“To Whom It May Concern: The Driving Coach CC

Good day,

My name is Bryan Smith, and I am a student who has recently moved to Cape Town to begin to study towards a Bachelor of Arts degree. Having acquired my learner’s license earlier in Durban in 2011, I undertook driving lessons with your coach, David Arnott, from December 2011 through to late January of 2012. 

I write this letter to express my sincere gratitude to David Arnott, and the Driving Coach, for all the excellent service bestown upon me during the course of my lessons with the company.

David is a truly exceptional coach and is a one-of-a-kind mentor. Kind, patient and armed with an excellent sense of humor, David’s tutoring has taken me from being a nervous and overly-cautious driver to a relaxed and confident one who can handle any situation with ease.

Having failed my driver’s test twice (once with a prior firm in Durban) and once in Cape Town whilst taking lessons through the company, David displayed exceptional resolve, dedication, and professionalism in ensuring that I could book, practice for, and ultimately one day achieve my driver’s license.  David always went the extra mile in any endeavor during our lessons and took every opportunity to either praise or constructively comment upon (and recommend excellent improvements politely) my driving methods in order to maximize the time spent in my lessons and quickly become a far better driver.

Each and every single one of David’s suggestions had exemplary merit, and when taken into practice, I was truly amazed at the results I could achieve.

Having driven with prior coaches in Durban, I can say with confidence and ease that David is easily the most professional and organized coach I have ever encountered, and is more so a person who approaches any task with ample responsibility and energy.

I am truly grateful to be able to call myself one of David Arnott’s students and I am very thankful to both him, and the Driving Coach.

I can fully (and have already) recommend David to any learner driver (s)seeking an experienced coach and would be happy to provide a testimonial. David is a truly dedicated tutor who brings out nothing but the best in his students, and any who employ his services are very fortunate to do so.

I would like to express my thanks for all that has been done for me throughout my tenure with David Arnott and the Driving Coach.  It is exceedingly difficult to find such such fantastic service in this modern world, but I am thankful I found such a professional driving school and coach in Cape Town.

Many thanks, and kind regards,

Bryan Smith

*If the Driving Coach or David himself wishes to make use of any of the content within this letter for any purposes, I hereby grant full permission to do so without my disclosure or discretion – it is the very least I can do in thanks of the wonderful service I have received.”

And it got me thinking about so many accidents that can be prevented. We all know of someone driving without a legal license and worse, no learners at all. They are a huge danger on our roads and contribute to our high accident rate especially this time of the year.  It has become an epidemic of sorts and I feel for all traffic offices as they the ones who have to deal with this. These are the men and women who sacrifice the whole of the festive season away from their loved ones.

I care about people I have a passion for living, and so should YOU. Do yourself a favour,  if you know of someone driving without license/learners talk to them. Perhaps persuade them to at least try and obtain their learners license and maybe even a few driving lessons. Book enough to get you thru the festive season.

The last thing on anyone’s mind now is driving lessons. However, you would be better off spending money on a driving lesson then some expensive item of clothing.  So invest in yourself and give yourself the gift of living, peace of mind, and knowing you are being responsible.

Remember there will be ZERO tolerance on the road this silly season; YOU do not want to be stuck at  a road block without a legal drivers/learners license and smelling of alcohol.

Give yourself the GIFT OF LIFE. Your best time is yet to come.

Till next time, keep it real and play it safe. We only have one life… live it well.

“Fake learners and driving licences are being sold across Joburg for anything between R800 and R4 500 – and some take as little as three minutes to print out.

A Star investigation found that at four of the five City of Joburg testing centres, fake licences were available for those willing to pay.

Mostly, these fake licences come with a licensing centre’s stamp, official signatures and the holder’s fingerprints.

And those selling them are car guards and instructors from fly-by-night driving schools who hang around the city’s driving licence test centres and admit to colluding with the examiners.

It has become such a problem that a six-year probe by the Special Investigating Unit into corruption at a driving licence testing centre uncovered 11 175 invalid (fake) licences.

The Star’s investigation involved ordering fake licences and telling corrupt officials involved that they would return later for the forgeries.”

