Insurance Consultants

Penalty points I wasn’t driving car

The Driving Instructor - Shola Ogunlokun — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 11:55:00 +0000

If a car is caught by a police enforcement camera commiting a traffic offence (failing to stop at a red light or breaking the speed limit), the penalty points will usually be applied to the driving licence of the registered keeper of the vehicle involved (the DVLA will be contacted for your details).

If you as the registered keeper was not driving the car at the time the incident occured, then you need to inform the police who the driver was by supplying the full name and address of the individual (or a police report crime reference number if it was stolen or taken without your consent TWOC). If this was a provisional licence holder that you were supervising at the time, then there is a possibility that you could also be penelaised for abetting the offence as well, so you need to be very attentive and take your supervising reponsibilies very serious.

It is for this reason that you can’t legally supervise a provisional driving licence holder if you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

If you require high quality driving lessons in Mill Hill from a very helpful, patient and fully qualified instructor, then why not call or send me a text message on 07956233032.

If the recent TV adverts by the red driving school have got you thinking about becoming an instructor, did you know that there are other instructor driver training options available to you?

More reading
Banned withn 2 years of passing test
Driving licence ban.
Driving without vehicle insurance

Subscribe to my Driving Test Tips so you don’t miss any future articles and get DSA updates direct to your inbox by Email, this service is provided and powered by feedburner, so I don’t personally keep your email addresses, and you can removed yourself anytime after passing the driving test with just one mouse click.

Driving test insurance one day

The Driving Instructor - Shola Ogunlokun — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 11:53:48 +0000

In response to some email queries about if it is possible to get one day car insurance to cover for the driving test, the short answer is yes, there are a few brokers and insurance companies that can provide for short term including 24hrs policy for provisional licence holders.

Reasons for getting a one day insurance policy for the driving test might include late pull out by your instructor (car problem or personal/family), friend changes mind, or you just bought the car and want to use it for test before sorting out full annual cover including finances.
While the DSA examiner will not ask to see your insurance certificate before you begin the driving test, you will have to sign a declaration saying the vehicle is insured, which will be referred to in case of a road traffic incident involving you and the examiner.

As with all cases of insurance, you have to shop around to get the best one day insurance quote, but don’t expect very cheap insurance cover, afterall the companies are there to make a profit and not just help you to fufil your legal obligations to 3rd parties.

Whatever the case, don’t attempt to go for a practical car driving test in the UK without the appropriate car insurance. The examiner is not supervising you, rather they are accessing your skills and whether you have reached the DSA standard required to be allowed on to the streets of the UK un-accompanied, plus because they have never met you before are unable to predit how you will act in a particular situation, so the risks of being in an accident are higher than when with your instructor or normal supervising examiner.

More Reading
An important driving test change in october 2010.
Driving on provisional licence without car insurance.

If you require high quality driving lessons from a very helpful, patient and fully qualified instructor, then why not call or send me a text message on 07956233032

Thinking about becoming an instructor? Don’t just make a decision based on the red driving school TV advertisement, do the proper research and know all the ADI training options available to you.

Subscribe to my Driving Test Tips so you don’t miss any future articles and get DSA updates direct to your inbox by Email service is provided and powered by feedburner, so I don’t personally keep your email addresses, and you can removed yourself anytime after passing the driving test with just one mouse click.

Driving Offences, Police, ANPR and Penalty points

The Driving Instructor - Shola Ogunlokun — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 11:25:15 +0000

There are many provisional licence and fully qualified drivers out there commiting traffic offences such as driving without insurance, road tax, MOT, etc and think that they will continue to get away with it and not be caught by the police. The truth is that every day I’m getting email enquires mainly from learner drivers getting caught speeding on a provisional license and wondering if they can still take the test (including theory element), if their licence is going to be revoked or they will get a driving ban.

It doesn’t matter what type of licence you have, if you go about breaking the law of the road traffic act 1988, then sooner than later you will get caught.

The police now has technology on their side, and one of the greatest weapons in use nowadays by road traffic cops is the ANPR database. If you car has no insurance, no MOT, no road tax, the vehicle has been stopped by the police in the past for any law breaking offence, then it will be recorded on this database to which all traffic enforcement officers have access to.

