Yet again we have the same old story of people being locked in a darkened room and not being let out until they come up with an idea. Think Tanks I believe it is called, or a suggestion of what goes on.  Sadly this time they have been locked away for so long that they have lost touch with time and reality.

Pupils having lessons in the dark, now who on earth would have come up with that idea? Just imagine driving lessons with the lights on at night, wow!  Hold on, there is more. They want to have a logbook for the lessons so we can have a record of what they do when they come out with us. This is earth shattering and is being suggested, apparently according to the press by Baroness Charlotte Vere our Transport Minister allegedly. Driving Lessons in the rain, adverse weather conditions, high speed roads and distracted driving.

Where have these people been all my life? Isn't this what the average ADI does every day of the week, year in and year out through autumn and winter.  I have been teaching people to drive for almost 38 years, and up to a few years back I have given lessons in the evening,  (dark for those in the dvsa who may read this), when it rained, in the snow and ice. We have kept records for decades of what we do and the only person who has shown no interest in seeing them is the very people who are coming up with this load of tosh. The dsa had log books, and pretty good they were, but were dropped and progress records of flimsy folding sheets of glossy paper replaced them due to economies, under one of the CEOs we suffered under. Even these seem to have disappeared from the dvsa. Have you ever tried to present the pupil progress records to the dvsa on a check test.....not interested in seeing them so why bother many ADIs came to think. What will they be for, who will see, or read them?

Country roads are now so dangerous with overgrown hedgerows and deep ruts along the sides to rip your tyres off their rims, potholes to jar your shock-absorbers and spines to the limit the ADI risks their life everyday of the week going down them.  High speed roads such as dual carriageways are regularly used for all the years I have been teaching but a motorway is an hour away so needs a 4 hour lesson with a break in the middle to make it worthwhile. Who does the Baroness think is going to cough up for this?

Driving in the dark, is a cracker. Do they not realise that it stays light until after 10pm in the south (9.0pm up north) where I and millions of others live.  Is she going to dip into her golden purse for the £60+ to pay me and my colleagues per hour to come out at that time of night. Or, do they expect us to do that for our same basic rate, they can kiss my golden exhaust pipe if they do.  They will next come up with tachographs in the ADIs car to check hours worked and claim we are on the road too long to carry out their lunatic ideas.  I now finish at 5.0pm latest, no more late nights for me, just like the dvsa staff, why should the ADI be different to the dvsa staff?

Rain.... where I live there is a desert, yes a desert, less than 30 miles from my front door we have so little rain here. Google Dungeness to check if you wish.  We have so many droughts here that we regularly have water shortages and restrictions. Will this be the modern equivalent of the red flag in front of long ago and I need a small boy on the roof with a watering can, or a gargoyle to imitate rain?  All ADIs do what we can with what we have and adapt to suit, we cannot create that which we do not have or have any control over.

Distracted driving. Do they think we have no idea of what we do, do they think we just go around the block all day, every day?  We switch the radio on and off, listening to the music and having a sing song with the pupil.  Have you any idea how dangerous this is in the early stages of development, it can be deadly but we do it so our pupils can do it safely when they leave us. Yes, we do dry runs and then on the move when able - it still goes very wrong at times, sit in the back and find out Baroness. We open and close windows, use the wipers, horn and light switches, air conditioning and adjust the air-vents, should we include crochet in the curriculum?