News24

Johannesburg - The process of getting a driver’s licence may take up to four years if a new proposal is given the go ahead, the transport department said on Saturday.

From the age of 16, a person could apply for a learner driver’s licence, which would force them to be accompanied by a fully licensed driver and stick to a maximum of 80km per hour.

 You may ask why I’ve decide to quote and unquote these news papers? Well today I was shocked to see just how bad people really can drive on our roads. No one seems to indicate when they about to turn left or right. This causes a lot of confusion and at times, huge accidents.

So which leads me to believe the problem is much bigger then I initially thought regarding fake licences. Yes I know how hard it can be obtaining the legal licences, but don’t you owe it to yourself to get your licence the legal way? Yes, K53 is hectic I know, but do you realise the importance of that. Yes we do not apply that much K53 in the real world but it can save your life and  in return can save someone’s life by thinking for that person or predicting what the person in front or two cars ahead of you may do next.  You can then react calmly and in time before danger strikes. Think about that one, ponder on it….

 Now about that 4 years wait to obtaining your licence. I am actually having a little chuckle and shaking my head. When I read the article two weeks ago I went…WHAT..??This is pure madness and this will make the fake driving business flourish. I reckon this team of people had nothing better to do then suck this out of their thumbs. Then again I must eat humble pie and rolling my eyes with tongue in cheek say I WAS WRONG. In fact, I would say it is a good idea. I am afraid to drive on the roads these days and only drive when need be. I think that must have been one of the reasons I associated myself with a driving school. I have this passion to at least try changing one driver at a time. And to my relief and in all humbleness I found there are so many people sharing my passion and they joined forces with our driving school.

All I am saying is we need to take responsibility for ourselves and do better out there on the roads. Remember,  do not speed .You will get to your destination even if you are a little just a late. Perhaps get up earlier and leave home earlier so there is no need to rush, don’t you all agree?

 Hope this blog got a few of us thinking…

Till next time…

1. Don’t rush it Get as much practice as you can and only apply for your test when you feel confident that you are safe. If you’re worried about the theory test, ask friends and family to test you to familiarise yourself with the questions and have a go at our sample theory test questions
2. Book the first available driving test of the day. If you take your test early in the morning you will have less time to worry about it.
3. Don’t tell your friends the test date. If everyone knows you are going for the test, you create the additional stress of trying to live up to your friends expectations. It’s OK to let your Mum and Dad know, we are sure they will give you all the support you need.
4. Don’t listen to ‘horror stories’. There are many stories about failed tests. Some may even be true. Just concentrate on your performance.
5. Get the timing right. Take the test at the right time. Try to book the test so it does not coincide with other stressful events (just prior to school exams or in the middle of wedding preparations etc).
6. Go to the right test centre. No good going to a test centre were your friends have all failed. This will only lose you confidence. Go to the centre were they all pass!
7. In your last two lessons. Ask your instructor to concentrate on the manoeuvres you find most difficult.
8. Do a practice run. We use the term ‘Mock Test’. The instructor should be very realistic and the student must take it reasonably serious.
9. Practice in your head It’s been proven that you can improve your ability to perform coordinated tasks by imagining doing them.
10. Examiners are only human. Your test is one of possibly eight on the examiners sheet that day. Don’t try to please him/her.
11. You do not need to be perfect. Concentrate on the essentials. If you make a mistake, keep calm and concentrate on your driving. The mistake may not result in failure.
12. Don’t worry about silence in the car. It can be daunting sitting beside a stranger, who seems to just grunt: ‘turn right, turn left’. Avoid thinking the examiner doesn’t like you. If there is a little chit-chat, be happy, but don’t expect it.
13. You will pass. Both instructor and pupil must be convinced that the result will be a pass. An attitude ‘lets have a go at it’ may produce a pass, but is exhausting on the nerves.
14. Don’t take pills to calm your nerves. This only slows your reaction and performance.
15. Get a good night’s sleep before the test.

Have a great week and be safe on our roads.

The Driving Coach Team

If you think this senseless tragedy couldn’t happen to you, think again.

