Gggrrrrr

It takes a lot to wind me up, which is a good thing in my line of work, but I am starting to get seriously peeved.

I can't help but notice the poor driving standards of other Driving Instructors when they are alone and don't have a pupil with them.  This is not just independents but also those who franchise with the big name schools.

I regularly see them breaking the law by blocking crossings, waiting in yellow boxes but the worst must be use of a hand held mobile phone.  These are all things that we tell our pupils they MUST not do and so it seems hypocritical that these Instructors cannot follow their own code of conduct.  It seems to be "do as I say, not as I do"

I was in front of a famous Driving School car yesterday on a very steep hill at a junction.  My pupil, luckily, was test ready and so had good clutch control but this instructor was less than a metre from the back of my car and that looks extremely close in the mirror.  My pupil didn't roll back but felt the extra pressure and so was very nervous.  It was totally unnecessary for this driver behind us to put so much pressure on an obvious learner and it could have knocked her confidence if she hadn't been so competent.  It was tempting to roll back for her and give him a scare.

I take pride in teaching my pupils to be good drivers and drive the way I do and, if they are ready for it, I include some Advanced Driving Techniques like cutting lanes on a roundabouts ONLY if you have ample time to look and be SURE there is no one else around.  I have been trained to a high standard and it seems ludicrous for me to drop those skills and drive in a lazy, thoughtless manner.  Perhaps this is why I have 22 years no claims and have never had points on my licence.

Ok, rant over!