2 Learning to drive

• How do you learn to drive?

• Some facts about new solo drivers

• Practice is the best way

• Your supervising driver is there to help

• Put variety into your driving practice

• Traps along the road to solo driving

• Check your progress

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 2 Learning to drive

Understanding that driving is HOW DO YOU LEARN

complicated is one thing, becoming TO DRIVE?
a skilled driver is another.
The more you do something, the better at it you
Lots of people can help you – your get. Athletes, musicians and artists know there is
no substitute for continued practice – refining and
driving instructor, supervising drivers
improving skill and performance.
and friends. But learning to drive is
mostly up to you and the only way It is exactly the same with driving. How well you
can drive is limited to the amount of driving
to become a safe and skilled driver experience you have – the more experience the
is by doing lots of supervised safer you will be.
driving practice. The only way

SOME FACTS ABOUT NEW to learn to drive

SOLO DRIVERS is by doing lots

Drivers with little experience make all sorts of of supervised

mistakes – increasing the risk of a crash:
practice
• They are less able to predict possible problems.
By the time they have recognised the hazard it
may be too late.

• They often are concentrating on the basic

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 driving skills and are not able to deal with – failing to predict a possible problem on the
unexpected events and distractions. road ahead
More supervised
• They tend to watch the vehicle immediately in – being distracted or a lapse in concentration
practice equals front rather than looking further ahead, to the
– poor vehicle control
sides and behind. So they may miss things that
fewer crashes
can warn of problems ahead. – failing to adapt to a change in road or traffic
later on conditions.
New solo drivers are more likely to be involved in:

• Crashes at an intersection when turning right in

front of an oncoming vehicle going straight PRACTICE IS THE BEST WAY
ahead, or being hit by a right turning vehicle.
New solo drivers tend to misjudge gaps in Every driving practice session really helps, even
the traffic. though you may not notice the small
improvements:
• Crashes into the rear of another vehicle. New
solo drivers are more likely to be in the vehicle • your performance will get smoother
that hits the one in front. These crashes are • you will make better decisions
often caused through speeding, not scanning the
road ahead, and driving too close. • you will also get better at thinking about what
might happen on the road around you.
• Crashes that involve driving off the road. These
crashes occur about twice as often on a straight Being able to predict what may happen around you
section of road than on a curve. Speed is a main – as a driver – is an essential skill, which only
cause, but other factors also contribute such as: comes with lots of experience. With the

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information collected through lots of practice and Possible hazards can be the vehicles around you,
experience, you begin to anticipate more and make such as:
better decisions as a driver.
• the car in front
This is known as hazard perception.
• the car behind
Hazard perception is the ability to:
• the motorcycle in the side street to your left
• identify possible risks or dangers in the road
• the truck double-parked up ahead
scene around you
• the car approaching in the overtaking lane five
• assess the level of risk and predict what
car lengths behind you.
might happen
Possible hazards can also be:
• respond in a way and in time to avoid or deal
with these possible hazards. • pedestrians

• cyclists

• weather conditions
HAZARD PERCEPTION is the ability to
identify, assess, decide and respond to • potholes in the road
possible risks or dangers in the road
scene around you. • traffic conditions

• the tightness of a curve ahead

• a blind crest on a hill.

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 Hazards can be anything in the road environment
that could present a danger or a risk while driving.
You can New drivers often don’t see or anticipate the
only check possible hazards around them.

everything out Because possible hazards can be anywhere, you

BLIND SPOT BLIND SPOT
can’t rely on just looking ahead and using your
by doing mirrors. Regardless of how well you set up your
a headcheck! rear view mirrors, blind spots remain. These are
areas behind the driver that can’t be seen using
only mirrors, such as outside the rear passenger
door on the driver’s side.

You can only see in these blind spots by moving FIGURE 2

your head and quickly looking over your shoulder
Be aware of your blind spots
– this is called a headcheck (see headcheck
definition, page 28). Do this as well as using As a driver, knowing exactly what is happening
mirrors to make sure you see everything around around you at all times is essential. Learn to
you, such as when reversing, changing lanes, constantly scan and you will be in a better position
merging or pulling out to overtake. to anticipate hazards and respond in the best way.

36
 YOUR SUPERVISING DRIVER
To SCAN means taking in the road scene IS THERE TO HELP To get started,
around you by looking ahead, to the sides have your first
and in rear view mirrors. Driving takes much more effort in the beginning,
when you are learning. It is just not possible for few lessons with
new drivers to be able to do all that is required
when driving – that is why you have your a professional
supervising driver beside you. They don’t take the driving
place of professional driving instructors, but
supervising drivers such as your parents, can instructor
provide the extensive practice opportunities you
will need. They are there to help you:

