I thought I was a good driver.

After 24 years of driving, the daily task has become as natural and automatic as breathing.

My mind is usually on a hundred other things as I drive around Nanaimo each day and my driving slips into an automatic mode. I always thought that I have been driving for so long, the rules of the road were etched into my psyche and followed accordingly.

An evaluation of my driving by Ziggy Hildebrandt, owner of Nanaimo's Ziggy's Driving Academy, earlier this week was a wake up call.

Ziggy has been a driving instructor for almost 20 years and the majority of his clients are teenagers seeking their driving licence for the first time and seniors, over 80 years-old, who are required to redo their driving test.

He agreed to take me out for an hour-long driving evaluation that tests the same skills and knowledge of the rules of the road expected to pass an official driving test.

Sitting in the driving seat with Ziggy in the passenger seat with his clipboard and evaluation sheets was unsettling from the start.

For the first time in many years, I paid very close attention to how I prepared to start the car and pull away from the curb.

I was wrong from the start.

"Do you notice anything wrong with your seat belt?" Ziggy asked after I buckled it up.

Looking at the seat belt, it didn't seem any different from the belt in my car. It was twisted around a couple of times but it was securely hooked.

"If you were in an accident, having the seat belt twisted like that could result in it cutting into you," he said. "You want it straight and flat against your stomach and waist."

It didn't get any better from there.

Pulling away from the curb, my hands holding the steering wheel in the proper 10-2 position for the first time in many years, Ziggy's pencil started writing.

"You failed to check all of your mirrors before pulling out and you didn't use your signals to indicate you're turning onto the road," he said.

Ziggy instructed me to take a right turn at the next intersection. I wanted to make sure I came to a full stop at the intersection before proceeding, even though I could see there were no vehicles coming in either direction.

"You've stopped with your front bumper over the crosswalk," Ziggy said, still scribbling away. A slight glean of sweat was now forming on my forehead.

I checked again to see if there was anything coming from the left before turning right and, as I executed the maneuver, Ziggy's pencil starting going again.

"You should have checked to the right to ensure no pedestrians, skateboarders, cyclists or anything else is approaching the intersection from the sidewalk or alongside you before proceeding," he said. "At intersections, you're not the boss, check left and right before you cross."

Ziggy, a friendly fellow with infinite patience and a multitude of driving tips after coaching drivers for decades, said the fact is people tend to forget or ignore many of the basic rules of the road over the years, and sometimes road rules change.

"I think drivers should be retested every five years when they get their licences renewed to keep their driving skills honed and learn any new rules that may have been implemented," he said. "It would go a long way to keeping our streets safer."

I noticed we were entering a school zone so I slowed the car down - but not enough.

"You're doing 36 kilometres in a 30 kilometre zone, that would be an automatic fail all on its own," he said, pencil working furiously. "I should have brought another pencil."

I was instructed to take a left turn, a simple enough task, but I cut too sharp and my left-front tire crossed the yellow line.

"When turning left at an intersection, you should allow enough room to completely clear the centre line, even when there's no vehicles in the oncoming lane," Ziggy said.

I couldn't remember the last time I ever really paid attention to such things.

The next pencil-raising incident occurred as I took a left turn at another lighted intersection, across two south-bound lanes and into the north-bound passing lane.

I thought Ziggy would be impressed that I didn't make the mistake of crossing directly into the right-side lane as I see so many other drivers do.

"You should have entered the merging lane at that intersection before entering the passing lane," Ziggy said, his pencil dancing away.

I remember when I first started driving many years ago, I concentrated fully on the task and closely watched my speed and maneuvers.

As the enlightening evaluation came to an end, I realized that my driving habits had become lax and made a vow to be more aware of the rules when behind the wheel.

I thanked Ziggy for his time and expertise and walked back to my own car.

Ziggy stood smiling on the sidewalk as he watched me prepare to leave to see if I had learned anything in our hour together.

I made sure my seat belt was on right and did all the proper mirror and shoulder checks before pulling away.

I saw Ziggy in my rear-view mirror as I turned left at the corner, careful to check to the right to ensure there were no pedestrians, skateboarders, cyclists or anything else approaching the intersection from the sidewalk or alongside me before proceeding, and remembered his parting words.

"When driving away, Ziggy will give you heck if you don't gear, brake, signal and shoulder check," he said.

Kids pick up driving habits from parents: INFLUENCE: Driving instructor validates study that shows that parents affect their kids' driving The Daily News (Nanaimo) Wednesday, March 21, 2007 Byline: Derek Spalding Driving lessons have helped eliminate any bad driving habits that Kylee Shaw picked up from her parents. The 17-year-old student said her extra time on the road has taught her to avoid speeding and rolling stops, habits she may have inherited from her mom, Charlotte Oscarson. Driving instructors often notice just how much parents affect young drivers who come in to get their licence. It's an activity that has long been considered a right of passage for budding teenagers. This parental influence was highlighted in a young drivers study recently released by the BCAA Traffic Safety Foundation. Drivers between 19 and 24 cited their parents as the primary influence when it came to their own driving. Siegfried Hildebrandt has noticed some obvious habits among today's youth that even predate their parents. Hildebrandt has been teaching new drivers the rules of the road for nearly 30 years and established Ziggy's Driving Academy in Nanaimo in 1991. "I've seen kids reaching inside the steering wheel when they turn the car on because that's what grandma used to do," he said before taking Kylee out on another driving lesson. "That happens because mom has picked the habit up and now passed it on to her own children." Kylee is ready for the second stage of the graduated licensing program and will soon earn herself an 'N,' if she passes her road test on Monday. Her driving lessons have had a positive effect on her driving. "I think (lessons are) pretty important. When you're driving with your parents when your younger, you think some things are OK to do," she said. Oscarson recognizes the extent of her influence over her daughter and has taken measures to curb her poor driving habits. "I've been driving enough that I know I just do things without thinking . . . like rolling stops. I probably shouldn't do that," she said. "I do it in neighbourhoods where I drive all the time because I know where traffic is, but that isn't OK." In 2004, young drivers (between 16 and 25) made up 14% of the driving population in British Columbia, according to data from ICBC. People in this age group were also involved in crashes that resulted in "approximately 42% of those injured and approximately 34% of those killed," according to the BCAA study. These numbers convinced Oscarson that she made the right decision to give her daughter driving lessons. "I think I know how to drive, and I've never been in a car accident, but I wasn't taught how to teach," she said.

DSpalding@nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4231