Intensive Driving Course

When you sign up to my Intensive Driving Course in Peterborough or Grantham you are going to receive a complete package of benefits that include:

Access to 2 x Official DSA approved Theory Test Study DVD's

A guarantee that you will pay no more money for training - even if you were to fail the driving test, you receive more training for free

Access to a Pre-Course Driving Video Library that maximises your learning experience

A minimum of 38 hours of driving experience - not in classrooms or sitting at the side of the road talking

2 hours for the Driving Test

1:1 Driving Instruction from a DSA registered Driving Instructor for just £18/hr

Free and unlimited use of recording your progress on video

A Drivers Pack to help record important personal learning points, record your progress and privately reflect on your driving sessions

Over 25's receive an automatic discount on the course fee (apply via my website)


It is a risk-free way of obtaining your Driving Licence because it guarantees you training until you pass the driving test.  View the testimonials on my Facebook page, Twitter and my website to see that this really has worked for many people... and you are paying for a service with proven results.

Take the first step to obtaining your driving licence and book up your course TODAY! 

www.BIGTOM.org.uk

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Drivers

Driving Lessons in Bourne

1.   Drive to the conditions

This is demonstrating the ability to be able to recognise by the use of your senses, the need for a different driving action, and then use your brain to decide how that needs to be done.  For example, do use your ears to hear the engine, do use your eyes to spot hazards, do use the feeling in your hands and feet and the important bit is to USE that information that you’ve collected, to analyse in your brain what you then need to do, to adapt your driving actions to suit those conditions.  Examples: sensing you are on a gradient ..... setting the clutch position slightly differently to prevent a backwards roll, spotting a very tight bend or junction..... setting a slower speed and lower gear, hearing a motorbike in the distance approaching before doing a turn in the road.... deciding when is the right time to start the manoeuvre, recognising when there are more or less potential hazards.... setting the speed accordingly, feeling through the steering wheel that there is a strong cross wind buffering the car ..... check mirrors, set speed and position accordingly.

               

2.  Make well timed observations and act on them

Recognising when observations are needed, how thorough they need to be, and the timing of them is an important skill in safe driving.  However, demonstrating that you are then able to use the information gained by doing the observations will impress any Driving Examiner observing your driving.

3.  Talk while you drive

The fact is that once you pass your driving test you will be having lots of passengers enjoying the pleasures of your new life skill, and they wont be sitting in the car in silence!  Make a point of practising with friends and family on your driving lessons, get used to holding a conversation WHILE you are driving safely – and being able to do this effectively on your driving test sends a clear message to the Examiner.

4.  Expect the unexpected

A good driver is a thinking driver, and unless you plan on relying on some kind of mystical 6^th sense, the only way to effectively accommodate all the weird and wonderful things that can and do happen when driving, is to be anticipating the “what if’s”.  This is the difference between being a reactive driver versus a proactive driver – responding to incidents after they have occurred, or before.

5.  “Train hard.... fight easy”

One of THE most commonly asked questions to Driving Instructors is “How long do you think it will take me to get to test?”.  Some are directed to the Driving Standards Agency website who provide guidance from their research on the average number of hours taken.  The fact is though, it very much depends on any individuals needs and learning preferences, and how thorough the training is.  For instance, you could do the minimum amount of hours possible,  driving the test routes with a view to just being good enough to pass the driving test.  Alternatively, you could practise driving in a whole variety of different towns, villages, cities, on different types of roads, in different weather conditions, in different cars, with different people, in daytime, night time, in the rush hour etc.  The standard achieved on the driving test, as observed by the Examiner will in all likelihood directly reflect the amount of practise you have put in, and the Examiner will be able to recognise that almost instantly.

6.  Have fun when learning

Whether it be practising with friends/family or whilst on driving lessons with your Driving Instructor, make sure you enjoy your time together.  Learning to drive is a challenge, and for some people, they do need to confront their fears or anxieties but it still doesn’t mean that it can’t be enjoyable.  Desperately gripping hold of the steering wheel, with your heart pounding, a cracking headache and hands sweating.....dreading every minute of driving, is no way to learn how to drive, and it really does not have to be that way.  You are more likely to learn more effectively if you enjoy the learning process – so ensuring that things are done in the way you like is an absolute must.

