Common Mistakes New Drivers Make and How Instructors Can Address Them

 

Novice drivers are like kids with new toys. In their excitement or nervousness, they end up making mistakes despite taking driving lessons. However, making mistakes is not the problem. After all, they are new to driving, and making mistakes is expected. The problem arises when these new drivers fail to take lessons from their mistakes. As driving instructors, correcting errors and teaching the right techniques and practices is a part of your job profile. But, simply calling out a student’s mistake and telling them how to correct is often not enough. Instructors must also teach them the importance of avoiding such mistakes and instill safe driving habits. Driving instructor course offer instructors the right methods and strategies to impart driving education and correct driving behavior. This post discusses some of the common mistakes that new drivers make and how instructors should handle them.

Common New Driver Mistakes

Here are the common mistakes that new drivers often make and what driving instructors can do to help: 

Neglecting Shoulder Checks:

As new drivers, it’s important to check the blind spots, and using the mirrors is the best way to do so. However, shoulder checks also play an important role in improving your visibility of areas that your rearview mirrors might not cover. However, in their excitement, new drivers often forget shoulder checks. Instructors should remind them why shoulder checks are important and encourage them to form a habit of checking over their shoulders before changing or merging lanes.

Remember to Use Turn Signals:

Turn signals help other drivers on the road to know that you’re taking a turn and react accordingly so that there are no unwanted accidents. But new drivers often forget to indicate that they intend to take a turn. So, when they suddenly start turning, the vehicles around them have to work double hard and quickly or risk getting hit. Instructors should make their students understand the possible consequences of forgetting to signal and remind them regularly to avoid making such mistakes.

Improper Speed Management:

After a few lessons in driving, new drivers start feeling that they understand the mechanics of driving and need not pay attention to the basics anymore. In their excitement or anxiousness, they often forget to check their speed. While they may think they’re going at an acceptable speed or within the speed limit, they might actually be speeding without even realizing it. It is an instructor’s professional and moral responsibility to make such students aware of their speeding habits, teach them how to control and manage speed, and encourage them to always check speed limits when driving.

Poor Lane Positioning:

For new drivers, it can be difficult to maintain their lane position while driving. Staying in the same lane for a long time requires a lot of patience and steadiness. But with regular and constant practice, it becomes easier and more manageable. Instructors should try to give their students as much practice in lane positioning as possible. Along with Driving instructor courses, instructors can also use modern technologies like visual aids or traditional practical exercises to get students to practice proper lane positions. 

Maintain Proper Following Distance:

For beginner drivers judging distances can be tough. So, they may end up tailgating without realizing or intending it. As instructors, if you notice a student keeping too little distance, teach them why following distance matters. If they fail to judge distances properly, you can teach them the ‘three-second rule’ to maintain a safe following distance. And of course, practicing a lot can help them correctly gauge distances and avoid accidentally tailgating other drivers.

Parking Incorrectly:

Parking is one driving skill that even seasoned drivers find hard to master. So, for newcomers, improper parking is a common mistake. However, as we have already established earlier, practice makes driving perfect. Instructors should focus on teaching drivers to park properly and efficiently. Teach them the proper technique in small, manageable steps and provide regular practice.

Not Noticing Road Signs and Signals:

New drivers often forget to pay attention to road signs and signals. Instructors should keep reminding students to pay due attention to road signs and teach them why it’s important. They should also make sure that the drivers are familiar with all the road signs by showing them theoretically and pointing them out in driving practices.

Difficulty with Defensive Driving:

New drivers are struggling just to remember the many traffic rules and road signs. So, if they forget some defensive driving habits despite learning, it’s quite natural. However, instructors should make sure their students know defensive driving skills and implement them in their driving. Driving instructor courses like TLI41222 also offer insights into the right ways of teaching defensive driving techniques to students. They can be a big help to instructors in their professional careers and moral conduct.

Conclusion

For new drivers, avoiding these common mistakes is important for their safety as well as road safety. However, it is the professional and moral duty of an instructor to make sure their students avoid making such mistakes and learn to drive cautiously and responsibly. Driving instructor courses can teach instructors the right methods to help improve the driving skills, road awareness, and responses of their students while driving. Reputed institutions like the Academy of Road Safety offer various accredited as well as non-accredited courses for instructors to hone their professional skills. Preparing qualified instructors is the key to making future drivers skilled, responsible, and dependable and improving road safety.

 

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