CCL - Reality or Fantasy?

Taking driver training into the future we must have CCL - bold statement, but one that seems to appear a lot.

So must we?

Well that depends on the driver training industry. For years we have been sending safe drivers out to fight the battlefield alone and shockingly they survived. However we do know there are small group who were either blagging it - seriously? Or they just happened to have enough knowledge and car control to carry them through - most likely.  Do they end up being the unlucky drivers though, well not necessarily, its long been known that educational background, financial background and criminal background plays a part too.

Are we led by the crowd, does our behaviour reflect our peer group, certainly it does but not necessarily when out of that environment. So playing with the crowd does not reflect a solo performance. How can the driver who is going to be a statistic be identified, well if we knew the answer to that we could intervene surely, actually it's not that easy. Teaching by rote can be a useful tool but there is no responsibility attached to that, so along came client centered learning which in fact is a dual tool. Client centered reflects value for money, the aim of the DVSA. Client centered also reflects client dominated learning.  Transfer of responsibility from trainer to learner does in fact increase the tools for managing driving when alone.  So by creating environment, time and real world driving scenarios during training the novice has an image of how they would deal with a situation post test, this involves more q & a than many previously used and it also involves more time parked at the side of the road.  Unfortunately many see being parked discussing a situation with a pupil as 'not driving', so a negative, when in reality a visual image to aid learning and then developed is more effective in terms of appreciating responsibility and effect, a positive.

However when the driver cub plays with the driver lions they can get into deep trouble, one that inexperience cannot tackle, because the events happen so fast. Experienced drivers have more tools available to them, but their response to a potentially life threatening situation is based on two things, testosterone and oestrogen.

It is a fact that hormone surges do affect out behaviour, response time and understanding, when travelling at speed, using a 60 mph rural lane as an example, distance covered can be too great for reaction. Hormone surges do not affect everyone and age is a relevant factor.

So is CCL a reality?

Well yes an additional aid to keep someone safe has to be a reality, if one life was saved through the process that would make it worthwhile

Is CCL a fantasy?

The predominant age of those taking part in developing CCL for use in driver training were male over the age of 45 so not in the group affected by natural factors (hormones). So how much real life that is not nurture but nature was factored in to the decision to change driver training approaches?

The higher levels of the GDE are dealing with post test responsibility, however behaviour is also affected by consequence, if there has been no consequence then complacency will become part of driving and that involves autopilot driving, so the driver who feels that they are less competent than their friends or family will be more attentive to their driving, they may be less able to tackle risk so choose situations where their risk is reduced, so busy times rather than quiet ones.

A natural personal responsibility is noted to change with experience, when moving from teens into 20's and 30's after this point moving into 50's and later years drivers tend to have less daily pressure, their driving becomes more relaxed and so does their ability to deal with pressure from other drivers, hence the 40 mph in a 60 mph brigade. The risk in this group is potential health problems that affect mood and behaviour.  Road rage can easily be borne from an un-diagnosed medical condition that affects the natural chemical make up of the body.


How can client centered learning help instructors move away from traditional methods of rote?
By taking control and not misunderstanding the watered down coaching methods that have come to the fore.

Politics and Driving

Isn't it strange how the two seem worlds apart until an election is in sight. Never before have there been so many consultations, but then I guess never before has there been a back office running the country, and since March 2013 they have had plenty to get their teeth into.  With a suspected date of 2015 for all public services to be supported by private money time is tight. This is also the most stealth like secretive campaign I can remember.

How strange that the press is not interested, or have they been hushed up, after all look at Julian Assange, and of course the Levison enquiry, do we want it both ways? Freedom of the press but with no freedom of the press. What constitutes importance and what is classed as scandal. I think whichever category the public have the right to know.

Take us back 100 years, and news was something shared on doorsteps, heard on the radio, gossip and hearsay. Of course we still have gossip and hearsay, but we also have more political power as part of a 28 member state, anyone who thinks we have sold out to the EU have missed the point, EU membership creates power it doesn't reduce it, because anything unpopular can of course be blamed on legislation that is out of our hands.

So how come driving has become so political. Let me start with my favourite complaint, the length of the consultation period. Six weeks, when we could have had twelve, released at the busiest time of year, which also happens to be holiday time, so two weeks in the sun and back to hundreds of emails, the one most likely to be overlooked is the unassuming DSA consultation. Does this contravene the code of practice, erm, well, this was careful because the code of practice is actually a guideline, it's not legislation, it's a PR exercise in what sounds good.  Having a web based forum, ask Mark Magee, can be a great lever as it complies with the code of practice, so a sweetener. A not so good sweetener as it allocated very little time for any real q&a. No CCL there then.

The few interested parties, which includes national associations have a duty to their members to encourage taking part in the consultation, and to take their views forward, that is not the views that they believe they should have but the views they really have.  Too many say what they think others want to hear and not what they truly believe, until the ink is dry and the writing is on the wall, then it is too late.

Changes to any practice is unpopular, of course, we are creatures of habit and dislike change, but this time it's change that makes a real difference, and because in the past change was so slow and never quite made it past the first fence, we don't believe it, so why now, why should we think anything will be different? Because I am most possibly the most cynical of people, probably because my specialist subjects were politics and the health service, however this time it honestly is different.

Never have our futures been decided by private sectors before, and our opinions and decisions rushed through by back office workers, sitting on the warm seats from their redundant public service workers. The NHS is heading the same way, yet their consultations have a longer period, totally eight weeks, in my opinion twelve would be better but the apathy amongst the public means most won't answer and our futures will be decided for us.

So what do I get for my money? I pay the ConDems to run my country, to spend my money wisely and to make life easier for us all, so why am I not getting value for money? Why am I stamping on political doorsteps trying to get the date for the consultation extended, when most probably don't care anyway, because I believe in fairness, and this is absolutely not fair.

Who are the future driving instructors? Trained by larger companies, so goodbye to the small business sole trader, does anyone who wants to have a career in the driver training industry in future years have any say? Ask one member of the public, any member of the public about this consultation and they will have no idea what you are talking about, as with the NHS consultation, the HMRC consultations etc etc

It's about time the press stopped stalking celebrities and got their teeth into what really is going to hurt us all, the future of this country, and the mess it will be in if just one private company goes bust and we lose their financial input - dangerous ground - unrealistic expectations.


copyright 2103 Anne Green, this blog may not be reproduced in part or full without written permission of the author