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In the last instalment, we urged all student drivers to enrol at a registered driving school. This is a clear indication of the desire to learn to drive safely.
A registered driving school is well equipped with professional and well trained driving instructors.

The school conforms with the high standards of operation laid down by the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe. They will ask you to bring “The Green Book” – the student driver’s handbook – before they enrol you. The curriculum is contained in that handbook.

The curriculum
The curriculum has been carefully drawn up to enable you to take to our roads as a safe, careful and considerate driver.

Such a driver avoids bad habits which have unfortunately become a feature in some present-day drivers.

How long does it take to complete the curriculum?
There is no specific answer to the above question. You must bear in mind that there is a great difference between just “learning to drive and becoming a safe and responsible driver”. Some persons are able to learn faster than others. The advice given by your instructor is good advice because he/she is a specialist.
On completion of the curriculum, when your instructor is satisfied that you have reached the required standard, he/she will advise you to take your driving test.
It is not an easy task to drive. The conditions around us change daily. More vehicles are being introduced on our roads. New roads are built and new laws are introduced to make driving safer. Keep abreast with the changing times and constantly examine your personal attitude to maintain the high standards that you have set for yourself.

Course curriculum  and work plans
The course curriculum is set out in the form of separate work plans. Each work plan deals with one or more specific elements in the driving task.
Workplans in no way replace or do away with the role of your instructor. They are merely guidelines as to how you should logically progress through your course of instruction. At the end of each workplan you will see space for your instructor’s ratings and comments.

Workplan One
The work plan deals with informational devices, switches and controls, driving controls, safety features and pre- driving checks.
A driver must know how to prepare him/herself and the car for driving, what controls and information devices there are in the car. You must know where they are located and what function they perform. However, there is no need to understand the complex mechanical process that come into operation when they are used.
At the end of the work plan the instructor will rate the student on whether he/she knows the location of informational devices and what they tell.
The instructor also assesses whether the student knows the switches and controls, driving controls and basic principles of operation, safety features and their use.
A student must be able to carry out pre-driving checks unaided and be able to co-ordinate hands and feet in “dry” gear changing. He/she must also demonstrate the ability to locate switches and controls without having to look down.

Workplan Two
In this workplan the student is taught to start the car, to move off and to stop the car.
Pre-drive checks are reviewed. The instructor should rate the student’s performance on starting checks and use of clutch. The student driver must demonstrate the ability to move off smoothly, before stopping and to stop the car smoothly.

Workplan Three
The third workplan is on seeing habits and steering. About 90 percent of all the information you receive when driving a car comes through observation. It is therefore important to develop correct seeing habits. For maximum control of the steering, you need a light but firm grip.
In this workplan the student learns to look high while steering and to move eyes constantly. A driver is expected to see the whole picture, to see and to be seen while being able to look for an escape route.
The correct way to steer is to use a “push-pull” movement of the hands so that each hand helps the other. The alternative method of steering a car is known as “hand-over- hand” method.
At the end of the workplan the student must be rated on the ability to hold the steering correctly, to keep the car under control on the correct position on road when turning. Both hands must be kept on the wheel when turning.
The instructor rates the student on a Good — Satisfactory — Below Average scale.

Workplan Four
The workplan deals with changing gears up and changing gears down. The correct way is explained and a student who has read the Green Book is easy to teach. The instructor will impart skills that will enable one to co-ordinate hands and feet in changing gears. Gears must be changed smoothly at the correct speed. A student driver must master the ability to reduce speed before changing down, change gears at the correct speed and avoid unnecessary gear changing. It is not necessary to change gears when stopping.

Conclusion
This instalment looked at the importance of acquiring a Green Book before starting driving lessons. We have also looked at the concepts in workplans one to four and the aspects that an instructor rates the student. It is of paramount importance to emphasise the need to utilise the Green Book as a way of mastering the skills that must be demonstrated during the driving test.
Our next article will look at the curriculum’s workplans 5 to 15 in the course curriculum for the student driver Part Two.

• The writer, Ernest Muchena, is the spokesperson of the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe. He is contactable on 0772 110 898. Or ernestmuchena@yahoo/[email protected]