Following the crash reconstruction of two weeks ago, I was approached by the London Safety Camera Partnership to do an interview to be published in their magazine INSIGHT. This is distributed throughout the UK to road safety officers, public bodies, police, London mayors office and I would presume the transport select committee and maybe DSA HQ.

Also, I have now had a request for this to be included in the March 2010 edition of Good Motoring Magazine which has a circulation of 60,000.

Here is the interview :

Q: What sort of view of drivers and driving do you get from the instructor’s seat of your car ?

I am pleased you use the term Instructors seat instead of passenger seat because the one thing an instructor must never be is a passenger. I am based in and around south east London, and with the pace of modern City driving I can never relax my full focus and attention whilst I have a learner under tuition.

I have been surprised by the younger learner driver’s lack of reasoning and problem solving ability. I find that in the early stages this needs developing alongside the competences of car control. I often wonder if the reduction of freedom in childhood to venture off with your friends and be creative and invent play together with the increased time spent on electronic games is at the route of this lack of problem solving and lateral thinking.

My view of drivers and driving by “qualified” drivers that I meet every day as an Instructor is, on the whole quite poor. I encounter deliberate cutting up , pulling out in front of my car without proper observation, a total lack of lane discipline, tailgating, overtaking on the wrong side of traffic islands, bullying tactics in meeting situations, failure to indicate even on roundabouts, parking in places that cut down the field of vision at a junction, speeding in 20mph zones and my pet hate of blatant and brazen mobile phone use by drivers. Then unless I am very lucky it’s more of the same after lunch.

Q: What causes you the most concern from what you see?

My main concern is the lack of consideration for other road users and what appears to be an attitude of “I will do what I like, and I am the only thing that is important “. This leads to a disregard for the Road traffic laws almost as if they were irrelevant and the driver had choice which bits applied to him/her. Perhaps the lower risk of being detected by real live Traffic Police these days is at the bottom of this. I would relish the prospect of more Traffic cars and motorcycles out on the street, that would be an investment that made sense to me. Why pass laws and then fail to provide the resources to enforce them properly?

Q: Do you think driver behaviour is changing-for the better or the worse-and what makes you think that?

Driver behaviour in my locality by some drivers is changing for the worse. There appears to be more aggression, coupled with a lack of patience and a willingness to take risks. I also find that this is not just the young male stereotypes. Women are becoming more assertive (especially on the school run) and a growing number of older drivers show a distinct lack of tolerance to others. However its not all doom and gloom, I find that every day I can draw the attention of my learners to some very good decision making, courtesy, clear indicating and good road sense. It is those moments that give me heart to believe that it is worthwhile teaching the correct methods.

Q: To what extent do you think safety messages about speed have been hijacked and spun by motorist pressure groups?

That is a very loaded question, I can only say that speed at the correct time, under the control of a competent driver is not in itself an evil. Speed where road conditions or circumstances are wrong is most definably at the route of many crashes and KSI’s.
I admire the work of organisations like BRAKE that strive to put across the responsible driving message. The National Instructor Representation group DIDU of whom I am an executive member has, since signing the European Road Safety Charter in July this year, been active in producing a program of speed awareness education in conjunction with Lewisham Road safety Team and the Ilderton Foundation.
To my mind the protection of life on our roads, particularly the most vulnerable, far outweighs other considerations.

Q: Would you like to see cameras wherever there are traffic signals.

I think that would be an over kill, I would welcome cameras at traffic signals on busy junctions or near schools, parks, residential areas and all pedestrian crossings. The cameras should be calibrated to react to cyclists as well as motorists.

Q: Describe your own driving in three words.

Safe, legal and considerate. But then I would say that wouldn’t I. I have to admit that was not always the case, particularly in the days when I was a service engineer driving a van in central London. Training to be an instructor taught me the error of my ways.

Q: What car do you drive? Why did you choose it?

I drive a KIA Rio diesel. I chose this as my tuition/family car after taking a test drive, I was hooked by the light feel of the controls, the ample front all day “office space “.
Good rear seat leg room and clear all round vision. Kia reliability and value for money played a large part in my final decision to buy.

Q: What’s in the glove box and on the stereo?

My glove box contains, headache tablets (real must have), tissues for test fails (also essential), hand sanitizer for use after the pupils that sneeze into their hands then touch the steering wheel and gear lever. Charger leads for my mobile phone and bluetooth car kit. Pens, pencils a quantity of business cards and chewing gum.

Q: If you were roads minister for the day, what reforms would you introduce and why?

1 Graduated driving entitlement, it is nonsense to allow a driver who has just past the driving test to be in charge of a very powerful car.

2 Compulsory motorway experience lessons with a qualified instructor. It cannot be correct to allow new drivers to use our fastest and in some cases busiest roads without any prior experience or guidance.

3 Introduce a theory test for pedal cyclists and have a form of number plate on each cycle used on our roads. To make cyclists more accountable for their riding conduct. (Jumping traffic lights, not stopping for pedestrian crossings , lack of observation and indication.)

4 Remove the monopoly on providing driver testing that the DSA has at present and open it up for competition in order to improve customer service and accountability.

5 Provide additional funding for more specialist traffic police officers , the higher chances of detection need to be restored .

6 Introduce a form of retesting every ten years. In order to keep skills and knowledge levels up to date.

7 Introduce a governing institute for the training and regulation of driving instructors, drawn from within the profession. Removing this duty from the Driving Standards Agency making them solely a testing body. DSA could provide one member of the Institute Council.

Q: Who would be your dream passenger ? And why.

My dream passenger(s) would be the CEO of the Driving Standards Agency and the Roads Minister in the rear seat for one day whilst I deliver lessons to my pupils.
Why? I feel they should see for themselves the problems that are encountered daily in teaching people to drive instead of paying millions for consultants to carry out research which only rarely involves seeking the views of front line operatives.