Fast-tracking younger drivers to safer driving.

Any parent of a teenager taking driving lessons knows too well the worries that come with this step in their lives. The stomach-churning fear sets in when they have passed the practical driving test and are out and about in the car on their own. It takes a lot of trust in your child, the tuition they have received, and everyone else on the road when they are out.

When you pass your driving test, you pass a test. That test shows that you were in control of the vehicle you drove and understood the signs and road markings on the route you took on the day of your test. The weather was probably fair and not adverse, or the test would have been cancelled, and your parking and reversing skills were probably taken in a controlled area. You would have been taken on a route that your instructor would have coached you to drive and practice during your lessons, so passing the practical driving test is only the beginning of learning to drive. Driving well and safely comes with experience and, for some, fast-tracked by advanced driver training.

Advanced Training for Young Drivers

Advanced driver training for new drivers introduces the next level of driving skills. Sometimes, it is difficult to broach the subject of advanced driver training to new drivers. A tip for any parent would be to make it an additional obligation you both agree on after the driving test so that it stops any arguments in the first place.  For example, you can say that no passengers can be in the car until they have taken advanced training; this may encourage them to want to be more responsible. Advanced driver training can be taken as soon as the driving test has passed, so they do not need to wait very long.

Qualified Driver Trainers

Taking advanced driver training with a highly qualified ADI who specialises in advanced and defensive driving will not only introduce the next level of driving skills to your child – but also provide an insight into the skills not every driver will have or even know about. An advanced tutor can help show the safest ways to navigate the motorways and deal with adverse weather, as well as introduce car control systems that will give a lifetime of safe driving skills. Many new drivers, after taking training, will look to take an advanced motorist test, which can reduce insurance premiums, saving hundreds each year. Unfortunately, many parents contact us after the first or second collision, and the insurance premiums are already through the roof.

Techniques

Advanced driver training can show a new driver how to read the road and the actions of other drivers and boost confidence, along with advanced techniques such as commentary driving. These skills are often only briefly touched on during lessons, and things like commentary driving are usually not looked at at all. However, once you can anticipate what a driver will do in a given situation or what is happening further up the road, you can make much better decisions.

Introducing new skills like the ‘Limit Point’ to new drivers will help them deal with higher speed limits safely on rural roads, where the majority of younger drivers experience the most harm in the first year of driving. Skills such as these are lacking in regular driving lessons but could save many lives if they were.

Overall, advanced driver training for new drivers is the ticket to a good night’s sleep for most parents who worry about their children on the road. They are easier to arrange than driving lessons, bespoke to the driver, and are not one size fits all. The tutor will come to them and take them out in their own car. 

If it is something you are thinking about and would like to discuss with someone who understands, then email or call us, and we can help to keep your new driver safe.