Driving rules you didn't realise you were breaking...

Question - How good at driving do you think you are?

The reason I ask is because surveys tell us that most would answer that question by saying that they consider themselves to be pretty good drivers. Most would quite vocally reject even the slightest suggestion that they are at an "average" level of driving ability.

Now it'll shock some of my colleagues in the driver training industry, but I don't think that the average standard of driving on our roads is actually too bad. Most people seem to be trying their best to do the right thing (generally succeeding too) and I genuinely feel it isn't really appropriate for people like me, who are highly trained, regularly re-tested and extremely well read in the wording of the Highway Code (and other related books), to go around telling everyone else that they're rubbish drivers just because they aren't perhaps doing what we'd do in a given circumstance. Imagine if teachers trained to professor level did that with their students in other educational settings?

By definition of course, the words "average driver" mean that most people on the roads are driving at that level of ability, and if you haven't sat a driving test for a few years now (or read the Highway Code) how would you really know how good you are?

You might say "I've been driving for 20 years and never had a crash" and that's certainly not proof that you AREN'T driving well, but please just take a moment to consider a car passing through a red traffic light at a cross roads whilst others are on green (so this isn't an "amber gambler", this is a pure violation of the light with no care taken whatsoever, as though the driver's totally ignorant of it's presence) - what are the chances of crashing?

Most people immediately say it's a very high chance of crashing and I totally understand why, but think about it - if you were one of the cars on a green light and you saw this car looking like it wasn't going to stop or actually coming through on red, what would you do? Obviously you'd take action to avoid the collision (as would everyone else who was also paying attention) so that driver that pays no attention to red lights or perhaps doesn't even know what they mean passes through them without crashing A LOT of the time due to everyone else's skill level rather than his own. So is the fact that you've never crashed actually good proof of you having good driving ability then?

Obviously most drivers know full well what red lights mean and that example is used only to make the point, but when did you last read the Highway Code? Could there be rules in there that you have forgotten about? Remember that if you are found to be in breach of the rules in the book in the event of a crash (they don't have to be actual law - everyone has an obligation to use roads in accordance with the Highway Code), it is likely that you will be found liable for the collision if the other driver was found to be compliant with the rules.

Here are those rules in the Highway Code I see broken most often when I'm on the road:

Driving over central road markings at mini-roundabouts

Highway Code rule 188 states that ALL vehicles MUST (by law) go around the roundabout markings. Vehicles that are physically incapable of going around them (examples would include lorries and buses) are permitted to cross over them, but everyone else is breaking the law if they don't drive around them properly.

Failing to stop completely at stop junctions

Highway Code rule 171 requires ALL vehicles (by law) to stop behind the stop line at junctions with stop signs and stop road markings rather than slowing right down and continuing through the junction if they can see it's clear (which would be what you'd do if there was only Give Way signs and road markings). Stop signs and road markings normally indicate that the junction is particularly hazardous and could well be a crash hot spot - stopping at them encourages you to take more time to check if it's safe to emerge.

Not stopping (or expecting others to stop) at AMBER traffic lights

Page 103 of the Highway Code shows us the traffic lights and describes what each light means:

• Red - stop and wait
• Red / Amber - prepare to go
• Green - go / continue
• Amber - STOP at the line / behind the car in front of you (unless it is would be dangerous to do so - we say in the car that heavy braking is fine, emergency braking isn't although I have heard an examiner say that an emergency stop for an amber light would be okay if there wasn't anything behind you) 

Driving below the speed limit but still too fast
Rule 126 of the Highway Code asks you to always drive at a speed that allows you to stop within the distance you can see to be clear ahead of you and if we use a parked car as a typical example, that can mean stopping within a couple of meters if a door opens or a pedestrian steps out from behind the car as you pass it. Most car crashes take place in locations where situations like this arise and drivers find themselves unable to stop in spite of being well below the posted speed limit.

Not stopping at Zebra crossings whilst pedestrians are waiting to use them
Rule 195 tells us that drivers must stop (by law) at Zebra crossings if people want to cross the road. It's worth mentioning that rule 19 tells pedestrians that they should (ie this is NOT law, it's advisory) wait until it's obvious vehicles are stopping before stepping into the crossing - they have the law on their side and CAN just walk into the road, so expect it!

