Fact or Fiction ?

There have always been certain presumptions made about the process of learning to drive and the rules of the road.

Lets take a look at some of those myths and see if they really are fact or fiction!

Statement 1

"My friend only needed 15 hours of driving lessons so I will only need 15 hours of driving lessons also."

Answer: There are a number of core subjects to learn when you are undertaking your driving lessons.

It is a well known researched fact that a complete beginner will need to undertake a minimum of around 45 hours of driving lessons with a driving instructor excluding any private practice to be at a standard whereby they would have a good chance of passing the U.K. driving test.

Even if you had completed all of the core driving subjects within 15 hours you would not be ready to drive independently without the help and guidance of your instructor, let alone be ready to undertake a practice driving test or be proficient with your manoeuvres.

If you had learnt to drive with a family member e.g. you had completed 45 hours of driving on the open road and mastered all types of road junctions it is possible that with 15 hours of driving test preparation with a driving instructor you may reach the required driving test standard.

So the friend who only had 15 hours probably failed to mentioned he or she had already undertaken many hours of previous open road driving experiences before undertaking their 15 hours of driving lessons.

We always recommend that any extra practice with a family member is undertaken when you are at test standard not as a substitute for the initial instructor guidance.

Statement 2

"If I book an early morning driving test I will have more chance of passing my test as I will be stuck in traffic and do less driving."

Answer: Early morning driving test routes are designed to allow for possible traffic delays so you will be aiming to drive on certain roads that don't have a reduced traffic flow.

If you do get stuck in traffic this means that you may end up getting back to the driving test centre later it does not mean that you will necessarily have reduced drive time.

Driving in traffic is also stressful as there are more hazards around so more chance of you making driver errors!

Statement 3

"If I get caught speeding on my driving lessons I won't get any points as I am still a learner driver and don't have a licence yet."

Answer: To learn to drive you have to have a provisional driving licence. This is issued to you by the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency).

If you speed on your driving lessons and trigger a speed camera to flash you may end up with points and a fine just the same as a full licence holder.

Yes you can obtain points on your provisional driving licence which can also be transferred to your full driving licence!

Statement 4

"If I take my driving test in the outer reaches of Scotland the pass rate is higher so therefore I will have more chance of passing my driving test."

Answer: Regardless of where you take your driving test if you are not familiar with the surrounding roads you have less chance of passing your driving test.

If you live in Manchester and travel with your instructor to the outer reaches of Scotland that would involve a full day of travelling. The cost alone would run into a few hundred pounds.

It would be a better investment to undertake more driving lessons locally than spend that money on travel time to an unknown test centre where you had no previous knowledge of the surrounding roads.

Statement 5

"If I check my mirrors all the time I won’t fail my driving test for missing mirror checks."

Answer: You are suppose to check your mirrors as and when you need to. If you just randomly check your mirrors repetitively with out any reason for doing so you are not actually training yourself to check your mirrors when you actually need to.

A driving examiner is trained to tell when someone is over exaggerating their mirror checks and knows when you should actually be checking your mirrors. It is safer to use your Mirrors correctly so that you are aware of what is going on around you before you change speed or direction.

Statement 6

"I am ok to drive a car with alcohol in my system as long as I am not over the legal drink drive limit."

Answer: Any amount of alcohol in your system slows your reaction times.

If you have alcohol in your system and are still under the legal drink driving limit it is not safe for you to be undertaking any driving lessons or driving any motor vehicles. Drinking alcohol and driving vehicles don't go together.

It takes a person long enough to react in an emergency when they are free from the effects of alcohol let alone if you have alcohol in your system.

If you have lost your licence due to drink driving we offer a retraining course once you have completed your disqualification.

Statement 7

"Driving instructors make lots of money as they get paid around £25 an hour and deliver many hours of driving lessons each week."

Answer: Driving instructors normally invest between £3000 and £5000 to train up in the beginning.

They have a lot of overheads to pay for e.g. for their training vehicle / instructor insurance / licence fees / fuel costs / car maintenance and on top of that they need to pay for household bills.

Some driving instructors do not work more than 30 hours per week or only work part time.

If you were to ask a taxi driver to drive you around for an hour this would probably cost around £50 or more. You would not be driving the car just sitting looking out of the window.

Why then is £25 a lot of money to pay for a driving lesson when you are driving the vehicle for an hour and gaining a new skill?