As I was enjoying my morning coffee, I decided to Google drivers test forums. Was I ever surprised at the amount of misinformation being spewed in these discussion forums! The advice that they are giving is actually dangerous. The worst one that comes to mind is someone that stated that if two vehicles come to a 4-way stop at the same time, the vehicle turning has the right of way. Wrong! In most jurisdictions the vehicle on the right (right of way) has the right of way.
Tips and Tricks
The driver examiner’s job is not to fail you – the examiner is simply evaluating your ability to drive safely. A common misconception is that driver examiners have to fail a certain percentage of new drivers, this is absolutely false! As a former driver examiner of 25 years, I can honestly tell you that I was never pressured to fail anyone. My job was to make sure that the driver was a safe and competent driver.
Nerves will kill you on a driving test. Try to relax (easier said than done).
Don’t speed and don’t drive too slowly. If you drive too fast you are breaking the law and you will probably fail your test. If you drive too slowly, you are a hazard to other drivers. If you affect traffic you will probably not pass your driving test.
The driver examiner is not supposed to trick you. Instructions are to be given well in advance of any maneuver. If you can not complete the maneuver safely (eg the examiner has asked you to make a left or right turn 20 feet from the intersection), simply ask if you can turn at the next intersection.
Do not memorize the test route. When I had the funny feeling that the applicant had memorized the test route, I simply changed it up. That would often throw the applicant for a loop. My argument has always been if you have the route memorized, I should place a restriction on your driver’s license – driver is restricted to driving on such and such driving test route. That would definitely restrict your ability to drive wherever you wanted. Let’s face it when you drive you never really know what you’ll come across; memorizing a test route is pointless; the examiner is evaluating your ability to deal with driving situations as they occur.
The most common reasons for failing a driver’s test are traffic violations (speeding, rolling stop signs, etc) and dangerous actions (unsafe lane change, leaving an intersection when unsafe, etc).
Check your attitude at the door. I’m sure that you’ve heard the old saying: “If you’re nice to me. I’ll be nice to you.” If you give the examiner attitude, you can be assured that he/she will be looking at your driving with eagle eyes.
Driver examiners do not fail you (you are driving, you fail) just because they want you to come back for another test. They have a job to do – to keep our roads safe. Driving is not a right; it is a privilege and quite frankly if you’re not a safe driver you will not get your driver’s license that day. If you fail your driving test, you’ve obviously done something wrong.
No, I’m not a grandfather yet. I just thought that I’d let you know that there is a new blog in Net Learning Solutions Inc library. I am now writing a blog entitled Teaching Your Kid. It is written for parents who want to teach their kids life skills that are not taught in school. Please check it out and leave a comment or two. Better yet, subscribe to it.
Writing three blogs(plus designing courses) does take up a lot of my time, but you can be assured that I will continue to update Teach Your Kid How To Drive on a regular basis.
How many traffic tickets have you had in the last two years? How many collisions have you had during the same period? If you have had even one in either category, you had better rethink teaching your kid how to drive. You see, your skills (or lack thereof) and attitude will rub off on your kid.
I know people that think that they aren’t bad drivers, because they have only gotten a couple of tickets in the last couple of years. If you get stopped by the police for a traffic violation (or a collision), your driving skills are in question. I’ll even suggest that you have a poor attitude toward driving rules and regulations. Combining poor skills and poor attitude only leads to one thing – an accident waiting to happen!
As a parent you have to take your kid’s driver education seriously; after all driving skills must be mastered to insure a lifetime of safe driving. Driver Education should be viewed as an introduction to safe driving skills and habits for the new driver, and a refresher course for parents. The problem is that most driving schools only involve the student. Street Smarts understands that parents play a vital part in driver education. If you are at all serious about making sure that your child acquires good driving skills and attitude, I would strongly suggest that you check out what Street Smarts has to offer.
I remember when we only had one phone. It sat on the kitchen counter and it was attached to a phone jack in the wall. We couldn’t walk around with it. Usually, we would stand at the kitchen counter or pull up a chair so that we could be comfortable when we chatted on the phone.
