It’s Anna, you taught me to drive about 3/4 years ago now

I wanted to say hi, and see how you were doing. My hot-mail account has been redundant for a while now, and I lost your mobile number in various phone changes, and while I remember this account is my University email and I’ll lose it when I finish Uni in a couple of months.

I just wanted to let you know how brilliant your lessons were. All my family and friends think I’m a fantastic driver – my friends parents likehow I drive- I’ve even been asked to take their younger kids somewherebecause they like how safe I am.

But that’s not why I’m emailing – just before Christmas I was in a car crash on the A34 Dual Carriage way, heading out of Newbury to go home (wemoved to Scotland last year). Half hour into an 8 hour trip we were in near stationary traffic, my Dad (with his parents) were in the car infront of me, and I noticed he had pulled over, almost totally off the left laneonto the verge. I had my music on, and as I looked up to notice my Dad hadmoved, I heard someone’s tired scream as they locked and were trying to doan emergency stop.

My first thought at this point wasn’t “what on earth is that”, but of thenight you took me and your other students to the Fire-brigade evening in Newbury, where they talked about crashes, gave a demonstration of cutting someone out a crashed car and such. (How fast the mind works) I instantly knew I was going to get hit, because of what I had been taught that night, and moved my car to the left after my Dad. It wasn’t enough however, and while moving I looked over my right shoulder just in time to see the car come piling into me.

Luckily I had moved enough for the hit to be taken onto my entire right hand-side, instead of straight into the back of me. The car bounced off, missed my Dad and hit the car infront of him. The car stopped, and the poor girl was in shock, it was clearly an accident. Gladly no-one was hurt seriously, and my car was able to still drive to Scotland that day.

I wanted to let you know how brilliant your lesson were, not just for my practical everyday driving, but for the serious stuff too. I’m convinced that evening you insist your students go to was the reasons my brain knew what was going to happen, and why I reacted the way I did. If I hadn’t the full force of the crash would have been on the back of my car, and there’s no doubt I would have gone to hospital and my car would have been a write-off. So this is a HUGE thank you for all you taught me, you are a fantastic instructor, and to let you know I still recommend to you absolutely everyone!

Thank you very much Hope you are well,

Anna Noddle.

You might think that self discipline and attitude are very similar. You have to have good attitude but you also have to have self discipline to drive a vehicle correctly at all times. Picture you’re late for school, are you going to still drive correctly, safely and legally or might you bend the regulations. Self discipline will inspire you to drive correctly constantly.

A handful of drivers that drive a large number of miles annually, much more than the national average, believe, at times incorrectly, they are very good motorists. Individuals who see themselves to be professional drivers; chauffeurs, van drivers, driving instructors and taxi drivers from time to time wrongly think as they are “professional” drivers that they have to be by some means greater than everybody else on the road. At times the opposite applies. Lots of individuals who drive around everyday in particular those people who travel long boring routes along motorways typically use the vehicles as the office. Making calls without hands free, tweeting, fiddling with their satellite navigation and even writing notes.

Therefore the very next time that you’re driving a car about the roads seek to look at self discipline. Peter Skelton Driving School provide driving instructors and lessons in Newbury and the surrounding areas.

If we mention knowledge we’ve been talking about the highway code. People taking lessons and those who passed their test within the past couple of years may have a very good understanding of the highway code. Most notably as the highway code is part within the theory test. Nevertheless consider those that have gained their driving license a very long time ago. Besides the fact that the highway code updates every once in a while but in addition can you remember all you learned many years ago? Do you own an existing version of the highway code? If you don’t have one go out and order one today.

So how little or how much of the Highway Code you could remember.

• What’s the difference between a circular sign and a triangular one?
• Which are the four colours used on the motorway studs and what do all the different colours mean?
• How should a motorist react should they see anything hazardous fall from a truck or indeed their own lorry?
• How must you re-join the motorway after your vehicle has broken down and eventually been repaired?

Try asking your instructor regarding every issue concerning the highway code. Lessons with an instructor are not simply about passing your driving test but also about your comprehension of the regulations of driving. So don’t be afraid to ask any questions regarding the rules of driving.

Peter Skelton provides a driving school in Newbury and the surrounding areas.

Anybody can successfully pass a driving test. It is possible to turn it on so that the examiner thinks you are good. Interestingly are you going to drive a vehicle intelligently when there is no one right next to you indicating what to do while driving around the roads by yourself? Will you carry on doing everything that the driving instructor taught you for example “Prepare, Observe, Move”?

It is regrettable that the examiner or your driving instructor won’t be able to measure a student’s attitude. I would love to possess a machine that could analyze the individuals who may become “fast drivers” after they successfully pass. The fact is that the pupils who find it easy to pass their driving test are the type that happen to be more prone to get involved in a car accident. They think
that they are better than other individuals because they passed their test on the first attempt with very few lessons compared to what the majority of pupils have. Those motorists are more likely to speed, take risks and take chances.

