“Don’t grab the wheel.” That’s rule one–check here. The initial point of driving instructors training is restraint. You are seated between a student who is so drowsy, almost half asleep on the shoulder. Every single muscle wants to do something, and you will learn during the training when to move and when to breathe. The first lesson is patience.
It commences with your personal motivation. Trainers dissect every move. Smooth gear changes. Early hazard spotting. Clean lane discipline. Miracles are not accidental. The advanced level driving tests do not reward the high speed, but courtesy precision. Any habit however little is recorded.
The UK route passes through the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency. These are stages of theory and hazard perception, advanced driving exam and the final one, instructional ability exam. The last stage is like walking on a narrowed road where real cars exist on both sides. Mistakes are uncovered and accountability is challenged every now and then.
The progress test involves a great deal of commentary driving. You speak to yourself in your car: “Car driving out of lateral road. Pedestrian near crossing. Brake lights ahead.” At first it is not quite pleasant but it puts your senses on the alert. You come to prophesy of the hazards even before they happen. Then comes teaching.
One knows how to parallel park. Another thing is to describe it to someone who passes out when he/she sees a curb. The trainees are instructed in ways of interrogation. The general questions like What could you have done earlier? provoke thought. An easy Wrong brings the learners to a dead end.
Tone is critical. One of the trainers said that you can determine the temperature with a voice. He was right. Panic spreads quickly. It is the relaxation that keeps the student together. The steering is only as important as the power of the cabin.
The subject of risk management is beaten to death. Dual controls are also not ornament. Act prematurely and trust is lost. Get in too late and metal smashes with metal. Timing becomes instinct. Clear and peaceful commands are used in driving in emergency stops that are drilled and drilled and drilled.
Lesson form is a basic requirement. The session is followed by another: off-roading, crossroads, roundabouts and solo driving. Progress is tracked. Guesswork is wastage of time and energy. There is also the business side. Many of the teachers are working single-handedly. Pricing, the diary management, and last minute cancellations are other areas of training. “Sorry, I overslept.” You are versatile, re-book and be professional.
Fatigue is real. Lesson after lesson is fatiguing. You are doing mirror-symbol-manoeuvre till it sounds in your ears. Students are different because one finds himself or herself on the crossing of traffic lights and the other one does not talk anywhere. Adaptation takes place automatically. And then comes the reward. A child that used to park at every uphill has become a driver. Test day arrives. They pass. They do it smiling which lets us know that they have conquered Everest. You nod, I suppose you were joking, as you said to me you would get there. Inside, pride hums.
Driving trainers do not simply create drivers. It inculcates patience, reflexes and emotional restraint. The rear seat becomes a traveling classroom and all the cool corrections leave their mark in the seat even after the engine has been turned out.