One of the most important aspects of learning to drive is the person – or persons – who will help you to learn.
Many of us try, sometimes with success, and sometimes with disastrous results, to learn to drive with the assistance of friends or family but this can sometimes lead to arguments or ill-feeling; so for many the most logical conclusion is to employ the services of a driving instructor.
Why Use a Driving Instructor?
As we have already touched upon many of us when we learn to drive will take advantage of our friends and family’s kind offers of their assistance when it comes to learning to drive. Learning to drive in the company of a friend or family member can be fraught with anxiety from the word go; some may not be able to tell you what you are doing wrong for fear of upsetting you whilst others may have the opposite concerns and can be brutally honest.
It is very common for friends and family members to argue and fall out with each other during the course of a close relative or friend learning to drive.
Likewise it is important not to pick up any bad habits whilst learning to drive as these can be displayed during your Practical Driving Test and could lead to a fail rather than a pass. Each and every one of us whether we would like to admit it or not, have our own little ways when we drive. Some of these funny little quirks are nothing more than minor irritants but some are serious enough to warrant a fail from a test examiner. For example many individuals drive their car using one hand on the wheel and one hand hovering on or over the gears; a test examiner would consider this to mean the person taking the test did not have proper control of their vehicle and would fail them.
Choosing a Driving Instructor
Now comes the difficult part; actually choosing your driving instructor. There are many thousands of independent driving instructors all over the country and hundreds of driving schools, each offering their own unique brand of driving instruction. The question is which one is right for you?
As perhaps mercenary as it may sound, finances have a lot to do with the procuring of services from a driving instructor or driving school. How many lessons can you afford? How many lessons do you think you will need?
Many independent driving instructors can offer block bookings at a considerable discount – given their overheads are distinctly lower than those of driving schools or franchised driving instructors. Shop around to begin with; make a list of those driving instructors offering block bookings first of all.
Plan Your Lessons
When booking your lessons you should make notes and ask questions before you commit to anything. Your potential driving instructor will ask you some of the following:
- How long you have been considering learning to drive?
- Do you have your provisional licence?
- When is best for you to take your lessons?
- Do you have your own car?
- Have you had any lessons with other driving instructors or other drivers?
These may sound like rather innocent questions – and indeed they are – but they can tell a driving instructor a lot about the nature of your driving experience already and also as to whether or not he – or she – will have to take you back to the beginning and re-teach you how to drive, in order to get rid of those bad habits we have already mentioned.
It is important that you are honest with any potential driving instructor and also to ensure that you are confident in their abilities before embarking on a course of lessons with them.