If you want to drive it, just let me know and we'll sort it out for you!
Just done my first lesson in the new DS3 and the pupil absolutely loved driving it and seemed even more impressed when I told her that it had a 'sub woofer' in the boot! Don't think she knew what it meant but she said it was 'cool'.
If you want to drive it, just let me know and we'll sort it out for you!
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When the car IS the office and the office IS the car, making a change is always a difficult time for any driving instructor.
After a couple of years using the Citroen C3 as a tuition car I've decided to make that change and have purchased a new DS3 which I will take delivery of on Thursday 4th September. I've owned two C3's and they are a fantastic vehicle for teaching purposes due to their high seating position and great all round visibility which makes them easy to reverse, but things move on and the DS3 has a much brighter and younger image with potential customers and these days image, as any driving instructor will tell you, is very important. The good news is that the interior of the two cars is almost identical so my current customers won't find the change too much of a shock and will (hopefully) settle in to the new car easily. My main consideration when choosing the new car was wether to choose petrol or the very frugal diesel, and although the DS3 diesel unit is very quiet, the extra cost of the car AND extra cost at the pump swayed me to stay with petrol. My current car is doing around 40 to the gallon teaching, so that, coupled with the quieter petrol engine swung it. I hope my customers like driving the new car, so look out for us on the roads around Scarborough and Filey over the coming weeks and months. Well, would you believe it?
The 'Find An Instructor' website has chosen yours truly as Instructor Of The Week! Must have been my cheeky smile that swung it for me. Check it out for yourself at http://www.instructors-directory.co.uk/ and if you are an ex customer of mine please feel free to leave a quick review. Ta muchly. The government has today paved the way for driverless cars to appear on UK streets from as early as January next year. Three cities will be selected for trials of the vehicles which will last around 18 to 36 months. While the technology of a truly autonomous vehicle fascinates me, at the same time it makes me extremely worried. Getting these things to work has taken years of intensive research and testing and now they have to be trialled among other road users to make sure they are safe and practical. Transport Minister Clair Perry said: “Driverless cars have huge potential to transform the UK’s transport network – they could improve safety, reduce congestion and lower emissions". I have to say that i disagree and feel that the way forward on our congested roads is not to try to improve a 'cars technology' but to improve driver training and driving standards so that human beings can interact in a more intelligent way. The 'job' of driving has been gradually dumbed down over the last 25 years with better smoother engines, soundproofing, automatic lights and wipers etc to the point where we have less and less to do in the drivers seat and therefore feel less involved with our cars and are tempted to do other things like using mobile phones and social networking. Driving a car still relies on the driver using their cognitive thought process to make judgements and perceive dangers ahead but anything that disturbs that process means there is a greater chance of an accident. Removing those distractions and putting the driver back into the job of driving is where we should be focussing our attention for our future driver generations.
I will not be a passenger in any vehicle that takes to the public road unless it has the best computer in the world at the controls...a human being! It's an essential read for every learner driver (and maybe few experienced drivers too) so if you are looking to buy 'The Highway Code' from The Stationary Office then this week only you can save 35% by entering the code RW35 at the checkout. That makes it just £1.63p BARGAIN!
Back in the 'good ole days' attracting new customers was simply a case of an advertisement in the local paper, a card in a shop window or maybe a square in Yellow Pages!
My how things have changed. Nowadays everybody and their dog has a smartphone and they use it for just about everything, including sourcing a driving instructor. The phrase 'there's an app for that' is being used more and more and now includes the driver training industry where being on a social networking site (or three) is a must for any instructor. I've been on Twitter and Facebook for a while now, but I'm also getting pestered every day to join the latest 'app' for driving schools. 'miDrive' has been around for a while and a couple of new ones, 'Vroome' and 'Roadio' are also available to download from the 'app' stores. All claim to make the 'learner experience' a better one by offering on-line learner solutions and instructor benefits through their smartphone app. Now don't get me wrong, I'm on all of these sites because I feel that we need to embrace change in whatever form it takes and use it to our advantage, but I also see the need for keeping some of the good old fashioned values like one to one conversation and getting out there in the car and practising dealing with real life situations, which to my knowledge, there isn't an 'app' for. 'Apps' are great for information, monitoring your progress and practising theory but only you and your instructor in the car can see how you are in the 'real world' and if we get it wrong, there is no 're-set' button. I keep being asked by my customers if they 'need' to display a green 'L' or 'P' on their car when they have passed their test, and the simple answer is no.
Once a person has passed their UK car driving test there is no legal requirement for them to display any sort of 'plate', unless they want too. The green 'new driver' L plate can be a great way to let other drivers know that you have only recently passed your test and might be a little slow off the mark at traffic lights etc, but it is a purely voluntary addition to your car. The green 'P' plate has a similar effect and stands for 'probationer' or 'passed' depending who you believe, but again is something you can 'choose' to fit to your car or simply blend in with the crowd. The choice is yours but my feeling is that a green 'L' could be a good thing if you are using a motorway or dual carriageway for the first time as this will alert following drivers to the fact that you are newly qualified so they should be 'nice' to you. Good luck with that and safe driving! I've been watching the new series of 'Barely Legal Drivers' on BBC3 on Monday evenings and like most experienced drivers I've been cringing at some of the antics of these 'street legal but barely able' drivers. As an instructor though, one of the things that has jumped out at me is how little these novice drivers are using their side mirrors and I thought I would share my little tip as to how I get my learners to remember to use them.
Bob and Tom are the names I give to my side mirrors. Bob is the near side one and stands for 'Bloke On Bike' or of course anything that may be down the near side of the car when pulling over or lane changing. Tom is the offside mirror which stands for 'Teenager On Moped'. I find that by giving them names and introducing them early that my learners pick up there use quite quickly and if they forget (which they do from time to time) a quick "check Bob" prompt gets them looking in the right direction. When all said and done, observation is king! Lots of young learner drivers are fitting in their driving lessons around their exam schedules at this time of year and occasionally the two will clash. Well now the DVSA have made it easier to re-schedule your test at short notice. Before 1st April you had to give 3 days notice but now you can have a re-booking at short notice if you can't take a test because of exams, a bereavement or a medically certified illness. Hangovers don't count!
The last week or so has seen some great weather on the Yorkshire coast and subsequently the arrival of the 'summer wardrobe' which usually means (for the girls at least) digging out the sandals and flip flops. Now there's nothing wrong with that type of footwear for walking around campus or town BUT for driving they are a complete no no!
"You can't drive in those" I told one of my female students this week as she got in the car for her lesson in a nice pair of diamanté covered flip flops. Surprised by this she then offered to drive 'bare footed' for which I also had to refuse her. Put simply, you need to be wearing suitable footwear when you're driving a car and that usually means a decent pair of old flat shoes that will stay on your feet and not fall off and jam under the pedals. Heels are fine of course but (I'm told) it doesn't do them any good and may break off the heel part. This simple philosophy not only applies to learners, but to all drivers so please don't drive in loose fitting sandals and (unless you're heading for the beach) avoid driving completely in the humble flip flop this summer. Be safe! |
AuthorThese are the musings of Kevin Jewison ADI owner of this driving school and website. Archives
September 2023
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