My driving lesson went well today. We are situated at the end of a dead end lane which is about six miles from the village. The lane is just one vehicle wide and twists and turns until about half a mile from the village where it then straightens out and becomes two lanes wide.
So when out on my driving lesson I was just coming to the village when up ahead I spotted a tractor, and it's 30 mph through the village anyway so I thought there would be no chance to pass it for a while so I just eased off my speed both for entering the village and also not to catch up the tractor to fast, as there was no point in being right behind it for now. After all I'm the first to complain about people pressurising me from behind.
Then I noticed the tractor stopping and then reversing across the road into a side road. So now it was on my right facing the main road. (We drive on the left here). I'm not sure why but I got to wondering what he was doing so eased off my speed a bit more even though I was clear to go at this point. It's a good thing I did because then the tractor started to pull out as if to come back in my direction. So in effect, to simplify things he was basically turning round for whatever reason. The thing is, he not only had a machine on the back but also the front so I could see that there was no way he was going to make the turn back on to the main road without encroaching on my lane quite a lot, so I stopped to let him out as I was able to in good time because I had lowered my speed twice already.
I don't think he'd seen me because when he was half way across the road then suddenly stopped. As I'd already stopped in good time there was still room for him to carry on what he was doing so waved him to carry on but for whatever reason he reversed back in to the side road and so I carried on my way.
This was the best bit though, after we got past him my instructor asked, “How did you do that?”
“What?”
“Know that he would pull straight out like that without looking.”
“I don't know, got lucky I guess.” I replied after thinking about it.
“There wasn't much luck involved there, so don't dumb yourself down. You were stopping before he even set off. That was extremely well thought out hazard perception and avoidance. I didn't see it coming and neither would many drivers more experienced than you.” It made me feel good, although I still think I just got lucky. She had a joke with me and said she thought I must be privy to some sort tractor driver code.
I watch this truck driver on Youtube, simply because as he's driving along and chatting about things he is also giving a little commentary on what he sees and how to react to them. Like for instance he will see a school sign and say, “School approaching, being mindful of children and others so easing it back.”
Or maybe, “Junction approaching, mirrors left and right, signal for turning, mindful of car behind.”
I now find myself doing that as I'm driving along and it is making me very aware of things I need to be doing. So I think that is probably what made me aware of the tractor. Like I had in my head, tractor manoeuvring, unsure why, ease it off a little, prepare to stop and give room. If in time I feel that it has helped with my test I am going to get in touch and thank him.
I will put this link on for those who wish to take a look at what I mean, Chatting with me in a HGV
She is also very pleased with my progress overall and asked if I was taking lessons with someone else as well. I admitted that sometimes I drive mum. Although I'm trying not to go with other people so as not to pick up any bad habits from them, which apparently can easily happen when not with a proper instructor. Mum and dad might not notice or tell me about something I was doing wrong whereas an instructor would, and so then you learn before it becomes a habit. She has said because of my very good progress she is going to put me down for cancelations. This means that if someone has to cancel I can get called up at short notice to sit my test. The only trouble is it most likely won't be in my local area but she seems to think that's okay as I don't know the area around here very well anyway.
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