Almost all cars used by the police on traffic duties have a camera linked to this ANPR information, and it will automatically alert them if the number plates it sees have been entered in the database for whatever reason (driving a car on provisional licence unsupervised, banned driver by magistrates or due to 12 points on the totting up system).

It is now more difficult than ever to hide from the police and the law, gone are the days of issuing a producer, the police can now tell if you have a licence, what type, if you’ve been banned, if you have insurance to drive a car, if the car is stolen, all on the spot, just by checking the online ANPR information which is updated on a daily basis.

So if you want to avoid points on your licence, then now is the time to get your act straight, pass the driving test and stop driving on a provisional licence with insurance that is not valid because you are not being supervised.

If you require high quality driving lessons from a very helpful, patient and fully qualified instructor, then why not call or send me a text message on 07956233032

Thinking about becoming an instructor? Don’t just make a decision based on the red driving school TV advertisement, do the proper research and know all the ADI training options available to you.

Subscribe to Driving Test Tips so you don’t miss any future articles or get updates direct to your inbox by Email.

More Reading
Dont drive a car without insurance
Penalty points and the driving test

New Driving Test 2 months to go

The Driving Instructor - Shola Ogunlokun — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 06:31:45 +0000

It is exactly 2 months before the new driving test changes come into effect on the 4th of October 2010.

On this date Independent driving for 10 minutes will be a new assessment element that all DSA test candidates will be required to perform, and as a result you will only be required to carry out 1 out of the 4 driving test maneuvers that you have learnt.

According to the DSA, all test routes have now been confirmed, and the required diagrams have now been printed ready for driving examiner use, so all is set for implementation.

As a driving instructor, I have been keeping an eye out at the local test centres to see if there are any manager surgeries which might provide information on where these independent elements will be done, but so far nothing is coming forth from the DSA, so as the time gets closer all I’ll be able to do is practise on arbitrary roads so learners can get used to the idea of either memorising 4 consecutive instructions or follow diagrams as I don’t think there are well signposted routes in the Mill Hill and Hendon areas that I cover.

In the meantime if you require driving lessons in Hendon or Mill Hill to help you pass the driving test on your next attempt, then why not call or send me a text message on 07956233032. If I don’t answer your call do leave a message as I don’t take call during lessons.

Thinking about becoming an instructor? Don’t just make a decision based on the red driving school’s TV advertisement, do the proper research and make sure this is realy what you want to do, not just an easy way to make money.

Subscribe to my Driving Test Tips so you don’t miss any future articles and get DSA updates direct to your inbox by Email. This service is provided and powered by feedburner, so I don’t personally keep your email addresses, and you can removed yourself anytime after passing the driving test with just one mouse click. You can also join my UKADI facebook page, don’t forget to click the ‘I like’ button.

Driving Examiners don’t talk to them!

The Driving Instructor - Shola Ogunlokun — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 06:01:11 +0000

You don’t have to talk to driving examiners, this is a very important test tip, as you will only have yourself to blame if you get carried away chatting, commit a driving error which turns out to be a failing point.

DSA examiners try to get candidates to relax and will thus engage in a little bit of a friendly chat usually ‘breaking the ICE’ with the usual question ‘what would you normally be doing at this time of the day?’ At this point you can politely reply sorry I don’t concentrate well on driving and talking and this will immediately let them know all you need are instructions.

As a driving instructor, I know from the many lessons they’ve had who my chatty learners are, and advise them accordingly to concentrate on driving and not being friendly with the examiner, as no matter how friendly they seem, you will still be failed if you commit a serious or dangerous fault.

Need more driving test tips? Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss any future articles and get DSA updates direct to your inbox by Email. This service is provided and powered by feedburner, so I don’t personally keep your email addresses, and you can removed yourself anytime after passing the driving test with just one mouse click.

If you require high quality driving lessons in Hendon, NW London from a very helpful, patient and fully qualified instructor, then why not call or send me a text message on 07956233032.

Thinking about becoming a red driving school instructor? Don’t just make a decision based on the TV advertisement, do the proper research and know all the driving instructor training options available to you, there are many companies that can offer you this service, and not all require complete payment up front especially since there are no guarantees you will qualify and make it to the end.