The Highway Code is available for free on the Gov.uk website if you think you'd benefit from a bit of time reading it. It IS a constantly evolving book and some of the rules will have changed even in cases where it hasn't been too long since you read it.

Nick Heath Driver Training is located in Rode Heath on the Staffordshire / Cheshire border and provides driving training services to those looking to either improve their driving or learn from scratch. In addition to media work, we conduct Taxi Driver Assessments for local authorities and offer Advanced Driver Training and Testing, Motorway Training and Fuel Efficient Driver Training alongside refresher courses and learner driving lessons. We are ORDIT registered to provide Driving Instructor Training and are listed on the DVSA's register of Fleet Trainers so we can help you with your business needs.

More details are available on our website www.nickheathdrivertraining.org.uk

Why you won't see pupil success pictures on my social media pages

You don't have to go far to find a Driving Instructor on social media that shares pictures of the people they've taught to drive passing their driving tests - but whilst I used to do that, I decided to stop it a few years ago, and this is why (spoiler alert: this isn't about GDPR).

Now I'm not generally a big fan of TV and as such I tend to read a lot when I get some spare time. I like a wide ranging selection of books and may be reading up to five at any one time with various subject matters - biography, fiction, self help, educational etc. In recent years, I've read quite a bit in psychology books about the reasons why we see so many people these days having problems with anxiety.

Whilst there are lots of different elements to the mental health problem, many of them appear to be down to the way we live our lives these days and there is a growing body of evidence that social media is contributing to the problem in a number of ways. Of particular interest to me (as a small business that relies on social media to reach it's customers), has been what I've read about how young people can be affected by likes, shares and comments.

Today's 18 year olds have grown up with social media and are used to all of their major achievements being shared immediately for all to see and seeing the number of likes going up and seeing the positive comments from their family and friends give their self esteem a nice boost.

The problem with it though, is that IF those likes aren't forthcoming; IF there are any negative comments made or IF the news either being shared or expected to be shared isn't as good as was planned, then this too, is immediately visible to everyone who knows you. It's this that creates pressure, particularly where the fact that results are expected at a particular time and date is common knowledge (GCSE or A level results etc) and the more successful you've been through life, the greater the pressure - it is common for me to meet young people, and parents, who are absolutely devastated by a failed attempt at a driving test because "they've never at failed anything before"

A few years ago, one or two of my customers started to talk about this pressure as they approached their tests. As the conversation developed, they said that whilst they themselves realised that there was a pass / fail element to the test and understood that there was a real possibility of them failing and requiring another attempt, they felt that others around them didn't share this realistic attitude. They went on to tell me that there was an expectation among parents, friends and family that they would pass their driving test with ease because the image created on social media was that 100% of my customers were passing their test 1st time (a claim I have never, ever made - my best year yielded a pass rate of 78% across the year and I'm consistently in the 65-75% bracket each year against a national average of around 50%)

I didn't think this was a healthy situation for anyone involved so for the past couple of years now, I've tried to cover subjects other than pupil success on my social media outputs. This doesn't attract as many likes, but it seems to help a little bit to reduce the instances of anxiety among my customers and contrary to what the social media marketing experts tell me, I haven't noticed any drop in the number of business enquiries coming through either!

And of course, it's GDPR compliant ;)

Nick Heath Driver Training is located in Rode Heath on the Staffordshire / Cheshire border and provides driving training services to those looking to either improve their driving or learn from scratch. In addition to media work, we conduct Taxi Driver Assessments for local authorities and offer Advanced Driver Training and Testing, Motorway Training and Fuel Efficient Driver Training alongside refresher courses and learner driving lessons. We are ORDIT registered to provide Driving Instructor Training and are listed on the DVSA's register of Fleet Trainers so we can help you with your business needs.

More details are available on our website www.nickheathdrivertraining.org.uk

The Elite Mindset

As an examiner for Diamond Advanced Motorists, it is necessary for me to complete and pass a Diamond Elite Test every three years. This advanced driving test is recognised as one of the two most searching fault based tests in the UK, requiring you to drive for 90 minutes, completing several reverse manoeuvres and demonstrating 20 minutes of commentary driving. In order to be walk away with a pass certificate, in addition to sticking to the rules in the Highway Code with precision and not doing anything dangerous, you need to attract less than 2 driver faults - and they must be unrelated; you won't be successful if those 2 are in the same fault category.

