For over 20 years, I taught driver training for three hours daily after school. One would think that an English teacher should be clear in communicating. Well the following three stories almost caused major problems.

Take the Next Left

As we were approaching the busiest downtown intersection in Livermore, and were in the left lane of two lanes, I told the student driver to turn left at the next light. He said, "Left?’ My response was "Right." You guessed it: from the left lane, he started a right turn. I slammed on my brake, barely avoiding another car, and asked what the heck he was doing. He answered, "Well, you said ‘right.’"

From that point on, I began using the undignified response, "yup."

Roll the Window Down and Back Up (Bad Word Order)

It was raining heavily. We had the wipers on, the front window defroster, and the back window defogger. However, we were in the right lane on a busy day downtown, stopped at a stoplight, and I knew we soon had to change lanes preparatory to making a left turn. The driver’s window was fogged up, and I knew he would have trouble looking in his outside mirror. Therefore, I said to him, "Roll your window down and back up." That way, he could eliminate some of the window’s fog.

He looked over at me puzzledly, rolled his window down, put the car in reverse, and moved his foot toward the accelerator. I slammed on the brake, as there was another stopped car directly behind us. Upset, I inquired what was he thinking! He said, "Well, you told me to roll the window down and then back up!"

I, of course, intended him to roll the window down and up, not put the car in reverse. Bad communication can kill you, even if you are an English teacher!

Turn Right at the Next Stop Sign

Most beginning drivers are very nervous and extremely obedient. One time, as we were midway through a block, I told the male driver to turn right at the next stop sign. I got the words, "turn right" out, and he turned right - right into the curb! I wonder what would have happened if I had asked him to turn left.

Beginning that day, I would always phrase such commands this way: "At the next stop sign, (pause, and let that information sink in), turn right. My life got easier.

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