"Could try harder"

I’ve written a separate page about My mistakes, as that handful of misjudgments serves well as teaching material. But now I find I’m collecting a handful of PCNs and bus gate infringements, and passing more traffic signals at amber. What’s changed?

I think 3 main factors: I’m on the road 2-3x what I was, I’m sometimes teaching in unfamiliar towns, and there’s fewer car parks to practice in (plus more enforcement on private land).

You could add that I’m older (so eyes/brain poorer) and the visual environment is busier (more movement, illumination, distracting advert screens), all making signs and discreet carpark cameras harder to spot.

But why was I becoming an “amber gambler”?  I’m certainly aware of the colours changing and what they mean. Dashing to next lesson?  Absence of public toilets?  Less able to stomach hunger? Creeping intolerance of authority over individual human choice?

An attitude test I took in 2016 showed I had only an average disposition behind the wheel. I was a little disappointed. (For years my wife hasn’t felt safe when I drive but I put that down to not voicing my active observations and continuous decision-making which are nowadays second nature: my eyes and mouth hence roam freely, and she doesn’t spot my left-hand dexterity or my right foot pivoting frequently between power and brake).

Bad habits, of resting my left hand on thigh and connecting my phone after moving off (to get the voice-activated benefits of CarPlay) are thus not helping my passenger feel most safe.

So, as we start another academic term: “In summary: Tim could try harder”.  :)