Driving Calmly

Objective for Session 11

For most of this session, you should be driving independently and making your own decisions. Your ADI should ensure that you can remain calm and in control of your vehicle in situations where you may feel frustrated, exasperated, or threatened. Your ADI should also make sure that you understand the fundamentals of being fit to drive and safe loading of vehicles.

Minimum Session Coverage

In this session, you should experience driving situations such as joining busy main roads, entering junctions while driving independently, simulating the stalling and re-starting of the vehicle, and parking on a road with significant numbers of other parked cars and moderate traffic volumes. You should also cover planning for a journey and fitness of passengers to travel.

Expected Outcomes

By the end of the session, you should be able to demonstrate appropriate anticipation of and reactions to other road users, drive safely and independently without hesitation or prompting, explain how to deal with peer pressure or other distractions, recover promptly and smoothly if the vehicle stalls, and recover promptly and smoothly if conditions force you to stop. You should also be able to explain what might cause you to be unfit to drive, including the effects of alcohol, drugs, prescribed medication, lack of sleep, sickness, injury, and heightened emotions. You should be able to describe the consequences for your own safety and the safety of passengers and other road users of driving in an unfit condition. You should also be able to describe the legal implications of driving in an unfit condition and the possible consequences of carrying passengers who are likely to distract you. You should be able to explain the effects on a vehicle of it being fully loaded, how to load a vehicle safely and securely, and the importance of not carrying more than the maximum number of passengers.

How to Prepare for Your Next Session

To achieve the expected outcomes from your next session, you should have completed Session 1 to Session 8 and Session 11. You should discuss your sessions with your ADI, and based on their advice, you may have also completed some or all of sessions 9, 10, and 12. Before your next session, ask your ADI for advice on the relevant study material, practice, and/or driving sessions.

Practice is key. To feel confident about meeting the learning objectives, you should have read the expected outcomes of the next session (as agreed with your ADI), done enough practice with your ADI, sponsor, or both, and done any relevant study. Specifically, you should have practiced for at least three hours driving independently in more complex or challenging driving situations while interacting with significant numbers of other parked cars and traffic volumes. You should also have read the sections in the Rules of the Road that deal with planning for a journey, fitness to drive, fitness of passengers to travel, and vehicle loading. You should have acted on any feedback your ADI gave you at the end of your last EDT session.