Roundabouts - I thought I would probably stop…

Roundabouts - I thought I would probably stop…

 

Roundabouts are great, as they allow traffic from different roads to merge or cross without having to stop. I love them and, throughout my years of driving and driver training, I realise I now hardly give them any thought…negotiating them happens automatically!

However, it would seem they are a major hurdle for learner drivers…for many reasons…here are just some of the reasons I have been given by pupils when I asked them why they hesitated…why they didn’t go when there was quite clearly a gap they could have taken…

“I didn’t go because last time I tried to pull out I stalled.”

 

So, what is the problem here? It could be that the pupil does not have the confidence to pull out because the last time they tried the car stalled and they are frightened it will happen again. 

So, just how does an instructor deal with this problem? The way I deal with it is to get the pupil to practice pulling away quickly, using throttle and clutch in a balanced way. This is a skill that can, for some, take quite a while to get just right. Some pupils are frightened at the thought of using a lot of gas for fear that they will shoot off. So, in order to get them to understand this better I get them to play my “moving off quickly” game. This involves getting them to find the bite, then set the gas too high (say about 2,000 revs) then pull away as slowly as they can. Sounds daft doesn’t it? Especially when the objective is to get them to pull away promptly? But it works. Once they have lost their fear of setting the gas to a reasonable level, then we progress onto the next stage of my game. Which involves me counting them down (saying, 3, 2, 1, GO!) and asking them to imagine they’re at a junction and they need to pull away as fast as they can. This takes as long as it takes! Sometimes the pupil will stall; if this happens it’s a case of helping them to understand why they stalled, and what they should do about it (keep clutch down, turn engine off and back on again-handbrake only if necessary), and some will almost do a wheel spin! Again, explanation of why it happened, and gaining their understanding of what they did that made it happen. It’s best to choose a nice quiet road or car park to practice this game, so they don’t need to worry about anything else. Once it clicks in their brain, (and it will!), and they gain in confidence, then it’s off to put their new found skill into practice at roundabouts…

“I was going to pull out but I waited for that car as he was indicating right”.

 

This is where I feel quite sorry for my pupils. Why don’t people signal? And if they do, why don’t they signal correctly? How many times have YOU waited for another car because they’re indicating right, but then they go off left?! The way I deal with this problem in the early stages is basically to let THEM decide when they want to pull onto the roundabout. Some might say I should prompt the pupil when to go…but in my mind the pupil would then just get really proficient at pulling onto a roundabout when I want them to. This is counterproductive in my mind as they are then waiting for me to TELL them when to pull out, and they will not learn when they should pull out for themselves. I don’t like even confirming their decision, because in that split moment it takes or me to okay their decision, the moment is lost and the gap no longer exists!

So, once they are making their own decision as to when to pull out (which will be when their brain tells them it is safe), then I like to involve them in a discussion that gets them to probe deeper into the problem of other drivers, not signalling or signalling at the wrong time. Such as the speed of their car, where is the driver looking, where is their car positioned, where are the wheels facing?  I suggest that they ask themselves on the approach to the roundabout exactly where they think the other cars going? I have also found that if I give them a demonstration drive, they are quite surprised at how I deal with roundabouts. Most of my pupils are surprised at how many times I just don’t stop at the roundabouts, but just merge onto them. Over time, as the pupils gain in confidence (and are able to look, assess, decide, act), this skill of reading what is happening at the roundabout, and being able to see the gap to merge onto the roundabout, develops quite quickly, and once  they start to get more right, roundabouts cease to be so much of a problem. For my pupil and me, it’s a wonderful moment when the penny drops, and they find they can deal with roundabouts with assertiveness and confidence…

Of course there are many other reasons why a pupil struggles to deal with roundabouts in a smooth confident manner; which leads me onto why I’m writing this post…correct analysis of the problem is vital if we, as instructors, are to help our pupil efficiently.  The other day whilst on a driving lesson, I asked my pupil why she stopped at a roundabout (when, for me, there was so obviously going to be a gap to merge onto), and her answer was;

“I thought I’d probably stop.”

Very interesting…for many reasons! After she negotiated the roundabout we pulled up to discuss her thoughts about what had just happened. For me it is crucial to get HER opinion as to why she didn’t see the gap she could have merged into onto the roundabout. So I asked her what she was thinking as she approached it. That’s when she said, “I thought I’d probably stop”. When I probed a bit further as to why she thought this, she said she saw the three or four cars in front of her at the roundabout, and thought she’d HAVE to stop. It was also interesting because after she had stopped, she then said that she could have gone… So, what exactly was she NOT doing as she approached the roundabout? She wasn’t looking far enough ahead (I was watching closely where she was looking), which meant that she didn’t notice that although there were cars in front who were queuing to get onto the roundabout, she wasn’t able to see that by the time she got to where she’d need to make a decision she didn’t have time to get into a suitable gear to merge onto the roundabout. Further questioning revealed that she was thinking about what she needed to do as she approached – her MSPLS routine – which prevented her from being able to look, assess, decide and act (LADA). I asked her about her speed on approach to the roundabout (in my opinion she was going too fast, which meant that she didn’t give herself the time she needed to LADA). Interestingly, she didn’t think she was going too fast! That’s why I find it SO important to ask the pupil first, before jumping in with my analysis of why something happened… The other factor that has been troubling her for some time is the fact that this pupil had initially booked a semi-intensive driving course. She had booked her driving test already, but it soon became clear that she simply wasn’t going to be ready for her test so, after discussion, we rescheduled it for a later date. She said she was desperate to get driving, as lots of her friends at school had already passed. So she was putting herself under a lot of pressure…

It seemed to me that she was really getting irritable at herself for NOT “getting” roundabouts. And this in itself is another problem. The more a pupil doesn’t “get it”, the more they feel they are a failure, and this just compounds the problem…

So, how did this session end you might ask? Well, we discussed the situation with her mother. She had been putting a lot of effort into helping her daughter by getting her to drive her own car most evenings. She said she had noticed the same thing happening, mostly at the larger roundabouts. Her mother felt the same as I did, she didn’t want her daughter to take the test and fail. She wanted to be sure that her daughter was able to drive safely, able to make all the decisions she needed to make, and at the right time. We all agreed to reassess the situation a few days later, whilst she still had time to postpone her driving test without loss of fee. In the meantime, she would continue to practice roundabouts with her mother…

And how do I feel about this situation? Well, I’m pleased that I had a chance to discuss this pupil’s progress with her mother. I do sometimes feel under pressure to get the pupil to achieve their goal. Occasionally, they have said they don’t understand why it’s taking such a long time for their teenagers to develop the skills needed to be safe on today’s roads. That’s why I like the parent to sit in on a lesson…so they can see exactly what goes on.

Our plan for the next lesson is to practice more roundabouts. Smaller ones, so that I can encourage her to start her LADA much further away from the roundabout, so that she has a good opportunity to do all she needs to do on the approach, and start to get it right! This will build up her confidence in her own abilities, making her more relaxed, and thus more able to achieve her goal of mastering roundabouts…at least, that’s what we HOPE is going to happen! I’ll keep you posted…

Helen Adams ADI – July 2012

www.purple-driving.co.uk