I remember when drivers were not distracted by phone calls, because, let’s face it, phones were not portable. People did not multitask as they do today. You see, drivers in the good old days were not distracted by voice and text messages as they are nowadays.
Drivers seem to think that they can talk on the phone or ever worse text message as they drive. They’ll tell you that they are quite capable of driving safely as they partake in this activities. They are only fooling themselves! Little do they realize that they are an accident waiting to happen.
Many jurisdictions have banned the use of cell phones in a moving motor vehicle. If you live in a place where cell phone use is still allowed in the car, I have some advice for you and your kid: Don’t answer the phone, don’t talk on the phone or text as you drive. You are responsible for the safety of yourself, your passengers, and quite frankly other road users – you must keep your full attention on the situation at hand.
I’ve been doing a lot of driving between Calgary and Banff during the last couple of weeks and I have to tell you that I have seen some very dangerous drivers out there.
These are some of the things that I have seen:
Tailgating
Tailgaters: following too closely is one of the leading causes of collisions. Tailgaters seem to think that the road belongs to them and that they can intimidate the other driver by riding their bumper. The worst case I saw of that was a couple weeks ago. I was a good ten seconds behind my son-in-law when an Alberta Sheriff got in between us ( he pulled an illegal u-turn across a double solid yellow line). The Sheriff proceeded to tailgate my son-in-law for several kilometers. Needless to say the intimidation factor made him nervous, he sped going downhill, which resulted in the sheriff catching his prey. Please don’t get me wrong; I have tremendous respect for law enforcement officials – I think what the sheriff did was an act of intimidation.
If someone tailgates you; you have two choices: slow down and encourage him to pass or make a lane change if possible and let him go on his merry way, but only if it is safe to do so.
To avoid tailgating you should keep a minimum 3 -second following distance between you and the car ahead (don’t use car lengths, because it is impossible to judge car lengths at any speed). Pick a stationary object (light pole, sign, etc) as you approach it count “steamboats” or ‘mississippis”, if you reach the object before you have counted 3 steamboats/mississippis you are too close.
Speeding
Plain and simple, speed kills! People don’t seem to understand that the faster you go, the less control of the vehicle you have (simple law of physics).
The maximum speed limit is for your safety and the safety of all road users.
Stay in the right lane and allow speeders to pass in the left lane.
Drive for the weather and road conditions. The maximum speed limit is only for ideal driving and weather conditions.
Lane Changing/Passing
Changing lanes at high speeds can be dangerous if not done with a high degree of safety. Small, gentle moments on the steering wheel are necessary to effectuate a lane change at high speeds.
Passing on a high speed road is extremely dangerous. My rule of thumb is to pass only if it appears that the car approaching in the opposite direction is standing still ( if it appears that it is moving the vehicle is too close).
Once you’ve passed the vehicle only move back into the lane once you can clearly see the vehicle in your rearview mirror and you have shoulder checked to ensure a safe following distance between you and the other driver.
These tips are meant for you to have a safe and enjoyable driving experience this summer. Stay safe and subscribe to Teach Your Kid How To Drive.
As I was driving around yesterday, all I could think of was the line made famous by the movie The Sixth Sense: “I see dead people.” I wasn’t seeing dead people; I was seeing stupid drivers!
What is it with drivers lately? Do they not understand that driving is a complicated task that requires their undivided attention? Are they so bad behind the wheel, because of society’s attitude toward driving? You know the attitude that I’m talking about: ” Driving is a right.” No it is not! It is a privilege! If you can’t be responsible, then you have no right to drive. Unfortunately, there are too many stupid drivers that think that it is their right to drive any which way they want – after all the road belongs to them! We have to share the road with these people, unfortunately we have to make up for their mistakes.
Parents please take the time to discuss with your kid the importance of an attitude of safe driving. They might just turn out to be a good driver one day.
I spent 25 years in driver education. In those 25 years, I did not see any driving schools attempt to change the way in which driving lessons were delivered. It has been 8 years since I left the industry and I have noticed a few attempt to change their approach to drivers’ ed. To them I say: “Bravo!” To the others that continue to do the same old, same old, I say: “What the hell is wrong with you? You are no better than puppy mills.”