As an instructor you frequently find out about old pupils that have chose to drive improperly as soon as they passed. I can guarantee that every one of these former students will at some point in time, crash. More over they will invariably have an explanation for the accident; it was another driver’s fault, there was oil on the street or that kid ran straight in front of my car. Yes periodically things are all beyond our control and even the most perfect driver on earth may have some incidents. Nevertheless, you boost your odds of any sort of accident by being without the proper attitude.

When you’re driving around the roads just don’t forget that it requires a great deal of experience before you can say that you might be a excellent driver. It will not take place instantly. Even if you might have passed the driving test don’t think that you can drive like Jenson Button.

Peter Skelton Driving School has driving instructors in Newbury and the surrounding areas who can teach you the right attitude to become a safe driver.

One method to put much less wear and tear on the car is the capacity to gear change efficiently and competently. It’s going to produce a significantly smoother journey.

Even while stopping, accelerating and going around corners you’ll certainly not choose your fellow passengers to be thrown all around the car and in actual fact you would desire them to like the ride. Maybe this is okay to do when you are first take driving lessons while you are still getting the hang of the skills necessary to drive a motor car. Having said that, as soon as you’re about to take your test everything needs to be smooth.

Imagine you are a chauffeur driving royalty in your vehicle. Picture how they wish to be driven around. Try practicing stopping and make an effort to do it so you can barely feel the car jerking. Then seek to carry out the same thing while cornering. Take into consideration the position of your vehicle on the road while you enter the corner plus the speed of the motor vehicle. Which doesn’t necessarily mean that you must take every single bend or corner under 5 miles per hour. Exactly what it does suggest is basically that you get the balance right. It is only practical after you get to grips with all the controls. Many of us have seen vehicles that have been in an accident. It is very seldom the cars mistake. Generally it’s the driver who is to blame for not acquiring the required skills to drive correctly.

Most of these skills are difficult to get and will not come about immediately. It could take a person several years to find them. Regretably for some people they will never get them.

Peter Skelton Driving School provide fully qualified driving instructors in Newbury and the surrounding areas.

Anticipation is the capability to understand and be aware of the problems which are transpiring around you. Consequently this will produce more alert driving, which can be another significant quality in any new motorist. Suppose you drove along with your eyes covered, could you have the ability to anticipate other cars? “No”, could be the response that comes back to you. This goes someway to show that if you only look as far as the end of your car, you’ll not be prepared to anticipate the potential risks you meet. To be able to see the dangers coming up it is imperative to change the places you look rather than to be concentrating on the tarmac or the number plate of the car in front of you. By using this method you can be more likely to have the skills to anticipate what exactly can happen ahead of you and so allow you to start to react a tiny bit sooner than other vehicles.

Defensive driving is the capability to predict what may take place and subsequently drive more cautiously. You’ll develop into a smoother motorist by reacting to hazards much sooner, sometimes 1 mile or more ahead and thus won’t have the need for emergency stops. Over many years of driving you will see lots of clues as to what might happen; children playing football on a pavement, what do you think is possibly going to happen next? A workman behind a car or van. An ice cream van parked at the side of the road. A cat on a pavement. The truth is there are many potential indicators that it would be extremely hard to collate them all in this article. It has been said that experienced road users react 2 seconds earlier than inexperienced car drivers. That’s because with many years of experience a driver can generally anticipate what may happen next, you may notice these indicators and subsequently you may already start to ease of the accelerator in expectation of the likely hazard.

Take into consideration a novice motorist who is coming to a crossing. On the edge of the pavement is a youngster talking on his mobile, only a few steps from the crossing. So what should be going through the drivers mind? Well the driver should really anticipate that the young lad will step on the crossing without paying attention. Consequently the driver will need to have started to ease of the gas in plenty of time so that if ever the young lad does step onto the crossing we are able to stop effortlessly without resorting to harsh breaking. If the young lad walks past and does not step onto the crossing then no harm done. At the very least you have stopped a possible collision by anticipating.

When you take driving lessons with Peter Skelton Driving School, your instructor will work on these skills to ensure that you become a safe and competent driver for life.

• Self Discipline
• Concentration
• Knowledge
• Anticipation
• Attitude
• Skill

So let’s examine these factors and let’s choose one randomly. We will choose concentration.

Concentration

Concentration isn’t being preoccupied from any task that you have performed, in this example, driving a vehicle. Most people who begin learning to drive a car are in the under 19 year old range. Most of them will likely be undertaking “A” levels. As a result if you’re focused on your exams that are coming up instead of your driving you are prone to make more driving errors You may be planning what you’ll wear to a birthday party or whether or not your school tennis team could win the league this year. It’s ok to think of these things, however, not while you are driving a vehicle.

