Abuse from a Driving instructor...I'm Stunned

[asterix]

What a depressing thread, but unfortunately it serves to confirm what I already suspected.

Is there some way in which us cyclists could 'escalate' the problem and have this aspect of driving emphasised?

(Is it time to get that helmet-cam? Last Sunday I was passed by a red corsa with the passengers arm outstretched through the window. Never happened before - fortunately the driver gave me so much room the passenger couldn't reach.)

 

[summerdays]

Surely what we should all do is retrain as driving instructors and go round educating the next generation on how to treat cyclists on the road

 

[Peter88]

Surely what we should all do is retrain as driving instructors and go round educating the next generation on how to treat cyclists on the road

 

[Ste T.]

Driving examiner standards can vary wildly also. My brother was taking his test in Glasgow and as he waited in the test centre with several other testees(?) his driving instructor said if you get the guy with the beard, he is known for being an easy touch. He had been warned that the examiner would only give instructions and may appear frosty, but he wasn't to take it personally. A few minutes pass and out come five instructors and start reading names out. Sure enough beardy reads out my brothers name. Cue our kid under his breath " Get in, you wee beauty!"

My brother said it was bizarre. .

All the way round the exam route the guy hummed and whistled, passing inane comments on things he saw. This culminated when, sat at a set of lights at a busy junction near the city centre, he said to my brother "Hey, look at that guy up that ladder , doesn't he look like Omar Sharrif ".

Needless to say he passed

I try to avoid travelling by car with our kid as he is one of the worst drivers I have ever sat with

 

[Smokin Joe]

I suppose the conclusion is, driving instructors are not there to instruct their clients in safe driving. They're there to instruct their clients in how to pass the test. There's the difference. Or am I just an old cynic? Actually, as I recall, my own instructor (40 years ago) was a model driver, retired copper (they often were in those days), really decent and considerate to every road user in sight, and taught me all the right stuff. Perhaps I owe him. Perhaps things have changed since...

Pity you're not a driving examiner. Would soon drive the message home, once you start failing every one of Mr Abusive Instructor's candidates....

Perhaps you can explain how you teach someone to pass their test without teaching them to drive safely. In 20 years as an ADI I never found a way.

It's easy to find bad examples in any walk of life, they obviously stand out because of their behaviour, but the majority of driving instructors spend their lives teaching safety and consideration for every other class of road user.

 

[PatrickPending]

Had a similar incident from a BSM (British school of Morons) instructor a while back - he was hanging out of the window gesturing that I should use the pavement cycle path that was full of schoolchildren at the time. What sort of an example are these people setting the tutees - being impatient is ok ewhemn it really is the cause oof most accidents....

 

[Night Train]

Surely what we should all do is retrain as driving instructors and go round educating the next generation on how to treat cyclists on the road

That was my intention when I paid for instructor's training with RED.

I have been teaching people to drive since 1985 and I can honestly say that every one of my students, they were all people I know, have driven since then with no points on their licence nor claims on their insurance. Every one has been aware of the responsibility of being a driver, regardless of their personal feelings towards other road users. This is because I felt it so much more important to instill a sense of safety and responsibility in their use of a motor vehicle then to, say, perfect the parallel park.

I still occasionally demonstrate a commentary drive to friends who have the wrong attitude or are not aware of the hazards and it really surprises them what I take time to notice and act, or prepare, for.

This isn't strictly just about cyclist, as they all fall into the same category of all vulnerable road users who may also be a potential hazard, and are treated accordingly.

 

[bigjim]

Riding down a busy A road a car almost shot out of a side road, I just braked in time to avoid him. Driving Instructor on the phone, arm crossed on wheel!
Riding in the cycle path on another A road, car passes me and 500yds further on parks up on the cycle lane which has a continuous [don't cross] line.
Driving Instructor with pupil!
In the car aproaching set of Red lights in outside lane on busy a road. Am undercut at approxiamtely 50mph and car runs red light and turns left.
AA driving Instructor!
Cycling up steep hill on quiet wide B road. nothing coming in opposite direction. car passes me that close I am sure he touched my elbow.
Driving Instructor with pupil!
All and more in the last few weeks.

 

[Cyclopathic]

What I find extremely frustrating is finding cars parked right in the cycle lane. Often on roads where the cycle path is just a painted line down the side of the road cars will just park right in them forcing you out into the middle of the road anyway. I have even seen a police car in one. I keep telling myself to get a camera phone so that I can send the pictures to...actually who would I send them to?

 

[KenG]

Ive been a cyclist for the last 30 years and a private driving instructor for the last 5 years, I always teach my pupils to give consideration to cyclists by observing cycle lanes, checking the left hand mirror before turning left and always to check the left mirror before moving off at junctions.
I cycle to work in an industrial area and during winter when light is reduced have been nearly wiped out on several occasions, even though i use 2 front lights and 2 rear, by drivers not observing on approach, its only braking hard that has saved me from being flattened.
I see good and bad in both cyclists and car drivers daily,certainly some cyclist need educating too, the ones that dont use lights during winter and wear dark clothing , the ones that dont stop at juntions when turning left (sometimes right as well) and the ones that ride from road to pavement to road when it suits them.

I must admit there is an influx of driving instructors lately who seem to think that its enough to teach pupils to pass their test without really looking at following the DSA,s motto of "safe driving for life".

 

[Night Train]

I must admit there is an influx of driving instructors lately who seem to think that its enough to teach pupils to pass their test without really looking at following the DSA,s motto of "safe driving for life".

That is what I noticed on the RED course. It was really geared up to teach a learner to pass the test and no more. It is worryingly similar to schools where the teachers only teach to pass the exam and not to know the subject.

 

[Sambu]

well my driving instructor hated cyclists and black people! beat that!

 

[buggi]

yep, same here. As i moved into a right hand lane to take primary at an island, catching the eye of the learner driver when signalling right, thanking her for letting me in (text book maneouvre), the instructor then encouraged his student to undertake me and pull back in front me . he got the sharp end of my tongue and i told his student to find another driving instructor as she would have failed her test for that maneouvre.