7.  Forward planning

If you were about to ski down a mountain, I guarantee you would make sure that you planned in advance your intended path, how you intend to negotiate your way safely down, and that skill of forward planning is just as important with driving.  Whether it be agreeing with other road users on priority, feeding neatly on to roundabouts or dual carriageways, negotiating safe overtakes, or driving efficiently round town – a Driving Examiner will instantly spot someone who is in the habit of forward planning.   

www.BIGTOM.org.uk

Driving Test www.BIGTOM.org.uk

Driving Lessons in Bourne

Quite naturally, many people who are learning to drive have many questions about the driving test itself.  It’s that feeling of the unknown that creates anxiety.  I’ve found that there are a variety of things that can be done in an attempt to allay the fears, here are a few:

Do mock tests (including with another Driving Instructor you do not know)

Do an assessment drive on an unfamiliar route

Raise the awareness of how the test is marked – what would be acceptable and what would not

Get down to the Test Centre to familiarise yourself with the layout

Appreciate what standard of driving is needed to pass the driving test

Always apply the key principles of safe driving even when practising with friends/family

Understand how the theory knowledge and the practical skills need to be constantly applied

Take ownership of identifying your own driving ability

Train yourself to perform higher driving techniques such as commentary driving

Constantly visualise good driving habits

Reflect on your learning as you go along and feedback to your Instructor your thoughts/feelings

How many of these (if any) you would want to embrace whilst you learn to drive is a matter for you.  I have pretty definite ideas about the value of them, and how they contribute towards increasing ability, confidence, communication and decreasing fear and nerves on test day.  Ultimately, it is a matter for you.

I have recently added two videos to my driving YouTube channel “2010BIGTOM” giving answers to very commonly asked questions about the driving test.  I hope it helps..... you can get access to it via my website

www.BIGTOM.org.uk

Best of luck!    tom 

Driving Lessons in ............

Driving Lessons in Bourne

One of the frustrations when we learn to drive, is that we sometimes appear to be getting worse rather than better.  This can be a very unsettling feeling, it can knock confidence and reduce motivation, not to mention the fact that you begin to feel like you are wasting your hard earned money and your time.  Take some comfort from the fact that this is not a problem only with driving lessons, this perception of lack of progression is felt by keen sports people, academics, and can even affect us in our work life.

Focussing on learning to drive though, there can be many reasons why this occur, and I expand on some of them in my video here.  In this blog, I want to solely look at where you train because this is a crucial point.

The first thing to say is for most people, but not all, they want to ultimately be able to drive anywhere in the UK, and possibly even abroad some day.  So it stands to reason, that if you are potentially going to be driving on roads in other cities, towns, villages across the UK, the more variety when you are training, the better.   

Let’s just consider one example to emphasise this point.  Let’s say you live in a small town about 20 minutes drive from any major town/city.  You could take the approach that you will learn to drive in your local town, “Hey... it has public roads – so if I can drive on them, I can drive anywhere.... right?”   Wrong!  There simply will not be the variety of driving conditions in your small town that comes even close to what you can reasonably expect to encounter if you were to drive any significant journey.  Dual carriageways, motorways, spiral roundabouts, yellow box junctions, single track roads, level crossings, multi-storey car parks, parallel parking on the right side of the road, equestrian crossings, are all examples of things that may only crop up in certain areas that you train.  So if you are keen to prepare for being able to drive independently, anywhere, then you would do well not to ignore this point.

Where you train, where you do your test and where you subsequently intend to drive are all very relevant to this subject.  Training in different places, encountering new situations, and negotiating around a variety of road layout, traffic signage, volume of traffic, will inevitably be challenging.  There may well be occasions when you think you are not progressing, but in fact, you are continuing to learn.  The experience of dealing with these unfamiliar driving conditions is critical in developing your skills to drive safely for the rest of your life.

In summary, although driving in unusual areas brings about a challenge that can be quite demanding, do not lose sight of what you are actually achieving.  Any perceived lack of progress on your part, will be rewarded in bucket loads by the experiences you are receiving along the way.  This will make the driving test look like a ‘walk in the park’ but more importantly, it will be significantly preparing you for the attitudes and ability for safe driving after passing your driving test.       

www.BIGTOM.org.uk

Licence To Kill

Driving Lessons in Bourne

I put up on my Facebook page notice of a programme being shown about road safety.  It was shown last night – ‘A Licence To Kill’ on BBC3 (will still be available on iPlayer).  A young lass who was paralysed after losing control of her car while with a bunch of mates, tells her story of how she would like things to change.

It struck a chord with me, as I was told of an incredibly similar event whilst on a driving lesson in Bourne very recently.  A lass suffered severe injuries when her friend lost control of the car at speed.  There was also a similar theme to the programme last night.  Often the collisions were on rural roads, often the driver was with others at the time (either in the car, or another car nearby), and without exception, they all involved excessive speed for the driving conditions.

Are the drivers allowing themselves to be distracted too easily, are the friends distracting the driver, are the drivers not being taught well enough, is the test standard high enough, should there be more testing, should driving safety education start in the schools, are the drivers trying to impress with the high speed, do they not apply safe driving techniques once the pass certificate has been obtained, are driving instructors not teaching to a high enough standard, is there a need for a more extensive driving syllabus when learning.  So many questions, it is a massive subject.

