Many now believe this book to be the leading book on the use of coaching and client centred approaches in driver education. Northern Ireland's Driving Vehicle Agency (DVA) have now added the book to its list of recommended reading for driving instructors and motorbike instructors.  Since it launch it has been widely exported to other countries and most recently has been translated into Finnish, with other language versions soon to follow.   

Written by Ian Edwards, an international consultant in driver education and training, it looks at how to use coaching approaches to develop not only driving performance but also the driver's ability to self-evaluate and develop themselves. The book provides simple to follow examples of the coaching approaches it advocates.  These examples can easily be transferred to any area of driver education and training.    

Since the launch of the book a number of local authorities have bought or subsidised the book for instructors involved with schemes that they operate.  These include: Buckinghamshire, Lewisham and Sheffield.  Gill Roberts, Senior Road Safety Officer at St Helens Council Road Safety Unit, has also recently added an excellent forward to the book.   

The book discusses:

You can download the full contents page of the book here.

The ADINews completed an independent review of the book.  Below is a section that perhaps sums up what the reviewer thought of the book:

The full content of the review can be read here.

Below is a short extract from the book which looks at how previous knowledge can act as a barrier to learning:

Resistance 

We start learning about traffic early on in our life, from an early stage we are watching traffic, being driven in cars and learning what is acceptable behaviour and what is not.  By the time we come to drive a vehicle at the age of 17 in the UK we will have a strongly fixed view of what a good driver is and how a good driver behaves.  This view of driving will be internal to ourselves, is likely to be hidden from others who we feel may not share this view, and will influence the way we interpret the driving environment. 

This picture of a good driver will be based on many things including:

This previous knowledge and experience means that everything we are told about driving will be filtered or interpreted against and through this personal picture of a good driver. This interpretation will mean that many of the messages delivered by an instructor will be seen as unimportant, re-constructed or even rejected.  Many instructors will see this on a daily basis, for example a learner may ask an instructor who is driving them out to a quiet area “Do you always drive like this?”  This question may indicate the driving being demonstrated does not fit with the learner’s personal picture of a driver.  This personal picture frequently leads to resistance, with the learner nodding in all the right places but not necessarily altering their core beliefs about what a good driver is or how a good driver should behave.  Of course this is a very negative view of previous knowledge.  It can also be very positive as not all the previous knowledge will be poor or in conflict with safe driving.  The challenge for the instructor is to help the learner to understand how this previous knowledge can influence behaviour and their own strengths and weaknesses.   

This is the book on coaching for ADI's.  I have just completed a fleet training course with a group of instructors for whom coaching was, in the main, a bit of a mystery.  My time with them was limited, and so I needed to find a way to help them understand the principles of coaching easily.  This book proved to be the answer!  Its simplicity of style, readability and ease of understanding for the reluctant and doubting ADI, helped each of them to achieve their goals of a fleet part 3 pass!  Thank you so much Ian!

I am reading your book, very impressed how you have kept a subject as coaching into a very understandable approach congratulations!