Are you ready to take out the next generation of learner drivers on their lessons? As driver instructors, our number one priority, aside from getting learners passed, is road and driver safety. Passing on the wisdom and knowledge we have to keep our students safe on the road is so important to ensuring safer roads across the UK. At Beverly Slater we are passionate about quality and excellence amongst driving instructors. Here are some of our top tips to guarantee safety during these all-important driving lessons.

Get to know your Learners

Spending as much time with them as you will, you are bound to get to know your learner drivers. It helps to be both a friendly and encouraging face for them as they take on the challenge of learning to drive. This is also useful in keeping them safe. All learners are different and will have differing levels of confidence and anxiety. Quickly understanding the areas of which your individual learners feel anxious and begin to panic, will help to keep both them and you safe. As the instructor you can then spot the signs of panic on your leaner’s face and know when you may need to take over before panic turns into dangerous driving.

Managing Road Safety

In your position as instructor a lot of trust and responsibility lies within your hands. As your learner begins each lesson, ensure the instructions you have given them are clear. It may be worthwhile giving them a run down of each session, so they are prepared and feel less nervous.  As they begin to drive it is very important you keep your eyes ahead on the road and are thinking two steps ahead of your learner. Eventually, as they grow in confidence you will be able to demonstrate this to them, by giving them fewer directions and instead asking them to drive you to a known location.

Always be prepared to take over in the event of an unexpected hazard or distraction, causing your learner to panic. In this instance, make sure you explain to your learner why you had to step in and go over this with them in a safe space on the side of the road. Constantly communicating with your learners is the best way to help them learn.

Choose an Appropriate Route

As much as you want your learners to advance quickly and pass first time, each learner with various levels of experience will require a tailored learning experience. If you feel your learner has developed well and is growing in confidence – great, now is the time to get them on a different route, to challenge them. If they are yet to feel confident in driving the vehicle, keep your routes simple, until they feel ready. Do not push the learners to advance quickly as this will inevitably lead to anxiety and a lack of confidence. Anxiety and panic are a major cause of dangerous driving from learner drivers, so keeping this to a minimum for your learners is really important.

Big cities can be a hugely daunting task for new drivers. The inner roads of cities, like Manchester, can be very busy, particularly in the centre where you will come across buses, cars, taxis, trams, and pedestrians. It can be an overwhelming experience. As the big cities start to open up again, saying goodbye to lockdown restrictions, we thought this would be the perfect time to offer some of our tips for your excursions into your local city centre.

Our tips for new drivers

Be Prepared

Planning your journey, where you will park, and ensuring you know the best route to your destination will help to ease your nerves and build your confidence driving around inner cities. Entering a large city unaware of the congestion charges, traffic regulations and speed limits can make the experience stressful. Having prior knowledge of your route will certainly make you feel more comfortable and confident navigating these busier routes. With the inner cities usually congested, it is also a great idea to leave yourself plenty of time, so that you are not in a rush.

Drive Calmly and Observe

This may be easier said than done; keeping calm in inner cities will make driving a lot easier. Panicking will only affect your driving and could lead to getting lost, distracted, and causing a danger to other road users. If staying calm means taking it slow or removing distractions like turning off your radio – we very much recommend doing so. Safe driving is your priority. Remember to stay observant and aware of the vehicles and potential hazards around you; do not neglect your mirrors.

Do Not Panic if You Miss a Turning

Missing a turning is not the end of the world. Most inner cities are well connected, and an alternate route will be found. Alternatively, give yourself some time, pull over in a safe space, and find a safe way to head back on yourself.

Be Aware of Other Road Users

Cities are full of experienced road users, with bus drivers and taxi drivers knowing the city like the back of their hand, they can sometimes be frightening to approach as a new driver. Take it slow, check your mirrors, and follow the highway code. It is best to avoid crossing into the lane of other road users, giving little warning. Remember to leave space and indicate so they are aware of your movements.

Refresher Lessons with Beverly Slater

The pandemic has kept us inside for much longer than anyone could have anticipated, so you may have passed your test some time ago but have since been unable to get out on the road as a pink license holder. Taking to the roads on your own can be daunting. That is why, at Beverly Slater, we offer refresher driving lessons. These lessons can be tailored to you! Maybe you have lost your confidence with driving or feel as though you are not quite ready to take on the big motorways and roads around inner cities. Get in contact with us at Beverly Slater and we can tailor the refresher lessons to suit your experience and address your worries.

When it comes to learning to drive, all too often it is the idea of driving in busy built-up urban areas that scares new drivers. Whilst it is true that there are plenty of things that you may need to consider when driving around a big city like Manchester, there are several steps that you can take to make sure that your time on the roads is safe and as stress free as possible. Whether you are about to begin driving lessons in Manchester or have already passed your test, our helpful tips will help you to have more confidence driving around a busy town or city.  

Tips for Diving in Manchester

Be aware

One of the best ways in which you can prepare yourself is to make sure that you are fully aware of your surroundings before you actually find yourself immersed in them. For driving in a busy city centre or built-up area it is important to think about the fact that you will most likely encounter cycle lanes, bus lanes, one-way streets and lots of stationary traffic that just doesn’t seem to move. Of course, there are also pedestrians who all too often will step out into the traffic in an attempt to cross the road when there really isn’t the gap in the traffic that they think there is. Remember to look for those all-important road signs which will help you navigate through a busy city centre.

Anticipate

When you are driving in a busier area there will be a lot more going on around you so it is important to anticipate everything that might happen. The traffic might stop and start a lot more you will need to keep your eye on the road in front of you for cars moving. You are also more likely to get people crossing the road or even opening doors of parked vehicles. All of this is not bad when it comes to building up your driving skills and, of course, your confidence.

The right instructor

The key to learning to drive and feeling confident in your abilities is finding the right instructor. You want to have confidence in the person who is teaching you to drive and know that they will go at a pace that suits you. With the right instructor you will learn the skills that you need to give you the confidence to drive around Manchester, or indeed any other large city.

There are, unfortunately, many learner drivers who may begin taking lessons but for whatever reason stop before they have reached their test. There can be any number of reasons that they might become a lapsed learner. Perhaps finances are an issue, or time, or they perhaps don’t feel they are ready to take to the road after all. When a lapsed learner decides that it is time to get back behind the wheel it can be a good idea to look for someone who will be able to offer them lapsed learner driving lessons. There are a number of reasons why lapsed learners can benefit from driving lessons that are specifically geared towards them rather than learner drivers. Here, we list just three.

Not starting driving lessons from scratch

Taking lapsed learner lessons means that your driving instructor will not have to go over some of the things that you have already covered. They may want to touch on the basics to check that you still remember things from a safety point of view, but there is no point them wasting your time going over everything you have already learnt.

Tailored help 

A good driving instructor will be able to tailor your lessons more to your requirements. So, if there are some things that you struggled with when you first began learning to drive, let them know and they will be able to spend more time helping you with those aspects rather than going over the things that you are more comfortable with. This will help you to practice the things that you didn’t feel that you had really understood fully first time round. 

Feel confident

It may be that the reason your driving lessons lapsed in the first place is that you simply lacked confidence. If this was the case, then it is really important to boost your confidence so that you feel comfortable behind the wheel. Lapsed learner driving lessons will allow your instructor to help you boost your confidence by reinforcing all of the things that you are confident with and gaining confidence with the things that you are less certain about. Being more confident behind the wheel will give you a real boost in the skills that you do have and help you to learn more, and hopefully very soon you will be sitting your driving test and passing with flying colours.