Location Overview – Sunderland is a vibrant port city in the North of England and is the main admin centre within the County of Tyne and Wear in the county of Durham. The city is 10 miles from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on the mouth of the River Wear. Sunderland received city status in 1992. Like many cities, Sunderland comprises several areas with distinct histories, including Fulwell, Monkwearmouth, Roker, and Southwick to the north side of the Wear and Bishopwearmouth and Hendon to the south. Sunderland was on the shortlist of the world’s top seven “intelligent cities” for forward-thinking of information technology in 2004 and 2005. When the former heavy industries of shipbuilding and mining started to decline, new, modern industries were being developed, including electronic, chemical, paper and motor manufacture, and the area expanded hugely during the 1980s and 1990s. Washington has since become the UK’s largest car factory.
We offer bespoke driver training in Sunderland for businesses and private clients in cars and vans.
During our advanced/defensive training, we try and cover a wide range of things, including:
* Creating increased powers of anticipation and planning
* Being aware of speed limits and controlling your speed
* Improving a driver’s overall attitude to driving on UK roads
* Safer driving on motorways, rural roads and in town
* Educating drivers about the rules of the road
* A better understanding of the reasons for road rage
* Manoeuvres
* Driving in dangerous weather
* Risks linked to urban driving and being aware of at-risk road users
* Learning the difference between different skids
* Learning to drive in a more economical way
* How to anticipate the actions of other motorists
After training, you will be sent a full driving report so that you can see the standard of driving at the start and end of the training and see improvements made and in what areas. Each client’s unique driving report will provide some beneficial and insightful information. Each report is fully documented and has a unique verification number so anyone can check back for an original copy with us. This is sometimes useful if an employer has asked an employee to take driver training.
Key learning points of our driver training:
* Become a safer, more skilful driver
* Address any issues which could be impacting you as a driver
* Demonstrate your intention to become a safer, improved driver
* Finally, deal with and address issues which may have been holding you back
* Training is a little different for commercial clients – the end client, the person receiving the training, is often not the person who decides to do the training.
While we help the driver to improve, from a commercial perspective, your business will benefit from the following:
* Demonstrating your Duty of Care
* Potentially lower your fleet insurance costs
* Providing the opportunity for an employee to develop
* Showing you care
* Lowering fuel costs
The fastest, largest, and busiest road in Sunderland is the A19, a dual carriageway running north-to-south along the city’s west edge, crossing the River Wear at Hylton. This provides great access to the Tyne Tunnel, joining the A1 to Edinburgh. South through Teesside, it joins up with the A1M via the A168 at Thirsk, between Sunderland and the M1 motorway. The four main roads which support the city centre are the A690 Durham Road, which terminates in the city and runs to Crook via Durham. The A1231, or the Sunderland Highway, begins in the city and crosses the Queen Alexandra Bridge, running west through Washington to the A1. The A1018 and A183 roads start in the centre of South Shields and enter Sunderland from the north before merging to cross the Wearmouth Bridge. The A1018 follows directly from Shields to Sunderland, and the A183 follows the coast. We have provided driver training across the whole of Sunderland and the outlying towns such as Washington, Whitburn, Seaham and Houghton le Spring, and our courses are all door-to-door. We come to you using your vehicle for the course duration.
Half or Full Day?
The half-day is ideal for those with many drivers to train and want to take advantage of the time and cost savings associated with such. The full day is ideal for drivers who wish to experience an intensive advanced driving course and want to iron out any bad habits they may have.
We tend to find many clients opt for the full-day session – and book one driver for the morning session and one in the afternoon – there is no additional charge for this, and it works really well.
When we train drivers, we look at building the course around their specific needs. We initially let them drive for a short period. Then after a friendly debrief, we introduce several advanced driving techniques such as forward planning, car control, advanced observation, and much more.
The main part of the course is designed to improve the driver – and we find the best approach here is to work on their specific driving style and requirements and adjust the training to fit their needs.
Talk with us:
While we cover as many things as possible on this page, we understand you may still have questions. Please call or email us if you wish to discuss something specific. Our team will be pleased to help and advise you. We can help both private individuals and business clients.
If you’re looking at training many drivers, we can provide a quote and how we can best approach the training based on your business needs. Training larger numbers of fleet drivers may require a little extra planning, but with many years of experience managing large, often complex driver training involving multiple start locations and busy schedules, we can certainly help you to find the best training for your needs.
Road Safety Risks and Information – Sunderland
Sunderland is a very busy port city located in Tyne and Wear on the coast at the mouth of the River Wear. It is served by the A690, A1231, and A1018. All of these routes are heavily littered with crash sites, and care should be taken when driving across them.
The A690 leaves the A14 at the Herington Interchange and continues into the city centre via Durham Road, this route travels through a residential area and has many hot spots for accidents, such as the traffic lights at the meeting of Eden House Road and Queen Alexandra Road. These accidents often involve rear-end collisions due to sudden stops at the traffic lights. This route is also shared with public transport routes, cyclists, and pedestrians, leading to frequent near-miss incidents. There is also the possibility of cars leaving driveways onto the fast road, and this can result in needless accidents where better observations should have been applied. The A1018 travels into Sunderland via the Stockton Road and Commercial Road as it nears Sunderland centre, and this is another hazardous route, especially near the traffic lights at Lawrence Street and the Borough Road roundabout; these routes are more dangerous during rush hours, and care should be used at all times. Good observations and clear indications can make a difference between arriving safely or being involved in a needless accident.
Borough Road skirts the south of Sunderland centre, and although speed limits are low, the accidents found here can be very severe, suggesting that cyclists and pedestrians may have been involved. Driving in inner city areas can be frustrating, especially during rush hours and school run times; being calm and composed will always make a difference as often roads can be congested, and tempers will flare with some drivers trying to get to their destinations on time. Almost every road crossing or traffic light system has had accidents over the past few years. The traffic lights at the crossings of Toward Road and Frederick Street and further along at Holme Street are particularly hazardous. The traffic light system connecting Green Terrace and Chester Road, the A183, is a very hazardous intersection with much retail centre traffic towards the car parks at Bridges multi-story, and this is quite a challenging junction as it is part of the one-way system connecting the rest of the retails centre.
If you travel on any specific roads in the Sunderland area and are interested in discovering which parts are at higher risk of collisions, don’t hesitate to contact us. We offer a free service to anyone, providing them with the information they need to stay safe on the roads.