You may be a home owner who has got living expenses to pay or possibly a supervisor who puts demands on you to accomplish results. Put all of these out of your mind whilst you are driving. A delivery driver is perhaps concerned about whether or not Southampton will win the league next season. Just as before don’t consider that while you are motoring.

It only takes a second for an crash to come about. Precisely how would you really feel if you happen to hit a small child. It is possible to argue that the person should not have been there, nonetheless you could still stop the collision with very good concentration. Try giving your own running commentary whilst you’re motoring. If carrying other passengers in your car, they then can say anything you could have missed.

You could feel a tad ridiculous commentary driving however you will identify that you will start noticing a lot more than you had previously. By concentrating then collisions are less likely to happen.

Peter Skelton Driving School provide driving lessons in Newbury and the surrounding areas.

In one case one man was jailed for seven years after he helped 700 motorists to avoid penalty points. The man forms part of a gang who help motorists from receiving penalty points. Around five gangs have been investigated in the last two years. The police are prosecuting the driver and the accomplice.

The crime seems to be on the increase. Police have warned people that they face going to prison rather than paying a £60 fine and incurring 3 penalty points on their licence. When a car is caught on camera either going through a red light or speeding, a letter is sent to the registered keeper asking them who was driving the vehicle at the time. The owner either lies themselves by putting someone else down as the driver or the forms passed are passed onto criminal gangs for a fee who use fictitious names and addresses.

The gangs are also fully aware that the police have only 6 months in which to take action and hence the gangs use stalling techniques. The other problem facing the police is a lack of man power to investigate every case.

One taxi driver, who had been caught himself for speeding, was told by a friend how to avoid the points. The taxi driver then began doing this for others and over a 6 year period had helped over 150 people avoid penalties at a charge of £200 per person. He was eventually caught by the police and sent to jail for 16 months. The taxi driver has says he still gets phone calls asking him to help them out with speeding tickets for which he now refuses to do.

Along with a new database and front facing cameras these crimes will be much harder to commit.So bear in mind that when you’re driving around the streets of Newbury that speeding can not only carry severe penalties it can endanger lives.

The camera is in effect an eye witness and will show why any accidents have happened. The system is very reliable and will go a long way to find out who was at fault for any accidents that may occur. That in turn will make it easier for any compensation, police investigations and losses on insurance.

The other benefit to having the camera installed is that it will help to know if the car has been stolen and will help to catch the thief and take appropriate court action.

One question raised is whether the camera can record a break in. In other words will it record even when the engine is off. If it can record with the engine off again it will help put someone behind bars and help find out what has been stolen.

The cameras cost around £320. When you consider the large cost of insurance, the cost of the camera only adds to the hefty costs. The cost of the camera does also include a high viz jacket, a warning triangle and a hazard warning light. These extras are something that all drivers should have but very few do. There would also be a cost to install the high definition camera in your car and is designed not to be obstructive to the driver.

The camera should be seen as an investment. Once it is fitted in the car it will stay there for the duration of the ownership of the car. Therefore over the course of ownership the £320 will become a small annual cost. Add to that the saving on car insurance, the camera will become a great money saver.

Under the plans announced by the Road Safety Minister, Mike Penning, it will be become possible for learners to undergo motorway training if accompanied by a qualified driving instructor.

The minister gave as an example his own daughter who within minutes of passing her driving test could have driven straight onto the motorway if she desired.

The change in the law will not be compulsory due to the fact that some learners live in remote areas and will find it impractical to drive to a motorway for training.

According to the Department for Transport 82 drivers aged under 21 were killed in motorway crashes between in the last four years.

Concerns are expressed that we are teaching youngsters how to pass a driving test and not really preparing them for a lifetime spent behind a wheel.

Mike Penning is responsible for banning the publishing of test routes and answers to theory questions. Pupils are now being asked to think more for themselves.

In a further change the Minister wants to ban trainee instructors from giving tuition to learners unless they themselves are being supervised. Many pupils have no idea that their instructor may in fact be a trainee.

Mr Penning said he wanted to stop trainees from teaching learners until they are fully qualified. Many of those trainees never make the grade and never become qualified and yet we entrust them to teach learner drivers.

The new initiatives have been welcomed. However it will be interesting to see the details of how this will come into effect. Many learners express the fact that the thought of driving on the motorway scares them and that instruction from a fully qualified instructor would help.

The plans have also been endorsed by the Institute of Advanced Motorists who believe that motorway tuition is essential.

Motorways are in fact our safest roads. However without proper training and supervision they can be lethal.