If your son/daughter is taking lessons with us you may want to consider taking them out for some extra driving practice. I encourage this as all practice will help but you need to bear in mind certain points before you consider this option.
The main things to remember are : –
- To accompany a learner driver on public roads you must have held a full driving license for the category of vehicle being driven for over 3 years and be at least 21 years old.
- Ensure that the vehicle you are using is correctly insured for the pupil you are teaching. You can usually add a provisional driver to your insurance or you can now get special insurance for a specified time for a provisional driver on a separate policy. This can be cheaper than adding on your own policy and doesn’t put your own no claims bonus and premium at risk.
- Do not attempt extra training too early on. As a bad lesson will put them off and cause arguments. Wait until they have learnt enough so you can get an idea of their driving and use the extra practice as a means of supporting lessons by ironing out intermittent faults. The pupil also needs to have control of your car.
- Be patient. While We are used to pupils making mistakes on lessons you may not be. Don’t put them off by getting frustrated or annoyed with their mistakes.
- Liaise with the pupil to check what has been covered on their lessons. Try not to take them into a situation they aren’t used to. This will lead to panic. Remember, We have dual-controls fitted and can take full control of The car if necessary.
- Remain calm. If you are nervous, this will be transferred to your pupil.
- Be sure that what you are teaching is correct and up to date. Try reading the Highway Code or even come and get a couple of refresher lessons for yourself.
- Remember things change over time. For example, it is now expected to make one gear change per hazard not change down through all gears. It is also expected to sit in 1st gear at traffic lights if at the front of the queue rather than neutral. Bus lanes now often have times and should be driven in at certain times of day. It is also expected that the pupil makes good progress but within the speed limit. Do not make them slow down or go faster unless you are sure they are going an unsuitable speed.
- Do not teach them bad habits. You may have picked up some of these over the years and they can be hard to sort out if the pupil picks them up.
- Do not change what We have taught them. If you believe something is not right or want clarification please contact us, we’ll be happy to explain. As a school we have had over 1000 pupils pass the test, we will not teach a pupil something that is incorrect.
