ADUK's Resident Guru - Hugh Noblett on the Telly!

[Darren]

Advanced-Driving.co.uk’s resident Expert, Hugh Noblett of Cadence Driver Development is all set for his 30 minutes’ worth of fame when he appears on the BBC1 current affairs programme “Real Story with Fiona Bruce” this Wednesday February 21 at 7.30pm.

The BBC once again came to Hugh as their choice of Driving Expert, relying upon his unrivalled reputation as the country’s leading high performance coach. His calm yet authoritative approach and his passion for encouraging people in the art of safe, enjoyable driving would be the perfect contrast with the subjects of the programme.

During the filming, three recently qualified drivers came under Hugh’s watchful eye, gaining vital skills, which many critics feel are lacking in our current practical driving test. Recent reports have identified that many new drivers consider they are being let down by the focus of the test. Rather than performing basic manoeuvring techniques, they want to see a far more stretching test of their ability to safely deal with real-world situations on the road.

Hugh assisted them in developing their concentration and on-road risk management strategies; country road and night driving (where so many inexperienced drivers have crashes); and finally motorway procedures, where they were encouraged to use acceleration sense and the need to create space and time in which to deal with an increasingly hostile environment.

What the final format of the programme will be is uncertain. Hugh spent many hours with the three drivers in a variety of driving situations, including a session at Millbrook Proving Ground where they experienced skidding – and crashing into cones – at speed! Hugh’s half expecting a variety of shots demonstrating how windy it was and how uncontrollable the remains of his hair can be without a cap!

[Rick]

Thanks for the heads up, i'll tune in

[ROG]

Hugh assisted them in developing their concentration and on-road risk management strategies; country road and night driving (where so many inexperienced drivers have crashes); and finally motorway procedures, where they were encouraged to use acceleration sense and the need to create space and time in which to deal with an increasingly hostile environment.

Bet they show non of the above and concentrate on the other less vital aspects - we shall just have to wait and see!

[Roadcraft]

My "SKY+" has been set to record the program...

Should be interesting (one way or another)

[James]

My wife has been programmed to press "Record" on the video.

[ROG]

My wife has been programmed to do "other thongs - sorry- things" whilst it is recording

[TripleS]

My wife has been programmed to do "other thongs - sorry- things" whilst it is recording

For 30 minutes though?

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[Susie]

This has just been posted on the BBC website for those who are interested

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/real_story/default.stm

Roadcraft, I'm not sure what you mean by "Should be interesting (one way or another)"

All I can say is that Hugh devoted nearly a week of his time to the three young drivers, working his socks off, trying to help them. For every hour of filming, one minute usually reaches the TV screen. Better driving is his passion and he's devoted his life to helping others. Every life lost on the roads is an unnecessary tragedy. He is no stranger to tragedy himself, having lost his sister when he was a teenager. She was murdered by person or persons unknown.

His involvement in this programme for was not for any self-gratification. He's far too modest and self-effacing for that. As he puts it, "I just try to do my work to the best of my ability..."

Whatever the final content of the programme is, if it helps just one driver think about how he or she interacts with other drivers, it will have gone some way to possibly saving a life.

Regards
Susie

[James]

Well it is admirable so give him a pat on the back.

[Darren]

Spotted other coverage on this:

http://www.lipstixandgearstix.com/page/ ... ticleId=86
http://www.newspress.co.uk/DAILY_LINKS/ ... 207cdd.htm

[James]

Thats 2 plugs for ADUK on the net! Let's hop that we get some mentions tonight!

[TripleS]

This has just been posted on the BBC website for those who are interested

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/real_story/default.stm

Roadcraft, I'm not sure what you mean by "Should be interesting (one way or another)"

Regards
Susie

Don't worry about 'R' too much - he's just another troublemaker like me - only not as bad.

Good evening Mr G - when are you going to nip up here for another skive in YO21? We ought to meet up sometime and I could buy you a spot of lunch at a rather nice establishment, and you could tell me all you know about advanced driving. I think I can spare a couple of minutes!

Best wishes all,
Dave - pushing his luck with 'R' again.

[stefan einz]

Well done, Hugh. It would be interesting to hear the Real Story - it looked pretty scary at times being driven by those drivers!

A good programme, that focused well on the consequences of mistakes and hopefully helped to change attitudes - clearly the no.1 priority.

Kind regards

Steve

[Rick]

I thought Hugh was VERY restrained! I wont say with which student

[Susie]

Sorry for taking so long to respond to the comments chaps. Hugh wanted to say few words but his login isn't working properly

So, please read the following as if it were Hugh posting...

Stephan said:

Well done, Hugh. It would be interesting to hear the Real Story - it looked pretty scary at times being driven by those drivers!

The actual content of the programme was out of my control – in fact the slant of the programme evolved right up to the point of the week’s filming and beyond. Initially, it was to be all about “Is the driving test fit for purpose?” with a hefty section on the Hazard Perception Test video game. Novice driving instructors were polled to gauge opinion on a variety of topics and at the final cut, only the statistics were aired.

There have been some criticisms that the programme missed an opportunity to focus on the real problems. Obviously the format was a BBC decision and they wanted to cram in the sections on being cut out of a crash, visiting victims’ families and the piece on the simulator, which I thought came over very well. If you watch where the driver is looking, identified by an orange circle, it’s mostly at the end of the bonnet. Bonnet vision – leads to – bonnet collision! I’m arranging to meet up with the chap to see if we can collaborate on trying to get our joint approaches moved forward into teachable skills.

