The six point check VS effective observations
When moving off from the side of the road, is the six point check an effective way to teach effective observations?
Within our lessons, many of us hope to create drivers who can think independently, a key skill for a lifetime of safe driving. In this article, I will discuss how the six point check can be taken from a “nodding dog routine” to an opportunity for deeper questioning and learning.
It can be easy to lean on the adage that the six point check demonstrates to examiners that our learner is looking, but why, really, are they required to complete this action? The Driving Essential Skills tells us that after preparing to move off, one should “make your final safety checks, use your mirrors and look over your right shoulder to check the blind spot”.
Whilst delivering some training to an instructor recently, we discussed the six point check and how the instructor continuously told the pupil how important it was to check the left blind spot first before moving off. My question to the instructor was “If the left blind spot is so important before moving off, why didn’t you check it after the pupil? If I were to pull up on the left next to a hedge with no pavement, do I still need to perform a six point check?”
The more important message we need to transfer to pupils, therefore, is that every situation can differ. Observations outside a busy school at 3pm could be different to the observations outside the same school at 2am in the morning. Asking the pupil thought provoking questions like “what if” can help open their mind to differing situations and the higher levels of the Guide for Driver Education Matrix.
One example where this could be developed is getting a learner to complete observations independently for a reverse bay park. It can be tempting to simply instruct pupils to “remember to look around”, but you are making the assumption that the learner knows what they are looking for, or why. Instead, challenge the pupil to describe where the dangers could come from and what those dangers could be. Hopefully, the pupil will conclude that dangers could come from any direction at any point. This could then allow the conversation to develop into what the pupil could do for themselves to spot those dangers i.e. keeping the car slow, “looking around” and acting on the information gathered. Applying reasoning will, typically, get learners to think for themselves and help them understand the important of their actions, rather than following a process. This approach may not work for all pupils, some may need more input as to what the dangers are and where they could come from, but this is where the skill of using “scaffolding” to support your pupil with just enough information comes into play.
Other issues that can arise from teaching the six point check instead of effective observations can be the pupil looking, but not really seeing. I’m sure we have all witnessed our pupils doing this from time to time, either when moving off or at junctions. They look, but don’t correctly process the information being seen, or worse still, process no information at all. As with all information that is passed to our pupils, they need to understand WHY we do what we do. It’s important when teaching effective observations that the pupil comprehends the possible outcomes from omitting these vital observations and the consequences that could follow.
It is important to remember that when discussing observations, effective is not synonymous with numerous. I’ve seen the six point check turn into a nine point check by an instructor, which was confusing and laborious for me as a trainer, let alone the pupil! According to the ADI the sequence is as follows – Look ahead, centre mirror and left door mirror. If it is safe, then start with the left blind spot, left door mirror, ahead and centre mirror, right door mirror and finally the right blind spot. Are these effective observations? Is the pupil using time efficiently here? Is the pupil really going to do all of this when they finally drive on their own? By having a simple conversation with our pupils about what the dangers are and where they could come from, we can get pupils to analyse problems and take responsibility for their learning. When we include the “what if’s” in our questioning, we delve deeper into their understanding. By providing realistic, scenario-based information, we ensure the technical information we give will be comprehensive, appropriate and correct.