Changing driving test appoinment date

The Driving Instructor - Shola Ogunlokun — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:18:37 +0000

One of the questions I get both during driving lessons and via enquires by email to this blog is can I as an instrutor help change a driving test appointment to an earlier date?

Driving instructors have to use the same dsa booking system, and do not have any priority or special concession, so we can’t help get an earlier test date.

If you want to change your current driving test appointment, then you just need to keep trying (various times of the day) the online booking system to see if any cancellations or additional overtime slots become available (note the system does not operate 24hrs). Don’t even waste your time using the phone system to make changes to appointments.

To make changes to your driving test, vist the DSA online booking website. Remember you can only change your test date 3 times online, after that your fee will be refunded and you will have to book a new test appointment.

If you require a high quality driving instructor who is very helpful, patient and fully qualified, then why not call or send me a text message on 07956233032.

Learn about October 2010 driving test changes.

Read about people’s experience of the red driving school saga if you are thinking of training to be an ADI.

Failed driving test emerging at junction

The Driving Instructor - Shola Ogunlokun — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:26:34 +0000

Following on from my junctions driving lesson post, I recently received an email from a provisional licence holder who had been failed on the driving test by a DSA examiner for undue hesitation while emerging at a junction, so I’ll answer the email here, as it might help other learner drivers as well.

Here is the email:

On arriving at a junction preparing to turn left, there was a queue of at least four slow moving cars approaching from the right, with many, including the first two, indicating to turn left. I waited a few moments until all vehicles had passed, believing that this is the correct course of action, since the highway code clearly states that you must not assume a car indicating to turn left will actually do so. I was surprised to learn that this caused me to fail the test, as the examiner marked it as a serious fault. He explained that as it was “very obvious” from the cars’ speed that they were turning left, and that since there was a vehicle behind, that I should have pulled out and not waited.

He marked this as “undue hesitation”. This is confusing for me, because over the course of my learning to drive, I’ve been led to believe that you should not pull out of a junction with a car approaching from the right, even if it is indicating to turn left. Both my instructor and I are very surprised to learn that this is not only allowed in a test, but that I was required to do this in order to pass. I spoke for a while afterwards with my instructor about it, and he was unable to explain why that might be considered a serious fault. The highway code appears to be very clear about this scenario, but the examiner was also very clear in explaining why he considered waiting to be the incorrect action. I’d be very grateful if you could explain to me in detail the exact rules in this situation during a test, and when it is permitted, not to mention necessary, to pull out rather than wait. Thank you very much.

Now as I wasn’t present on the test, my answer will be based on my training and experience of how examiners have marked candidates on the various tests that I have sat in on.

This was a case of emerging at a junction to turn left which is slightly easier than turning right where you actually need a SAFE gap from both the LEFT and RIGHT.
As was stated, the highway code advices when at a junction you should never assume that a car indicating will turn in the direction indicated as many people do forget to cancel signals, however there are other signs/things that you need to consider when deciding if you can proceed at a junction or not.
SPEED of the approaching traffic when you arrived at the junction, position of the car (this is very important at roundabouts), direction wheels where pointing, where is the driver looking and steering? All these can add up to give you a picture of what is happening and if it will be safe for you to go or not.

Now since I wasn’t there I can’t say what exactly happened, but if all four cars turned left, and you still were waiting at the junction, that could have been the reason for the driving error being classified as serious. Also because you said the cars were slow moving and the 2 closest were already indicating, it might have been clear that they did intend to turn especially if the 2nd car made no attempt to overtake the turning car. Also what was the gap between the 2nd and 3rd car or the 3rd and 4th, and did these cars also indicate to turn left?

Being able to deal with junctions safely requires a lot of practice and experience and you can’t always apply one rule ALL the time to every situation. Just because there is a car approaching from the right as you arrive at a give way doesn’t mean you have to stop. The car could be far away, travelling slowly, so it might be safe and you can only know this with experience and many hours on the road dealing with various road users and conditions.

It is not easy to pass the UK driving test but with the right training and enough practice you will gain enough experience to be able to find the right balance between being safe and over cautious/hesitation.