As you can see, the standard required here is high (this test is available to anyone who wishes to take it and you can get more details at www.advancedmotoring.co.uk) and it's daunting for all of us - but the way in which somebody taking a test at that standard prepares mentally, is exactly the same as it is for somebody taking the entry level learner driving test - so here are 3 tips to help you get the right mindset:


Tip 1 - Know your role in the process

Firstly, it's important to focus only on your role in the process. You are there to drive and if you do that well, then you MUST pass this test because that is the default position when you leave the test centre and it will only be changed to an unsuccessful result if you demonstrate bad driving.

It only undermines your chances of being successful if you harbour any beliefs that the examiner has left the test centre wanting to fail you or has been instructed to fail you in order to meet any regional targets or anything like that. Such a mindset leads you to focus your energy on doing their job for them rather than concentrating on yours - they're there to watch, you're there to drive well.


Tip 2 - Focus your attention

Secondly, you must stick to carrying out your role at all times - try to think of nothing else!

If you think about it, good driving comes down to just three core actions:

1. Knowing what's happening around you
2. Recognising things that affect you
3. Adjusting your driving to suit what's happening

So it doesn't matter whether the examiner is taking you out on a test at 3pm when there is a lot of traffic around, because of course, you'll simply reduce your speed as things get busy and likewise, if things are less busy we can increase the speed and (safely and legally) crack on!

Tip 3 - Try to forget the clock

Finally, it is of vital importance that you forget about time.

It might take a bit of explanation, but from the point of view of a purist, time doesn't matter at all to those that drive well. I say purist, because it would be daft to ignore totally the affect of time on high driving standards and road safety and if you see somebody overtaking or speeding, then being in a hurry is likely to be the reason that they're doing that but likewise if you see somebody driving slowly, then having loads of spare time is very likely to be the reason that they are doing that. The dangers of excessive speed are well publicised, but driving un-necessarily slowly also creates significant danger "by proxy" and we shouldn't allow our driving styles to be affected either way by the clock, only by changing road and traffic conditions.

Good drivers don't want to be the reason that somebody who is running late crashes in their attempt to catch back some time so our driving style aims to get us to our destination in good time (quickly) with minimal risk (adjusting speed and position in response to the changing situation around them) whilst staying within the law (31mph in a 30 zone is illegal, but not necessarily dangerous).

It therefore doesn't matter if the driver we are talking about is:

• A Police Officer on their way to an emergency (remember - the law allows them to exceed speed limits)
• A Police Officer on a routine patrol (they wouldn't exceed speed limits in that context)
• A civilian driver on their way to the beach for the day
• A civilian driver on their way to work

Hopefully, you can see why it shouldn't matter to you if your test is over running by a few minutes because there were a lot of red lights on your route, or because you maybe took a wrong exit off a roundabout. It's perhaps a bit different to a learner, who is building the strength of concentration to demonstrate a 40 minute long drive at an entry level, but to more experienced drivers, being able to drive perfectly for 15 minutes, means you can do it for 30 minutes and if you can do it for 30 minutes, you can do it for 90 minutes - passing an Elite test (or passing any test) is about having an Elite mindset.

Nick Heath Driver Training is located in Rode Heath on the Staffordshire / Cheshire border and provides driving training services to those looking to either improve their driving or learn from scratch. In addition to media work, we conduct Taxi Driver Assessments for local authorities and offer Advanced Driver Training and Testing, Motorway Training and Fuel Efficient Driver Training alongside refresher courses and learner driving lessons. We are ORDIT registered to provide Driving Instructor Training and are listed on the DVSA's register of Fleet Trainers so we can help you with your business needs.

More details are available on our website www.nickheathdrivertraining.org.uk

Lockdown positives...

This isn't really driving related this time... as we enter our 4th week of full lock-down, my thoughts have turned to the positive effects that having this much less human activity could be having on the world.

Six months ago, it wouldn't have been even possible to imagine what the last 6 weeks or so has thrown at us - these really are bizarre times that we're living in! The idea of a new virus emerging which threatened life like this, prompting governments all over the world to act in the way they have was the sort of thing you'd only read about in fictional books.

