Firstly I need to say that it was not me that killed him, but I was there. Secondly it happened many years ago before I was a driving instructor.

There were in fact lots of witnesses of which I was one. Surprising a couple of policemen saw what was happening, had a look and then left. The next witnesses that stick in my mind were the two priests who looked and chose not to be concerned, so they too left.

This all happened on a crowded railway station platform and I viewed it from my train window as the train waited for whatever trains wait for at stations. It was at night time but the only power and hence light was from the train, everything else was in darkness. The train itself was also crowded with every seat full.

It all started with a noise down the platform and got closer and closer till it all happened in front of the window opposite where I was sitting. Not wanting to stick my nose into what was not my business I remained seated. Various people around me got up and looked to see what was happening. It was only after the two policemen and the two priests had got up and looked that I decided it was safe for me to do so.

To my great shame I was not horrified though with hindsight I should have been. Lying on the platform was a man caught in the light from the train. A large pool of what still seems to me to be purple blood was coming from his head.

There was a man with his back to me holding an axe. I just remember his silhouette and his legs being astride. The noise that I heard was the sound of the crowd as he was beaten up the platform till presumably there was not much point in further beating and he had arrived at my window.

I immediately wound my neck back in and went to sit back down. As the train pulled away there were a couple of light snaps. This, my fellow passengers informed me, was the man being shot with his own pistol. Now the amazing thing about all this is everyone and I mean everyone priests and police included were totally alright about this.

It doesn’t haunt me at all because everyone was so cool about it. Now my story which I have told a number of times might or should have you wondering how all this could come about and how large numbers of people and it would have been hundreds of us witnessing it could let it happen. Also you might be wondering what this has to do with driving instruction and why it’s in an ADINJC Newsletter rather than the court round up.

To help you with this first I need to give you context. Many years ago in 1980 and another life I was leading, I was following the river Nile down through Egypt into the Sudan and then onto the Blue Nile to its source in Uganda.

Having achieved this goal I was returning following what is sometimes known as the Lunatic Express. This is the railway line that goes from Kampala in Uganda to Nairobi Kenya and on to the coast. It is more formally known as the East African Railway. At the time of my visit Uganda was occupied by the Tanzanian Army who had invaded with the intention of overthrowing Idi Amin the Ugandan despot.

His men were on the run and being paid back for the cruelty they had inflicted on the local population. The man who was killed on my platform was given very rough justice. My point with all this is two fold.

Firstly as you started to read this you were making certain assumptions. I knew that this happened in war torn africa, you did not. I told this story to other people before and everyone assumes that it happened here in this country. Nobody really questions it, or possibly I don’t give them the chance. But how often do we take stuff our pupils tell us at face value. How often do we jump in with our opinions. Do we really dig down enough.

Have you ever listened to someone describe something but leave out some vital information which changes how you might see things. Your pupil who failed for missing check to the right when emerging but doesn’t tell you about the cyclist who appeared there. My story about the murder is a good example of that. If it happened in your hometown it’s one thing, but over 40 years ago in war torn Uganda it’s another.

Something I see with overseas pupils is that they may be fine with crossroads when they are on the major road and there is no one on the minor or approaching the minor road. But as soon as there is a car on the minor road approaching the major my pupils’ behaviour on the major road changes and they slow right down in case the car on the minor road emerges. Because they have slowed right down every so often the car on the minor road taking advantage of my pupils slowing down does emerge reinforcing my pupils’ behaviour in slowing.

Once you understand that what your overseas pupil is doing is a very sensible survival strategy when there are no road markings and driving licences are not worth the money that someone might have paid for them, you are on your way to dealing with it.

Another thing to consider is that you know an awful lot about something just by looking at it. If I look at a busy shopping street in my home town of Portsmouth I will know all sorts of things without even thinking about it too much. The way someone is dressed will tell me a lot about them, I’ll know what the shops sell and where to get what I need from them.

Contrast that to let us say downtown Delhi, which to me is a mass of colours and shapes in which I’d be pretty lost. Now I know that I can get by, but my lack of knowledge means it’s all a bit slower just like my overseas pupil approaching the crossroads. As I question things I know I’ll get better and my knowledge will improve. But if I don’t question anything it all stays the same, just a mass of colours and shapes and no understanding.

My second point is that everyone who was there on the station platform was okay with what happened, it was almost the norm. How often do we accept what we should not accept. What happened to that man on the station platform was accepted by everyone there including me. I’d been in Africa a few months by then and had learnt to love her in all her raw beauty so I wasn’t going to rock the boat.

Because everyone around me accepted it, so did I. What if I had not and tried to do something about it. What could I have done.

What about speeding, do we accept that drivers break the speed limits. How often do you read of people attacking speed cameras. To some people, those that attack the cameras are heroes.

My speedo shows a top limit of 140 mph, apparently my actual top speed is about 115 mph. As a disclaimer I would like to point out that I had to look that up. But why the 140 mph and a 115 mph that I will never use. As far as I am aware no country has a limit in excess of 100mph. Germany has no limit but recommends 130 kph which is about 80mph.

The 140 mph could be a generic speedo, but where can you do that speed. Is it so that 70 mph is top dead centre on the dial so the needle is upright at that speed. Or does speed or its capability sell cars?

How many of us have a device built into the car (Apple Play etc) that warns us of speed cameras. Sometimes the warnings are visual flashing speed limits on the dashboard and sometimes audible. My car and I imagine most of yours have a device that makes loud audible noise if we drive without a seat belt.

Compare what happens if you drive off without a seat belt to what happens if you break a speed limit. Ask yourself why seatbelt related deaths are less than speed related ones. Is it because it’s harder to drive without them than it is to break a speed limit.

In this country alone we see approximately 1700 deaths a year on the road of which about 300 are due to speed. Deaths due not wearing seat belts are around 200 a year. These are rounded and approximate figures to make a point.

Do we challenge our pupils’ attitudes. Have a look at the ADI Part 3 (SC) marking form and see where that could be addressed. Surely by addressing attitudes we are creating drivers who will be safe after the test?

© Liam Greaney

driving-pro.com

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