I was actually surprised how much they showed of the driving elements of all the filming. I’d been concerned that most of the tuition and testing would end up on the cutting room floor. It’s a shame they didn’t show more of the lead-up to the dangerous situations and why they kept repeating the same clips, I really don’t know. There was over 30 hours of film available. All I can assume is that the viewing public needs to be reminded through repetition. It seems to happen a lot in this type of programme.

It was a very scary few days – apart from a quick sans camera run out in the daylight (which I insisted upon on the grounds of safety) the first real driving I did with the three took place in the dark. The first one out was “A”. Within 2 miles, he tried to turn right on the wrong side of a traffic island – fortunately nothing was oncoming. I screamed at him, “Wrong side!” and he didn’t even acknowledge his error. Sadly, someone had forgotten to press the ‘record’ button on the camera... it would have made a superb piece of TV. His arrogance was apparent throughout. He really did believe his driving skills were perfect.

“L” was equally hair-raising. She was nearly wiped out on several roundabouts and her approach speed was so high that when she reached the entry point – and stopped every time – she was in danger of being rear-ended. The message she was sending to followers was one of getting a move-on and so any follower would have expected her to blend into what was obviously a clear path ahead. She sat alongside lorries, without any sense of the risk. She refused to accelerate away from sources of danger. She had people on her tail constantly. Joining the motorway was a nightmare. Her approach speed was around 35 in top gear, with no appreciation of the speed of those already on the motorway.

I was constantly using my mirror to search all around and that alarmed expression on my face was pure, unadulterated fear. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a constantly dangerous situation, even with performance car drivers.

The only person who came with an open mind was “N”. He clicked on to everything I said and improved dramatically. He will certainly have learned from the whole experience and thanked me at the end of the shoot. Hopefully he’ll continue to work on his driving.

TripleS said:

What was needed was much more time spent with the youngsters, looking at observation, hazard awareness, defensive driving, promotoing harmonious and courteous interaction* with other road users - and their general approach to driving. I wish they would do more programmes of this type. It would be a far better investment than all the confounded traffic calming and associated congestion creation schemes!
* I was glad to note that Hugh did introduce this aspect.

We had a call from the Beeb yesterday morning - their legal department were questioning the 'courtesy' element. As you may know, it is not taught to novices because they should have both hands on the wheel at all times. I find that extraordinary. When are they supposed to learn that courteous interaction on the roads leads to a safer use of shared space?

db said:

It would have been lovely to have some footage of Hugh showing what is possible and safe (rather than - say - any of the BRAKE video).

The original intention was that I would give demonstrations to each of them. Unfortunately the idea of hiring one car fell by the wayside because the BBC won't insure drivers under 21. That meant having to use their own vehicles - and a great deal of wasted time as the cars were rigged and de-rigged throughout the filming.

I was also going to do a demonstration of how not to take a roundabout (at Millbrook, not the public road!) using the Senator, as well as some 'interesting stunts' but time ran out.

Porker said:

It's a shame that the "students" couldn't have been made to do a back to back comparison between their own driving on a challenging road and Hugh's or another expert's drive over the same road. That would have shown Amir (Emir?) where he stood (crawled?) in the great scheme of things.

I still believe that 99% of drivers lack good role models for driving. While it was a salutory programme, this didn't do anything to address that. A great opportunity missed by the BBC.

That was the original plan! I did get a chance to drive the skid car with "A" in the passenger seat to show that you can control a car in adverse conditions. I agree, the focus of the programme shifted and I think they missed an opportunity of getting to the root cause of the problem; you can have your say on the BBC website as Martine has suggested.

I have every intention of keeping the subject on the boil, not from a commercial angle but from an altruistic mindset. If we could encourage them to commission a series, starting with how to properly conduct the driving test and progressing to the higher levels of driving excellence that are possible, even in today’s constrained environment, with your support we could put over the message that should be sent to everyone, in the name of safe and enjoyable motoring.

Roadcraft said:

Presumably the BBC paid handsomely for the appearance ?

I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a constantly dangerous situation, even with performance car drivers. Whatever they paid me could not adequately compensate for the hours of edge-of-the-seat stuff I went through. I wouldn't have thought what I received is of any relevance. It appears that some people out in the ether feel they could have done a better job but the BBC were looking specifically for someone with gravitas and having worked with them before, I think they preferred to use a known, as they described me, "personality" I just do my job to the best of my ability, sharing with others, my good fortune of having spent so many years teaching in what was the very best police driving school in the world. I hope I never show signs of arrogance - indeed I'd never suggest I'm the world's greatest driver. It appears that what I do from the left seat is appreciated by the people I go out with and that is sufficient praise for me

Rick wrote:

I think he should have been made to dig the astra out and Horse replied: Hugh told him it wasn't his fault that it went off the tarmac

What actually happened when “A” used up all of the steering pad in the skid car, was partly my fault. I wouldn't have felt comfortable pretending it was his fault entirely. He just wouldn’t do as he was told and refused to keep braking. My finger slipped off the button used to restore full grip.
Funnily enough I've learned that I was teaching this all wrong. Several professionals have queried why I was insisting on cadence braking in an Astra, when it is equipped with ABS. Of course what they didn't appreciate was that the ABS is switchable and we were in non-ABS mode. I feel it's very important to practise both methods of braking - so many younger drivers buy older cars that don't have the luxury of ABS. I have also been questioned on why a section on skidding was even included in the programme because people shouldn't ever skid. But they do! And we see the results every day.

Best wishes to all
Hugh
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