Driving Lessons Videos Test Tips and Advice

Over the few years that I have been a driving instructor, I've taught a lot of learner drivers how to drive a car safely, who have then gone on to pass the UK driving test, and my experience has led me to one conclusion, learner drivers are lazy!



If you are currently learning to drive, don't take this as a personal insult on all the effort and money you've put into your driving lessons so far, allow me to explain myself.

Many learner drivers taking lessons with an Approved Driving Instructor think that all the work to gain the required skills to safely control a car and be totally prepared for the DSA driving test has to be done in the car with the ADI, and once the hour or so of tuition is over they don't have to think about anything driving related until the next lesson (especially if they have passed the theory test). These same learners want to pass their driving test in the shortest amount of time, spend the least amount of money on driving lessons, yet won't go the extra mile to give themselves the best chance of achieving their goal, afterall they are paying a professional driving instructor to do the work for them!

Your ADI must earn his keep by providing you with a quality tuition service while in the car, but there is more that many instructors can do for their pupils in the way of advice if only the learners were willing to take it on board.
Lets start from the very first lesson a provisional driving licence holder takes with no previous driving experience, the controls lesson. Some people will be able to take on board everything they have learnt, while others might struggle, so I suggest to those who find things difficult to sit in a car (a friend's, family, neighbour), go over what we've covered (including finding the biting point if possible) before the next lesson, and guess what they say at the beginning of the next lesson? 'Sorry I didn't have the time' or 'I didn't remember'.
I'm not having a rant here, I'm actually trying to help you learner drivers to save money, because everytime a pupil doesn't do the extra work that I've suggested them to do, it means more money for me in driving lessons and that's fine with me!

If you are learning to drive a car, preparing for a practical driving test and reading this post, can I give you some advice:

1. Don't stop reading the highway code just because you have passed the DSA theory test, you can never have too much knowledge when preparing for an examination, and the DSA practical driving test is an exam. You can read it on the way or back from work, and a road sign or marking that you covered recently maight come up on the test, and you'll be able to smile because you know the appropriate action to take. I can safely say that the majority of learner drivers toss their theory test preparation materials and the highway code in a corner once they've passed!
2. Have a Driving Journal. Use this to make notes of things that you need to remember for the next lesson, and read it before your next session with your ADI. The best time to update your journal is after you've had your lesson, tips that your instructor might have given you will be fresh in your mind, so you can write them down before you forget.
3. You don't always need to be in a driving school car to be learning or practicing your driving skills. While being a passenger in a car, you can be testing your observation skills such as spoting gaps in traffic when emerging at a 'T' junction or roundabout. In my post about Mini Roundabouts, I suggested that those having problems spoting gaps in the traffic should stand by a roundabout and practice judging when there is a gap, I wonder how many people would be willing to do that, especially now that winter is here and it is cold. Yet many would complain that learning to drive is expensive, when you could dramatically reduce costs by doing a little extra work without your driving instructor.

These are just a few tips that could help you as a learner drive make progess in your goal to achieve a full UK driving licence, your individual instructors might have additional advice which would be suited to your particular circumstance, so ask if there is anything you could do inbetween your driving lessons.

Not all learner drivers are lazy, and if you have read this post upto this point, then you are willing to at least do something to improve your learning process, why not go that extra mile and implement some of the suggessions I've mentioned above, hopefully you will enjoy your instructor driving lessons more and be better prepared for the driving test.

I hope this post has challenged you to do something, and would be interested in hearing your comments.

Driving Tips
Dealing with mini roundabouts.

The DSA driving test is an examination (a practical one, but still an exam), so just like when you are preparing for your GCSEs or University final paper, the key to passing as a learner driver is that you know what is to be covered by the test, and are adequately prepared for it.

The current average national UK pass rate for the driving test is about 40%, and not all the people that fail did not succeed because of their inadequate driving skills, many failed before getting into the car or driving out of the test centre (the failure was not due to the bay parking exercise either).

I've seen people fail their driving test because they couldn't read a car number plate at the required distance, maybe they forgot their reading glasses or contact lenses or just didn't know that the eye test was an integral part of the driving test and where more concerned with their driving skills.

The other day I was at the DSA Hendon driving test centre, and was watching as one of the learner drivers did a bay park before going out on the rest of the practical assessment. I noticed this car that didn't have an 'L' plate displayed at the rear of the car (obviously a private car being used), as the car headed towards the exit, the brake lights when on, and the car stopped. After about 2 minutes of being stationary, the driving examiner called the accompanying driver over to the car, obviously there was a problem. In the end the driving test was terminated with the learner driver not even having done any driving. I'm not sure of the exact reason, as there might have been more than one, but not having the correct "L" plates displayed is one of them, and looking at the state of the car, the tyres might have been another contributing factor. The current DSA requirements are here.

The same goes for the actual driving part of the test itself, are you sure you've covered the whole syllabus that the DSA examiner will be testing you on? This might seem an obvious question, but the truth is there are a lot of people who present themselves when they know that they are not up to par in one area or the other.

Personally I would advice anyone who is serious about passing the driving test to get their drivng skills assessed by a professional instructor (DSA registered ADI), just to make sure they are aware of the latest requirements that the examiner will be looking for. A family member or friend will not know of any changes that the DSA might have made since thier test especially if they aren't major ones and thus have not been covered by the national press.
Vehice safety recalls happen all the time, and while the driving standards agency will alert all driving instructors that are registered with them, not all members of the public will necesarilly be aware of these, and you don't want to turn up at a test centre to be told your vehicle can not be used because of a saftey defect, you lose your test fee and go home without a pass certificate and your dream of a full UK driving licence has to wait for another couple of weeks. Not all driving instructors are just out to take your money, there are many hard working, honest ADIs who want to pass on their knowledge and help you pass the driving test as well as make you a safe driver for life.

The best way of ensuring that you are one of the 40% that passes the DSA driving test on the next attempt is to make absolutely sure that you and the car you are presenting are full prepared and meet the requirements for the driving test, anything less, and you are playing a game of chance!

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DSA test changes 2010.
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Not everyone thinks learning to drive a car is a skill that they need to acquire especially if they live in a city with very good transportation links and can get anywhere they want by public transport or if necessary by taxi.

Being able to drive a car is a life skill that once acquired could very useful in the future if not required now, and because it is easier to learn to drive when you are young, will cost you less, there is no reason why you shouldn't do it now rather than later.

Being a driving instructor, I frequently come across people who have either had a lesson on two when they were 17 yr olds, never took a driving test and much later in life now need to drive and are forced to take lessons due urgent needs to be able to drive a car. Some people even make it till their 40s and then find out that having a full UK driving licence will be paramount to thier moving to that dream house of theirs in the countryside.

The main resaon I'm writing this is that just like many of us never gave any serious thought to learning French or Spanish when we were growing up, you now find out that life would be much easier if we had acquired the skill while young and bright.

Learning to drive becomes much harder the older you get, and if you can get someone to help with the cost of driving lessons while you are bright and young, then why not take advantage of it. Christmas is round the corner, so why not ask for a gift of a couple of driving lessons instead of a game console, new mobile phone or those designer clothes you really have been hoping for. Knowing how to drive a car will last you a life time, an XBox 360 console with the latest driving game will not!

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Age for driving is not changing.
Cabwise Advert and campaign

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