LOL... Never Know What You'll Get...

[Ratdog68]

Today's adventure as a Driver Training Instructor... I had two different students (back to back). One? This was her sixth drive with us. OMG! So... off we go. LOL. Driving straight, on an arterial, did ok. Give her a task to signal for a lane change... the wheel moves and over she goes. No signal, no mirror check, no over the shoulder blind spot check. Ok, so, off the arterial and onto residential streets. No slowing down at uncontrolled intersections, no looking left/right. This isn't working too good (and I'm thankful for the Instructor's foot brake). So... off to the side we park, and a little review of some basics before resuming the drive. We make it back to "the house" in one piece, no dents, no paint transfer... but, by drive #6, we should be doing "more gooder" than this. LOL

Next student, obtained a license in India, but hasn't driven since. And, this is his first drive with us. A few minutes in the parking lot to familiarize himself with the car/controls, and off we go. Almost needed a cattle prod to get him to get to/maintain posted speed, but, not bad. Gave him some coaching on how to perform lane changes/turns, etc. to an examiner's standards... and he's a quick learner. Needs some time behind the wheel to practice his skills and to gain some confidence, but absorbed a lot in his first hour of instruction... while driving too. Other than a little apprehension to drive at the posted speed, he demonstrated good skills of lane control, proper lane changes/turns, seeing potential hazards and preparing for them, able to follow direction well.

Those were both adults. My last student for the day was a High School Driver's Ed student on his fifth drive with us. He's had about 25 hrs. worth of practice with his parents, and it was time to tackle freeway driving. Only thing I had to coach him on was holding his lane when turning on one location (of many turns he negotiated), but did great on the rest of it. He's actually ready for his exam.

Two jobs, very different challenges.

 

[ZenArchery]

man i hope your insurance is up to snuff bwhahahaa...
Good stories

 

[FrankT]

Are you in a 5 point harness, have a car w side airbags and rubber bumpers?

 

[Ratdog68]

Yeah, plenty of insurance (so the boss says) LOL. They're out there though. A month ago, one of the cars from the office I work out of got rear-ended while an Instructor was giving a lesson. Totaled the car too. Spooky, cause, there's not much to a Nissan Versa to begin with. LOL Sometimes ya wanna just say, "Here, I'll drive."

Roll cage too Frank (I wish) LOL

 

[Chopperdrvr]

At least you're not off the ground too.

 

[rrv333]

Teaching code 3 driving to amped up rookies will make your hair turn gray and fall out. Ask me how I know

 

[Brian Shaffer]

I always figured driving instructors either had a death wish or were alcoholics, if not both. I would definitely need to be on some really good meds to have that job!

Wow!

 

[djones]

i would start them out on country dirt roads lol

 

[Bakester]

Driving Instructor/LE traffic questions - Moved here from Phoenix 10 years ago. Out there, if you were making a left turn at a light, you would enter the intersection and wait for an opening. At the very least, a couple cars would be able to make the turn when the light turned yellow. Here in Dallas, it seems about 70% of drivers will wait at the line and not enter the intersection until there is no oncoming traffic in sight.

A less frequent but equally confounding habit I see is folks leaving a car length, or more, distance between them and the car in front at stop lights. I assume this is due mostly to inattention but certainly not requirement, right?

I just started the Parent Taught DE with our 15 year old daughter and she asked me about the left turn question. It seems that there is some "interpretation" involved looking at the law.

 

[Curly Shuffle]

Saw a special about driving in India, man o man I never want to be there!!!! Glad you survived!!

 

[Ratdog68]

Saw a special about driving in India, man o man I never want to be there!!!! Glad you survived!!

LOL...Had one today, she'd gotten her license in India, then moved here... hasn't driven since getting her license. Wow... We got about 1/2 a mile on the streets and that was enough, spent the next two hours practicing in a High School parking lot. Still not ready for the street, but much improvement achieved.

 

[Ratdog68]

Driving Instructor/LE traffic questions - Moved here from Phoenix 10 years ago. Out there, if you were making a left turn at a light, you would enter the intersection and wait for an opening. At the very least, a couple cars would be able to make the turn when the light turned yellow. Here in Dallas, it seems about 70% of drivers will wait at the line and not enter the intersection until there is no oncoming traffic in sight.

A less frequent but equally confounding habit I see is folks leaving a car length, or more, distance between them and the car in front at stop lights. I assume this is due mostly to inattention but certainly not requirement, right?

I just started the Parent Taught DE with our 15 year old daughter and she asked me about the left turn question. It seems that there is some "interpretation" involved looking at the law.

"Back in the day" (when I learned to drive in '75), it was taught to enter the intersection and wait for an opening. Here in WA State (where I learned), it would appear the "rule" has changed to wait behind the cross walk (instead of the intersection). It makes me crazy when people do that... but, that's part of the teaching curriculum nowadays.

Yeah, leaving that car length (and more) is probably nothing more than inexperience/inattention.