Flying Colours Blog

What a strange year it has been, we have all been affected in some way by Covid-19. As driving instructors we were unable to teach for 5 months last year and we missed it enormously. We were however happy to do our small part to help stop the spread of the virus, surely staying at home is a small price to pay for the safety of our instructors and clients.

We do feel sorry for the people turning 17 during a lockdown and missing out on their right of passage to have a driving lesson. We are sorry for those who needed to learn to drive but could not, when lockdown was lifted in July we tried our best to help as many people as we could.

When we are able to resume driving lessons in 2021 we will certainly be back. We will follow all official guidance and do our bit to keep the virus at bay.

Hope to see you on the road soon!

As driving instructors we experience all forms of road rage on an almost daily basis. We therefore develop a rather thick skin when it comes to aggressive driving behaviours but should this be the norm? On occasion it can really get on top of you and your learner which then affects their driving and your own teaching.

The Royal society for the prevention of accidents (RoSPA) has this to say ‘Driving, whether for work or leisure, can be enjoyable but at times is stressful and demanding. Good driving requires a responsible attitude to other road users as well as a high level of concentration, observation and anticipation. The reality is, however, that everyone makes mistakes.’

This is true, everybody makes mistakes, although it seems that it is hard to remember this when the ‘Red mist’ settles. Learners make more mistakes than most and are therefore subject to more aggressive driving than others. We frequently experience Tailgating in response to not being as quick as other drives may like.

Tailgating

Tailgating is responsible for 1 in 8 accidents (Highways England) Mr Leonard (head of road safety at Highways England) said: “Tailgating makes the driver in front feel targeted and victimised, distracting their attention from the road ahead and making them more likely to make a mistake.
“If that leads to a collision, then people in both vehicles could end up seriously injured or killed. We want everyone to travel safely, so the advice is – stay safe, stay back.”

Any type of aggressive road attitude is not going to help a client learn, it in turn causes a distraction and becomes a detriment to their immediate driving. So sadly beeping your horn will unfortunately not help us pull away quicker, tailgating will not make us go any faster, swearing will not move us out of your way. It is all a distraction and therefore an impact on driving and more importantly on road safety.

A Massive congratulations to everyone who have passed their driving test this past week. Here are all your pass photos.

Well done Chelsea! Chelsea’s instructor was Jon.

Well done Leanne. Leanne’s instructor was Jon

Well done Mo for passing the new test! Mo’s instructor was Amy.

 

Well done Amber. Amber’s instructor was Jon.

Well done Kayleigh. Kayleigh’s instructor was Kay.

Well done Lily. Lily’s instructor was Laura.

Well done Nina. Nina’s Instructor was Laura

Well done Rosemary. Rosemary’s instructor was Chris.

Well done Toby. Toby’s instructor was Chris!

Well done Victoria. Victoria’s instructor was Alan.

Previously our under 17’s events have been exclusively in manual cars but with demand for automatic lessons on the road growing we are opening up auto for our under 17’s events as well.

All the cars are modern, dual controlled for safety, and pupils benefit from one to one tuition (never more than one pupil in a car at any time).

Subject to ability, there are other areas where pupils will also be challenged with three point turns, reversing into parking bays, reverse parking, zig zag (forward and reverse) and a roundabout or crossroads.

We also welcome pupils who are over 17 and perhaps a little nervous of having a lesson “on the roads”. Our oldest pupil to-date was 93!

EXPERIENCE SHOWS US THAT THOSE DRIVERS WHO ATTEND OUR UNDER 17’S EVENTS, TAKE FAR FEWER LESSONS WHEN ON THE ROAD.

 

Under 17’s driving lessons make perfect Christmas presents, it may only be October but it is never too soon to start thinking Christmas.

Just let us know when booking and we can send out Christmas vouchers to surprise your loved ones on Christmas day.

The Flying Colours team are all very experienced fully qualified instructors and have been running under 17’s events for four years.

