Many drivers pass the driving test and never have an incident to make them doubt their ability as a good driver, and approximately 50% of drivers say they have never been involved in a collision, including minor accidents.  This leaves half of the driving population who have had an incident on the road; these incidents can affect not only the driver but also any passengers or nearby pedestrians, which can, in turn, hinder their driving confidence.

The lingering issues from any accident on the road can differ for each person. Some drivers can jump back in the car and drive again straight away with seemingly no problems, while others may take much longer. Every driver is different when it comes to confidence issues, so every driving confidence course needs to be tailored to particular routes to suit the driver. There are also many other issues that need to be unpacked by a patient and empathic tutor who can help.

Taking the first step

It takes a lot of courage even to make a phone call to enquire about a confidence driving course, especially if you have been trying to overcome your fears alone or with the help of well-meaning friends or relatives. You may feel silly or ashamed for not being confident on the road, and it can be challenging to explain to someone who does not have driving anxiety. However, there is help out there, and it is not difficult to arrange. You can be driving confidently within a matter of weeks from an initial enquiry.

The training

Your driving confidence course will start with either a friendly, non-judgemental conversation with one of our team or online by email, where you can tell us of your driving issues so we can advise you for the best possible results and select the best tutor available in your area. Our tutors are highly qualified DVSA registered driver trainers with a vast range of experience in helping bring drivers back to the road confidently. Once you have convenient dates booked, your tutor will call you to have a chat about your driving and the routes that worry you along with your desired goals and objectives.

There will be no need to worry that you will be taken straight out onto a busy road if you are not at that level. If you and the tutor need to spend an hour or more just driving on and off your drive and up and down your road, that will be done.  We have met clients whose partners have driven them to deserted car parks for the initial session. However, a session that works best for the client works for us!

We find that because we introduce advanced and defensive driving systems into a confidence course, we help to retrain a driver’s brain to see the road in a much more proactive way. This helps to give the brain less time to overthink and become anxious about needless issues. When you have a highly skilled tutor next to you telling you what you are doing well instead of listening to your anxieties, it will make a massive difference in your confidence. Just because you may have had a dip in confidence or an issue resulting in an accident does not mean you have completely forgotten to drive. You just need time and effort to address those situations and a toolbox of techniques to overcome them with continued practice exercises, all of which good training will give you.

Durations

The duration of a confidence course will vary between each driver, and we always tend to recommend at least two half-day sessions, as the confidence would start to kick in quite naturally on the second session as that will underline that you understood the tutor’s training and you will begin to drive in a much more confident manner. Many drivers find that a few sessions do the trick, others take another session later to take in faster roads, and some drivers who have had severe collisions may take far more sessions as they have a lot to deal with.

A confidence driving course does not necessarily need to be taken in a car. We regularly run courses in clients’ vans or motorhomes. In cases like these, we recommend full-day courses, especially when the course is a motorhome or van course, and there are two new drivers in the vehicle. That works out quite well as both drivers are getting the same training, and it is quite cost-effective.

Contact us about our range of courses and how we can help.