A Guide for Learner Driver Supervisors

All learner drivers must be supervised by a person who has held a current class C/CA open licence.  Find out more about the responsibilities involved and how to plan a driving lesson.

Planning a driving lesson

1. Decide what you’re going to teach

• You need to think, and talk to your learner about:

• what driving skills they have – don’t let them try something beyond their ability or force them to try something they’re not confident with

• what driving skills they need to learn

• what needs to be taught or revised and

• what you’re going to teach first, moving from easier to more difficult tasks. Give them a small number of tasks that they can complete without making many mistakes– they will learn quicker.

2. Rehearse driving tasks

Think about:

• how you do a driving task (moving forward, turning)

• how you will explain it to your learner

• how you will show them and

• their limited experience – you need to teach them every step in a driving task.

3. Communication

Think about the words and gestures you’re going to use when your learner is driving. You need to:

• give instructions well in advance and always try to use the same terms (use phrases like ‘at the next intersection turn right’ rather than ‘turn right at the next intersection’)

• use the words ‘correct’, ‘ok’ or ‘yes’ rather than ‘right’

• hand signals can support your spoken instructions and help avoid confusion

• keep your language simple and speak in a calm voice and

• use positive language (‘you did that turn well, but next time you should try…’).

4. Decide how you’re going to teach

When supervising, try to:

• set aside enough time to allow for discussion before the drive

• find a location and route that suits your learner’s driving ability

• describe to your learner what they’ll be doing

• encourage them to think about every step in the driving task before doing it

• demonstrate the driving task to them

• ask them to explain to you how they will do it

• let them try the task, making sure you talk them through it

• discuss how they went, giving positive feedback

• demonstrate the driving task again

• have them practice the driving task until they can do it well and

• discuss how they felt when doing the driving task

5. Review the lesson and discuss the next one

Make sure you:

• leave time at the end of the driving lesson for review and to discuss the next lesson. This will give you time to give your learner feedback about the things that they did right and wrong

• remain positive and encourage them to talk over any concerns that they may have and

• reassure them (especially when starting out) that it takes a lot of experience and practice to be a safe driver.

Being a supervisor

All learner drivers must be supervised by a person who has held a current class C/CA open licence or equivalent for at least one year. Note: If you only hold an automatic class CA open licence, you may only supervise driving sessions in a car fitted with automatic transmission. However, if you hold a class C open licence, you can supervise driving sessions in a car with either automatic or manual transmissions.

As a supervisor, you must be seated in the passenger seat next to the learner driver. You may supervise for more than one learner during the learner licence period, but learners are only to have one supervisor per driving session.

As a supervisor you will also need to be able to access the Internet to approve the driving session. When supervising someone who is required to record at least 100 hours of supervised driving, you will have to approve your learner’s trips. For more information, please visit: Learner Logbook (QLD)

As a supervisor you should:

• Be a safe, experienced and competent driver

• Have a good driving record

• Be committed to helping a learner driver become a skilled and safe driver

• Be able to communicate information and instructions clearly

• Be patient and calm when guiding your learner during driving experience lessons

• Sit next to your learner at all times when they drive under your supervision, and

• Be up to date with current Queensland road rules. If you are unsure or want to refresh your knowledge of the road rules you can refer to Your Keys to Driving in Queensland. Your learner driver should have a copy they studied to get their learner licence. It is available from the Department of Transport and Main Roads customer service centres, most news agencies and the Department of Transport and Main Roads website www.tmr.qld.gov.au

Learner drivers can also be supervised by an accredited driver trainer – a professional driving instructor associated with a driving school. To check they are accredited, ask to see their driver trainer identity card.

To learn more about coaching your learner, please visit RACQ guide: RACQ – Supervising Learner Drivers