Blog posts tagged ‘learners’

Last week, Mike Penning – the Road Safety Minister – announced at the Institute of Advanced Motorists’ annual launch, that learner drivers would be allowed on the motorway network if they were in dual controlled cars, and supervised by a driving instructor. 

Although motorway driving won’t be compulsory or included in the driving test, I believe this change is a very sensible move. It will encourage more drivers to take formal training in motorway driving.

As yet, no timescale has been announced other than that the law will be changed at some point next year (2012)

See this article in the Telegraph for more details.

I’m often asked by learners why they can’t do any lessons on motorways. After all, as soon as you pass your test you are entitled to drive on motorways straight away without having had any training on them. It sounds like a sensible question to me, and there is a lot for the powers that be to think about when reviewing policies that address this question.

Some of the arguments used by people against having learners on motorways are that learners don’t have the skill levels to drive at high speeds. Or maybe learners will hold up other traffic on the motorway causing frustration to other drivers; perhaps a learner will inadvertently hog the middle lane; and a driver can take a pass plus course or motorway lessons after they pass their test anyway – not many do though!

But currently learners are allowed to drive on dual carriageways where the national speed limit of 70mph for cars and motorcycles applies. The skills used when driving on such a road are pretty much identical to driving on a motorway – good awareness of traffic both in the distance and around you, smooth lane changes for overtaking, high speeds, using slip roads on and off the main carriageway. If you take your driving test at the King’s Heath Test Centre in Birmingham then there is a good chance that the A435 Hollywood bypass, near the Maypole roundabout, could be a part of your test route.

I would suggest the main difference that new drivers see between a motorway and a dual carriageway is a psychological one. This could be due to the lower volume of traffic, two lanes not three (not all motorways have three lanes however) and the lack of the name “motorway”.  Surely part of the psychological problem that some inexperienced drivers who have passed their test have with motorways, is the fact that they are built up to be something different and difficult to drive on. If that were not the case surely they could have gone on them as learners?  I believe that allowing learners (who are assessed to be ready and have the necessary skills by their instructors) onto the motorway network would actually help to improve the standard of driving on motorways as a whole. How often do we see drivers on motorways that seem to lack the skills required to change lanes, so they sit in the middle lane thereby reducing a perfectly adequate three lane road into a congested two lane road? Surely being taught how to drive on a motorway can only be a good thing in the long run?

So what can be done about this? In July the first of a series of meetings aimed at planning the future of the driver training industry was held. At this meeting was Mike Penning, the minister for road safety, three senior DSA officials and a number of others who are involved at a high level within the driver training industry. Among others, the subject of learners on motorways was raised. Some ideas such as allowing learners deemed competent by their instructor and accompanied only by their qualified instructor, not a parent or other supervising driver, onto motorways were proposed. The question of accessibility to motorways was raised. Some learners may live 80 plus miles from their nearest motorway (I did when I learnt to drive in Mid-Wales) should this be compulsory or voluntary for learners. If it was compulsory, it was discussed whether the use of high speed dual carriageways count as sufficient for the training record (again, where I learnt to drive the nearest high speed dual carriageway was 50 miles away).

There is clearly much to debate, but I am glad that the debate is finally taking place. After this series of meeting has been completed, the findings will be reported in an impact assessment document, and it will be down to Government Ministers to make the final decision on the way to proceed. I look forward to some progress being made in this important area, where there are currently deficiencies in the adequate training of drivers.

Most learners I teach don’t have the opportunity to drive other than when on driving lessons. But some do get the benefit of being able to practise in their own/parent’s/partner’s car. These lucky few are able to gain experience of different road traffic situations more quickly and are generally ready to take their test earlier than those who haven’t had extra practice.  Some instructors feel that learners tend to pick up bad habits from their family and friends supervising them, but as long as the practice is taken alongside regular professional driving lessons then I don’t believe that this is the case.

Adding a younger learner to a policy can be prohibitively expensive. There are cheaper options available such as short term policies, held by the learner themselves. One such policy is offered by a company called Marmalade Provisional, who have a tie in with Halfords. They offer policies from as little as £90 per month although this does vary with location. I have checked with them, and for a learner with a Selly Oak B29 postcode, the cost would be £99.50 for one month, or £187.00 for two months.

I believe that in the run up to a test this type of policy can really give a learner an extra boost to their learning experience, raise their confidence and increase their chances of passing the test first time.

Click here for more details…