The Last Accident

A day without a road death is the aim of #projectEdward. The reality is that every day in the UK five people are killed and over 80 are seriously injured. What can we do about it?

Many years ago as a young driving instructor I had a new pupil who told me that her husband had taken two driving tests and was driving around on a provisional driving licence.

I remember telling her that he should take and pass his test, because if he had already failed twice there was probably something wrong with his driving and it should be sorted.

The next week she never turned up for her lesson which I put down to my big mouth saying her husband needs to get his driving sorted.

Later that day on seeing the local paper I found out from the front page the real reason that she had not turned up for her lesson.

All over the front page was the tragic news that he had been in a car accident and the two children had been killed. Like most of us I like to be right, but not at that price.

I still think about this from time to time and wonder what we as driving instructors can do.

One of my thoughts is that he had taken two driving tests (and failed), he must have thought that his driving was okay and he was just unlucky.

A point with taking someone to test is we are saying that they are safe and ready to pass.

When I first started out as a driving instructor, I had a view that if the pupil wanted to take a driving test as they were the ones paying that we should let them.

That view comes at a price and the real question is how that price is to be paid.

I should point out that I make the decision now as to when they take their driving test. It has done wonders for my pass rate.

Like most of you I have a little bit of flexibility with regards to their circumstances.

Sometimes the conversations are difficult but remember how the price is sometimes paid.

So assuming we do everything that we should do, what can be done to reduce accidents. As we look at the Goals for Driver Education we see a number of levels:

• The first level is all about control of the vehicle
• Second level is interacting with other road users
• The third level is our journeys and our purpose in driving
• The fourth level is about how we can influence our own driving

Certainly levels one and two are tested in the driving test and the third level gets a nod with driving independently.

But what about the last level which is about how we as people function.

This is where factors that come into play with accidents occur. It is what we bring to an accident.

We have looked elsewhere at reflection and in more detail about how we can work on our own skills (ADI DIRT) but how do other professionals deal with mistakes. A very useful one from the medical profession is LAST. This is:

• Late
• Angry
• Stressed
• Tired

Late

All of us come under time pressure. I know that my driving deteriorates if I am in a hurry. Sometimes a lesson overruns or a traffic accident has occurred.

There can be many reasons for being late so the question is how do we handle it and how can we get our pupils to deal with that. The really obvious answer is give yourself time.

As working driving instructors we get very good at timing ourselves. Putting a lunch break into the day is not a bad call. A little bit of time out to stretch our legs and get some fresh air can only be a good thing.

Look at how you structure your day. Three two hour lessons mean you only have two lots of dead time as you go between the lessons. Six one lessons give you five lots of dead time and much more opportunity to be late. You should have earnt the same with both, but the six one hour lessons have significantly increased your working day and your mileage.

Angry

The big question here is why are you angry. If we know our triggers we are in a better position to deal with them.

As instructors sometimes just pausing for a moment and taking a couple of deep breaths will put you back on track. Other techniques here might be to give what you are doing some proportionality. Delayed by a road accident, consider that someone is not just delayed but might not be going home. In the great scheme of things is it worth getting angry.

As instructors do we get angry with our pupils and if so why. Your pupil is paying you for your skill and time so if they are not getting something what can you do about it. Finding yourself repeating the same thing and nothing is happening, maybe you should try something different.

If they haven’t paid you, have you made yourself clear about your expectation of them. How do you deal with cancellations. The more ruthless you are in charging the greater the turnover you will have with your pupils. The softer you are the more cancellations you will have. Find a balance that you are comfortable with.

Some people like to get angry and they use it as a tool to get what they want. This is coercion whereas what you really want from people is cooperation. Nobody likes an angry person.

Stressed

Where is this stress coming from and where does it go. It’s what I call a Cotton Eyed Joe situation (from the song).

Stress can be imposed either internally or externally. Either way you owe it to yourself and your pupils to do something about it. Sometimes it can pay to sit down and just write things out. When I write these articles new thoughts occur to me and sometimes I think differently at the end of writing something out than I did before I started writing.

Talking things through with a friend or a colleague can help. Join a local association and you will meet like minded people. The best thing for people is other people.

Living your life only on social media is a mistake. Find something that you enjoy and get out and enjoy it. There will probably be some sort of club or association for it near you.

Sometimes a decent walk is all that is needed. I like to get out on the Downs each Sunday and falling asleep being physically tired is wonderful. The countryside is a complete contrast to my life in the city and when I get back tell anyone who will listen what a great day I have had.

As instructors we should have some balance in our lives. A swim or a trip to the gym might be what’s needed. The physicality of exercise is an excellent stress reliever. If there is a steam room and sauna attached that is even better.

Tired

All of us work hard so make sure you have some you-time. A life outside driving instruction will give you balance.

It might be lived around your children or if you are really lucky supporting Portsmouth FC! Singing in a football choir with a few thousand like minded supporters assessing the chances of opposing teams supporters reaching the station can be a welcome distraction from the world of driving instruction.

Family and outside interests will make what you do less tiring. It will help you relate to your pupils and make your life richer, more rewarding and dare I say it less tiring.

Notice that I’ve said we should be doing more, not less. Tiredness can be a symptom of burnout. Is stress making you tired and what are you going to do about it.

Once you reach a situation of welcoming cancellations you are doing too much. Remember we work to live not live to work.

Summary

I’ve talked a lot here about how we as driving instructors can reduce our level of mistakes by having some balance in our lives. The tool I have used for this is LAST.

We have many different techniques for ensuring a safe driver and one that I don’t think gets enough air time is mentoring. I make the point to my pupils that while it is smart to learn from their own mistakes, it’s much smarter to learn from my mistakes and those of others.

I can assure you that I’m not perfect and I want to share with my pupils what I have learned. Hopefully I have enough credibility with them that they will take some of this on board.

I want to share LAST with them. What this does is address errors from a point of view that we make a contribution to them.

If something has happened and you are able to say what else could I have done you are probably in the clear. If you are blaming the other person then there is a good chance that there was something that you could have done. Using LAST might give you an indication of what you have done and why.