Making Sense of the Goals for Driver Education · Part 6 of 14 · Why, when, where and with whom
Level 3 is about the journey: why the driver is making it, when, where, in what conditions and with whom. The driving test barely touches it. After the test, it shapes almost everything.
What sits at Level 3
The purpose of the trip, route choice, timing, the conditions (night, weather, traffic), the driver’s fitness to make the journey, the passengers they carry, and how they use a sat nav. It is the level where decisions are made before the engine is even started.
Knowledge and skills at Level 3
Planning a route, knowing how long a journey will really take, checking that the car is fit for it, managing a sat nav alongside safe decisions, and knowing when not to drive at all. The independent driving section of the test touches the edge of this level. As I say in Chapter 19 of Coaching for Driver Development, it is in many ways an honest measure of whether a coaching approach has worked, because a learner who has been coached to plan ahead and decide for themselves will approach it with composure.
Risk-increasing factors at Level 3
- Time pressure and the urge to make up lost minutes.
- Tiredness, especially after work, study or a night out.
- Alcohol, drugs, and some prescription or over-the-counter medicines.
- Night driving, bad weather and unfamiliar roads.
- Passengers, particularly friends of the same age.
- The emotional state the driver brings to the car from whatever happened before the journey.
The HERMES final report mentions pressures of exactly this kind, such as peer pressure, emotional impulses from the music and being in a hurry. None of them appear on a driving test sheet.
Self-evaluation at Level 3
The key questions here are simple and powerful. Why am I making this trip? Am I fit to make it? Is this the right time?
In the Back to Basics series I described the cockpit drill as DSSSMM, with the final M standing for “Me”: a quick check on how the driver is feeling today. That check is Level 3 self-evaluation, built into a routine the learner does every single time they get in the car.
The inner game on the way to somewhere
Chapter 16 of the book describes how thoughts become behaviour: an activating event leads to a thought, the thought produces a feeling, and the feeling drives the behaviour. At Level 3 it often looks like this: running late (event), “I have to get there on time” (thought), stress and impatience (feeling), speeding and close following (behaviour).
Coaching can work on that chain before it ever happens on a real journey. “What do you tell yourself when you’re running late? What would a more useful thought be?”
Bringing Level 3 into everyday lessons
- Let the learner plan the route and the timing for part of the lesson.
- Where it is safe and appropriate, book some lessons at dusk, in the dark or in the rain.
- Ask about the journeys they will actually make after passing: to work, to college, to see friends.
- Use the post-test questions from Chapter 19: “What situations do you anticipate finding most challenging when you are driving alone?”
On your next lesson
Three small things to try this week.
- Hand over the planning. Ask the learner to plan the route and estimate the time for the next part of the lesson, then review how accurate they were.
- Do the “Me” check out loud. At the start of the lesson, ask the learner to say how they are feeling today and whether anything might affect their driving.
- Ask about the real journey. Ask: “Of the journeys you’ll make after you pass, which do you think will be the hardest?” Then explore why.
Go deeper
In the book: Coaching for Driver Development, Chapter 16 (The Inner Game: Confidence, Nerves and Test Pressure) and Chapter 19 (Coaching for Tests, Independence and Lifetime Safety).
Live session: Module 5, The ADI Coach in Practice. This session covers the inner game, practical coaching tools, reflection and coaching for independence, including a new slide on seeing “independence ready” through the GDE lens.
I deliver the five Coaching for Driver Development modules live on Zoom, one module a week. You can book any module on its own or join the complete series. Contact me at grahamhooperadi@hotmail.com or visit grahamhooper.blog.
Previous: Part 5: Level 2: Mastering Traffic Situations
Tomorrow: Part 7: Level 4: Goals for Life and Skills for Living
Read the full series
Sources
- Hatakka, M., Keskinen, E., Gregersen, N.P., Glad, A. and Hernetkoski, K. (2002). From control of the vehicle to personal self-control: broadening the perspectives to driver education. Transportation Research Part F, 5(3), 201–215.
- EU HERMES Project (2010). High impact approach for Enhancing Road safety through More Effective communication Skills. Final report and executive summary.
- Hooper, G.J. (2025). Coaching for Driver Development: A Complete Framework for the ADI Coach. GJH Consultancy.
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