Newslink December final

Area News
The tech is catching up at pace but
it can’t replace the driver just yet
Janet
Stewart
London & the
South East
Blind spot lights
MSA GB Area 3’s conference and AGM took
place on 12th November, and while it was a
little disappointing that a few people who had
booked on failed to attend, it was still a very
worthwhile and informative event.
It was led by our Chairman, Tom Kwok, with
his usual enthusiasm. He went through the
five top reasons for failure of the Standards
Check. Briefly, they are as follows:
Failure to adapt the lesson plan. When
appropriate the lesson plan needs to be
changed to help the pupil work towards their
learning goals. Commonly, the ADI will try to
stick to the plan, ignoring faults, change the
plan when it is not necessary to do so or not
discuss changing the plan with the pupil.
Inappropriate teaching style. This could be
giving unnecessary briefings, not matching
the Q & A to the pupil’s ability, or failing to
notice that the pupil is not comfortable with
the teaching style.
Failing to encourage the pupil to take
responsibility for their own learning. There
must be a client-centred approach, with the
pupil analysing mistakes with the help of
appropriate Q & A.
The instructor needs to listen carefully to
the pupil’s answers.
Appropriate feedback. The pupil should be
given appropriate and timely feedback, not
ignoring faults that do not relate to the lesson
plan. Where possible feedback should be
given at the time and on the move, not
retrospectively.
Adequate feedback on safety-critical
incidents. The ADI must not overlook or
ignore a safety-critical incident. Such
incidents must be analysed in depth ensuring
the pupil’s understanding.
The situation should be replicated as soon
as possible to ensure learning has taken
place.
After Tom’s presentation, MSA GB National
Chairman Mike Yeomans delivered a very
interesting presentation on Advanced Driver
Assistance Systems (ADAS).
I am sure that I am not alone in having a car
that is capable of doing far more than I am
aware of. Many of us pick up a new car and
don’t go much beyond checking where the
headlamp control (and the high beam) is, and
what sort of speeds the windscreen wipers
can manage.
We then struggle to set up our phones and
spend a frustrating time trying to programme
in our favourite radio stations.
Or is it just me?
One of the most common systems in cars
is a collision avoidance sensor. When the
vehicle is getting too close to, say, the one in
front, many cars will now come up with a
warning on the dashboard, possibly sound an
alarm and then brake on the driver’s behalf.
This is really helpful in unexpected situations
but can be very disconcerting for a learner
who has not been told about this in advance.
Adaptive cruise control is a bit ‘marmite’. If
the car has to slow down for any reason the
car will then accelerate back up to the set
speed and it will often do this very quickly,
taking the driver unawares.
However, it will enable the driver to keep to
a safe distance on a motorway and, coupled
with lane keep assist, is leading to a reduction
in rear end shunts.
Some cars now have a blind spot light in
the corner of the door mirror. This will
activate when another vehicle is in the blind
spot, giving a warning of encroachment that
the driver may not have seen. This is
particularly useful at night when the light
coming on is more noticeable. One of the
latest systems is fatigue detection. A sensor
notices when the driver’s eyes seem to be
drooping or lacking movement, indicating
lack of attention.
Park assist is now quite common and can,
on some vehicles, be activated by phone.
Auto-park is the only adaptation not
currently permitted on driving tests. We are
also moving towards interactive traffic lights;
connectivity will tell the car that the lights are
going to change.
It should be borne in mind that these
systems act as a ‘smart co-pilot’,
complementing but are not replacing the
skills of the driver. From April 2024 all
European cars will have to have Intelligent
32 NEWSLINK n DECEMBER 2023