We have perfected a technique so that youngsters from the age of 14 can drive a car off road in a safe environment. All the cars are modern, dual controlled for safety, and pupils benefit from one to one tuition (never more than one pupil in a car at any time).

Subject to ability, there are other areas where pupils will also be challenged with three point turns, reversing into parking bays, reverse parking, zig zag (forward and reverse) and a roundabout or crossroads.

We also welcome pupils who are over 17 and perhaps a little nervous of having a lesson “on the roads”. Our oldest pupil to-date was 93!

EXPERIENCE SHOWS US THAT THOSE DRIVERS WHO ATTEND OUR UNDER 17’S EVENTS, TAKE FAR FEWER LESSONS WHEN ON THE ROAD.

 

We are hosting our under seventeens driving experience day on the 10th June 2017 in Ringwood. As an instructor myself I really enjoy teaching on these days. It means i can interact with an age group that I do not normally teach to drive. This is great fun, especially because the people coming to this event are more excited than scared (sometimes those first lessons on the road can be a little nerve racking). The fear of the main roads are taken away as the site we use, although similar to real road situation, is much quieter with only other learners.

All of the instructors who work on the under seventeens driving day are great fun and whilst being fantastic instructors they also know how to have a laugh. This is why i enjoy these driving days so much, its very different to my normal working day; I meet so many new people and get to have a laugh with some of my colleagues.

Some may wonder whats involved in the lesson; we want the pupils to have as much real experience as possible and whilst our cars all have dual controls we allow the pupil to feel the clutch and use the brake without assistant – Not many have problems with finding the accelerator. Since the site is completely private we can let the pupils drive the car straight away without having to worry about other road users which means we can talk on the move more freely and allow the pupils to get a full experience of driving.  There is approximately 7 or 8 other instructors teaching so we will discuss mirrors and signaling to make the pupils aware of other road users. There are other areas where pupils will also be challenged with three point turns, reversing into parking bays, reverse parking, zig zag (forward and reverse) and a roundabout.

We hope that the driving experience will greatly benefit those who then go on to have driving lessons once they are 17. As an instructor myself
I can see the benefit of these experience lessons when I take pupils onto the road for the first time, they tend to have more spacial awareness and a clearer understanding of clutch control therefore reducing the amount of time spent on the quiet training roads.

http://www.passwithflyingcolours.com/under-17s/driving-days/

 

It’s all too easy to do we hear a text or call come in, and many drivers are tempted to sneak a peek. However quick the glance, using a handheld mobile device is extremely dangerous – not to mention illegal

A new law (from 1^st March) means that drivers can be slapped with a £200 fine and six penalty points. This means that according to the New driver act your licence will be revoked if you get 6 or more points within 2 years of passing your test.

Recently I attended a course called ” The Honest Truth” –  a fantastic campaign that promotes the phrase “SMALL CHANGES SAVE LIVES” (The Honest Truth road safety charity is working to reduce the number of  people killed or seriously injured on the roads.) One of these small changes can be to switch off your mobile phone when you get into the car.  

It is proven that drivers who use a mobile phone whether hand-held or hands-free:

• are four times more likely to crash, injuring or killing themselves and/or other people
• are much less aware of what’s happening on the road around them
• fail to see road signs
• fail to maintain proper lane position and steady speed
• are more likely to ‘tailgate’ the vehicle in front
• react more slowly and take longer to brake
• are more likely to enter unsafe gaps in traffic
• feel more stressed and frustrated.

So lets make the change and switch off our phones when driving.

 

So here we are finally entering the computer age at flying colours HQ. I mean there is no way some of the instructors will trade in their trusty paper diary for a digital equivalent but the new and improved Under 17’s driving experience day has gone online. You can now view available times and book directly online via our website.

Hopefully this will make things easier for everyone, and it means that we can spend less time in the office on the phone and more time out on the road doing the job we love.