Part of the problem as I see it though, is the issue of awareness.  I’m passionate about road safety, so on my driving Facebook page I put up a link about a programme that could not be more relevant to people learning to drive right now.  How many saw my post about it on Facebook – the answer to that appears to be 11.  How many of those 11 were actual Learners – impossible to identify, I suspect probably less than 5.  Did it spark anyone to watch the programme – no idea, the post was not ‘liked’, there has been no comment made of it.  How many Learners will read this blog and go and watch the programme – time will tell, I rather suspect zero.  And this, in a nutshell, is the problem – engagement, or lack of engagement. 

Since I’ve been a Driving Instructor I have offered people who learn with me, free ‘refresher’ training on the anniversary of their test pass – not one has ever taken that up.  Very few take advantage of the free motorway session I provide after they have passed.  How many are watching the driving videos on my YouTube channel – I’ve had just 11,000 views in 3 years... pitifully low compared to videos on gaming, music and the like. 

People like the presenter last night will soon recognise (if she hasn’t already), that until the people who you are intending to engage with, actually hear/watch what you are saying, then exactly how much are you going to achieve?  So until we make it compulsory by adding it to our school syllabus, the testing frequency/standard will have to be raised.

www.BIGTOM.org.uk

Passing the Driving Test but then, not driving...

Driving Lessons in Bourne.

You've taken your driving lessons, you've passed your test, but then you realise that you simply can't afford to drive.  Might be the cost of the car, cost to maintain it, tax it, insure it, cost of petrol even.  So you then just sit back and don't drive.... waiting for a time when you can afford it.  If this sounds familiar to you, then you appear to be not alone.

I've recently heard of two such cases, where people who learnt to drive with me have not driven since the driving test - for one of them, it's now been over 2 years.  It's sad to hear this; for most, it is quite some achievement to pass the driving test, and once you've done that hard work, it seems only right you experience the benefits.  

In terms of insurance, it certainly wont do you any harm to be able to say you have had your driving licence for 2 or 3 years, but that is not the same as saying you have 2-3 years of accident free driving experience.  But my concern would be the practicalities of getting behind the wheel again, having had such a long gap from when you passed your driving test.  

I'm very happy to offer free 'refresher' training to the people who learnt and passed with me, as a token of thanks for their business, but I would urge any others to not ignore this potential problem.  If you were to start driving after a lengthy gap, and were unfortunate enough to get into an accident, then your insurance premiums are very likely to rocket anyway - so putting the risk of injury to you or others aside, it would be sensible just from a financial point of view to get yourself some refresher training.

www.BIGTOM.org.uk

Driving in Bourne - BIG TOM Driving School 07894 262 718

Driving Lessons in Bourne.

I like my Learners who take driving lessons in Bourne to experience the different types of surrounding roads.  One of the challenges for people who live and drive in more rural areas is appreciating the hazards that are around them when they are driving on what appear to be quite basic, simple roads.

It is a fact, that statistically, serious injuries and fatalities occur on these rural roads in higher frequency than on town (urban) roads.  This is quite a surprising fact when you consider the differences in volumes of traffic between the two types of road.  One way I describe this is to say that when it does go wrong on a rural road, it really goes wrong.  Often the roads are quieter, sometimes straight and long, and as such the average speeds travelled on them tend to be higher.  Look how often when you are on a single carraigeway rural road, the national speed limit of 60mph is in force.  Because of the way the road looks, many drivers look upon that speed as a target speed as a minimum, some even regularly drive over that speed. 

So average speed is certainly one factor that makes these rural roads hazardous, and the other factor is how unforgiving they are.  By that I mean, they often have quite unique characteristics that when combined with the speed issue, really does raise the potential for problems.  Some of these characteristics include, no street lighting, very sharp bends, no 'escape routes', no footpaths for pedestrians, unstable road surfaces, long straight roads inviting overtakes, blind junctions, lack of vision due to hedges/trees and there are more.

Just to illustrate this point, I made a video of one of these roads, inviting my Learners in Bourne to think about what hazards they saw on the Spalding Road, between Bourne and Spalding.  When the video starts, have a look at the road and conditions, see how it looks on first appearances as a calm, hazard free road.  As it goes on, have a go at listing any potential hazards you can spot (there are a list I've added on the text underneath for you to compare).

Then..... freeze the video at precisely 2mins 22secs.  What do you see on the road surface?  No better real example of the hazards these rural roads bring with them.

So my message really is, no matter how 'easy' a road looks to drive on, it's important to stay switched on, thinking about the potential hazards around you.

www.BIGTOM.org.uk    Tel: 07894 262 718