m****ic school of motoring.

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Mon 25 Mar 2013 17:00
m****ic school of motoring. - SteveLee

We all moan about poor driving standards these days but two weeks ago they hit a new low, I noticed a driving school car continuously straying into the second lane on a fast A road, I assumed it was a (rubbish) learner driver, as I (carefully) overtook him I saw there was only one person in the car (the instructor I presume) he was looking down at an iPad on the passenger seat – writing an email? It’s no wonder drivers are so bad if instructors take road safety so lightly. I had a go at him at the next set of lights, he wound his window down and shouted a few obscenities at me for pointing out his stupidity before driving off!

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Mon 25 Mar 2013 17:04
m****ic school of motoring. - 72 dudes

Amazing! Might be worth reporting to ADI, although it would be his word against yours.

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Mon 25 Mar 2013 17:08
m****ic school of motoring. - SteveLee

Amazing! Might be worth reporting to ADI, although it would be his word against yours.

Indeed, I keep meaning to get one of those in-car cameras that records on a loop - that would have done the trick. It was an indepenfant (one man band) driving school.

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Mon 25 Mar 2013 17:24
m****ic school of motoring. - Bromptonaut

Amazing! Might be worth reporting to ADI, although it would be his word against yours.

Line of report would be to the Driving Standards Agency (DSA).

They take a strong line on professional reputation and there's a regular stream of instructors 'struck off' for driving convictions. I see reports of cases where the ADI appeals to the Transport Tribunal. The 'tipping point' is six points on the licence.

While I doubt DSA would proceed formlly on uncoroborated reports from the publice it's probably be enough to generate an informal rebuke and conduct mark.

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Mon 25 Mar 2013 17:30
m****ic school of motoring. - RT

Does DSA really take standards among instructors seriously? When I was helping daughter-in-law to find an instructor I discovered there are 6 grades of ADI - grades 1-3 are regarded as unsatisfactory but they're still allowed to instruct !

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Mon 25 Mar 2013 17:50
m****ic school of motoring. - Armitage Shanks {p}

Like an "F" grade GCSE pass.It is a fail!

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Mon 25 Mar 2013 18:33
m****ic school of motoring. - balleballe

GCSE's are now so easy that I would be genuinely surprised if anyone gets an F nowadays.

Getting your name correct would probably earn an E

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Mon 25 Mar 2013 18:42
m****ic school of motoring. - madf

Anyone who gets an "E" would not be able to spell their name.

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Mon 25 Mar 2013 18:48
m****ic school of motoring. - Bobbin Threadbare

It depends if you're doing Foundation tier or Higher tier. If you don't get a D in Higher you fall off the bottom of the scale.

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Mon 25 Mar 2013 19:31
m****ic school of motoring. - balleballe

Do they have tiers for every subject? I can only remember tiers being offered to me for French,

They had Higher (highest grade possible A*), Intermediate (highest grade a B) and Foundation (highest grade a C)

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Mon 25 Mar 2013 19:57
m****ic school of motoring. - Bobbin Threadbare

Do they have tiers for every subject? I can only remember tiers being offered to me for French,

They had Higher (highest grade possible A*), Intermediate (highest grade a B) and Foundation (highest grade a C)

Not all but most. Higher is D-A* and Foundation is G-C. I can only think of a few exceptions like history, astronomy, art, business studies and PE.

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Mon 25 Mar 2013 18:51
m****ic school of motoring. - MikeTorque

Car camera evidence in HD is well worth considering, see demo below. It may even pick up the next piece of space rock to fall from the sky.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McNm0tDt5oQ&feature=player_embedded#at=51

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Mon 25 Mar 2013 20:20
m****ic school of motoring. - John Boy

Car camera evidence in HD is well worth considering, see demo below. It may even pick up the next piece of space rock to fall from the sky.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McNm0tDt5oQ&feature=player_embedded#at=51

The user reviews on Amazon for that particular model are not very encouraging.

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Mon 25 Mar 2013 20:29
m****ic school of motoring. - MikeTorque

Sure there are better cameras available; the one I flagged was just an example.

Has anyone got an HD camera fitted inside their car ? What do you reckon ?

Edited by MikeTorque on 25/03/2013 at 20:29

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Mon 25 Mar 2013 21:04
m****ic school of motoring. - focussed

Does DSA really take standards among instructors seriously?

An explanation needed I think. The instructor grades are, as stated, 1 to 6. There are very few, if any grades 1-3 actually instructing. If as a result of a check test, which is a supervised driving lesson where a senior examiner observes and marks an instructor teaching a pupil, the instructor achieves a grade three or less, another check test is swiftly organised within a week or two with an examiner of a higher grade. This is sink or swim time, make or break, and if the instructor yet again fails to make a grade 4 minimum standard, there is only one more chance with an examiner before being removed from the register.

56% of ADI's are grade 4

37% are grade 5

6% are grade 6

2012 figures

Presumably the remaining 1% are on the naughty step with grades 1-3

Practically, there is very little difference between a grade 5 and a 6 apart from bragging rights amongst instructors.

So the answer to the question is- Yes -extremely seriously, If you want to know how seriously just try qualifying as an ADI.

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Tue 26 Mar 2013 10:13
m****ic school of motoring. - Sofa Spud

To be fair to driving instructors, it might not have been a driving instrucot at the wheel. It might have been on test by a garage, or maybe it was being transferred from one school to another by a delivery driver.

Edited by Sofa Spud on 26/03/2013 at 10:17

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