“Some children are knowingly and negligently left inside hot vehicles while their parents do errands. Other kids climb inside their parents’ parked cars and become trapped. But most, like Juan Parks, are victims of adults’ disastrous lapses in memory. “Given the right scenario, I would say this can happen to anyone,” says Diamond. “It has nothing to do with how much parents love their kids. It is, to me, a tragic way of learning how the brain works.”

Children in a car, who are not fastened with a seat belt or who are not placed in an appropriate sized and correctly fitted child seat, may be seriously injured or even die in a car accident,

I am very passionate about this subject and I think more people out there should voice their concern about babies/toddlers being left standing in the car, on the parents lap whiles that parent is driving…it is not cool. We say we love our kids and the world is evil out there, yet we go about our lives not taking great care our precious children. Kids learn from us, they need to know from a very young age when you get into the car, sit down buckle up, not get in and run around on back seat or it’s ok to stand between the two front seat, or even worse stand on the passenger’s seat  in front…

If the child is one of those busy bees who cannot sit still for long, take a cartoon book with, give them paper and crayons, and if they love Barney cd let it play, heck I did it once when my kids was little, and that was one heck of a long 5hour drive to Knysna with Barney playing over and over.

I am begging every parent out there to please take care of that precious baby you brought into this world. It is just so unnecessary for pointless accidents to be that wakeup call when that lifeless body is laying yards away just because  of a lack in judgement…

Take care and do the right thing, buckle up and arrive alive…

Smsing, bbming, texting, whats app messaging and phoning while driving are now considered to be more dangerous than driving while under the influence of alcohol!

Can you believe it?

Does it surprise you?

Think about it…

How distracted are you by your phone?

How often does a phone’s ringing or beeping grab your attention away from what you were doing, before you actually think about it and weigh up the situation to answer it?

We have all answered our phones at inopportune times, whether it was that ‘quick’ sms we sent while waiting for the red light to change, or answering than all IMPORTANT phone call while driving…

We have all put our lives and/or others lives in danger without even realising it!

Driving under the influence of alcohol ‘Drunk Driving’ is a huge problem in our society and kills thousands each year, we have horrific road deaths in South Africa because of it and now Driving while ‘Distracted’ is adding to these numbers!

Really? Can we afford more tragedies?

Just think about it carefully and honestly…

Have you ever been unaware of someone walking up beside you or talking to you because you’re been on your phone?

How often do you look up from your cell phone screen only to realise you missed some occurrence in the room or a noise that would normally affect you didn’t even break through your consciousness?

Our level of constant distraction is understandable with this new wave of social media and instant messaging… apart from the original sms/text, you now have black berry messenger, facebook, facebook mobile chat, mxit, twitter and What’s app… Who can blame us?

We’re bombarded with information!

It’s no wonder we live our lives less consciously, we’re too engaged with others to actually be present with ourselves and our own lives!

But sociology aside… the current problem we’re facing is our distractions while driving, an activity where we should be fully aware, fully awake and fully able to adjust our actions constantly.

Research has shown that a conversation on a cellular phone draws our attention away from the processing of the visual environment in any situation; they actually found a 50 percent reduction in the receptiveness and processing of visual information just when you’re driving and talking on a cell phone, imagine when you’re smsing/texting and looking away from the road?

In the research the test subjects were monitored braking for a car slowing down in front of them, and then as they continued to resume speed.

The research papers findings (in brief) are the following:

Drivers who were having cellular phone conversations were involved in more rear-end collisions, and took 18 percent longer to return to their initial driving speed than when they were legally drunk.

Drivers using hand-held and hands-free phones had an equal impairment.

It’s not only the actual act of holding the phone that prohibits and impairs the drivers; it’s the brains perceptiveness and processing of other information and stimuli while conversing on the phone that prohibits and impairs the drivers.

With our roads already perilous and filled with hazards at every turn do we really want to add yet another danger angel to the equation?

Let us be ‘street wise’ in the ultimate sense and focus on the road and driving when we should!

There is a time and a place for everything and apparently driving and cell phones don’t mix!

So stay off mxit, what’s app, facebook chat and black berry messenger until your car is parked and your handbrakes up!

Remember it’s not just you on the road…

Happy and safe driving to all!

