Hi PDI members, this is my fifth instalment on the 17 sub competences of the standards check or ADI part 3. Today I was going to talk about, “Did the trainer ensure that the pupil fully understood how the responsibility for risk would be shared?”, under the heading of risk management.

This is probably the most misunderstood of the 17 sub competences. It is a myth that you just have to make a statement at the start of the assessment to be marked a 3. Yes, you can make a statement which says,” You are a full licence holder and is it ok to take responsibility for your safety, my safety and the safety of others”. However, you and your pupil should be managing the risk throughout the lesson and your pupil needs to know that they are responsible for and what you as the instructor are responsible for.

Another point to make on this sub competency is that it’s based on the level of help you are offering to your pupil to achieve their goal and to manage the risk around the vehicle whilst they are trying to achieve their goal. For example, your pupil as an objective of correct lane positioning whilst turning right at large unmarked roundabouts, but on approach to the roundabout a pedestrian is going to walk directly in front of your vehicle. How you deal with this depends on your level of pupil (partly trained, trained, full licence holder) and also the amount of time you have to deal with as well.

If I had time and I was training a full licence holder, I would be saying, “What is the next hazard you can see?” and watch to see if they respond. If I was training a partly trained pupil, I would be saying, “Can you see the pedestrian crossing the road” and “How should you deal with it?”

Never be afraid to increase the level of instruction to manage the risk, as you should never assume your pupil as seen the danger and how they are going to deal with the risk, as the situation on the road constantly changes and we can’t mind-read our students. Get in touch with me here if you would like to discuss this in more detail.