How Many Driving Lessons Will You Need?

So how many lessons WILL you need?

There is a rule of thumb that on average a learner will need one and a half hours of tuition for every year of his or her age. This may work for you, but if you're not "average", you might learn faster or slower than this. In reality, the number of lessons you will need will depend on five factors:

1, The qualities of your driving instructor ....An instructor who develops a good rapport with you, and finds the most effective way for you to learn, will help you reach the appropriate standard of driving quicker than an instructor who does not.

2, Your age ....Although one's interest in learning may actually increase with age, unfortunately one's ability to absorb a new skill probably tends to decrease. However driving is a skill that can in time be acquired by just about everyone, whatever their age.

3, Your natural aptitude for driving ....The skills needed for driving are inherent in our make-up to a greater or lesser extent, just as some people are "better" than others at, for example, crossword puzzles, languages or sport. It might take you longer to learn to drive than your friends or relatives, but this is nothing to be ashamed of. Indeed, the more time you have to gain driving experience with a good instructor, the better a driver you will probably be.

4, Your previous experience of being driven and/or of driving ....Even if you have never driven before, it is likely that you have been in a car driven by somebody else. The way that person drove may have a significant influence on the way you drive, as humans learn naturally just by observing someone else's actions. You may have watched a "good" performance which may help you make rapid progress with your lessons; or you might have watched a "poor" performance, which may involve your instructor in spending more time guiding you towards a better way!If you have previous experience, either of driving a car on private land, or better still, of riding a moped on the road, this may well reduce the number of lessons you will need.

5, Any other driving you will be doing outside your driving lessons ....In general, the more experience of driving you get, the quicker you will learn. So if you have the opportunity to drive legally with relatives or friends, take it. You should note however, that if you have never driven before, it is best to delay any extra driving until you have sufficient skills to control a car with minimal assistance, and have enough knowledge and judgement to get around safely.

If your supervisor is more nervous than you are, has no clear idea about how to provide guidance, and has no dual controls to rescue you with, you will realise the pitfalls of this extra experience.

Extra driving sessions normally work best if you can be accompanied by someone who is relaxed enough to let you get on with your driving, with minimal "assistance" unless you require it. For this to work, YOU need to have a clear idea about what you should be doing, and hopefully you will be getting this from your official lessons.If you would like more information please visit 1st Call Driving Schools main site

5 Driving lessons for £75

1st Call Driving Schools are driving down the cost of learning to drive with an exiting new offer.
'5 for £75' will be our main winter special and equates to just £15 per hour. That's up to £10 PER HOUR cheaper than other national driving schools and could save you £100's over a course of lessons. This offer coupled with our reputation for getting people through in less than 30 hours start to finish means you no longer need to brake the bank to learn this essential skill.

The offer will be starting soon so please keep checking the 1st Call Driving Schools main website.

Top 10 driving bad habits

I found this information on http://money.cnn.com

Survey: Between the pushy and the clueless, it's the mobile phoners that annoy drivers the most.
May 4, 2006: 12:27 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Drivers who leave their turn signals on for miles? That's nothing ... it's those juggling their cell phones that irritate their brethren the most, according to a recent insurance company survey.
The list of the top ten most annoying driving habits describes, essentially, two types of annoying driver. The checked-out driver and the overly aggressive driver.
The two things that most annoyed drivers, according to the survey, were "distracted drivers talking on cell phones," followed by "slow drivers in the fast lane."
The annoyances that ranked third through seventh in the survey all relate to aggressive driving habits. They are, in order of rank: tailgating, weaving through traffic to gain one or two car lengths, speeding up to prevent other drivers from changing lanes, changing lanes without signaling, and "road rage."
Motorcyclists made the list at number eight with the annoying habit of driving between lanes. Women applying makeup or men shaving in the car ranked ninth.
The survey was conducted by Hagerty Insurance, a company that insures collectible cars. Web users at various automobile-related Websites were invited to respond to the survey. Results were compiled from about 10,000 responses, according to Hagerty.

Most annoying driving habits:
1. Distracted drivers talking on cell phones (28.5 percent)
2. Slow drivers in the fast lane (21.6 percent)
3. Pushy drivers who tailgate (18.1 percent)
4. Drivers who weave through traffic to gain one or two car lengths (12.5 percent)
5. Obnoxious drivers who speed up to keep you from changing lanes (5.5 percent)
6. Hasty drivers who change lanes without signaling (4.9 percent)
7. Road Rage (2.7 percent)
8. Motorcyclists who race down the middle of a lane, between cars (2.1 percent)
9. Women applying makeup and men shaving (1.7 percent)
10. Drivers who leave their turn signal on for miles (0.92 percent)
Source: Hagerty Insurance

If you are guilty of any of the above then we have the ideal course for you. Our keep it safe course is aimed at qualified drivers who just need some help some aspect of driving.

Visit www.1st-call.co.uk for more information.

Mark passed ADI part 3 exam

Mark Rigby from Skelmersdale, Lancashire passed his final qualification exam to become an Approved Driving Instructor (car). Mark began his instructor training with 1st Call Driving School in late 2006 and has trained in his spare time. Mark will be leaving his current job to work with 1st Call Driving Schools in Skelmersdale.

Mark becomes the 3rd instructor in 2 weeks to qualify with 1st Call. If you would like more information about the 1st Call Driving Instructor Training Program please drop us a line.

Congratulations Mark

From the 1st Call Team