Written by A Walker

How? I hear you ask! Why? I hear you say! Well it’s simple, and somehow easy and utterly comprehendible. Huh? You mutter. Huh indeed.

Learners booked, a few months wait. Drivers booked, several months wait (nine to be exact!)

One failed test behind me (a most unfortunate ever-so-slight roll backwards on a hill stop)

Two years in the United Kingdom. An expired learners license and here I sit.

I’m sitting here, because well, I can’t drive anywhere!!

The biggest shock of all is… I’m not the only one!

There are others, many others, who for reasons unseen, or because of fears holding them back, have not yet received their drivers or learnt how to drive and some much older than I. There are fully relatable, understandable obstacles that seem to appear in daily life hindering us, preventing us from taking the next step, and then there are the obstacles we place across our paths ourselves… and this is where the challenge comes into it.

Driving, or more rightly learning how to drive is all about deliberate participation. It is all about taking action and following through. As much as I wish I could learn how to drive by means of osmosis I realise I have to take the giant leap.

I’m not quite sure what has held me back all this time, is it the fear that even after all my attempts I’ll fail again, is it really that I haven’t had the time? I’m not so sure, and I don’t know what your obstacle or obstacles have been. All I know is that the decision to queue at the traffic department, to learn the road signs and to take the learners test, to book driving lessons with The Driving Coach, the hours and hours of practice and the odd tear when the parallel parking attempt still resembles a right angle, the joy at living through your first drive around Da Vaal drive or up Kloof nek… is all up to you.

So, take the first step… book your learners… then learn the road signs!

Book your drivers… then find the coach to match at The Driving Coach, a coach who can help you deal with the obstacles on the road and the obstacles you create for yourself!

 Put in the effort, learn and perfect the actions, because only after all of that will come the day where suddenly it all comes together, where the deliberate participation turns into a celebration. And my, oh my! what a day that will be.

A Walker 

I wonder how such a law would be received here in South Africa. Will it work? Read further and decide for yourself.

Imagine not being allowed to drive after 11pm or only being able to carry certain passengers. Well that could become reality for new drivers if a road safety campaign is successful.

Young drivers hit the headlines again this month after a new campaign was launched asking the government to radically overhaul the learn-to-drive system.

Road safety charity Brake is appealing to MPs to make some serious changes to the current scheme, which gives new drivers a full licence after the driving test is passed, from the age of 17.

According to Brake, a revamp of the way driving licences are issued would cut the number of road deaths in the UK by giving motorists better training. In the last ten years alone, there have been 8,109 young lives lost in road accidents.

The insurance industry is supporting the campaign in the hope that reducing road deaths will bring down risk and cut the cost of car insurance for everyone, especially young people and new drivers. In 2010, the Transport Select Committee agreed that better driver training was key to cutting the cost of motor insurance in the long-term.

Nick Starling, director of general insurance and health at the Association of British Insurers, said: “The current learning to drive regime is failing young people, as there is much more to driving than simply passing the driving test.

“Too many youngsters get behind the wheel ill-equipped for unsupervised driving. This is why we have long advocated structured learning to help young drivers build up their driving skills gradually and safely, and graduated licensing for newly qualified drivers.”

Watch this video to see why one bereaved father is supporting the proposals and read on below to see how the changes could affect you.

A radical new scheme

What Brake want to see is a “graduated driving licence” , which would compel new drivers to undergo a minimum learning period of one year before taking a driving test. Once passed, the novice driver would be allowed to drive unsupervised but would have restrictions on their licence for a minimum of two years.

Other key components include: 

• Restrictions on the time of day that young drivers can drive
• Giving young drivers a lower alcohol limit
• Restricting them from carrying young passengers
• Banning motorway driving in the first year after the test
• A second driving test at the end of the two-year period to help ensure safe driving on all types of roads.

Brake is adding weight to its campaign by enlisting the help of families with first-hand experience of road tragedies.

Bereaved father Tony Davison is fully supporting the call for a new driving system. “My 18-year-old son was killed by a young driver who took risks and paid the ultimate price, along with my son,” he said.

