Skills Development

If you are already a skilful driver your driving skills should be at a reasonable level of competence. To take this to the next level and become an ‘expert’ driver, these skills will have to be honed and developed to a much high level. Indeed, to reach such a level, some skills will have to be taken apart, re-focused and on occasions, re-learned. They will then have to be put back together to ensure that your understanding and mastery of those skills and techniques are up to a higher level of expertise.

Specific skills will have to be developed more than others. For example, it is expected that you can brake and change gear successfully, but to develop all the skills necessary to negotiate a series of fast, sweeping B-road bends in a smooth, flowing and balanced manner, may take practice and further understanding. As you add one skill to another, it will bring into play many other elements that have to be perfected before you master the overall set of skills of expert driving in all situations.

Which skills to develop?

It makes sense to realise that improving our driving skills also increases our safety, confidence, and efficiency on the road and there are several ways to develop and enhance many driving skills through gaining more practical experience and using regular practice routines, every time you drive.

They say that the more you drive, the better you get. That’s all well and good, provided that when you drive, you have a purpose and a commitment to work on elements that you know need improvement in different driving situations and conditions - such as driving challenging rural roads, night time driving, along with rain and snow conditions (if the opportunity arises).

Here’s a typical list of skills to improve on:

• Mindset – noting this is at the top of the list!
• Attitudes – road behavior – tolerance
• Emotional stability
• Visual scanning
• Planning the drive
• Safe swift decision making
• Commentary driving
• Defensive driving approach
• Attention to the task
• Situational awareness and rearward presence of other road users
• Anticipation – alertness – awareness
• Cornering
• Dealing with junctions and roundabouts
• Braking – steering – gear changing
• Separation distances
• Making safe progress
• Speeding – use of speed – speed into hazards
• Hazard recognition – differentiating hazards types
• Road positioning
• Urban driving – fitting in
• Creating space and time
• Throttle control

Goals and challenges

Set yourself gradual driving goals and challenges, starting with simple routes that you may know well and gradually progress to more complex ones where your driving has to be fully focused and where you’re not distracted by outside influences - where it’s purely about driving and nothing else.

In order to get things into perspective, knowing exactly what needs work and what aspects of your driving are good, what better way to get to a balanced overview of your driving is to book an advanced driving course where everything you need to know will be delivered by a great instructor with huge experience in the driver coaching industry. It’s a great way to learn advanced techniques and point out what your practice is best focused on.

The driving jigsaw puzzle

It is like a jigsaw puzzle, but it’s a brilliant starting point for getting to grips with enhancing your driving performance and I highly recommend it.

Then there are many specialised skills that focus on high performance driving, skid control and experiencing emergency manoeuvres such as ABS braking at 70mph motorway speed – then adding a lane change into that equation too. It makes a massive difference should you ever be involved in such things in the future.

I always try to stay updated on traffic laws, rules and regulation changes such as the newly introduced road user priority in the Highway Code. You have to know about such things to use your knowledge effectively and safely. I also suggest reading driving manuals, expert driving books and online resources that cover road signs, signals, and driving laws and keep informed about new safety technologies in vehicles and how they can assist in safer driving – knowing what they are, what they mean to you and how they are utilised into the driving safety equation.

These aspects can be amplified by reading your cars manual to understand its features, maintenance schedules and safety systems and learn about checking tyre pressure, oil and fluid levels, and understanding dashboard indicators for example. It adds up to a more knowledgeable driver.

Predicting and compensating

Situational awareness and predicting and compensating for hazards and the likelihood of unplanned or unintentional actions of some road users is about developing anticipation and attention to the driving task so you are continuously visually scanning the road ahead, behind, and to the sides, to anticipate potential hazards and threats to safety.

Another area where you can enhance your skills and sensibilities are knowing when, where and why you need to slow down if it improves safety. This means adjusting your speed according to weather, traffic and road conditions so your speed is matched to those fundamental conditions.

Self-evaluation is key

Those who follow my blogs will know about my thoughts on how ‘self-reflection and self-evaluation’ are pivotal methods of improving yourself behind the wheel. These aspects make a massive difference, as you are constantly challenging and questioning your abilities and safety at every point on the drive. It’s all about identifying areas for improvement and as always, reflect and self-analyse any driving mistakes or near-misses, learning how to avoid them in the future.

Get expert feedback from an experienced advanced driving instructor who’ll point out those important aspects of your driving, and make use of their expertise and knowledgeable feedback. By combining practical experience with theoretical knowledge and continuous self-improvement, you can significantly enhance your driving skills, ensuring safety and confidence on the road.

Become the driver you know you can be and always wanted to be. Sound familiar? It’s within you!