I wish you the best at your next attempt with the DSA examiner.

For high quality driving lessons from a very helpful, patient and fully qualified instructor in North West London, then why not call or send me a text message on 07956233032, please leave a message if I don’t answer you car, as I don’t take calls while giving learner tuition.

Subscribe to my Driving Test Tips so you don’t miss any future articles and get DSA updates direct to your inbox by Email. The service is provided and powered by feedburner, so I don’t personally keep your email addresses, and you can removed yourself anytime after passing the driving test with just one mouse click.

Driving Test Don’t stop on the Right!

The Driving Instructor - Shola Ogunlokun — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:09:12 +0000

I couldn’t believe it while on a driving test with one of my learners, when asked to perform a normal stop in a convenient place the candidate stopped on the right hand side of the road behind a big lorry!

The road we were travelling on was narrow with vehicles parked on both sides, but it wasn’t a one way street, and even then you should still not stop on the right during a driving test with a DSA examiner.

Unfortunately, the candidate failed the driving test due to this serious error because when moving off from behind the lorry it was impossible to see anything coming towards us from the road ahead.

At the end of the test I asked why the candidate had stopped on the right, and the response was they had thought it was a one way street and there was more space on the right. I asked if we had ever stopped on the right ever during driving lessons to which the answer was NO. So why do it on the test?
As I mentioned in my driving examiner instructions post, you will not be asked to do anything unsafe so if you can’t find a safe position to stop, keep going.

What happened was out of character for my learner, and it might have been a hasty decision due to test nerves, but always remember if you are unsure of what the instruction was, ask for it to be repeated, so a question like ‘did you say stop on the right’ would have clarified any doubt.

The DSA offical guide to the test contains all the information you need to know about what is expected from you, so don’t believe rumors friends or family tell you about what can or can’t fail you. Finally NEVER do something new on the driving test, if you did not practice with your instructor, then not in fron the examiner should you be using your ‘initiative’.

Thinking about becoming an instructor? Don’t just make a decision based on the red driving school TV advertisements, do the proper research and know all the ADI training options available to you.

Subscribe to my UKADI Driving Test Tips so you don’t miss any future articles and get DSA updates direct to your inbox by Email, the service is provided and powered by feedburner, so I don’t personally keep your email addresses, and you can removed yourself anytime after passing the driving test with just one mouse click.

DSA driving examiner instructions

The Driving Instructor - Shola Ogunlokun — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:55:48 +0000

During my driving lessons I always give instructions and directions just as the dsa test examiner would do in order to get my learner drivers used to the terminology, as it is very important you fully understand what you have been asked to do.

At the beginning of the 40 minutes test, the driving examiner will usually say something similar to “I’d like you to follow the road ahead unless road signs indicate otherwise, if I want you to turn left or right, I will let you know in good time”.
This is a very important instruction to bear in mind, as if you get to a junction and the examiner does not say anything, then you need to follow the road ahead, and this could be a crossroad with the give way applying to you!

The other time the examiner will not say anything is at a junction where you have to compulsarily turn left or right, but even though it is obvious (to other cars) which way you are going, you will still need to use the MSM routine, checking your mirrors and indicating in the appropriate direction.

Stopping on the left

During the test, at least 4 times the dsa examiner will instruct you to perform a normal stop on the left. There are two different instructions that could be used.

The first one would go along the lines of: “I would like you to stop or pull up on the left in a SAFE or CONVINIENT place”. The keywords here being SAFE and CONVINIENT, and you MUST therefore use SCALP to perform this procedure, which means don’t block someone’s driveway or stop opposite another parked car on a narrow road. However it is OKAY to stop on a single yellow line which generally means a parking restriction (one test candidate of mine upset an examiner by not wanting to stop because of a yellow line).

The second instruction an examiner might give could be: “stop the car on the left just before the white vehicle, leave enough room to move off” or ‘stop the car on the left close to the telegraph pole, ignore the driveway’.
In these cases the examiner wants you stop near a particular spot.

Note the examiner will never ask you to do anything that breaks the highway code, so if you hear the instruction ‘take the next AVAILABLE road on the right’ don’t try turning into the first road on the right which has a no entry sign, as it is not AVAILABLE for you to use, the one required will be close after (even if you signalled early, that should NOT be a problem).

