Stay safe after passing the test
This page looks at how to stay safe after passing the driving test.
Webpage presented by Ian Whitehouse: Ian is a former 'Arrive Alive' road safety presenter for Driving Standards Agency, 29 years in the driver training industry.
In this section
* Pass Plus
* The New Drivers Act
* Why am I at risk?
* Drink/drug driving
* Taking your friends out
* How to improve your driving
Pass Plus
DYNAMIC MOTORING PASS PLUS AWARDS SCHEME.
Your instructor will encourage you to do pass-plus after passing your test, this is the road safety initiative designed to give you extra experience of driving in conditions and on roads you may not have encountered before, such as night driving.
Your local council will give you a financial grant to cover the cost of the pass plus course, at present Highland Council give you £125, if you apply before doing the pass-plus course.
The overall cost of the course with us is £132. However we operate a ‘Pass Plus Awards’ scheme to help you cut the cost and even make money.
Some insurance companies will also give you a significant discount if you've done pass-plus, up to £200-300 off your car insurance.
‘Pass Plus Awards’ scheme
As a Driving School and Instructor training company, we trade mainly by recommendation from drivers we have already successfully trained. This means as one new driver passes, we have to find a replacement.
We operate the Pass Plus Awards scheme, whereby when you refer someone to us and they begin taking lessons or Driving Instructor Training with us, we give you a voucher towards the cost of the Pass Plus course with us.
‘Pass Plus Awards’ each car Learner Driver referral - £20 voucher
‘Pass Plus Awards’ each Instructor Training referral - £50 voucher
So, your Pass Plus course could cost you nothing, you could save £100’s on your car insurance and Highland Council will give you £125, just for taking part.
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The New Drivers Act 1995
This Act of Parliament was introduced as a road safety measure affecting anyone who passes their driving test after 1997. If you get six or more penalty points on your driving licence within two years of passing your test, you need to:
Return your full licence
Apply for a provisional licence
Retake your theory test
Retake your driving test
You can get penalty points for stuff like 'speeding' (3 points or more, dependant on severity of the offence)
jumping a red traffic light (3 points) or using a mobile phone while driving (3 points). You can also get points for vehicle offences like bald tyres.
Why am I at risk?
Because of inexperience, you are far more likely to have an accident withing the first two years of passing the test, than someone who has been driving for years. A scary statistic is; it can take a new driver up to two seconds longer to react to a hazard, than someone with lots of driving experience. So at 70mph you could have travelled over 60 metres further before you reacted when someone walked in front of you.
So the new drivers act was introduced to try to reduce the amount of accidents involving new drivers; but what else causes accidents: Here's a few common causes:
Speed: Vague statement this one, because what actually causes the accident is; (1) driving too fast for the road and traffic conditions, and (2) driving too fast for your capabilities.
(1) driving too fast for the road and traffic conditions: Example: If you're driving on a 60mph road, there will be lots of times when it is safe to drive at 60mph, however there will be other times when it's not safe to drive at even 30mph, this is where a good experienced driver will recognise the hazard very early and slow to a safe speed, but the inexperienced or just plain reckless driver will hurtle towards it far too fast.
(2) driving too fast for your capabilities: Big problem this one because basically everyone thinks they are a good driver; even the boy-racer you see hurtling down the street like a lunatic cutting people up and nearly hitting pedestrians; he does it because he thinks he's a great driver and he wants to show his mates just how good he is !!! Sadly, very few drivers are as good as they think they are, and as a new driver you need to recognise your own limitations.
Distractions: My goodness there are a lot of distractions when you are driving. But you need to concentrate 100% on your driving, only a second of distraction can cause you to crash.
Some distractions that are common causes of accidents:
* Your friends are in the car, talking, fooling around, trying to get you to drive faster.
* You need to change that CD or change channels on the radio
* There's someone calling you on your mobile phone, or you need to send a text.
* You have something on your mind, or you've had a row with your boy/girlfriend.
* You got up late and you're late for work.
* Peer pressure. Your mate's got a car, he will think you're a wimp if you don't drive fast.
The last one is interesting 'peer pressure' because lots of people drive totally different when their friends are in the car, compared with how they drive on their own. It's a competitive desire to show your friends what a great driver you are, and it inevitably means driving fast. Problem is it's in your own mind and the only person you are impressing is yourself. Your friends are thinking "I wish he/she would slow down" the other drivers are thinking "what an idiot" whereas if you were a really good, safe driver all your friends would think "lets go in his/her car" because he/she's a good driver.
Road & weather conditions 
Poor road and weather conditions can increase your chances of an accident, also look out for objects in the road or potholes.
Particularly likely to cause problems are weather conditions such as:
* Snow and ice, can increase stopping distances by 10 times.
* Heavy rain, reduces visibility.
* Fog, can reduce visibility to almost zero.
* Bright sunshine, can dazzle you.