But we've arrived here and in the last few weeks, we've seen high streets, schools and non-essential service industries all closed down completely and generally speaking, the only people out and about are health workers and essential service providers like bin men or police officers (although there's been no real shortage of examples of other people working and loudly defending their decision to do so on social and mainstream media as they face social pressure to "stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives)

How long has video calling been a reliable option now? I know that I was interviewed over Skype for a podcast around 10 years ago now and I know it was around for a while before then, but slow internet speeds and stuff like that meant that it was always easier to just call somebody so I've only really tried video calling out for the first time over this lock-down period - and it's worked well!

As a member of my local Round Table group, we held a group social event over Skype the other week (we stayed in for a curry and a few beers) which was really good fun and will be followed up next week by a similar event in which we will conduct the more serious business of sorting out some of our charity work and holding our AGM. We'll be holding votes and all sorts of things on line without the need to physically meet.

I wonder how many businesses will realise that they have been wasting loads of money on sending people abroad to attend meetings whilst this technology has been sat there waiting to be used? In the past, whilst living in the UK, I've attended meetings in France with large car manufacturers that have involved a full day out of the office, two flights and a fist full of  expense receipts for food etc and whilst Skype wasn't available then, I know others that still work to those very inefficient, unproductive and pollution causing practices in their line of work. Now it's been forced to stop, I wonder if it may have stopped for good?

Likewise, as a self employed business owner, I've always run this business from home but I now have several employed friends who are doing the same - again, if this could continue after the lock-down, it can only bring positive benefits in terms of reduced congestion and pollution.

With 35% of crashes on the road involving people who are driving for the purposes of work (and that excludes commuting to and from a place of work), a business making better use of home working will see reduced insurance and maintenance costs as well as reduced sickness pay and general hassle associated with having one of their employees involved in an incident on the road whilst working for them.

But what about other benefits?

The government has been very pro-active and generous in setting up financial rescue packages and most of us are looking at receiving around 80% of our usual take home pay whilst we're on lock-down.

As generous as this is, with most of us running our lifestyles so lean these days and with so few of us being able to save anything, it's undoubtedly caused many of us to feel squeezed and question some of our purchasing choices.

I wonder how many of us are now eating better and I wonder how many of us feel better or are actually losing a bit of weight as we avoid spending £50 a week on takeaways? How much were you spending on coffee in a week before the lock-down? At £3 a cup, it's probably more than you thought... will you go back to that now you've broken that cycle you were in?

And then there's the exercise - I've never seen so many people walking past my house! Going for a walk, particularly in the kind of place where I live, is one of the best forms of exercise you can do to maintain a reasonable level of health, keep the weight under control and unwind. Okay, it's not going to build fitness on the same level as training for a marathon, but it's much, much better than sitting around all day.

Finally, this lock-down has been a welcome opportunity to spend some quality time with the kids. I've found myself talking to them about things I haven't spoken to them about before because of in addition to other reasons, a fundamental lack of time. Not all of that time problem has been down to me working long hours either! Do you ever find that your "life diary" is so full of family commitments and other people wanting you to be places that you don't feel like you've had a day off? I've always been the kind of person that quite likes time alone. My personal time is often used up doing things like reading, listening to music and fishing - generally solitary and introverted activities that are good for peace of mind, but you work long hours because the bills need paying and you visit your mum on your day off (because she won't be there for ever) when you should be seeing your own kids (who won't be kids forever but your mum is more important) and you suddenly realise that you've never seen them excited about seeing Butterflies in your own back garden before.

This lock-down has really made me think!

Of course, at the moment, there is a lot of talk about businesses being unable to survive the lock-down and for those people it will be a stressful time. Some of the potential lifestyle changes I've mentioned here may also bring about some extra business failures too - for example, if we DON'T go back to drinking coffee several times a day or having a few takeaways a week, surely some of those businesses that rely on us to do that will not survive.

The corona-virus outbreak would make a great work of fiction and that makes it an incredibly interesting time to observe... I wonder how what the world will look like in 2021?

Nick Heath Driver Training is located in Rode Heath on the Staffordshire / Cheshire border and provides driving training services to those looking to either improve their driving or learn from scratch. In addition to media work, we conduct Taxi Driver Assessments for local authorities and offer Advanced Driver Training and Testing, Motorway Training and Fuel Efficient Driver Training alongside refresher courses and learner driving lessons. We are ORDIT registered to provide Driving Instructor Training and are listed on the DVSA's register of Fleet Trainers so we can help you with your business needs.