• with an extra pair of eyes to watch the road

• with some decisions

FIGURE 3
• as an early warning system – to help you
Adjust your mirrors after you have positioned the
anticipate potential hazards
driver’s seat so that you can see clearly. When
adjusted correctly there will be an overlap between • by being a sounding board – there are a lot of
the view from your outside and inside mirrors. things to make decisions about.
Adjust your outside mirrors so that they just catch a Over time, and with lots of practice, the role of
view of the edge of the car. In some cars, a good your supervising driver will gradually change.
guide is to be able to see the rear door handle in the
bottom corner of the side mirror.
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 You will take more responsibility for your driving Your driving will develop with practice. In order to
and your supervising driver will do less. get lots and lots of practice you need to enter a
You can see
partnership with your supervising driver. This
To help you and your supervising driver, once you
the differences partnership is vital because you can only practise if
have passed your learner permit, you will be given
your supervising driver agrees to let you drive.
between Getting There From Ls to Ps. This booklet provides
lots of advice and ideas on getting driving practice It can be easy to find excuses for not getting the
experienced and
and how to go about learning to drive. practice you need:
inexperienced
• traffic is too heavy
drivers but the
Research shows that learner drivers with • conditions are too bad – possibly wet and
only way to get 120 hours of driving practice can reduce slippery at night
their risk of a crash during their first
from one to the • the road is too narrow with lots of curves.
two years of solo driving by 30%.
other is with But it is essential that you do get practice in these
situations. With the help of your supervising driver
lots of
you can turn them into valuable practice sessions.
experience Crash statistics show that supervised learner
drivers are amongst the safest drivers on our
roads. So, remember, practice with your
supervising driver alongside you is the safest
time to face difficult driving challenges and
build your experience – rather than when you
are solo driving.

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Naturally, there will be times when it may not be PUT VARIETY INTO YOUR
appropriate for you to get behind the wheel. You
need to build on your experiences gradually and
DRIVING PRACTICE
not try too much too soon. However, even these Make sure you and your supervising driver use the
times when you are not behind the wheel, can still driving log in PART 5 of this booklet as a record of
provide you with opportunities for learning and your driving practice. It will help you both to
discussion with your supervising driver. Make the understand the types of driving experiences you
most of being a passenger and develop your need and to make sure you get plenty of driving
observation skills – think about how you would practice in a variety of conditions. It will also tell
drive in these situations! you at a glance which types of driving experience
It is important that both you and your supervising and conditions you still need to focus on.
driver feel comfortable with the type of practice Driving covers so many different situations and
you are getting. Gradually build up the challenges, conditions. It is important to encounter as many of
rather than jumping in the deep end. these as possible during your practice sessions.
Getting There From Ls to Ps uses checklists Increase both the amount and variety of practice to
to help you and your supervising driver work increase your chances to gain valuable driving
HOT TIP out whether you are ready to move to the experience.
next step in building your driving experiences.

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 The same stretch of road can present very
different challenges, depending on the
combinations of traffic and weather conditions,
time of day and road users at a particular time.
The only way to be sure you can deal with these
different challenges is to practise often in lots of
situations with your supervising driver.

Take every opportunity to practise for 10, 20, 30

minutes, or an hour. Short frequent drives are far
more valuable than the occasional long drive, and
at the start, shorter more frequent practice QUIET CONDITIONS
sessions are more productive and less stressful for
both the learner and the supervising driver.

Remember the more supervised practice you have

in a wide variety of situations and conditions, the
fewer crashes you are likely to have later on.

So, what do you need to do?…Practise often!

BUSY CONDITIONS

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WET CONDITIONS AT DUSK

GLARY CONDITIONS AT NIGHT

The same location showing a variety of driving conditions

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 TRAPS ALONG THE ROAD TO You may see early signs of improvement in your
driving quite quickly – these tend to be mainly in
SOLO DRIVING
controlling the car. What may have seemed
As you progress with practice you may find that difficult or impossible the very first time – such as
you seem to be picking things up quickly. With just turning left – seems simple after a few lessons
driving, appearances are often deceiving. It can or a few hours behind the wheel.
appear that there is little left to learn after several
However, this is misleading. There is more to
lessons or a few dozen hours of practice – driving
driving than just car control. Driving tasks you
can seem easy. Don’t fall into this trap!
seem to master will continue to improve for some
time to come. Remember these tasks are only a
You feel better… small part of becoming a competent driver. There
are five different types of skills you need to
before you do better!
develop as a driver. The first one comes relatively
You will continue to learn and improve for years quickly, but the rest will develop over time with
to come. lots of practice:

So don’t be fooled – keep practising! You will keep 1 Car control – steering, brakes, using pedals,
getting better even though you may not be aware buttons and other controls. These skills tend to
that your skills are improving. come relatively quickly and can make you think
you have learned it all!
Practice will build your confidence in yourself as a
driver and this is a good thing. But don’t become
overconfident!

