All about commentary driving and why you should try it (updated)

Ever seen a movie of Apollo 11 landing on the moon? We know exactly how it played out because the astronauts described every single action they made.

The same applies to Formula 1 drivers learning a new circuit and Police taking part in a high-speed chase – they talk through every step they take behind the controls and describe every change in conditions or potential distractions and dangers. It’s called commentary driving (or perhaps flying if NASA is involved) and is a technique where you describe exactly what you are doing as you are driving, and what you are doing to avoid potential risks.

It’s used by advanced drivers and those who spend a lot of time driving in high-risk situations, but it’s also particularly good for learner and newly solo drivers.

Driving requires alertness and concentration and learner drivers often find it hard to maintain both of these in what is often a high-pressure environment with many new skills to learn. Commentary driving helps to maintain a driver’s focus by engaging the brain in every action. It trains drivers to be observant and pushes out other distracting thoughts that can take the mind off the road.

Commentary includes observations about road conditions, traffic, potential hazards, decisions being made, and the reasons behind them. For example, the driver might say, “I’m slowing down as I approach the intersection because there’s a pedestrian crossing,” or “I’m checking my mirrors before changing lanes.”  Commentary driving covers:

• observations,
• interpretations,
• evaluations and
• intentions.

If you initially feel self-conscious speaking out loud and describing your every move, you’re not the only one. But like many new skills, once commentary driving becomes a habit it’s hard to imagine not doing it. More importantly, it will give you an indication of the enormous number of things that our brains have to process every time we drive. Learning to process these distractions and potential dangers in a more efficient way is key to being able to drive more safely.

In practice, commentary driving means articulating what you are doing from when you start the vehicle, put your indicators on and check your mirrors before pulling out onto the road – right through to when you park again.

For parents and supervisors

Many professional driving instructors use commentary driving in their lessons, but it’s also a good technique for parents teaching their teens to drive. Driving lessons can be equally stressful for the person behind the wheel and the one in the passenger seat. There can be a tendency for tempers to flare and voices to be raised. Commentary driving provides a calm forum for each lesson, improves the confidence of student drivers by easing their nerves and tendency to second-guess themselves, and gives both the student and the teacher an idea of the student’s driving and decision-making abilities and how well they are paying attention to what’s happening on the road.

• helps build resistance to distractions;
• reviews and reinforces the things they’ve learned;
• helps develop judgement of how far ahead they should be looking and how early to start taking action;
• helps reset mindstate – if they are feeling distracted or stressed, this brings the mind focus back onto driving; and
• helps supervisors understand if they are using their scanning/vision effectively, recognising risk in time and making good judgements – if the supervisors knows what the learner is thinking and planning, they’ll be calmer and less inclined to jump in with last minute instructions. It makes for a lot happier car.

When to use commentary driving as a supervisor of a learner driver

As a supervisor, you can do this in the weeks leading up to your first lessons with your soon-to-be learner in the passenger seat – it helps create awareness of the many challenges in driving and gives an insight into how you solve them. It also calls attention to the vast number of things a driver should be watching for – setting up the thinking that driving is a full time job.

When your teen first gets behind the wheel, you’ll want to retire the commentary for a little while – it’s too much for them to think about in the early stages of learning. However, after they comfortable with the manoeuvring aspect, re-introduce commentary driving but this time, they’ll be running the commentary.

Watch a commentary drive in action:

Takeaway tips

• Commentary driving involves describing aloud exactly what you are doing as you are driving, and what you are doing to avoid potential risks.
• It’s useful for both experienced and learner drivers.
• It helps make you a safer driver because it encourages you to maintain focus by engaging the brain in every action and training you to be observant. It pushes out other thoughts that can take your attention off the road.
• It can provide a good framework to make learning to drive less stressful and nerve-racking