Kev, in today's episode, you wanted to

talk about a recent lesson that you just had with a student

where they didn't understand something about

reversing, and you had to work with them to find out what the problem

was. Yeah. I mean, the situation was that,

I asked a question, you know, begin lesson. You okay? You comfortable? You

see everything? Yep. No problem. And we went out driving as normal, you

know. It's normal day. We're doing reversing, and

the student just couldn't get it. You know, just I'm saying, can you see that?

Yeah. But way she was saying, it was like,

not really. So my my intuition kicked in a little bit, and I went,

okay, just just hold it there for a minute.

What can you see? And she went,

well, I can see this, this, and this. And I went, when you are reversing,

what can you see? And she said,

Well, not a lot really. So, you know, this is why we had I came

home and I had to tell you, we had this conversation probably more for

me, really, as a learning curve, but

Also for everybody else that drives Yep. How often

do we check that we can see properly? Yep. And we'd look

out the front window, we can see that. We'd lose the side windows, we can

see, but actually, effective observations

to the rear. Are the mirrors set up for us? Do we

understand what we could be seeing in the mirrors? And I want you to just

talk about that really because I think that could help So many

people that have problems reversing. Yeah.

And so you were in a situation where she was really struggling

with her reversing, but through this questioning, you worked

out what it was and what happened. Well, we just

adjusted the mirrors. We we set the car up for her.

I mean, yes, she moves the seat forward and back, and she can reach the

pedals, and she do everything, and she adjust the mirrors to what

she thought was okay. Yeah. But then when

we get to do a certain maneuver, the car isn't set

up for the maneuver. You So we ended up changing the

mirrors for a maneuver so she could be able to see properly.

And it's very similar to when I say to people, can you see the

curb In the mirror, can you see it in the left mirror? Can you see

the curb? Or the white lines in the mirrors if you're reversing into a

space? And it's a simple

question, but most people say yes.

But can they see it a factory? Because in where your car is,

Thinking of a parallel park, and I know we've had this conversation in a previous

podcast, but when you're reversing back, can you actually

see The curb. Can you see it

where the wheels are going towards? And sometimes what you might

want to do It's just adjust the mirrors down even more

than what you normally would. So using those mirrors as they

were Designed to be used. Yeah. And I'm thinking,

as a driving instructor, you can ask questions, but you can't

actually see what they can see.

No. And if they haven't got it quite right, maybe

they can see the lines or the curb, but maybe it's not

in exactly the right place so they can see it, but your

thinking is positioned slightly differently when they're acknowledging

they can see it. And it's it's you know, technology

on cars is fantastic. And one of the things that we can do

is adjust your mirrors before you reverse. Yeah. To be able to see more.

Yes. You still need to look around, because

things happen very quickly, especially busy car parks or whatever it may be, or

roads. But, you know, use the MIM as as a

as a guide for you to help you. Yeah. You don't have to be

scared of moving them to do something and then moving them

back to do something else, I guess. Yeah. Exactly that. You know, it's

it's it's something that we all know the mirrors move. Everyone knows

the mirrors move, but once we've set them up before we move, people

don't do that. They they're set. I can't remember the last time

I moved my mirrors, but so my wing

mirrors anyway. I mean, I maybe, yes. Sometimes I might do the central

one because sometimes it gets moved, it gets knocked.

Yeah. If I clean the windows in your car, I might knock it and not

put it back to how it was. How it was for me. Yeah. But the

side mirrors are not a lot of people Actually, move their

mirrors. So for me, what I wanted to get across to people

is today is almost like a task really,

Is make sure the car's set up for you, but also make sure it's set

up for the task that you're about to do as well. Yeah. So what was

the result for your student? But it was like, someone had

taken the blindfold off and then she went, oh, is the there's the curb.

Oh, I can see it now. And She knew exactly which way to turn.

She knew where it was, how far away she was, and it was

like a revelation. Yeah. Which is brilliant. That's

what you're after, isn't it? And that's what we want, you know. That's what

use I mean, my car's pretty fancy when you put it if

you Adjust it to leave it on the left mirror and

you put it into reverse. It moves down for you as you can see. So

you don't use it. It's technology. Oh. But

most cars don't. But all it is is just turn 1

button one way I pushed the mirror down. It's because they're mostly

all electronic now, aren't they? Yeah. It does depend on the age of your

car. I will acknowledge that. But most cars are

Easily adjusted. So just check and see what you notice.

Yeah. And suppose that is something that you could pop out to the

car, spend 5 minutes just playing around with how do I adjust my

mirrors, what can I see when I put them in different positions, how

that might that help me, and getting into a bit of a habit of

setting things up to match the task? And I always say to people about

being comfortable, but also the seat. You know, if you're setting the car

up, change it, raise it, lower it, You you know, whatever it is

you need to do, people drive with different shoes on,

and they'd still stay in the same position. Well, Sometimes if you've got big

Air Nike trainers on, there are other brands available, but

you're gonna be sitting Further away because there'd

be soles on those shoes. But, again, people don't they just

don't move the chair. Yeah. We're lazy, aren't we? So My task for

you, if you're listening to this podcast, is go and check. Check

to see if you can see effectively. Is the car set up for

you yep. As well. And the task that you want to do.

Exactly. Brilliant. Love it. Oh, well, hopefully, that's a

useful piece of advice. Hopefully, that's got some of you thinking.

When was the last time you adjusted things in your

car, adjusted your mirror, your steering wheel, your seat

what else can you adjust in your car? The seat belt. Yeah.

People don't realize you can adjust the seat belt height. Yes, yes, whether

it's high or low. Yes. Have a even that, again, it could make a difference

because it makes you feel more comfortable or secure.

Yeah. So give it a go. Hopefully, that's given you some food for

thought. Let us know if it's helped. Great. So our contact

details are in the show notes. As always, don't forget to

share this episode with anyone else that you think might find it

helpful, and let us know whether it's been helpful for you.

So all that leaves us to do is to say, until next time, have a

great day, whatever you're doing.