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 If your brakes have failed: 4 Identifying and weighing up risks – recognising a
• pump on the brake pedal hard and fast risk and taking the right action to deal with it Some practice
HOT TIP • apply the handbrake carefully so the takes practice. New drivers don’t identify risks
may make you
vehicle doesn’t skid as quickly as experienced drivers.
• if possible, change to a lower gear (even in an good some of
5 Making decisions – deciding when to slow down
automatic vehicle) and use your horn to alert
and by how much, when to accelerate, what the time.
other drivers
speed is best for different conditions, when to
• try to steer the vehicle so that you avoid a Lots of practice
change lanes or overtake. These and many
severe collision.
other decisions need to be made every time will make you
2 Visual scanning – looking to the front, the you drive. The ability to make the right decisions
consistently
sides, in the rear view mirror and taking notice only comes with experience and lots of practice.
of what is happening on the edge of your vision good!
(peripheral vision). New drivers tend to look If you have a tyre blowout while driving,
mostly to the front. remember to keep a firm grip on the
HOT TIP steering wheel, take your foot off the
3 Thinking and responding – includes assessing
accelerator and brake gently once you feel the
hazards and judging distances between you
vehicle is under some control.
and other cars. This takes lots of practice
to develop.

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 car control visual scanning thinking and identifying and making decisions
Smooth driving
responding weighing up risks
minimises fuel NEW DRIVER SKILLED DRIVER
consumption, DRIVER SKILLS THAT DEVELOP OVER TIME WITH PRACTICE
exhaust

emissions to
CHECKING YOUR PROGRESS kerbs and running wide – will go from being once
every trip…to once a day…to once a week.
Here are some things to look at to check on your
the environment Don’t make your aim just passing the licence test!
progress:
and wear and Make your goal being able to drive in a consistent
Smoothness way without making lots of mistakes. This way
tear on passing the licence test should be easier and you
As you become more experienced you will find won’t have to take the chance of making mistakes
your vehicle
your driving changes from ‘clunky’ and ‘jerky’ to during the test itself.
‘smooth’ and ‘fluid’ movements.

It doesn’t happen straight away, but it will happen Speed Control

with continuing practice! Over time and with increasing experience, your
ability to control your speed on the road will
Consistency improve. In the early stages, it’s all black and white
You will notice over time that your driving – accelerate to go and brake to slow down
becomes much more consistent. The mistakes (‘on/off’ speed). This is shown by the red jagged
you make – such as stalling, grating gears, hitting line in the graph on the next page.

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Gradually, with increased experience, this will Low speed manoeuvres
change from the ‘on/off’ style to an ‘ease-on/ease- When things are done more slowly there is
off’ style. This is shown by the curvy green line in more time for mistakes to be noticed.
the graph. Don’t just aim
Low speed manoeuvres are a good way to test
Better speed control goes hand-in-hand with other your performance. In a safe place with no other at passing the
improvements you will experience in your driving traffic, try: test, aim at
– as you continue to practise. • reversing over an extended distance – in a learning to
straight line
SPEE D

drive safely!
• driving into and reversing out of an angled
parking bay.

These are good ways to assess how you’re going

and can be a good indication of your level of
vehicle control.

Seeing the big picture!

TI M E With practice you will find that you will be able to

take in more of what is going on around you. You
SPEED CONTROL OVER TIME
won’t be focused just on what is happening on the
On/off speed (accelerate to go, brake to slow) road immediately in front or behind you.
Target speed
Ease-on/ease-off speed
You will discover that you have already noticed the
traffic slowing way ahead or the car signalling to

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 pull out from the kerb, before your supervising Anticipation is about being ready to respond to a
driver points it out. Gradually your supervising situation before it happens!
Most driving driver won’t need to point things out to you as
Regardless of how quick your reactions are you
often.
shouldn’t be will respond faster if you have anticipated the need
You will develop the skill to know where to look for action. You need to scan the traffic and road
surprising –
and when to look. You will also develop the ability environment all the time and expect the
not because it to quickly work out the best way to respond to unexpected.
different situations.
is boring, but Remember you will be travelling at speeds up
Basically, you will start looking at the big picture to 110 km/h – think about how important
because the
rather than focusing only on smaller parts. anticipation is!
surprises
Anticipation! Gaining independence
have been
As your driving experience increases you will find You will notice a shift in how much you rely on
anticipated!
that you are starting to think more about what your supervising driver. At the start you really
might happen next – this is anticipation. You will need the extra set of eyes and a decision maker
find that you begin to predict the chance of: in the car with you, helping you out. With
increasing experience, you will notice you are
• a car in front stopping quickly in heavy traffic
taking more responsibility for your driving –
• a pedestrian walking onto the road from but still with the back-up from your supervising
between parked cars driver if it is needed.

• other situations that can happen on the road

around you.

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You can ‘measure’ this by thinking about: Given the challenges of driving – variety and
lots of practice is vital.
• the amount of advice you ask for and get during Seeing
your practice sessions – should I give way to Remember to monitor your driving practice
the big
the pedestrian? by using your driving log in PART 5 of
this handbook. picture only
• the ‘warnings’ provided – watch the red car!
comes with
• the decisions taken on your behalf – change Points to remember:
lanes now because we have to turn right soon. experience

The changes will be gradual as you gain more 1 Prepare for the challenge
experience through practice. Your aim should be
to drive without relying on your supervising driver,
long before you sit for your licence test. 2 Practise often
Use the key messages and checklists in
Getting There From Ls to Ps as a useful
HOT TIP way to monitor how you are going.
The more practise you do before driving solo the
better prepared and safer you will be. Of course
you will still keep learning while driving solo but
make the most of your time as a learner driver!

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