Tag Archives: driving

Driving Lesson in Stoke on Trent – What to expect on your first driving lesson?

When you start learning to drive it’s hard to know what to expect.  This blog post will tell you everything that will happen during your first driving lesson in Stoke with Drive Ahead School of Motoring so you know what to expect and there’ll be no surprises.

Your driving instructor will pick you up from a prearranged location (usually work, home or college).  You’ll need to make sure you bring your driving license along with you, you should bring both parts, the plastic photo card and paper counterpart.  Your driving instructor will then ask you to read a number plate (currently this is from 20 metres, but is shortly to changed to 17.5 metres) in good daylight.  If you normally wear glassed or contacts then you should wear them for your driving lessons, as failure to read the number plate would be mean the lesson cannot go ahead.

Your driving instructor will then normally drive you to a quite location where there are few distractions and not too much traffic, making the learning process easier.  You will then swap round to the drivers seat, but don’t worry, you won’t be expected to start driving immediately.

The first thing to learn on your driving lessons is the cockpit drill.  This is a process of 5 checks that ensure that the car is secure, you are sitting in the right position and can reach all of the controls properly, and see everything you need to see.  Its not the catchiest thing to remember, but the acronym we use DSSSM:

D – Doors

S – Seat

S – Steering

S – Seatbelt

M – Mirrors

I’ll go into the details of each of these checks in a later blog.

Following this your driving instructor will talk you through each of the controls of the car, how to operate them, and what they all do.  These will include feet controls, handbrake, gears, handbrake, steering and indicators.

Once you’ve done this, it’s nearly time to drive!

You will learn all about Mirrors – Signal – Manoeuvre (MSM) which is the building blocks for everything we do.  Your driving instructor will talk you through preparing the car to move, performing the relevant safety checks, before getting the car moving along the road then coming to stop a short time later.  The first few times you try this, your driving instructor will talk you through absolutely everything to help you get going.  As he feels you gaining in confidence, he will start to ask you questions to check you understand what you have learnt throughout your driving lesson, and will then gradually reduce the amount of instruction he gives depending on your ability.

You may do slightly more or less than this, depending on the length of your driving lessons, or your own ability.  At the end of your first driving lesson your driving instructor will recap everything you’ve done and will then book your next driving lesson with you.

Good luck with you learning, and have fun – from all at Drive Ahead School of Motoring

Changes to police powers to issue fixed penalty notices for driving offences

The government have announced today, 5th June 2013, that they are to give police officers the power to issue fixed penalty notices for driving offences. These proposals mean officers will be able to give on the spot fines without having to go through lengthy court proceedings. Continue reading

Driving Lessons in Stoke on Trent

 

Congratulations to Justine Pickthorne who passed her driving test on 26th July 2012 at the Stoke on Trent driving test centre.  Justine passed first time with just 3 minor faults.  She took her driving lessons in Stoke on Trent with Drive Ahead’s driving instructor Dave Shannon.  Justine passed with us, following her boyfriend and his brother previously passing with us.

Well done Justine, from Dave and all at Drive Ahead School of Motoring!

Driving Lessons in Stoke on Trent

The New DSA’s driving theory test

On the 23rd January 2012 the DSA (Driver standards Agency) made some changes to the U.K driving theory test.  There has been loads of rumours flying around as to what has changed and most are very far from the truth.

The format of the theory test is exactly the same as it has been for the last couple of years which is:

50 multi-choice questions, to pass this section you must get 43 correct

13 hazard perception clips, 11 with 1 hazard and 2 with 2 hazards, giving a total of 75 available points, and to pass you must score 45 or more.

The New DSA’s Driving Theory Test

The only change to the theory test is that the DSA is no longer publishing the questions that will be asked during the test.  Previously, you could buy a book, CD, or go online and see every single question that would be asked on your test.  The problem with that is many people would just learn which answers matched the questions, without getting an understanding of what was being asked.

 

Download the Driving Theory Test App

The questions that will be asked will be very similar to those asked before, but it’s important now that you understand what you are learning, and not just memorising the questions and answers.  The DSA has published a new set of learning aids including books, CD’s, and even an iPhone app.  More information on these publications can be found at http://www.tsoshop.co.uk/bookstore.asp?FO=1162833&trackid=000578 or by going the App Store and searching DSA theory