{"id":42245,"date":"2022-12-27T07:00:28","date_gmt":"2022-12-27T15:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/?p=42245"},"modified":"2024-03-23T08:05:47","modified_gmt":"2024-03-23T15:05:47","slug":"q-as-an-hpde-instructor-should-i-tell-my-student-about-faster-cars-approaching-from-behind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/q-as-an-hpde-instructor-should-i-tell-my-student-about-faster-cars-approaching-from-behind\/","title":{"rendered":"Q. As an HPDE instructor, should I tell my student about faster cars approaching from behind?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Q<\/strong>: \u201c<\/em>I was recently\u00a0told by the head driving instructor trainer for a national organization that I, as an instructor, should never tell a new student that a car was approaching us from behind because, “The student could turn their head around to look at the car behind us and run off the track,” while demonstrating what ‘could happen’ by holding an imaginary wheel and turning the wheel while turning his head around. What are your\u00a0thoughts on this?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

A<\/strong>: First, after over four decades of in-car instruction, I\u2019ve never seen a driver turn their head around to look for a car that I gave them a heads-up about. I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s not possible, but I would say it\u2019s extremely rare, if ever. Usually, if I mention there\u2019s a faster car behind them, the driver checks the mirror (not a bad thing), ignores what I said because their mind is overloaded, or \u2013 in the rare occasion \u2013 they drift in the direction of where that faster car is. It\u2019s up to me, as the instructor, to be prepared for these reactions (or non-reactions!) and provide additional instruction, if necessary.<\/p>\n

Having said that, there\u2019s some reason the trainer told you this. Did they have a student do this to them? That would be a great question to ask the trainer.<\/p>\n

Certainly, where a driver\u2019s head is pointed is mostly where they\u2019re going to turn the steering wheel – the hands follow the eyes (which are installed in the head!).<\/p>\n

As an instructor, one of the most important things you must do is decide what level of mental capacity the student\/driver has at all times. Your goal is to stretch it, but not go way over it. And part of your instruction should be to help build the student\u2019s awareness level. To balance their mental capacity with building their awareness, you have to decide whether it\u2019s best to tell the student about a car approaching from the rear (helping them become more aware), or keeping that information to yourself (limiting brain overload) and managing it yourself.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t tell the student, and the car behind moves to make a pass, surprising the student, that could be far worse than not telling them. Ideally, you would give a message like, \u201cCar approaching from the rear – keep your eyes up and look ahead. I\u2019ll let you know if you need to do anything – be predictable and stay on your line. Drive your car.\u201d Obviously, the fewer the words you use, the better, so this needs to be adapted to the situation. So, you could simply say, \u201cLook ahead – know that there is a car approaching from behind. Stay on line.\u201d Giving the student a heads up, while helping them stay focused on what\u2019s ahead will address the rare situation where a driver turns their head too much.<\/p>\n

Of the thousands and thousands (literally, I\u2019ve probably been right-seat-instructing with 10,000-plus students in the past 40 or so years), I\u2019ve never seen a driver turn their head so much that it became a problem\u2026 unless I wasn\u2019t paying attention<\/em>. Sure, I\u2019ve had to remind students to keep looking where they want to go (while pointing with my finger), but that\u2019s about all. If all you did was tell the student, \u201cHey, there\u2019s a fast car approaching from behind, getting ready to pass on your right,\u201d and then just sat there\u2026 that could be a problem. If you give them a heads up, be prepared to counter any incorrect actions with another verbal and physical command.<\/p>\n

In addition, a part of your role as instructor is to help students learn to use their mirrors, so encouraging them to give a quick glance is a good thing. And yes, there are some novices that are so focused on just getting around the track that you need to tell them that you\u2019ll monitor the mirrors and tell them what to do if another car is approaching to pass. Again, you have to decide what their level of ability is, and how much they can mentally tackle.<\/p>\n

What do you think? What\u2019s been your experience, as a driver and instructor?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As an HPDE instructor, should I tell my student about faster cars approaching from behind?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask-ross"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42245"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42249,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42245\/revisions\/42249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}