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Ten
Tips on Choosing Your Irish Driving Instructor. |
by:
Robin
Piggott |
First of all let's examine why you would
need a Driving Instructor in order to learn
how to drive. Sure everyone needs a teacher,
advisor or instructor, don't they, when
facing up to a new challenge? Or do they?
Which comes first, the Chicken or the Egg?
Would you go out and Order an expensive
Steinway Piano, never having played a note?
Would you go to your local swimming pool
and jump in the deep end if you had never
been in the water before?
Would you ring up your local light Aircraft
Company and order a Cessna for next day
delivery and ask them to have it tanked
up and ready to go?
How about booking a two week scuba Diving
holiday in the Aegean when all your experience
to date is a deck chair on the beach at
Torremolinos?
All of the above scenarios are about as
inconceivable as you can possibly imagine;
yet thousands of Irish learner Drivers are
doing the equivalent every day of the week.
Why so? Well it is a combination of the
previously lax laws and now that we do actually
have some legislation heading us in roughly
the right direction, the inability of the
Garda to enforce them .Yes we have had a
good deal of changes to our system of Driving
Tests and Licensing recently but Mandatory
tuition has yet to be enacted. When it is
introduced, hopefully we will be on the
slow uphill climb to some degree of motoring
competence instead of the current Motoring
mayhem which we currently enjoy.
Let's now have a look at the type of Instructor
you should be looking for.
1.Look through the Golden Pages and try
to make a short list of those Driving Schools
with a Web Site. You could of course, do
a quick search on Google using various search
terms. A School with a web site is one who
takes their profession seriously and who
will provide quite a lot of free, but invaluable
information .Do not regard a web site as
purely a smart way of attracting more pupils.
Look at it as a way of getting some valuable
info, together with an inside peek at who
the Instructor might be, and how he or she
does business.
2.Look for a school with qualified Instructors.
Now in Ireland at present, but not for long,
anyone can call themselves a qualified Instructor,
never having so much as looked at an advanced
Driving Course or taken any Examinations.
We have The Driving Instructor Register
here which has been examining Driving Tutors
on a voluntary basis since 1996 .A good
number of Driving Instructors have passed
these exams and will be able to impart an
advanced level of tuition.
3.Don't just ring up a Driving School and
with your first sentence ask what prices
are your lessons. You are perfectly entitled
to query prices, which will be very much
the same from all established Schools. Schools
that have not been established for long
or who are desperate for business will be
sometimes somewhat cheaper. Any one that
is substantially less than the bunch should
be avoided since this is not a profession
that is cheap to run and today you get what
you pay for .Cheap lessons are exactly that!
4.Ask the age of the Instructor and how
long they have been driving. European Driving
School standards require that an Instructor
must have been driving on a full licence
for at least three if not four years. Frankly,
anyone with less than ten years driving
experience will not have the necessary skills
to be a worthwhile choice in my view .We
are talking here about teaching pupils skills
for life and not a half-hearted few lessons
prior to the Driving Test, which sadly seems
to be a favourite choice of a good many
Irish learner Drivers.
5.Ask what make and model the Driving School
car is. There are many models in use by
Driving Schools and of course all Instructors
tend to have their own particular favourites.
Diesel models are extremely economical for
the Instructor who lives in the country
and who does a lot of mileage. Diesel models
are on the increase due to their improved
performance over past years and their economy.
They also hold their value well and while
a little more expensive to maintain they
go on for ever if looked after.
6.Ask the Instructor whether or not country
road and high speed carriageway Driving
are include in the Teaching Syllabus. These
form a large part of your every day driving
in Ireland and are very important skills
to have right from the start. Ask yourself
the question...are you going to be spending
the bulk of your driving career, driving
around your local area or into town and
back; or are you going to be visiting the
Coast, going on Holiday to the far reaches
of the country or even Dublin. Of course
you are; after all isn't this why you are
buying a car in the first place? If you
are only concerned with transporting yourself
within your local area it's much cheaper,
believe me, to hire a Taxi!
7.Ask your proposed Instructor does she
or he give Motorway Tuition. While we don't
have the same level of Motorways here in
Ireland, as in the U.K or Europe, we do
have stretches between major cities and
particularly in the Dublin area and of course
over the coming years there will be many
more miles of Motorway I am sure. These
marvels of Engineering require a higher
degree of skill and lots of practise in
your car before one can safely negotiate
Dublin or abroad. This is why Learner Drivers
are not permitted on Motorways. We are lucky
here in Limerick, in that we have a new
ring road carriageway, spanning about 20
miles which is identical in layout and signage
to a Motorway apart from the speed limit
and the colour of said signs. Perfect for
legal high speed Motorway style practise
within five minutes or so drive from most
parts of the City.
8.Most Driving Schools will usually book
lessons at least a week ahead, so don't
expect to ring up and get a lesson that
day or even the next. Occasionally if you
are lucky, and the School has a vacant slot
they will take you but it's the exception
rather than the rule. If the School can't
take you for a week be patient it will be
well worth the wait.
9.A good Driving Instructor will ask you
for a fair bit of information on the phone
in order to gauge your level of skill. He
or she will ask questions that may not seem
relevant, when all you, as a pupil want
to do is to get behind the wheel .Believe
me they will be; they will all be designed
to build up your driver profile and should
not be construed as being nosy!
10.A Professional Instructor will take with
a pinch of salt your efforts at explaining
just how well you can drive and how you
only need a bit of practise here and there
at reversing or hill starts. Don't be defensive,
you are about to learn one of the most important
life building and life saving skills. A
good Instructor will not venture out in
your own car, if you already have one, until
he or she has seen your capabilities or
you have described in great detail your
experience. eg. one years driving and getting
ready to sit the Driving Test.
This is the first in a series of "Ten Tips"
to better and safer Driving.
About the Author
Robin Piggott has spent a lifetime at
the Wheel.He runs Astral Driving School
in Limerick,Ireland.Visit the web site
and blog if you are planning to visit
Ireland.
http://www.astralmotoring.ie
http://astralmotoring.blogspot.com
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