Joy’s Driving Lessons in Llandrindod Wells
Joy passed her driving test at the end of February 2010 with Go Driving.
She had been to other driving schools before. She “didn’t like” her first instructor, and by the time she had settled into her driving lessons with the second, she had to stop for health reasons.
Once well again she found Go Driving in the Yellow Pages. On first contact with our office she found us to be “helpful and honest and very good.” After meeting Cora (our Driving Instructor in Llandrindod Wells) her first impressions were that Cora “sets you at ease” quickly and was “friendly and nice.”
The most difficult part of learning to drive for Joy was “getting confidence ” but with “patience, constant praising and constructive criticism” her driving instructor helped her overcome this.
In Joy’s own words, her driving instructor prepared her “very well” in the driving lessons leading up to her test. On test day all Joy had to contend with was “remembering to breathe.”
Go Driving are currently using Skoda fabia 2′s for training. Most pupils find them comfortable, and easy to drive with good visibility. Joy said the car was “very nice - I want one.”
Happy motoring to Joy!
From all at Go Driving.
Bad drivers face £100 fine on the spot
Bad drivers will be hit with fixed-penalty fines of up to £100 under a Government scheme which aims to cut road deaths by as much as 57% within 20 years.
Motorists who tailgate, undertake or cut up other drivers could be handed the fine rather than being taken to court.
Current fixed fines of £60 for offences such as driving while using a mobile phone and not wearing a seatbelt could go up to between £80 and £100.
Driving in snow and ice
- Drive only as fast as the conditions allow and remember stopping distances are longer
- Use your accelerator, brakes, steering and clutch as gently as possible
- Check local TV and radio for weather and traffic conditions before setting off and if you can avoid the trip do so
- Main roads get treated/cleared first, so try and avoid side roads and allow extra time
- If you’re travelling any distance, let someone know where you’re going and when you expect to arrive
- Clear snow and ice from all your windows and lights before you set off - it’s very dangerous (and illegal) to leave snow on your car roof
- Take extra clothing in the car, food and drink, scraper and de-icer, a charged up mobile phone, torch and perhaps a shovel (even a small one)
- Stopping distances are far greater so drive only as fast as the conditions allow
- On bridges and overpasses where the cold air can pass above and beneath the road surface, black ice may form more readily (which can just appear to be wet patches on the road surface)
- Listen to your car, if the road noise from your tyres on the road suddenly goes quiet, it may well be you are driving on ice
- If you’re unfortunate enough to skid, steer into the skid and don’t slam on the brakes, use the pedals really gently
Changes to the Practical Driving Test
Independent driving
From October 4th 2010 the UK driving test will contain a new element – independent driving.
For about 10 minutes of the test you’ll be asked to drive on your own without any help from the examiner. At some point during your test the examiner will ask you to pull up, then you will given up to 3 directions to follow such as “Take the next left, 2nd right then 3rd right”.
You may just be asked to drive to the nearest train station or an area of the city following road signs. You do not need to know the area, read maps or use a sat nav as destinations you’re given will be signposted.
You may also be given a mixture of directions and instructions such as “Take the 3rd left, 2nd right and then follow road signs to the railway station”.
For some of these directions you’ll be given a very basic diagram to help recognise the layout of the roads you’ll come across.
This has been designed with dyslexia and other conditions in mind don’t worry if you have to ask for more help. You can ask the examiner to write down the place name so that you can easily spot it on road signs.
After each set of directions you’ll be asked to pull over and given another set.
It is important to realise that you are not penalised for going the wrong way. It doesn’t matter how many wrong turns you make or if you end up in completely the wrong place, providing you make all your turns correctly. The worst thing you can do on this part of the test is to suddenly change your mind.
Let’s say you’re approaching a left turn and at the last minute you see the sign saying that’s the way you want to go. Carrying on will just mean you take a different route, suddenly braking and swerving to make the turn could be very dangerous!
If you start to go the wrong way, just carry on and the examiner will help you get back on track. If you’re coming up to a roundabout and you miss the sign, just say you haven’t seen the sign and go left or continue in whichever lane you’re in. Don’t suddenly change your mind!
You will not fail, you will not be marked down. The whole idea of this part of the test is to simulate being on your own and there will be plenty of times when you miss signs or go the wrong way, it doesn’t matter!
So to sum up, the only real difference is that instead of being given step-by-step directions you’ll just have to remember up to 3 instructions at a time, or follow signs, or a combination of both. Good instructing should include plenty of independent driving to build your confidence and competence to ‘go it alone’..
