Teaching a complete beginner

stealthyspeeder

Hi Guys

My friend is learning to drive, she is a complete beginner, no idea how a car works. She has her provisional license and is insured on her sisters car and she she wants me to help her learn to drive. (Obviously she is going to get lessons but money is a bit of an issue at the mo, so the more she knows before she starts paying for lessons, the better)

Now Im pretty sure I have picked up some bad habits over the years which I dont want to give to her (as an instructor is going to have to spend time ironing them out for the test), I am also not 100 million % sure on all the procedures (order of mirror checks for example) for all the manouveres.

So my plan is to teach her how to control a car in an empty car park (starting, changing gear, turning, braking and stopping), get her comfortable with this, then take her out on empty roads, gradually building up to busier roads, while informing her off any mistakes (in a nice way)....

So I want to know (and help from driving instructors would be greatly appreciated),
Would anybody do it differently? (and why?)
What is the best order to teach things in?
Anything to look out for or be aware off that I have not mentioned?
Suitable roads on outskirts of north/northeast Dublin?
When to hand her over to an instructor? (less lessons the better due to her present finances)
Basically any do's and donts!?

Any help/advise/stern warnings! anyone can give would be greatly appreciated!

DriveSkill

Main concern with a complete beginner is that they panic and either floor the accelerator instead of the brake or hands lock on the steering wheel and drive straight for something! Remember you will have virtually no control in a car without dual controls and your primary concern and obligation is to the safety of other road users (as well as yourself!). Therefore if she is very nervous or if there is nowhere suitable (ie quiet and open space) to learn then go to an instructor who will have dual controls and is used to dealing with these situations!

However, if you want to do it yourself then, find somewhere with lots of open space but ideally with some kind of road markings/lanes etc to practice driving along a certain 'path' without weaving in and out etc.

First lesson should cover :

Cockpit drill and safety checks before starting the car:

• How to adjust the seat
• How to set the mirrors
• Checking doors are closed
• Check for Neutral
• Check handbrake
• Seatbelt on!

Explain the 'main' controls :

• Pedals - which foot uses which pedal, what they do and how to use them!
• Gear Lever - explaining the 'palming method' (if you know that!). Practice changing gear (especially 1st to 2nd for now) with engine off
• Indicators
• Handbrake
• How to hold the steering wheel (quarter to three)
• How to turn the steering wheel (pull-push method)

No need to explain wipers, dipping headlights, fog lights etc unless you are actually going to use them which is unlikely (apart from the wipers perhaps)

Moving off and Stopping (all in 1st gear for the first time and then get them to move into 2nd gear, clutch will need to go in quicker while in first gear when stopping) :

• Explain how to move off
  • Select first gear
  • Find biting point on clutch with a little 'gas' and then keep feet steady!!!
  • Check mirrors
  • Signal Right
  • Check Blindspot
  • Release Handbrake
  • Ease clutch up slowly

• Explain how to Stop (important that you do this BEFORE they have moved off!!)
  • Check mirrors (internal and left)
  • Signal left
  • Move to the left (depending if you are on a road or not!)
  • Start to brake gently
  • Clutch in
  • Handbrake on
  • Select Neutral

Once they can move off and stop reasonably consistently then introduce left hand junctions...followed by right hand junctions....stops and yields....roundabouts....traffic lights.....build up the level of traffic...more complex junctions.....parked cars etc....pedestrian lights....reversing in a straight line....turnabout....reverse around the corner....Do the test

As for main tips :

• BE PATIENT!! Dont shout at them and dont say things like 'its easy - why cant you do it!!'
• Keep a very good lookout all around the car, dont assume that the learner will see things or even if they do they may not react so you need to be ahead of them at all times.
• Give good clear instructions.
• Once they get driving a little and moving into 3rd gear be careful that they dont select 1st instead of 3rd when coming from 2nd!!! If they do the car will jolt to a virtual stop (without brake lights obviously!) and is a recipe for the guy behind to run into you....without a dual clutch you cant prevent this so keep an extra eye on it!
• If steering is an issue get them to do 'figure of 8s' using the pull-push method around either lamp posts in car park or manholes etc. If you have cones you can use those !!
• Every maneouver should follow the basic principle of :
  • Mirrors
  • Signal
  • Positon
  • Speed ( & Gear )
  • Look

Good luck!

stealthyspeeder

Massive thanks! I have printed out your reply and its coming with me for the first session on Thursday!

DriveSkill

You're welcome! Come back and let us know how it goes.

stealthyspeeder

I went out last night with her, and im pleased to report it went really well!

I ran through everything that Driveskill mentioned before she started and got the car moving! Definately a wise move! She didnt stall once! (it really knocks your confidence for the next 5/10 mins when you start and stall!)

