Unit 40: Partly Trained/Trained – Pedestrian crossings and signals.

Research Material:
The Driving Instructor’s Handbook – Chapter 5
Driving: The Essential Skills – All, inc. Pages 129-132
Lesson Presenter
PST sheets
PST 6 – Pedestrian crossings and the use of signals/Reverse parking
PST 9 – Crossroads/Pedestrian Crossings and Signals
Examiner’s Part 3 Guidelines

Be aware of the distinct differences of teaching this to someone for the first time (phase 1), and providing extra training to someone who has already received training in the subject, but needs help with their knowledge, skills or attitude. This is another 2 in 1 subject, but this time they can be sensibly combined. Usually by this stage, even with a phase 1 customer, their general driving will be pretty competent, so concentrate on the subject in hand. On Phase 1 aim to be on the move within 10 minutes, on Phase 2, 5 minutes

Recap:
Phase 1: (1-2 minutes)
Work out whether your customer can drive away from their pick up point. And try to discover as much as possible about what they already know about signalling and pedestrian crossings. Remember that they will know a lot from previous lessons which can be used. Keep an eye on their cockpit drill and safety checks and their initial driving ability.

Phase 2: (3-5 minutes)
Your customer will have tackled these before, but as the purpose of the lesson is to help develop their ability you must discover the extent of their knowledge, skill and attitude to the subject. With a phase 2 customer you will need to be prepared to deal with busier situations and faster roads. Use the main points from the phase 1 briefing as a starting point for your questions.

Objective: (30 Seconds)
Phase 1:
To understand how to deal with signalling a pedestrian crossings, and to be able to do this under guidance (specific, measurable and realistic). How do you feel about dealing with some different crossings and some signalling decisions safely over the next 15 minutes? (agreed and timed)

Phase 2:
To deal with the signalling and pedestrian crossings independently (specific, measurable and realistic). How do you feel about aiming for that over the next 20 minutes? (agreed & timed).

Main Points: (5-8 Minutes)
Phase 1:
Use the knowledge of signalling which they already have from their training, and their knowledge of crossings as a pedestrian.

Signals timing: So as not to confuse.
Unnecessary signals: Passing parked cars/buses? Meeting situations. Could it be of any use to other road users? Could it be misleading to other road users? Setting off, and parking up.

Practise:
Phase 1:
Once explained and agreed – full talk through will be necessary, and you will need to be ready for strange reactions – once a crossing has been recognised it needs to be assessed, and signalling can be very confusing to get a grip on. Be ahead of the potential problems, positive instruction (ahead of the game) is essential at early stages to avoid danger and loss of confidence in your learner. Once things seem under control encourage your customer to start to take the initiative (move to prompted from guided).

Phase 2:
Watch your customer carefully to determine the level of instruction to be used. Implement core competencies in the event of any faults, and use these to determine changes to the level of instruction. Once something is being done correctly, attempt to transfer responsibility to an independent driver.

Summary:
Feedback at this point is hugely important – carefully question your customer for their knowledge and attitude. Be enthusiastic about how it all went, but ensure that you put into place an action plan to deal with any problems with control or observations which you couldn’t fix during the time you had in the lesson. Remember to acknowledge any mistakes, but to keep very positive about both your ability and your customer’s. Give your customer ownership of what they have done by asking them where their weak and strong points are. Fill out their track record.

On your part 3 examination, the phase 1 will usually over-run leaving little or no time for a summary. If possible on phase 2 you should aim to call a halt a couple of minutes before the end in order to summarise.

Discussion Points:
Common mistakes with signalling
Common mistakes with pedestrian crossings
Avoiding dangerous situations