Who would have thought that as a Driving Instructor I would have found it so difficult to write my first blog or article. After all, whenever someone asks me "So what do you do?" and I reply "Driving Instructor", it usually is followed by many stories beginning with "I passed first time", or "I had 40 lessons and I'm still a terrible driver", or "How much are driving lessons nowadays"? So I thought my first article would be about some of the funny incidents that have come my way during the last ten years or so while I have been teaching people to drive in the Swansea, Neath and Llanelli area's of South Wales.
"You must have the patience of a saint" is something I hear quite often as a Driving Instructor, to which my reply is usually "Yes, you're damn right i do!" As a Driving instructor you don't need to just have patience, you need to have it and then some, and then some more. I remember once spending a few hours with a pupil at the start of his driving lessons teaching him the basics of turning right and left at junctions. It was clear early on that his steering was going to require some work, as he was unable to safely navigate one junction without me having to grab the wheel to stop us hitting the kerb or swerving into the middle of the road.
At one point during the lesson we were driving along a completely straight road, (now to me and you that would mean holding the wheel still, right?) when all of a sudden he pulled the wheel sharply left and as I was grabbing the wheel and braking we mounted the kerb and stopped, half on the kerb half on the road. Having safely driven forward and parked I asked him "Is there any particular reason why you have steered us onto the pavement on this straight road? to which he replied "But there was a massive bee by my window", "But your window was closed?" I said, "Oh yeah" came the subdued reply.
Another frequent disaster area can be roundabouts, I remember teaching a fairly middle aged man to drive (I subsequently found out that he had been driving around Swansea for years on a provisional licence!) and asking him to turn right at a roundabout would often fill me with dread, as rather than drive around the roundabout he would forget and try to steer the wrong way into oncoming traffic. After this happened a few times (and yes I did grab the wheel to stop it in time) I asked him why he would do 2-3 perfect roundabouts and then every now and then completely forget how roundabouts work, his reply was usually "I didn't realise it was a roundabout". Me saying "At the roundabout turn right" clearly wasn't enough of a clue, without mentioning the big circular island in front of him, oh and the traffic signs.
This particular gentleman never did pass his test with me, as when I found out that he was continuing to drive on his own having never passed his test I reported him to the police and refused to teach him anymore.
So yes I suppose we do need a lot of patience.
Iwan Williams has been a Driving Instructor for almost ten years, teaching people in the Swansea, Neath and Llanelli area's of South Wales. For more information on his well established and highly respected Driving School go to http://www.iwansom.co.uk/
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