More details are available on our website www.nickheathdrivertraining.org.uk

The Future Of Pavement Parking

Whilst it's attention is very firmly on dealing with the Coronavirus at the moment, the Government has now launched a consultation on the issues surrounding parking on the pavement in the UK.

Currently, the Highway Code rule 244 states:

"You MUST NOT park wholly or partially on the pavement in London and should not do so elsewhere unless signs permit it. Parking on the pavement can obstruct and seriously inconvenience pedestrians, people in wheelchairs or with visual impairments and people with prams or pushchairs"

The emphasis on "must not" there is repeated in the Highway Code and signifies that that ruling is supported by traffic law. You'll notice that it only applies to London, meaning that people who are not in London are not currently breaking the law if they park on pavements.

There is a separate law relating to generally obstructing pavements which is applied to badly parked cars and this is enforced by Police, with local councils having the task of enforcing specific parking rules such as parking on yellow lines during their period of operation or pay and resident only parking spaces.

The changes being discussed by MP's at the moment (well... when they get back to the task of conducting day to day business as usual) is whether to extend the total ban on pavement parking that exists in London to the rest of the UK and in doing so, whether to make local councils responsible for enforcing the rule.

Whilst this would be very popular amongst those most commonly affected by bad parking, I think that we should be careful what we wish for in that a lot of pavement parking is done for the purposes of allowing people to park near to their houses whilst keeping sufficient access for emergency vehicles.

As an example, the staff at Alsager Fire Station are often frustrated by vehicles parked badly in Brookhouse Road. This narrow road is lined with double yellow lines (so no waiting at any time although dropping off and picking up passengers is allowed) and I suspect that those responsible are probably using their rights as Blue Badge holders to ignore those lines whilst they visit local shops or the Church (Blue Badge holders can park on yellow lines, but only where it is otherwise safe and convenient for others for them to do so - in this case it is definitely not convenient).

Putting the Blue Badge and yellow lines issues aside for a moment, if the car is parked partially on the pavement, then it is a squeeze for vans etc to get past and pedestrians need to leave the pavement to pass it (there is grass there, so leaving the pavement is not usually a hassle for those on foot, but think those in wheelchairs etc and how appropriate this is if the grassed area gets muddy). If that same vehicle is parked with all 4 wheels on the road, then although access for pedestrians is now unaffected, there is no room for vans to pass and it becomes a squeeze for cars... THE FIRE ENGINES CAN'T GET DOWN THAT WAY EITHER WAY!

Now that's an inconvenience when it's applied to Brookhouse Road, but can you imagine what could happen if it becomes normal all over the UK? Whilst Brookhouse Road is clearly a particularly narrow road, if you think about the width of the road you probably live on, this could easily happen if pavement parking is banned without careful consideration. Not everywhere has the same wide roads that London has got and as such I reckon it would at least halve the amount of parking space available for 75% of the country's residential roads.

This all sounds very biased in favour of the driver, but I am not ignorant of the plight of pedestrian traffic on our pavements (if I may group those with disabilities together with the fully able-bodied and those with prams and pushchairs etc). It is a simple and reasonable ambition that a pedestrian shouldn't have to leave the pavement in order to go around a parked car but they have to do so far too often at the moment and therefore a solution to the problem must be found.

For me, the answer lies in more stringent enforcement of the current pavement obstruction laws and an increase in public awareness of the problem. If the powers of local councils could be enhanced to allow them to ticket vehicles parked on the pavement and not allowing enough room for either emergency vehicles or pedestrians then this could go a long way to help ease the problem. In the event of pavement parking being banned of course, this would need to be the case anyway to ensure compliance, so it seems a logical step really.

The consultation will run for 12 weeks and there is a recommendation by the Transport Committee that pavement parking is banned... it'll be interesting to see how it pans out!

Nick Heath Driver Training is located in Rode Heath on the Staffordshire / Cheshire border and provides driver training services to those looking to either improve their driving or learn from scratch. We conduct Taxi Driver Assessments for local authorities and offer Advanced Driver Training and Testing, Motorway Training, Fuel Efficient Driver Training, refresher courses and learner driver lessons. We are ORDIT registered to provide Driving Instructor Training and are listed on the DVSA's resgister of Fleet Trainers so we can help you with your business needs.

More details are available on our website www.nickheathdrivertraining.org.uk