Quick Overview
This page offers a concise summary of challenge you’ve accepted
and an approach to meeting it.
As soon as drivers move from L’s to P’s their risk of being in a
crash jumps dramatically and stays very high for about six months.
This is largely due to the abrupt change in circumstances - from
being closely supervised on L’s and told what to do, to driving
unsupervised on P’s.
Your challenge when preparing your learner for P plate driving is
to avoid saying “Do as I say” and help your learner Find Their Own
Way by encouraging them to become responsible for their own
learning. On P’s they will have much to learn about the new
circumstances without you alongside to help; they need to be good
at learning on their own when they start their P’s.
As a caring supervisor, saying “Find Your Own Way” means you
letting go of absolute control. That doesn’t mean you have to be
out of control – you can still feel
in control without being controlling.
You will have done a great job as a supervisor if you have
helped your learner driver get lots of diverse driving experience
and at the end of it, they can say:
- you were never bossy and it felt like you were both learning
together
- you mostly asked questions to help them work out what was
best
- you rarely said ‘Do as I say’ but when you did they soon
understood why it was important
- you talked lots about driving situations you were in and what
you both thought and felt about them
- you listened closely to what they had to say
What would your learner driver say right now if you asked them?
Go through the rest of the guide and try to implement some of the
ideas before you ask them.
Next: Sharing
Control