Anyway, we went to a car park and covered, starting, a few procedures (not in great detail as I didnt want to embarass myself in case I left something out!), driving in a straight line (1st gear), and stopping! Doesnt sound like much, but when as she hadn't done it before, she was all excited and pumped up about it! (very entertaining!)

So after that, (the car park wasn't as empty as I'd hoped) we went (I drove) to a suburb near me which has a 2 wide deserted roads, 2 roundabouts, and a small car park. She then got a chance at using second gear, reversing (she was very confused about which way to turn the wheel when reversing! and also kept crossing her arms which meant she couldnt get lock on the wheel, affecting the steering), taking corners and stopping and starting at junctions.

She was doing really well, only getting flustered when another car was in sight (literally very scared about seeing another car 100 metres in front or behind her!). Her steering needs improvement as she has a tendancy to start the turn too late, go slightly on the wrong side of the road and then over compensate! but I reckon that will come with practice? She had a shot in 3rd gear on the straight before we finished. I was very impressed with how quickly she picked things up! and Im wondering what to do the next time we go out (I thought it would be a few more times before she was at her current level!)

Thanks again for the advice, and if you have anymore recomendations on where to go from here, they would be more than welcome!

DriveSkill

Sounds like it went well! Well done (to both of ye ).

For the steering there are 2 things to watch:

1. Make sure she is looking in the direction she wants to go....this means looking into the road to the left when taking a left turn. Some learner drivers will stare straight ahead out the windscreen at all times and the general effect is they dont steer enough or they steer late into the turn..emphasise the need to actually turn her head when coming of out junctions etc to look left, right, left (when turning left).

2. The other problem is turning the steering wheel too slowly while trying to maintain the pull-push method. For turning left, the left hand should move to the top of the steering wheel (12 o'clock) and pull down until it is at the 6 o'clock position, then right hand meets it there and pushes up to the 12 o'clock position and repeat! For a normal junction you wont need to turn the steering wheel that much but try make each movement count and dont just 'shuffle' the steering wheel in very small movements - for example just moving left hand from 10 o'clock position to 8 o'clock will take a large number of movements to have the same effect. Hope that makes sense....hard to describe in words! Another common mistake is that only one hand does the turning! So you end with the left hand turning a little, then right hand just holding the wheel while left hand moves back to turn a little again....both hands need to work to turn the wheel. If you have an open space with 2 poles or trees etc about 10-15 meters apart then drive in 'figure of 8' around them, this will get her to do full lock-to-lock left to right turns and back again.

For the next lesson I would recommend continuing with more junctions and stopping/starting. There is an exercise sometimes referred to as 'block work'. This basically means finding a quiet area (if you can find an industrial estate in the evening its usually good) and just driving around a block taking left hand turns, then reverse the direction and you end up with right hand turns. Try find somewhere where there is a reasonable distance between each turn - i.e. you want to be aiming to get up to at least 3rd gear between them. Some turns will be left hand junctions so you get to practice slowing down and changing from 3rd to 2nd gear and others should offer the opportunity of a T-Junction where you will stop and then have to move off again. Remember even if the junction is marked as a 'Yield' you can override it and tell her treat it as a STOP so she gets practice of stopping and starting again. Just be careful if you are stopping at a very open Yield junction and there is traffic behind as they will expect you to just yield and a risk of them running into the back of you or getting impatient and getting on the horn which wont do her nerves or confidence any good!

To get her used to traffic try and find a long wide straight road (I'm not asking much ) Drive along it and get her used to meeting oncoming traffic without the need to take any avoiding action and assuming the road is wide enough it allows the opportunity for traffic behind to overtake safely.

Finally a word of caution...dont over-estimate her abilities. It is true that she got on very well for the first lesson but take it slow - dont push it too much, keep to quiet and relatively open areas until she builds up experience and some confidence. Typically a learner driver will make a huge leap forward in the first one or two lessons - going from not being able to start the car to driving along in 3rd/4th gear etc but the key is really getting in the practice and perfecting it. I'm sure there are some on here who will testify that the first couple of lessons go really well and then you have a bad one and keep stalling or whatever....it happens so dont be discouraged by it!

Good Luck!

stealthyspeeder

Thanks!! (The thanks button just doesnt convey enough thank you!) another post for the printer I think!

irisheddie85

some great advice above but definatley stick to wide open spaces for another while.
I taught my girlfriend to drive and she did so well the first few times in fields and deserted country roads i brought her out in public to early and it went horribly wrong.
Couldnt get started, kept stalling and went for the ditch every time she saw a car.
Took her 2 weeks to try again and then it was back in the field for a while, but now she has a full driving licence after a few professional lessons and will drive anything anywhere

Waymaster

Have a look at where she is concentrating ahead. If she is looking at a point too close ahead she would not get a good idea of turns in advance hence the overshootin and overcompensating. Probably not the case but its something to look out for! That advice from DriveSkill is excellent! Proper online tutor!;)