@Driving Instructor UK I was an ADI for nearly 30 years (now retired). It took me quite a while  to realise that I had been trained to know and pass on what novice/developing  drivers needed to know/do to pass a driving test. When I had my lightbulb moment, one of the things I changed immediately was the way I taught 'effective use of mirrors'. I moved from a 'look in your appropriate mirrors' approach, to a 'use your mirrors to gather relevant information' approach. Questions like 'what's behind you?', 'how close is it?' 'how could the situation change?' 'how can it affect you?' etc. became the norm. I also realised that the more frequently (within reason) the mirrors were used, the less time was spent looking in them as changes would be identified much more quickly than assessing the entire situation every time.
I believe it was only then that I started to teach people how to drive and not just how to pass a test.
I'm delighted that you take the same approach. I find it concerning though, that you may still be considered a maverick for taking this approach and, by extension, many ADIs are still teaching people how to pass the Driving Test.
As an aside: I use the terms novice/developing drivers to put the emphasis on 'driver' rather than 'learner'.
Keep up the good work! You're helping make our roads safer.

A younger member of my family is learning and I'm getting the very strong impression that his instructor is doing little more than emphasising extremely exaggerated head movements as a way of "proving" to the examiner that he is checking his mirrors.  The mind boggles.

3:30 spot on - liability and responsibility are two different things - so many people focus on liability.

fundamental understanding is the best way to remember anything

I get the feeling that a lot of people look at the mirrors rather than what’s in the mirrors.

Don't you just hate it when you signal to turn off or change lanes, and the car/van behind sees that as a green light to suddenly drive right up your back end.

20:00 The parrot-to-victory vs understanding-the-foundations. You'll find this is true of a lot of things in life, not just driving, and is endemic in test taking. The parrot is often preferred by teachers with large class sizes because teaching individual understanding takes more time and effort for a lot of pupils. It is the same with a lot of parents, to be honest - mostly due to being overworked and children needing a lot of attention (and both parents working now is often a neccessity).
"Why, mummy/daddy?" "Because I said so!" - excellent, now they surely understand!

Good one James for teaching your students why things are done and when, rather than a rote technique they must always use - which they then later discard when it seems excessive (because it is, most of the time).

Oof, I'm feeling summoned! I've found myself much more confused on my own on the roads with a new licence than I ever thought possible. It feels like a jump into the deep from the kiddie pool. Whispering uncertainty is bad: "did this mirror check really do anything now?" - and the lapse in mirror checks takes root. I strongly feel you captured the multitude of reasons beneath, and I'm grateful for you calling this out. Gotta be my own driving instructor now to make myself safer in every situation, not just the clear-cut ones.

"Creeping excellence" what a term!!

Magnificent insight into the correct way to teach mirror use... thank you James

You're correct in everything you say.  I really enjoy your videos. Keep up the good work.

You demonstrate the difference between teaching someone to drive rather than to pass the test. By that, I mean you teach them to understand why they’re doing something rather than doing something because “it’s what the examiner will be looking for. My instructor (40+ years ago) got me to pull up, talked a while & then got me to check my mirrors to see if it was clear. He then got me to check my blind spot and there was a junction there that didn’t show up in the mirrors. I became an avid blind spot checker after that 😆.

I was re-taught to drive by London Transport. No rear view mirror on a bus, but the mantra was scan, scan, scan. Failure to scan sufficiently and you got a tap on the window from the signet ring of doom!

Turning into a side road I always make a last check in the mirror on that side immediately before starting to turn. Even more importantly I do the same when cycling, on several occasions motorists ignore my hand signals and overtake or close the space I intend to use, I always need to look behind before moving out or turning.
I have in the past been undertaken and overtaken by cars also making the same turn so I carry this cautious approach into driving as well.

My instructor taught me "Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre", use the mirror and always turn your head to look in the mirror so that the examiner can see you've done it.  I can't remember how often I was taught to look but I do remember we didn't have side mirrors in those days.  When side mirrors first came in they were pretty useless, being more blind spot than view.
I really taught myself side mirrors towing a caravan when, of course, the interior mirror is useless.
I don't look in the mirrors often enough (like most drivers) and have to keep reminding myself.
I have to agree with your "not having nodding learners" because every look behind is a missed look ahead, ie where you're going.

Good video.  I like the instructor's attitude to teaching, which is to teach people how to drive safely.  It's disappointing that many people have commented that the 'nodding learner' method is a way to teach people to pass the Driving Test.  They make the assumption that a Driving Examiner cannot tell the difference between effective use of the mirrors, and perfunctory nodding.  A driver on test, doing something unnecessary in the misguided belief that it will impress the Examiner, (acting his or her way through the test) is more likely to misjudge what is going on in the real world.
I am a retired Driving Examiner, with 30 years examining experience, and several years before that of instructing, and riding motorcycles and driving HGV's.  I hated seeing 'nodding learners' on test.   The  candidate was less likely to be successful, because they misjudged something important, and if they had been 'taught to pass a test'  they had most likely been taught all sorts of other rubbish about the test.
If a Driving Test candidate can drive safely, they will pass a  Driving Test.  It's as simple as that.

I think it's a great point about how training without understanding can become undone over time. What I would have appreciated when learning is more focus on these scenarios where you have to act on what you see in the mirror, because with that, even if you are taught to check the mirrors very mechanically, you have the understanding that means, when you are tempted to let your standards slip, you can maintain them where it actually matters: you can go from mechanical checking to checking when necessary rather than to checking never.
For example: I have never seen anything in my right mirror that meant I had to abort a right turn - like in the clip. If I'd had more focus from my instructor about that scenario to bring it into salience, I think it would have helped cement its importance. Fundamentally the scenarios where some of the things you need to do when driving actually matter are rare - it's not often that someone is overtaking you when there's only one lane. Even turning left and watching for bikes - I can remember that happening once (and I got beeped for waiting!). I think learners need to really bringing home that each time you do the check it's very unlikely that there's something you need to act on, but that the consequences for failing to can be dire.

I’m old school, I always use mirrors with spacial awareness

Hello sir,  I agree with everything you have said, I was taught, mirror, signal, mirror, manoeuvre and also to check my rear view mirror every 3 to 5 seconds.
Thank you very all your videos they are very informative for me and I am learning from them.
Dave

I learnt to drive in 1970 when there was a lot less traffic around. I just remember being told Mirror Signal Manoeuvre, nothing more. Nothing about centre and/or side mirrors. I have learnt so much more by watching your videos, so a huge thank you from me. I think the way you teach is absolutely perfect and I just hope that every budding learner has an instructor like you.