Supervisor Tips
S1 - There’s little point in spending more than an hour on this - it’ll just get too boring. Have the pupil read through this lesson before setting off and then keep an eye on whether or not they are putting it into practice. It may help to buy a couple of small rear view mirrors you can stick on the windscreen - one of them adjusted so you can see what’s behind, the other adjusted so you can see the pupil’s eyes. It helps a lot if you can see where they are looking.
Mirror placement diagram
Also, try to remember that nothing causes arguments between pupils and mentors like mirrors! “You didn’t check your mirrors”, “Yes I did!” “No you didn’t” “Yes I DID!!” - and so it goes on. Don’t get drawn into the argument. Timing when to look in your mirrors is just as important as actually doing it. It’s quite possible the pupil did check, but did it at the wrong time so you didn’t see it. Discuss timing with them and look again at that part of the lesson below.
S2 - When driving with the pupil, always be sure they know which blind spot they will need to check well before making any manoeuvres.
S3 - It’s this timing which causes the arguments I mentioned earlier in the lesson. Try to keep an eye on when the pupil is checking mirrors. If they are not looking early enough, gently help them for a while by pointing out hazards nice and early to give them a chance to understand how far they need to be looking. Then leave them to it again and check on their improvement.
Never simply say “You didn’t check your mirrors”, it doesn’t work!
