often just edge a little to the left and the bus driver will recognise in his door mirror that I am not moving out to overtake and it gives him a few more seconds to see he can move away (saving me a few seconds also). I leave plenty of following distance. This makes it easier to see beyond the bus and recognise problems and restrictions much earlier. It takes away any risk of sudden braking and protects me by giving the driver behind me (who is invariably too close) more time to respond.

The oncoming bus will need more space moving around parked vehicles. Very often they will signal to say "I need to move over to the right" It’s just so much easier for everybody if you just to hold back a little and allow the bus driver to swing wide and come ahead before meeting the bus in the restricted road. A little forethought saves so much grief!

I’ve covered bus lanes before. Do remember the times of operation are clearly shown on the blue road sign on approach to the bus lane. There are times when some bus lanes can be used.

Be careful (and considerate) out there.

"A Watchful Eye"

I took a phone call from a prospective pupil the other day. She was complaining about her present instructor – not Hamilton, I hasten to add! It seems he regularly used his mobile phone while instructing, though obviously not instructing because his mind was at times elsewhere. I was sympathetic with her and said I understood her frustration, pointing out it is illegal for a driving instructor, in charge of the vehicle to take or make hand held phone calls. I was able to organise a Hamilton instructor for her and I understand from feedback from our instructor she is much happier now.

Another recent conversation with a parent revealed an instructor who apparently had been making inappropriate comments to her daughter during lessons. The instructor was asking about her boyfriend and seemed to be looking at her rather than the road. The pupil, a vulnerable 17-year old, was beginning to feel uncomfortable and fearing her lessons. Thank goodness she told her mother and by contacting me we have able to arrange one of my driving instructors to look after her daughter. I asked him to call her direct to allay any concerns and lessons have now been set up with her daughter. I advised the mother to contact the Driving Standards Agency to make a formal complaint. She had spoken to the previous driving school, who apparently said there had been no previous problems with this instructor. The impression is the matter is going no further and the instructor is free to abuse his position as an instructor with other vulnerable young girls.

Safety checks have been set up to protect vulnerable young people. All instructors have to have Criminal Record Checks (CRB) before a license to instruct is issued or renewed. All instructors have to have a “check test” every 2-4 years to examine their instructional ability. Unfortunately nothing is full proof and a few can slip through the net. All I can advise is that every parent or guardian should keep a watchful eye on how driving lessons are conducted and that the new driver feels they are gaining from the experience without any sense of discomfort. If anything seems out of place – change instructors! I don’t wish to appear alarmist as most instructors conduct themselves professionally for the good of the pupil and the successful transition from new driver to fully qualified is an ongoing process throughout the UK. The vast majority of new drivers pass (maybe not the first time) without any serious problems, I just ask any parent to be watchful.

Checktest

Checktest

I recently had a checktest. This is a test of instructional ability carried out by the Driving Standards Agency to make sure driving instructors are performing up to a required standard. At the end of the checktest the instructor is graded between 1 and 6. Grades 1,2 and 3 are unsatisfactory and would require another checktest within a short space of time and if there were no improvement, could lead to the instructor losing their license to instruct for payment. Grades 4,5 and 6 are acceptable, 6 being the highest grade attainable. No further checktest required for 2 to 4 years depending on the grade attained.

The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) prefers to assess an actual lesson with the supervising examiner sitting in the back of the car during a driving lesson. Where the instructor is unable to provide a pupil, DSA will accept role-play with the supervising examiner acting in the role of a pupil.

Either way the instructor has the advantage of choosing the topic for instruction, so he/she is not unprepared for the lesson. As my personal instruction is far less now and I spend much of my time in the running of the driving school, I chose role-play.

At the appointed time and day, I met up with the supervising examiner and he gave me an outline of his role-play pupil. As we set off to find the car. I made sure I didn’t have to actually check his license or eyesight before starting the driving lesson and I checked very carefully he was okay to drive from the main road. Normally, I would never allow this, preferring to find a quiet road to introduce the car and its controls. His role was near test standard so it wasn’t a problem.

The supervising instructor will drive with some driving faults and he/she is looking for these to be identified and corrected. Where I went wrong was not in the identification but in my response. Basically he was driving a little too fast on approach to junctions, I didn’t feel it was a serious problem and referred to it on a number of occasions but he continued to drive the same way. I should have pulled him over and explained in more detail the problems that can occur when driving too fast for given situations. End result I was given a grade 5. I’m okay with that and felt it was a fair result. No further checktest for another 4 years – hopefully!

Motorway Pile-Up

Yet again! Yes, a tragedy with the loss of 7 lives and 51 injured: 37 vehicles including 3 lorries ploughing into each other on the northbound section of the M5 near Taunton. It was last Friday evening 4th November at 8.30pm that the mayhem leading to a fireball took place.

The police investigation is focusing on a nearby Guy Fawkes bonfire display. Witnesses have been referring to smoke drifting across the M5 carriageways seriously affecting visibility. The conditions were bad enough with wet roads following rain and fog patches in places, and I read on teletext yesterday somebody observing that it was an unlit section of motorway that added to the series of vehicles crashing into each other.

I don’t wish to make light of a dreadful incident with a play on words but reference to smoke, fog, wet conditions and lighting is just a smoke screen. If people drove at a speed to suit the conditions and left a SAFE FOLLOWING DISTANCE, none of this would have happened. I see it every day as I drive around my local A3 Kingston-Upon-Thames, a three-lane each way dual carriageway. Drivers exceeding the 50mph speed limit (between cameras) and just driving too close with no anticipation of a sudden change or heavy braking leading to the potential ensuing chaos. Why don’t they learn!!

Unfortunately provisional license holders are not allowed on motorways and don’t get the training for dealing with higher speeds. The vast majority of drivers are never tested again for the remainder of their driving adult years and there is not enough policing, let alone penalties for bad and dangerous driving. It really is a recipe for disaster and this continues to be the case.

I would like to see the Government take action to educate drivers. The recent demise of Sir Jimmy Saville reminds me of a TV campaign he championed back in the 70’s when the dangers of not wearing a seatbelt were highlighted by a peach being struck with a hammer. The Jimmy Saville phrase “clunk, click every trip” became widely recognised and contributed to the resultant reduction in injuries and fatalities, just showing how successful this type of “persuasion” can be. Why can’t the Government take up the mantel for “following distances” The benefits to the economy, emergency services and a reduction in the dreadful loss to friends and family would be huge and more than compensate for any financial outlay.

All the Government are considering at the moment is raising the speed limit to 80mph!!!