I always advice my learners to fully listen to an instruction, and not to assume you know what is required, even if you recognise the driving test route, and to ask for any unclear orders to be repeated.

I sat in on a test not too long ago (at the pupil’s request), and just about 10 minutes the candidate was given a double direction instruction: ‘At the end of the road turn right, and then immediately right’, the learner said something trying to understand, the examiner said ‘what was that?’, the candidate didn’t ask for the instruction to be repeated because the car was almost at the giveway, and then tried to turn right into the wrong side of the road instead of going into the island before turning right. Unfortunately the pupil failed the driving test for this mistake, when all that needed to be done was ask for the instruction to be repeated even at the give way, if necessary pointing to where you think you should be going!

Remember you are not an experienced driver, so it might take a few more seconds to fully assess a junction and this is acceptable, as long as you don’t stare at a fully clear road waiting for a non existent car to go by! The DSA offical guide to the test contains more information about examiner instructions and what you will be expected to do, so buy or borrow a copy and fully read it, it could save you money, time and help make sure you pass at the next attempt.

If you require high quality driving lessons from a very helpful, patient and fully qualified instructor, then why not call or send me a text message on 07956233032.

Thinking about becoming an instructor? Don’t just make a decision based on the red driving school TV advertisement, do the proper research and know all the ADI training options available to you.

Driving Lesson Junctions Speed Gears

The Driving Instructor - Shola Ogunlokun — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:49:44 +0000

In this driving lesson post, I want to address one of the most common reasons for failing the driving test, approaching and dealing with junctions.

Even if you master the driving test routes used by your local DSA centre, if you don’t develop the correct habit for junctions, then it is easy once you have settled into a routine while out with the driving examiner to commit a fault which could turn out to be serious.

So lets go through the steps you should be practising during your driving lessons as you prepare for the practical car test in order to effectively and safely deal with junctions.

1. Know how to identify junctions. T-Junctions, cross roads, roundabouts and major to minor roads all have different traffic signs, characteristics and way of dealing with them.

2. Get the approach right. This part is very important. Is the junction open or closed?
With an open junction, you can see if it is safe to enter as you approach, therefore your speed will be determined by traffic, conditions and if you are stopping or going. If the junction is closed (you can’t see other traffic), you SHOULD ALWAYS approach with the intention of stopping, which means on the brakes, and only changing gears once you have used LADA and it is safe to emerge, proceed. Otherwise, stop and secure the car, get the biting point and wait for it to be safe before trying to go.

3. Proceed only if it is safe. One of the reasons why people fail at junctions is because they think the examiner is going to penalise them for hesitation if they spend too much time at a junction.
The dsa examiner is an experienced driver, and can see everything going on, so the amount of time spent at a junction waiting for it to be safe is irrelevant, if the road is busy and there isn’t a safe gap, WAIT. It doesn’t matter if the cars behind you are getting impatient.

4. Gears are for moving away from the junction, not the approach.
During driving lessons, I find many learner drivers change gears on approach to a junction to slow the car down! The reason we change gears at junctions is to match the speed that we have slowed down to deal with the junction and be able to effectively accelerate away. So don’t change gears at a junction until you have used the brakes to get to the correct speed for the type of junction.

You are not going to be able to master junctions after one lesson, it takes lot of practise, and this is where a lot of driving test candidates go wrong, as they don’t have enough experience with diffent types of junctions under various conditions both light traffic, rush hour, school runs, etc.

If you require high quality driving lessons from a very helpful, patient and fully qualified instructor as you prepare for the UK driving test, then why not call or send me a text message on 07956233032.

Thinking about becoming an instructor? Don’t just make a decision based on the red driving school TV advertisements, do the proper research, speak to ADIs, find out about the local market conditions and know all the ADI training options available to you.

Subscribe to UKADI Driving Test Tips so you don’t miss any future articles and get DSA updates direct to your inbox by Email service is provided and powered by feedburner, so I don’t personally keep your email addresses, and you can removed yourself anytime after passing the driving test with just one mouse click.