“I’m proud to support Brake in calling for the introduction of graduated driver licensing to help keep young people safe on the road, and reduce the number of families, like ourselves, who have to experience the untold grief of a police officer knocking on their door to deliver the news that their loved one has been killed on the road.”

The Brake campaign also coincides with the start of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety – a worldwide bid to cut the number of road deaths.

Julie Townsend, Brake’s campaigns director, said: “Young drivers and their behaviour hold the key to the future extent of carnage on roads. These crashes account for a quarter of all road deaths and serious injuries. There is compelling evidence that graduated driver licencing would reduce these appalling casualties, and help protect young people from the biggest danger they face.”

Brake will be working with the Government to try and implement the proposals and get the graduated licence in place. Similar systems already operate in Hong Kong, New Zealand and some states in America.

Yours Truly

Delme Petersen, MD, The Driving Coach

“Waning mental functions linked to errors, but some older drivers do just fine, experts say

Even healthy seniors with safe driving records and no history of dementia tend to make more potentially dangerous errors, such as forgetting to check a blind spot, according to a new study.

This suggests that driving performance declines with normal aging and more mistakes crop up, putting the elderly at risk of automobile crashes, said the Australian researchers, who suggested additional training in related cognitive skills for older drivers.

That suggestion, however, will likely be controversial.

“It’s really hard to re-train the brain,” said Renee Pekmezaris, vice president for community and health services in the Research Department of Population Health at North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System in New York.

Studies

Other studies show that cognitive re-training does not reduce older people’s driving crashes, said Pekmezaris. “I’m not as hopeful as the study authors about that,” she said. “But there are other things we can do.”

The study appeared online May 16 in Neuropsychology, a journal of the American Psychological Association.

In the study, researchers examined the driving habits of 266 healthy drivers ranging in age from 70 to 88 who lived independently and drove at least once a week. Besides completing questionnaires about their health and driving history, the elders took tests on various driving skills such as discrimination, reaction time and the ability to stay focused amid distractions or adapt to changing conditions.

During the 12-mile road test, a professional instructor with access to a brake rode in the car. An occupational therapist sat in the back seat and scored the drivers for skills such as using signals and mirrors, checking the “blind spot” and problems that included veering, tailgating, inappropriate braking and accelerating.

The findings

Overall, 17 % of the drivers made serious mistakes that required the instructor to grab the steering wheel or apply the brake.

The rate of critical mistakes among drivers aged 85 to 89 (who had an average of almost four critical mistakes) was also four times higher than among those 70 to 74 years old (who had an average of less than one).

The most common error was a failure to check the “blind spot” for other vehicles. Drivers reporting a previous crash on the questionnaire made more errors connected to observation, and scored lower on appropriate braking and acceleration, the study found.

Men and women performed equally well on the tests.

“The results fit well with about 30 years of previous research,” said Harvey L. Sterns, a research professor of gerontology at North-eastern Ohio Medical University. Driving ability, in general, declines with age, he said.

But Sterns cautioned that many elderly have no problems handling a car. Some drivers in the oldest age group studied made no errors, he said.

“There are greater differences within age groups than between age groups,” said Sterns, also a professor of psychology at the University of Akron in Ohio. “It’s hard to know whether [the study is] showing dramatic changes relative to an earlier time.”

In the US

In the United States, 33 million drivers aged 65 and older were on the roads in 2009, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. On average, 500 elderly adults are injured every day in car accidents, the agency reported.

As the population ages, the issue will increase in significance, said Sterns. Pinpointing cognitive functions that are linked to driving skills is “an important first step,” he said, noting some of these functions could be improved with training.

The authors said their findings are useful for those designing roads and signs, although they acknowledge their study has limitations. One is that drivers’ vision wasn’t evaluated.

Pekmezaris said aging drivers might do well to modify their driving habits and take advantage of technological advances.

Older drivers may need to restrict their driving to daylight hours, and make use of anti-glare equipment and onboard anti-collision devices, she said.

“What we really need is to get physicians involved in this,” said Pekmezaris. Earlier research found that 89 % of elderly drivers reported they would stop driving if their doctors recommended it, she said. (HealthDay News/ May 2011)”

Be safe out there