Commentary Driving

Commentary driving means saying out loud what you see, what might happen, and what you are going to do, continuously, as you drive. It sounds odd, and it works, because it turns something that happens silently in your head into something you and a supervisor can hear and check.

Each piece of commentary has three parts:

1. See: name the hazard. "Matatu stopped at the stage on the left, hazard lights on, people beside it."
2. Predict: say what could happen. "Someone could step out from in front of it; it could pull off without signalling."
3. Plan: say what you'll do. "Easing off, mirror clear, moving out a little, covering the brake."

Run together on a real road, it sounds like this:

"Speed limit sign, fifty. School ahead on the left, children at the gate, slowing down. Lorry coming the other way, keeping left. Brake lights three cars ahead, off the accelerator. Mirror: bodaboda coming up on my left, holding my position. Side road on the right, car's front wheels creeping, ready for it to pull out."

It is the curriculum's standing question ("What is the worst thing that could happen here, and what would I do?") answered aloud, over and over.

Three rules for using it:

• Start as a passenger, where it costs nothing. Commentate on someone else's drive and compare notes.
• Practise with a supervisor who can hear what you miss. The silence is as informative as the words: if you didn't mention the child at the roadside, you didn't see them.
• Drop to fewer words in busy traffic. Commentary is a training tool. If talking takes attention from the road, stop talking and keep driving.