The current system of drivers’ ed allows students to be licensed (and on the road) after completing anywhere from 10-15 hours of driving supervised by a driving instructor. It’s really sad that society seems to accept this. You see, most people seem to think that it’s OK to allow an inexperienced driver to learn on his or her own. It’s OK if your kid gets into a collision or two, whilst he/she is learning ropes, isn’t it? Parents who think that way need to give their heads a vigorous shake!
Driving schools if you don’t see the opportunity that is right in front of you; I’ll spell it out for you. Most driving schools schedule a student’s driving lessons over a one week period. My suggestion is to schedule two lessons in the first week, this will give the student a wee bit of skill and confidence. In between the scheduled lessons the student practices driving with mom and dad (do you see another business opportunity? Offer coaching sessions for parents). The wise driving school owner will see that spacing out the student’s lessons over several weeks or months (offer practice sessions for a fee for those parents who just can’t coach their kid) will increase cash flow, as well as the school’s reputation, and it will allow the student to improve his/her driving school.
My challenge to driving schools is for each and every school in North America to become the agent of change in their respective communities. Go out and make the world a better and safer place.
By the way, if you need help putting together such a program, contact me, I’d be more than happy to help you change the industry.
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I got your attention didn’t I? You see there is a saying in the driver ed industry: “There are two things that you can not tell someone; one is that they are a bad lover, the other is that they are a bad driver.” I wouldn’t dare comment on either point, but I will let you decide if you are a bad driver.
GMAC discovered that 38 million American drivers may be unsafe drivers. You can read the article here. After you have read the article, I want you to try GMAC’s test. It won’t take you long to do it, there are only 20 questions. Click on this link for the test.
So how did you do? Are you a good driver? A bad driver? Let’s face it, whether you are a good or a bad driver, you will eventually teach your kid how to drive. In a perfect world driving schools would design their courses in such a way that parents wouldn’t have to spend time practicing driving with their kids, but we don’t live in a perfect world. Parents this is what you need to do…
Go to Street Smarts and register for Driving Coach 101 (this is an affiliate link). It will cost you $49.95 – money well spent if you consider that you are helping your kid acquire a lifelong skill.
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I had to laugh when I was at the drugstore today; as I was walking out a book caught my eye – Pass Your Driving Test: 200 Questions That Will Help You Pass Your Test. How can you guarantee that someone will pass their test? There are no guarantees!
Passing a driving test is dependent on three things:
Knowledge of the rules of the road
Skill
Practice – the more practice you get, the greater your chance is of doing well on the test.
Parents, I can’t say this enough: 10-12 hours of driving lessons does not make a competent driver. Driving lessons give the learner the basic skill set required to safely manoeuvre a vehicle. Practice (many hours of practice) will help your kid feel competent and safe behind the wheel.
Let’s face it, most parents are nervous when it comes to letting their kid practice driving. If this is the case, I strongly suggest that you consider taking the course Driving Coach 101 from Street Smarts.
Teach Your Kid How To Drive now advertises the Driver Ed programs offered through Street Smarts Interactive LLC. Street Smarts is an award winning company (see Parents’ Choice article), that is dedicated to driver safety education for both teens and parents. Many driving schools seem to not understand that parents are also part of the driver education equation – Street Smarts understands the role of parent and teen in driver safety.
Why Street Smarts?
Driving Coach 101 provides parents with the best driver education coaching tools available.
The driver ed tools offered by Street Smarts have been created by experts in instructional design and internet technology. As an instructional designer, myself, I have seen a lot of poor quality courses. This by far, is the best out there.
Street Smarts consults with academics, professional drivers, and law enforcement officials. This in itself shows you how seriously they take driver education.
Street Smarts actively seeks out the opinions of teenagers and parents through focus groups.
Peace of mind, knowing that you will learn from the best in the industry. If you are at all interested, click on the advertisement at the top of the blog page and visit Street Smarts.
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