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May 28, 2010
Develop good driving habits
Two instructors share their approaches to teaching people to drive.
JEANIE KEOGH
Life is a highway. But for inexperienced drivers not on it yet, the prospect of merging onto that highway is nothing short of terrifying. Driving instructors Jason Shore and Pamela Turner point out the blind spots of new drivers and report some of the common faults that experienced drivers make on the road.
Shore has operated his home-based Kitsilano Driving Academy for nearly seven years and is known for his patient approach and his success rate as a teacher.
“I get people learning to drive without being too strict with them. I try to explain situations as best I can, but I realize that everyone operates differently. I get some people who come in and take to it very, very quickly and other people aren’t going to take to it too quickly and I’ve just got to be patient with them,” he said.
The challenge, Shore said, is dealing with the impatience of other drivers who have forgotten what their first days in the driver’s seat felt like when they are following a car with the embossed “N” stuck to its back window.
“Who’s the last person you want in front of you? Someone under instruction,” he joked.
For the person learning to drive, the negativity of other drivers doesn’t make learning any easier.
“For that individual, it’s information overload because they’re trying to concentrate on the development of their own skill: how to get the car moving, how to steer, where to look....”
Shore tries to steer away from making the process too scientific and helps people rely on practical intuition.
“What has to be the prominent aspect of driving is common sense rather than following every rule to the Nth degree, because it doesn’t really work in reality,” he said.
The other thing to keep in mind is taking things slowly. Often people expect to become expert drivers in a month, he said.
“I sometimes use the analogy that if you’re an airline pilot and you announce to the passengers that you only have a few hours flying experience, I’m sure they’d feel a bit nervous going across oceans or continents. So you’ve got to build up enough hours of experience, because it’s not just about passing the test, you’ve got to drive the following day. I don’t instruct just for test purposes, but to build safe driving habits,” he said.
As for unsafe driving habits, Shore said he routinely sees experienced drivers running yellow lights, speeding and failing to read signs.
New drivers can take some solace in that everyone makes mistakes. Even Shore has been pulled over by a police officer – when he was first learning Canadian rules of the road after moving here from his native England.
Turner started up her one-woman business Let’s Drive just three months ago, after working for 24 years at a large driving school. Running her own school has allowed her to tailor lessons more toward alternative learning styles and adapting the program to suit each individual student driver, something a larger school can’t usually offer.
Her learner-centred approach is geared toward helping those with learning disabilities, nervous drivers or those who have a driving phobia become confident on the road. She also works with seniors and new Canadians who are having problems getting their licence or retaining their licence.
“The larger driving schools deliver a program and expect that every student is going to fit into that program, so the end result is that the student hasn’t necessarily learned everything that they need to do or need to know before they complete your program. In that kind of a program, you take them on the highway because it’s lesson five and that’s what you’re supposed to do. They may not even be able to drive straight down the road yet,” said Turner.
That her business is accelerating is a sign of her reputation in the industry. She is one of two instructors in the province who are certified to give lessons to driving instructors who want to upgrade their skills. As well, more than 100 ICBC-approved driving schools in the province use a curriculum Turner designed.
To evaluate whether students are ready for their road test, Turner checks to make sure they are truly in the driver’s seat – making all their decisions without prompting, predicting what other drivers might do and being aware of their total driving environment.
Like Shore, Turner also focuses on developing good driving habits that won’t go by the wayside once her students get their full licence.
“I actually try to remind people that the driving test is actually a very low bar to pass,” she said.
Turner said she sees a lot of experienced drivers following too closely and thinking their own driving skills are better than they are in reality.
“Most people that drive for a long time aren’t fully present when they’re driving,” she said.
If you’re looking for a driving instructor or more information, contact Shore at 604-738-5565 or [email protected] or call Turner at 604-970-2811.
Jeanie Keogh is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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