Jayden Hockey knows more than most about how to teach new drivers as he does it for a living. But even before he became a driving instructor he’d already had a hair-raising driving job as an ex-police pursuit driver.
Jay spent nine years as a pursuit driver with the WA Police Force and the cars he got to drive came with some serious grunt like the Kia Stinger, the XR6 Turbo and the Subaru WRX. Surprisingly there was no extra body protection or roll cages and that’s predominantly because the drivers are so highly trained it’s not considered necessary.
While Jay loved his job he also loved his young family and the frequent relocations around regional WA eventually led him to rethink his life and hand back his badge.
Jay is now based in WA’s Great Southern and he specialises in defensive driving courses which are particularly useful for new drivers living in the country or country drivers preparing to drive in the city.
So what’s some of Jay’s advice?
Start off slow: Most new drivers want to get in the car and just drive. Jay says some country kids, who’ve driven quad bikes or farm vehicles, often think driving is easy but you still need spatial awareness of where you are on the road.
“Head to a quiet road where there’s heaps of space and no traffic and just practise that initial push-pull of the steering wheel so they learn how to direct the car to where it needs to go.”
Get to know the car: Take time to just sit inside the car and talk through all the dashboard controls. Lift the bonnet and open the boot so they can see inside. Show them the spare tyre and jack tools and even do a mock tyre change and/or get them to watch a YouTube clip on changing a tyre.
Holding the steering wheel: Position your hands as if on a clock at 10am and 2pm or 9am and 3pm. Focus on push-pull steering so that each hand stays on its own side of the wheel and make sure there’s always at least one hand in control.
“The issue a lot of people have is that they start doing overhanded steering. This leads to reaching a certain point where one hand can’t move and, if they need to use their indicators or lights, they get all confused and then control of the vehicle is lost.”
Night driving: “The first thing you want to do is slow down and avoid being blinded by oncoming headlights so you need to slightly alter where you’re looking.”
Jay advises looking down to the left – just in front of your car and towards the left hand side road line. You can then use your peripheral vision to see the rest of the road.
Biggest mistake: “Due to inexperience, particularly in the country, people panic when a wheel leaves the bitumen surface into gravel or even when they’re driving on gravel and they over-correct and lose control.
“New drivers can also be a bit too confident. They often take corners too fast and then the car starts to skid and they’ve got no idea what’s going on. That’s when they do something silly like ripping on the steering wheel or sudden acceleration, or jerky controls, which you don’t want to do. You want to avoid any sudden and vicious inputs on the car that will induce a skid and cause a crash.”
Drive to the conditions: “Just because a road is signposted at a certain speed doesn’t mean it’s safe to do that speed. Maybe your tyres are starting to wear, maybe your brakes are on the way out or maybe there’s rain, fog or trucks. Slow down and create more distance between you and the vehicle in front.”
Biggest danger to new drivers: Themselves!. “Every new driver gets to that point, after a couple of months, where they get a little bit cocky and confident. They get complacent and their observation skills start to decrease. They also get distracted when mates are in the car and want to join conversations happening in the back seat. They’re often looking at their mates in the rear view mirror instead of looking ahead at where they’re driving. So, definitely the biggest danger to inexperienced drivers is themselves. “
Best tip of all..
“When you’re in a car, treat other road users like they’re out to get you!”
