Driving lessons include fuel stops and drive thru

A course of driving lessons should follow a series of topics found in the Driving Standard Agency (DSA) book, 'Driving the Essential Skills'.

However, does this complete the list of tasks a driver may need to perform having passed a driving test?

It's often suggested that a learner driver doesn't really begin to learn until they have a full driving licence.  This of course isn't true although it may be argued that a course of driving lessons don't necessarily meet day to day driving requirements.

McDonalds drive thru

"My driving instructor makes me stop in McDonalds on the way home from every lesson". 

When I first heard this comment, I naturally scoffed at the very idea, like an awful lot of my colleagues at Karen's school of motoring. 

In consideration thou, it may be good to learn how to drive through a fast food restaurant drive thru, as this is hardly an uncommon experience for many people, on a Friday night in Pitsea.

Sure, the driver should have mastered the ability to move and stop under full control but to move slowly whilst considering their order or searching for change may be something of a new skill.

Fuel stops

Filling a car up with fuel is I'm afraid a weekly necessity for most drivers, expensive and awkward even for the experienced. 

How often have you had to slalom around vehicles at the pumps or concentrated so much on rounding the numbers to a complete pound and feeling somewhat pleased when you've achieved a perfect score?

For the novice driver this can be extremely daunting particularly when running late of faced with a multitude of new tasks and inpatient drivers behind.

Car parks

I remember my very first visit as a qualified driver to a multi storey car park in Romford with in hind sight, laughable but at the time quite distressing consequences.

Having wound my way around and down the car park with walls that seemed to be closing in, I arrived at the barrier only to find I had not changed from a blue ticket to a white one.  As a result the barrier wouldn't lift and I was stuck at the front of a queue with a car full of friends that found it hilarious.

Scarred by this life moment I couldn't help to think how different it would have been with training.

These days part of the test may require the candidate to bay park and so instructors tend to teach the manoeuvre especially when they know there a probability the learner may be invited to do it.

Although, how often the training is done in busy car parks that have unusual circumstances could be questioned, probably because of payment restrictions and to avoid inconveniencing other road users I would think. 

However, if these were taught normally on driving lessons, I fear too many people would consider that they would be wasting time particularly because they are not being examined on this manoeuvres. 

Whilst some driving instructors do teach these procedures as a matter of course, very simply to benefit the novice driver I also appreciate that others may, because of convenience, encourage the driver to undertake the tasks without guidance or reasoning.

This of course is a practice which is wrong and detrimental to the pupil. 

Whilst there may be a considerable amount of tongue in cheek sarcasm in this blog it does also provoke a little thought about what driving instructors actually teach and what learner drivers would find useful. 

What do you think?