Young males might need most coaching, but we can all become better drivers. John Whitmore sets some useful questions to ponder behind the wheel.
I write this week apropos of my article about risks, rights and responsibilities, with a particular focus on the disproportionate number of young men killed in road accidents.
The Hermes European Driver Education project recently held a three-day event at Goodwood circuit in West Sussex to further explore the methods and benefits of replacing traditional instruction with more advanced coaching methods, in order to build a sense of self-responsibility in young learner drivers.
Experts from the Driving Standards Agency, the a2om driver education team, the Metropolitan Police Driving School at Hendon and others, including a certain Paul Ripley, Telegraph Motoring’s erstwhile safer driving expert, were invited to attend. The consensus reached was very encouraging, and research into the adaptation and adoption of a coaching method for driver training (as opposed to mere instruction) is moving ahead fast. Expert coaching involves asking questions that oblige the learner to think or discover for himself, rather than telling him what to do (which is sadly still what most sports coaches do).
Of course a driving coach is always present to ensure safety, but his questions are designed to increase the learner’s self awareness and his sense of responsibility for himself and the external situation, thus developing his capacity for emotional self-management. Most young men learn to control a car far more easily than they learn to control their emotions. The desire to show off, compete, take risks and be aggressive is their greatest weakness – and the greatest danger.
Below are some of the questions that a coach might use in a variety of different driving situations to stimulate higher mental and emotional engagement in the learning process. A learner, or any driver for that matter, can also ask himself these questions and thereby self-coach. I invite readers to experiment with them and their effect, and to explore others that might go further to build awareness, responsibility and safety for themselves and others. Driving instructors will in time need to be retrained to use this coaching process, and you can help contribute to a bank of useful questions and the understanding of their beneficial effects.
Self-coaching before a journey
What preparation do I need to do before I set out? (Fuel, oil, music, Bluetooth phone, map, sat-nav etc).
How much time have I allowed for the journey?
How realistic is it?
How long did it take last time?
What could delay me?
If it did, what would I do?
How much does being late really matter?
With what quality would I like to drive? (Smoothness, calmness, consideration etc).
How might I experience that?
How could I monitor and assess it?
During the journey
What do I notice outside? (Road awareness, but in finer detail than usual).
What is the temperature?
What are the road surfaces like?
What is the visibility?
How far ahead am I looking?
Can I give a running commentary on everything I observe for a minute or two?
Inside the car, what is my comfort level? (Seat, steering and pedal positions; shoes, clothing, temperature etc).
What is the least comfortable part of my body?
How tightly am I gripping the wheel?
Where is my clutch foot resting?
How relaxed are my toes?
What about my back, neck and shoulders?
What internal interference am I suffering: how anxious, pressured or frustrated do I feel? (The use of a 1-10 scale is recommended here, and can be revisited several times during the journey).
What else am I feeling emotionally or physically: tiredness, distraction, boredom etc?
How do I rate (from 1-10) my chosen driving quality for the journey now and several times more as I go?
The moment a diversion, congestion, delay, slow driver or vehicle appears, what is my emotional reaction and where do I experience that in my body?
How long does it persist?
What do I feel when I am overtaken by an inferior car or a faster driver?
After the journey
What am I feeling now?
What happened with regard to the driving quality I chose?
What could I have done to make the journey more pleasant?
What could I do differently next time?
What can I learn about my journey or my driving from the experience?
At a later time, for further reflection
Other than in terms of practical transport, how do I benefit from my driving?
What attitudes and behaviours in my driving would I like to change?
How could I become more relaxed, smooth, alert, aware etc?
What would be the personal qualities and attributes of the ideal road driver?
How could I develop more of them?
What person, living or dead, or what animal, is an expression of the qualities I would like to possess and reflect when I am driving, or even in life?
What kind of car would best suit the quality of driving I want?
A question for drivers who have difficulty managing their attitude, especially new, young, male drivers: in what circumstances do I become competitive or want to show off?
How do passengers affect my attitude and my driving?
Would most young women be attracted to a good, safe driver or to a macho one? (In fact 87 per cent would choose the safe driver).
What would be the impact on you, your passengers, your family and other victims if you caused a major accident involving injuries or death?
What would you feel if you killed a child?
And for how long?
What are the benefits of keeping a clean licence?
For every question I have posed here, there are many more, but they serve to illustrate the nature of coaching. Which do you think would be useful or helpful? Their purpose is to raise awareness and to increase your experience of choice and responsibility.
The process of improvement will occur naturally, automatically, as you drive with higher quality input or feedback from what you see, hear and feel, and there is very little need for analysis afterwards, even of the reflective questions. The responses are entirely your own. The opinions, the “shoulds†and “correct†answers of parents or driving instructors (informed or not), while intended to be helpful, more often have the opposite effect.
They negate self-responsibility and often evoke rebellious reactions. It is self-realisation that really sinks in and sticks. It is through this focus on building self-responsibility over time that our young drivers, their passengers and other road users, including pedestrians, will become safer, not through more admonitions of what not to do or when to look in the mirror or how to turn the steering wheel or push the pedals. Try it. But don’t be half-hearted; either do it with focused attention or not at all. And then let me know what you discover.
You may report your findings by clicking here or by post c/o the Motoring Desk, The Daily Telegraph, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT
Source: The Telegraph website 02/05/08, By John Whitmore
Comments please from driving instructors and driving schools who are BADDIA (Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association) members giving driving lessons, Pass Plus, advanced lessons, automatic lessons, disabled lessons, towing lessons, refresher courses, motorway lessons, fleet training in preparation for driving tests or driver improvement in the Bedford area.
