How rigorous are you with your own standards?
Do you assess your own driving standards and have a superb level of discipline?
What do I mean by 'driving discipline?'
In general terms, new drivers, novice drivers and even experienced drivers, find this topic hard to get to grips with. Many have significant difficulty trying to manage discipline effectively and few ever master it completely.
How many drivers of high performance or supercars have the ability or desire to keep to a posted 30mph speed limit, let alone a 20mph limit? Get where this is going? This isn’t a telling off, this is challenging you to examine your own attitudes.
Do you consider discipline is an essential part of the ultimate set of advanced and high performance driving skills?
How many drivers think discipline is relevant to them?
Discipline as a Skill
Have you ever sat with a real driving expert? If so, how did that driver deal with entering built up zones with 30mph speed limits? Did they keep driving at 40 or 50 mph and haul on the brakes as they entered. Or did they show expert restraint by arriving in the high-risk zone bang on the posted speed limit without any drama?
It’s not by chance that experts arrive at a perfectly judged speed. It’s through great visual scanning and planning skills honed to perfection.
Do the Rules Apply to You?
If you don’t have discipline as part of your armory of skills, you are potentially deluding yourself. Why do so many drivers have a mindset problem and think driving rules and legalities are purely for others? Do they really know better?
Discipline is one of the foremost skills every driver needs to stay legal and safe, whilst looking after your license and to keeping the points off it.
So where is a starting point for develop your discipline? It starts and ends with one person and one thing - YOU!
Mastery within the Rules
Discipline goes hand in hand with control. If you have the discipline to execute driving in a controlled manner then you’ll reap the rewards. With discipline and control, driving is enjoyable. You’re in control. You’re safer and that’s the most crucial element of driving.
Start with day-to-day driving - sticking to every speed limit you can and complementing yourself for doing so. Indeed, further than this, score yourself out of ten on every drive so you can review your speed and discipline performance.
Is it more fun going faster and breaking limits? Yes, we all enjoy speed where appropriate but by mastering control of car and mind you can make better progress within safe parameters and within the law.
You and your performance
I hope you’re getting the point of this blog. It’s all about you and your performance! If you really examine how you drive, can you confidently describe yourself as a talented or accomplished driver?
Everyone is capable of being better and that starts with mastering your attitudinal and behavioural approach to discipline. You need to be in full control of your use of speed at all times. Scrubbing off speed because you used too much in your previous manoeuvre is a clear sign of lack of preparation and forethought. Address that with discipline.
Be the driver who can master this.
Paul’s Top Tip
Embrace discipline. Discipline is a form of control. It’s the basis of good driving.
Paul Ripley
September 2024
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