If you live in the above areas, you can not only use the book to help you pass your driving test stress
free and with less repetition during lessons, but you can also have lessons with Diane Hall DSA(ADI). I will teach you on your preferred basis; whether it be one or more hours
per week, a fastpass/intensive/crash course, or even if you want to have just one lesson every few weeks, and in the meantime
practice in your own vehicle. I charge £23.00 per hour or a block of ten lessons for £220.00.
If at the end of your first lesson you are not happy, then I will even refund the £23.00 that you have
paid! So far after eight years I've not given one single refund!
Refresher
Lessons
Some people pass their test and then for various reasons don't drive for years, or lose their
confidence for driving on particular roads (such as motorways), or shudder at the thought of parking! This has become so
widespread that there is now a technical term for it; D.A.D., Driving Anxiety Disorder. Many
people feel embarrassed about admitting their lack of confidence and fear of driving, so sadly they often don't seek
help, resulting in either giving up driving, or only doing the barest minimum with gritted teeth and sweaty palms.
How good would it feel to be totally confident and relaxed behind the wheel; to trust in your
ability as a good driver, and have the freedom to drive...and park...anywhere you want? I offer Refresher
Lessons for anyone wanting to brush up on the their skills, and also will combine this with the relevant techniques
from the book to overcome all nerves/anxiety/fear you have. It may be the case that you were involved in an
accident and this has left you with a fear of driving or being a passenger in a car. I can tailor the session to
suit your particular needs. Please contact me to discuss how I can help.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Choosing your driving instructor – cost per lesson v. value for money
What do you think is the FIRST question
that pupils ask a driving instructor when enquiring about lessons? ’How much do you charge?’
Now, the question is, how relevant is cost? Well, pretty damn relevant I’d say! Especially in this credit
crunch, you want to know that you are getting good value for money. Now, good value for money is a whole different ballgame
to ‘cheap’. DSA quote that the average number of professional lessons it takes to pass your driving
test is about 45. So, if you were to pay an instructor say £18.00 an hour – which is pretty cheap –
45 hours would cost you £810.00. However, if another instructor charged £5.00 per hour more then
it would cost you £1035.00, which is a lot more expensive. At first glance, it would seem that you’d be
better off paying £18.00 per hour. BUT…. you have to ask yourself why is the other instructor charging
so much more? Well, it could be that he’s overcharging for his service, but that’s pretty unlikely as he
wouldn’t be in business for long, because pupils wouldn’t be prepared to pay that amount of money if he
wasn’t a good instructor. Therefore, the most likely explanation is that he is
a good instructor, and charging
a higher rate because he’s worth every penny! If the good instructor teaches you to a higher standard in a shorter
time and you get through your test in fewer lessons and in fewer test attempts, then you have to ask yourself: ‘which
instructor is better value for money?’ The answer is obvious, isn’t it?
Fastpass/Intensive/Crash courses v. weekly lessons
Lots of driving schools, including ours offer fastpass/intensive/crash courses
which are aimed at you passing your driving test in record time, often starting on Monday with your driving test on Friday,
if of course you have already passed your theory test. In principle, these are a good idea because you will spend a
lot of time in the car, very intensively, and therefore don’t have time to forget what you have learned. The flip
side to this though is that your brain doesn’t have much time to process the huge amount of information that it’s
being asked to take in, which can easily lead to ‘information overload’ and your brain shuts down.
How many times have you been in a classroom or at work for several hours without a break? You just tend to ‘shut
down’, don’t you? Well, it’s the same with learning to drive. For this reason, we prefer not
to do a one week course, because traditionally the fail rate is usually higher than when pupils have learned to drive over
a longer period of time. Also, if you start driving on a Monday with your test on Friday then the last date to cancel
your driving test without loss of fee is Monday! Therefore, if you are not ready for your driving test by the Friday
then one of two things happen; firstly you cancel the test with the loss of fee, currently £62.00, or you take your
test, fail and guess what? Still lose the test fee. You may as well get sixty quid and tear it in half and
bin it! Much more sensible to spread your lessons out a bit, give your brain chance to learn and have a greater chance of
passing your test on your first attempt. Having said all of this, fastpass/intensive/crash courses do have their place,
and we will do them if we feel that it is the best method for the pupil.
If on the other hand you don’t go for an intensive course, and elect to drive for just one hour
a week, then the opposite can happen, and you forget lots of what you have learned. Therefore, if possible, it’s
best to have a happy medium, and this is where L of a way 2 Pass
will benefit you. Regardless of whether you choose to learn on a weekly basis or take up a fastpass/intensive/crash
course, then the techniques in the book can help you to stay calm and focused, and also help you to remember more
from each lesson.
My friend
passed in fewer lessons than me – Why?
If you read the ‘Baseline Competence’ chapter in L of a way 2 Pass, I have answered this question fully. However, this question is asked so frequently that I decided to answer it here for you. The answer is in fact very simple; we are all different! If we were all the same, we’d all play football like Wayne Rooney, have a brain like Einstein and sing like Pavarotti! It may be that your friend is very fortunate and driving just comes naturally to them. This may seem unfair, but you can be sure that there’s something that you are much better at than your friend. However, it could also be that yourself and your friend are being taught by different instructors and that your friends instructor teaches more effectively. It’s perhaps worth having a lesson with your friends instructor – at least you’d know then whether it’s the instructor or the fact that you don’t seem to pick up learning to drive as naturally as your friend. If this is the case, and you feel that you don’t have the ‘learning gene’, then all is not lost. Have a look at the Baseline Confidence and Baseline Competence chapters in L of a way 2 Pass, and you will find your ‘driving gene’ almost miraculously seems to appear! Perhaps it’s better termed your ‘driving genie’! Sorry, dreadful pun!
