My Life, My Car: Two Sets of Pedals

BESIDES A RELIABLE CAR, LEARNERS ALSO NEED A FIRM HAND

Kateřina Pivrncová tries to teach her students so that they are fully prepared for the road. She warns them of all the various pitfalls, dangers and complications they may encounter behind the wheel. She says she is demanding and has high requirements when it comes to her students’ driving skills. She lives by the motto: train hard, fight easy. When it’s for learners’ own good, she can be strict. “I always try to explain to learners why I have or have not done something so they have a better grasp of what they need to do and what they must not do on the road,” she adds.

DANGEROUS SITUATIONS ABOUND

You might think that the number of accidents depends mainly on traffic density. According to Pivrncová, however, the fault tends to lie with aggressive, arrogant drivers who show no respect even for a clearly marked driving school vehicle. She says she frequently finds herself in dangerous situations with her pupils, sometimes a few times a day.

She’s also had her fair share of minor accidents involving scratched or grazed bodywork – always the fault of another driver. If an accident were to be the fault of the driving school, she – as the instructor – would be liable. However, “that might not always be the case, as a situation may occur in which the learner bears liability,” she notes.

YOUNG DRIVERS TODAY ARE BRIMMING WITH CONFIDENCE

Kateřina Pivrncová likes pupils who do their best to prepare conscientiously for each lesson, and who are reliable and focused. Not everyone is like that, however. She has noticed that the younger generation has a more careless, yet also more self-confident, approach to driving. She believes that some pupils have no interest in driving responsibly and safely, but just want to get a driving licence in order to elevate their social status. “Unfortunately their parents often encourage this approach,” she sighs.

ARROGANCE ON THE ROADS IS A BIG PROBLEM

According to Pivrncová, the most important qualities of a driver are patience, considerateness, tolerance and an ability to focus and anticipate situations before they happen. Not everything can be taught in driving lessons, however. “I don’t think that driving schools can really do much about aggression, arrogance, recklessness and the deliberate breaching of the most basic rules of polite behaviour and the law,” she notes, adding that greater surveillance and stricter penalties could help to improve the situation. She says that the situation differs from one country to another. “Each country has its own specific way of driving, depending on the mentality and behaviour of the population,” she claims.