As the test will now include only one manoeuvre, there will be time to venture further on test rather than sticking to the housing estates. You may well drive in areas you have never seen before which will show you are not just memorising test roads and routes.
Comments Closed
Children in Need 2010
One “L” of a Journey for Children in Need
This year Go Driving is embarking upon ‘One L of a Journey’ for Children in Need.
Click Pudsey (on the right of the page) for more information and ***NEW PHOTO GALLERY***
Two’s Company Three’s A Crowd.
The D.S.A. are proposing that in the learner driver’s test the pupil will not only have an examiner in the car but also a third person (instructor, parent or friend) in the back of the car for extra weight. So how can this be practiced easily? If you’ve got your own car and enough passengers to take out on a regular basis it’s no problem. In a driving lesson, this may be more difficult if you’re taking lessons in your lunch break, free period evening or weekend as your instructor will have to arrange to have someone else in the car. The third person could be a friend but this may be off-putting for the pupil and also tiresome for the passenger (will they want to come again on the next lesson). One alternative is that the instructor arranges to pick you up with their last pupil still in the car and you drive them home. This is known as piggy backing. The D.S.A. has frowned upon this as it doesn’t allow the instructor to debrief and close the lesson correctly. It can also put extra pressure on a novice driver if they have to drive through areas that may be beyond their level of ability, or demoralising when watching a natural driver picking up new skills more quickly when they may have spent several weeks working on the same subject!
The idea behind this proposal is to reduce the amount of novice drivers passing their test one week (with only one passenger) and then a week later filling the car with four passengers and trying to drive the same way. As we all know the handling qualities of a car change dramatically once it is loaded.
Other options could be:
- newly qualified drivers drive for a short period displaying P plates limited to carrying two passengers at any one time.
- Or make Pass Plus compulsory before a newly qualified driver can carry passengers and when doing Pass Plus there must be at least three people in the car.
Let us know your thoughts on the subject!
BBC Top Tips for driving in snowy conditions
The recent conditions make for challenging driving conditions. Click here for some excellent tips from the BBC.
In brief we advise:
If you can possibly avoid driving you should!
Slowing with the brakes or the engine both risk locking the wheels in very slippery conditions.
Use a feather-light touch on the controls and think well ahead.
Remember that ABS (anti-lock brakes) while helpful in poor conditions, don’t give any extra grip.
Road markings and signs may be completely hidden – watch out for other drivers assuming priority or taking the wrong position.
Check everything before you set out on short or long journeys.
Things to do before you LEAVE
- Levels – fuel, oil, coolant, screenwash (at winter dilution)
- Electrics – are all your lights working, do you have spare bulbs
- Air – check your tyre pressures and condition (min 3mm tread)
- Vision – clear ALL the windows and mirrors, check the condition of your wipers (front and back)
- Economy – plan your journey, take only what you need
In addition in severe weather take additional supplies, warm clothing, a warm drink, blanket, torch and perhaps shovel. Plan your trip to avoid potential trouble spots e.g. exposed roads across hills or open plains, steep hills. Have a fully charged mobile phone with you (but switched off until you have stopped of course!).
Welcome to Go Driving
 Go Driving Lessons |
At Go Driving we aim to provide you with the highest standard of instruction. This enables you to get to test as quickly as possible, whilst maintaining a very high level of driving for the rest of your life.Quick links: |
| If this is your first experience of learning to drive, talk to others who are learning and compare how lessons are structured, the level of talk-through and the type of diagrams used. If you’ve taken lessons before, you will have noticed the difference in instruction on your first lesson with Go Driving. | |
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Tags: Driving Standards Agency announces changes to test fees
The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has confirmed its new test fee structure for 2009/10 following a public consultation in October last year.
The fee increases will apply to theory and practical driving tests booked on or after 30 March 2009. Fees relating to the Approved Driving Instructor scheme will increase from 24 April.
General fee increases include;
| Current fee | New fee | |
| Car theory test | £30.00 | £31.00 |
| Car practical test | £56.50 | £62.00 |
| Motorcycle theory test | £30.00 | £31.00 |
| Motorcycle practical test * | £80.00 | £90.50 |
* (in October 2009)
DSA Chief Executive, Rosemary Thew, thanked the public for participating in the public consultation, and said: “We are doing everything we can to ensure that fees remain as low as possible for our customers – particularly during the current economic climate.
“Despite this, increases are necessary to cover general running costs, development work and increases in inflation.
“The Agency is largely self-funding. We receive only a small amount from general taxation and have to recover most of our costs through test fees.
“We are confident that these increases will enable us to maintain our high standards and provide a first class service to all our customers.”
