Carefully guiding customers
8th June 2024Act now to benefit sooner
9th June 2024Responding to emergency vehicles
Our driving training programmes have the breadth and depth of the National Standards and Syllabus.
Within Unit 4: Drive safely and efficiently, of the Syllabus, is the learning outcome to, “Be able to interact appropriately with other road users in varying road and traffic conditions”, and that includes how to respond when emergency vehicles are on a call, how to assist their safe progress whether they be approaching from behind, ahead or from side roads. In one of the BIG TOM driving training sessions, these situations can crop up once, twice even three times. Bear in mind that our training programmes give pupils the opportunity to do real-life journeys BETWEEN towns and cities so it is by no means unusual for emergency service vehicles to feature more than once.
Our customers have access to an entire section of the “Knowledge Base” that is solely on the subject of interacting with emergency services. So they get the opportunity to learn about the expected driving behaviours, how the road markings affect decision-making, and what an emergency service driver wants from other road users. And then as trainers we are able to apply that knowledge and understanding in real-life situations and then enable our pupils to reflect and review if more practice is needed.
Consider this as an example of this subject. Does your pupil recognise the subtle difference in driving behaviours needed for an emergency service vehicle approaching from behind on a single carriageway road versus oncoming in the opposite direction to our travel? It may seem a relatively minor issue, but experience tells us as trainers that it is far from minor. Not reading the situation properly, anticipating the movements of other road users and accommodating them accordingly, can potentially delay the progress of the emergency vehicle and/or even create a hazardous situation. Often this involves “reading” the situation way, way in advance so that there is thinking time to process the options and execute one smoothly without erratic driving behaviours.
When a pupil observes one emergency service vehicle nearby, are we encouraging them to look out for a second to follow shortly? If we as trainers don’t mention these things to our pupils, they will not develop the necessary anticipatory skills required to assist the emergency services. Every time it crops up, it is a ‘surprise’ because they were not anticipating the possibility.
Our franchisees can be assured that this depth of detail is not lost on our training programmes. Sometimes, driving instructors outside of the BIG TOM Franchise can make incorrect assumptions that all intensive driving course providers operate in the same way – not so. We never have, and we do not intend to start reducing driving standards any time soon.