“Sorry I wasn’t listening to you. I was concentrating on that left turn at the lights,” voices my new driver.
“Sorry Sorry Can you please stop talking! I am trying to concentrate on my driving thanks,” says my new driver.
“Shut Up!” hollers my new driver!
Ignoring your passengers is a skill.
Part of the rules for a new driver is limiting the number of passengers in the car precisely because many new drivers DO NOT HAVE THIS SKILL!
SHUT UP PLEASE I NEED TO CONCENTRATE.
One of the biggest distractions, if not the biggest when driving is your driving instructor!
And many instructors do not realize this!
Many new drivers also don’t realize this hence they don’t learn how to STOP the distraction!
One of the first tests we gave instructors who came to work on the cell phone research studies with Transport Canada was to get them to SHUT UP! Many could not stop talking! Many could not stop saving the new driver!
Just try it!
Get in the car with your new driver and SHUT UP for ten minutes.
I know this is true because I get many clients who took training from other driving schools, many who took full courses from the most famous high-priced schools. One of the first things I do with them is SHUT UP! I just let them drive for 10 min alone, no help!
Almost every student freaks out a little and when we stop to talk about what happened, they gasp with relief saying how much they struggled in the silence….
“I didn’t know where to drive!”
“That’s the first time ever anyone has just let me make all the decisions.”
“I constantly wondered the entire time what you were writing down! I struggled to concentrate on the driving.”
“I was so lost I simply started to drive to my home because that’s the only route I know! Ha Ha Ha.”
Silence is Golden. Try it sometime.
did you learn this in your driver training?
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