UNCLE CAM
About Me
I’m Cameron Haughey, and I’ve been a driving instructor since 2019.
I hold a Certificate IV in Transport & Logistics (Road Transport – Car Driving Instruction), obtained from Miro Training Centre, and trained with, and began my career with, Drive Perth.
Over the years I’ve worked with a very broad range of students, including learners with ADHD, autism, learning difficulties and clinical anxiety. I’ve also been involved in occupational therapy driving assessments with Brightwater Care Group, working with people being assessed on whether they could safely retain their licence following injury, illness, age-related changes or other medical concerns.
Those experiences have shaped the way I teach. I’ve had to learn how to explain the same concept in different ways, adapt lessons to suit the person sitting beside me, and make driving systems clear even when English isn’t someone’s first language.
Where the idea for GOAT Driving came from
Early in my career, I started noticing a problem that stayed in the back of my mind. Professional driving lessons are valuable, but they’re also expensive. Not everyone can afford to keep paying for lessons until they reach PDA standard. One of the students I remember from early in my career was a lovely young woman whose grandmother had given her three driving lessons for Christmas. She had several areas of her driving that still needed work before she would be ready for the PDA, but once those three gifted lessons were finished, she simply couldn’t afford to continue. I remember thinking at the time: there has to be some way I can help people in that position. That idea never really went away. I also kept hearing the same stories Over the years, many students have come to me after having poor experiences with previous instructors.Some had simply received very little useful instruction. Others told me about instructors running personal errands during lessons, yelling at them, making them feel embarrassed when they made mistakes, pressuring them to continue booking lessons, or behaving in ways that made them uncomfortable.A few students had become so anxious or discouraged by those experiences that they had almost given up learning to drive entirely.That became another motivation behind GOAT Driving.I wanted learners to have access to a reliable source of driving education that they could use independently — something that gave them more control over their own learning and reduced how dependent they were on finding the right instructor.
How the lesson material started
In 2024, I began creating my own lesson material to help me deliver better driving lessons. Partly, this was because I wanted my explanations to be more consistent. And partly, it was because my students deserved something better than watching me draw questionable roundabouts and intersections on a piece of paper. The material gradually became more detailed. I created diagrams, explanations, step-by-step processes and repeatable cues that I could use with different students. The more I used it, the more I refined it.
How I teach
My teaching methods have developed through years of working with real students and learning exactly what assessors expect during the PDA. Because I’ve taught many students with additional learning needs and many students for whom English is a second language, I’ve had to become very deliberate about the language I use. I try to explain things in a way that is clear, repeatable and easy to remember. And because different people learn differently, the Journey is designed to work at different levels of detail. Some people can look at an image once, understand the concept and immediately apply it. Others want to know exactly why something works, what they should be looking for, what decisions they should be making and what the assessor expects. The material is designed for both.
Who the 19-Step Learner's Journey is for
The Journey can be used in several different ways. Learner drivers can use it as a template for their entire learning journey, as a resource between professional lessons, or to prepare for an upcoming PDA. Supervising drivers can use it as a reference whenever they’re unsure about a road rule, driving process or how something should be taught. Overseas drivers can use it as a comprehensive guide to understanding Western Australian road systems, terminology, driving expectations and PDA requirements. It can also help people living in regional areas, where access to high-quality professional driving instruction may be limited, and drivers who need to re-sit the PDA after losing their licence or being required to undergo reassessment.
Why Spanish and Portuguese?
The Journey is currently available in English, Spanish and Portuguese. I chose Spanish and Portuguese because I work with a significant number of students from the Brazilian and Peruvian communities here in Perth, and I wanted those students to be able to access the same information without language becoming another barrier. If there is enough demand for other languages in the future, I’d absolutely consider adding them.
What GOAT Driving has become
GOAT Driving has changed a lot since I first started building it. The website has been refined, the lesson material has become more detailed, and the way I explain many concepts has evolved through hundreds of hours of teaching. But the reason for building it hasn’t really changed. I wanted people to have access to clear, professional driving education even if they couldn’t afford ongoing lessons. That is still what sits underneath everything I’m building. And my ambition is to keep developing the 19-Step Learner’s Journey until it becomes the most user-friendly and accessible learner-driver resource in Western Australia.