Driving Lessons

The debate about what type of car in learn to drive in came round again this week.

I took a pupil for PassPlus who had learnt to drive and passed their test with a different school and had learnt in a diesel car. Problem was she couldn’t drive my petrol car! and took about 2 hours to get used to it in a way that we could then carry on with the passplus modules.

The problem is that in a diesel car, you don’t need any gas on to be able to move the car off in most situations. In a petrol car you need to apply gas before bringing up the clutch to the biting point, before being able to move off.

Not too much difference but one that caused alot of pain for the young driver trying to get to grips with it.

Maybe only driving tests should be done in petrol cars.

If you learn to drive in a petrol car, it’s easy to pick up the technic for a diesel - but very difficult the other way round!  

When choosing a driving school, look beyond the initial sales pitch.

Basically don’t get suckered in by a free DVD or a free Highway Code, both of which cost a few pounds from any where - don’t pay for a block of lessons up front before you know what your instructor is like.

What if you pay for say 10 lessons to get a cheap rate and on the first lesson you decide you don’t like the driving instructor, basically you’ve already paid so you will probably continue. What then happens is that you begin to hate your lessons and in many cases this leads to giving up driving altogether - what a disaster!

In stead just go for a few lessons paying the normal hourly rate, this will give you the opportunity to decide if you want to continue to learn with that instructor but without the burden of knowing you have to stay with them.  During this time, it will give you chance to see what they are like, do they turn on on time for the lesson, do they answer your questions, are they teaching you anything, and probably most importantly - do you get on with them!

Try before you buy!!

Seems a simply question - but one that continues to baffle at times!

Many young people are pushed into having lessons by their parents, they don’t want to drive, have no desire to drive - so why waste your money, or in most cases their parents money.

There is only a small majority that fall into this category, most people need to learn to drive - want to learn to drive and put 100% into their lessons. That’s great and always ends up with a safe competent driver at the end of their training and go on to be safe drivers for life.

The small majority where their parents pay for their lessons and they don’t want to drive - are in truth extremely difficult to teach - take 2 or 3 times longer than someone who wants to learn, but most importantly are very often not safe because they don’t want to drive!

With anything that we do - if you want to do it - you will - if you don’t - you won’t.

So before booking driving lessons or blaming the driving instructor for not getting on with your driving - think about wether or not you want to learn first!

So we have all learnt to drive at some point -

 so we all know how nerve racking it can be out there when you are not confident about your driving skills -

so why do so many drivers forget this fact and see you with that L plate on and just have get past you?

Often driving in such a way that scares the poor learner that’s trying their best to concentrate. Is it not them that needs driving lessons?

I think it just comes down to one thing, life is lived in the fast lane these days and people cannot be held up by anyone else. OK but don’t do it and put yourself at risk or others, otherwise that fast life will be over, for good!

What does that mean - it’s about driving in a way where you are not carrying out the correct observations, or in plain English - not seeing what is around you.

The number of pupils that drive in their own bubble is quite scary, driving by only looking forward a short distance is dangerous. In order to pass your driving test but more importantly, to be a safe driver you need to continuously scan ahead, looking for dangers long before they become an issue. When you are on your next driving lesson, try looking as far down the road as you can see, to the left and to the right, then scan back towards your car taking in any problems that you may see. This way you will have a continuous assessment of any problems ahead and be able to deal with them in an effective manner.

To be a safe driving - you must burst your bubble! 

So you are not getting on with your driving lessons and are considering changing to an automatic driving instructor.

But wait - sometimes it may be that you just don’t get on with that particular driving instructor or you just might not get on with their car. It is always worth getting a second opinion with another driving instructor before deciding to change to an automatic car.

Why - because if you pass your practical driving test in an automatic you will only be entitled to drive automatic cars and you will have a restriction on your driving licence.

However, if you feel that you are just not getting it in a manual car then switching to automatic could be the answer.

Without a clutch and gears to worry about, it certainly makes driving a lot more pleasurable. Don’t think that it is realy easy though; you still have to be safe and aware of the road, you still have to complete all your manoevres in order to pass the driving test. It’s not as easy as some people make out - but it is certainly easier than a manual car and you should pass your test sooner.

The best thing to do is give an automatic driving lesson a go and see for yourself, then you can make a better decision as to which way is best for you. 

Well there are two main reasons in my opinion - not enough practice or preperation - or nerves getting the better of you on the day of your test.

So what can you do to help yourself pass the driving test?

Firstly make sure that you have good quality driving lessons from a qualified driving instructor, don’t leave it to chance.

Secondly make sure you are not too nervous on the day of your test. This is more difficult to overcome and depends on you, any good instructor will recognise the signs and give you advice and encouragement to enable you to pass. You could also try medication, I know many pupils that have taken Kalms before their test and passed but you should seek medical advice from your doctor beforehand.

When choosing a driving school, it can be confusing with many different deals on offer.

What you must remember is that you don’t get anything for nothing and that all driving instructors are self employed. Why is this important, well think about it - if driving instructors are self employed and they are very good at their job then they can charge more for their services. If they are not very good and are desperate for work, then they tend to charge less for their services. What tends to happend when an instructor charges much less than the market in their area is that they make you have more lessons to compensate them. An example of how this works and how it effects your total driving lesson costs can be found here. 

Also never sign up to any pre-paid driving lessons before you have had a couple of lessons with that instructor, because what happens if you don’t get on with them. You will either have to carry on having lessons that you hate or loose your money - you have been warned.

Try to choose a driving school based on their reputation and not by how cheap you think their lessons are!

Why do so many people think that they will be able to pass their driving test without having had driving lessons with a qualified driving instructor.

The driving test is getting harder to pass for a reason, to cut down the amount of accidents on the road and make them a safer place. Without the help of an instructor how do you know what the examiners are looking for, and why do people think they can just turn up and pass their test.

To be a safe driver for life, you need to get driving lessons from an expert like Chequers Motoring School, who will give you the knowledge and expertise to drive on today’s busy roads.

Don’t leave it to chance, get help!

Check out Bristol-Online for independant advice.