Contagious, isn’t it?
Whenever someone asks me what I do for a living and I tell them I’m a driving instructor, they often tell me it’s not something they would do. I agree that we are a rare group of people, and that’s a good thing, right?
Since I train new instructors forYoung Driversof Canada, I often watch the new instructors live, breathe and eat driving. During the Instructor Training Course they begin changing their lives to become a driving instructor, but sometimes they get a little carried away. For example, while using the washroom, they begin pulling the toilet paper out using hand over hand. While walking through a hallway at home they scan all the rooms before crossing the aisle. Now, that’s not a bad thing, right? They also prefer to walk in a pattern that doesn’t let someone else walk directly beside them. I guess they’re looking for an escape route in case of trouble.
When I became a driving instructor I learned that there was a difference between a collision and an “accident”. Collisions are preventable. Watching a driver run through a red light and hit my vehicle is not an “accident”. It could be avoid and therefore is a collision. It’s been ingrained in my language to avoid saying “accident”. This proved to be difficult as the years continued. When my kids were being toilet trained, I couldn’t say they had an “accident” in their pants if they never made it to the toilet in time. I ended up saying they had a collision in their pants! Some words are just tough to say I guess.
I remember being at an instructor meeting over 20 years ago when a new instructor said “I’m looking well ahead in the mall!” Isn’t that the only way to do it? It’ll help you stay centred in the aisles as you walk and you’ll get plenty of time to see stopped baby strollers and shopping carts in time to respond to them. Let me ask all of you this question; how many of you have checked your blind spot while walking somewhere before you move to your left or right? Yeah, I thought so!
So let’s face it, being a driving instructor helps us in all parts of our lives; whether we want it to or not. If only I could figure a way to set up a rear view mirror on my head!
Rear-view on your head. Funny!
Man, I wish all driving instructors were trained by you!!
The first time I tried to learn to drive, my instructor was so terrifying I gave up (used to grab the wheel as I drove, yell at me in Russian–which I don’t speak!, and yak away on his cell phone while I tried to drive in rush-hour Toronto traffic). I’m now about to take my G2 road test with full confidence, having learned with my boyfriend instead. And by watching Canada’s Worst Driver, actually, which I learned a lot from! It took 10 years and my experience gave me a permanent phobia of driving schools/instructors.
I did not go to Young Drivers (would’ve loved to, but couldn’t afford), but to one of the small, local alternatives. Do you happen to know if Ontario has any sort of regulations for these types of independent schools? If they don’t, they ought to!
Thanks for your great comment Bree! Sorry to hear about your experience with an independant driving school and instructor. Ontario does have stricter rules now for driving schools and instructors. These have been in effect for just over 3 years. They are cracking down on the schools and instructors that aren’t doing their job. Also, thanks for watching Canada’s Worst Driver! Hopefully, that was when I was there judging the drivers! 🙂