Category: Info

So you're safe to drive now ...?

1/3/2017

I've been published !

9/9/2014

The article with the Darth Vader pic, on p20; that's me. To quote the blurb: "Another new series of articles track the trials and tribulations of a new member of the driving instructor fraternity. Following on from our series last year looking at the challenges and honest impressions of a learner driver, here we look at the trainee driving instructor, why this industry, what he expects, and what is actually delivered on the road to becoming an ADI." I hope it can help others considering this career.

"Fast eyes & brain; slow hands & feet"

19/8/2014

We have so many mantras, us instructors. "Tyres & Tarmac", "What comes before a signal?", etc, etc. Most of mine are here. But this is a new one; well, new-ish.

Whenever you're driving, get your eyes actively hunting for information on what's coming up or changing; your brain sifting all that, prioritizing it; and only then let it send a message to your hands (to adjust direction) or feet (to adjust speed).

Flood damage

20/7/2014

Here's a very topical shower of advice. There is another page of help on this site, but the point is worth making again, and "there's more than one way to skin a cat" (as the English say). Not to be confused with "enough room to swing a cat". Yes, we are a nation of animal lovers, after all.

If "twenty's plenty", is thirty ... shirty?

8/7/2014

The great speed limit debate. I had a useful, and VERY thorough conversation with officers of the City Council a couple of weeks ago.

We discussed such aspects as: (1) who will police speeding cyclists; (2) how will statisticians interpret the possible INCREASE in traffic accidents during the pilot scheme, as pedestrians misread vehicles' intentions; (3) what will be the realistic reactions of local residents after the major disruption of all that new signage and road-marking; (4) might someone write a handy app, for road users to download, which 'silently' gathers anonymous movements data (instead of relying on labour-intensive monitoring, or crude and posthumous accident stats); (5) within a decade, will there be even further major disruption (and cost!) if the national urban speed limit is 'found to be better' at 20mph instead of 30mph.

I missed making a written contribution to the consultation deadline, but noted that there is another way. I've yet to read all that. Perhaps you'd like to?

Danger: overhang !

1/7/2014

If you do need to park diagonal to the kerb, bear in mind your front overhangs more than your back. (That's the extent of the car beyond the front or rear axle).

Because most modern cars are designed to slope slightly forward, the front "spoiler" (the plastic part of the bodywork, beneath the bumper) will be closer to the kerb or grass that at the rear. As you can see, there's a real danger of bending or snapping that part. And, while they're designed to be springy, they can crack.

Replacements are expensive. So move forward carefully when parking face-in toward the kerb. Proceed very cautiously, just as when doing a turn-in-the-road (and for the same reason). You you then can hear, or feel, the car make contact with the grass verge, and stop before you do yourself costly damage !

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