Driving Tuition, Driving Lessons and Pass Plus in Spalding, Holbeach and surrounding areas
Ten Top Tips
1. Keep your distance
You can’t crash into space! The more space you keep around you, the less risk of a collision.
"Only a fool breaks the 2 second rule"
2. More haste less speed
In busy congested conditions or in built-up areas give yourself time. There’s no need to speed and you won’t get there any quicker.
3. Look ahead and anticipate
Don’t just look at the vehicle in front and in your mirror to observe what is going on immediately around.
Anticipate what is happening ahead of you by looking at the furthest point along the road as well as observing the behaviour of your fellow road users.
4. Think F.L.O.W.E.R
Ensuring that your vehicle is serviced regularly (in line with the manufacturers recommendations) will help to avoid breakdowns and accidents caused by vehicle faults. To ensure safety for both yourself and those around you and to keep your vehicle running smoothly, remember FLOWER:
- Fuel – Play safe and stay topped up.
- Lights – Regularly check main beams, indicators, fog lights, sidelights and brake lights.
- Oil – Over-filling or under-filling the oil risks engine damage.
- Water – Keep the screen wash reservoir full and use plenty of additive in winter, BEFORE it freezes up.
- Electrics – Check battery, wiper blades, electric windows, horn and heater fan. Defects will only worsen if neglected.
- Rubber – The safety implications of under-inflated tyres include the increased risk of suffering a blow out at high speed due to excessive heat building up in the tyre. The legal limit for minimum tread depth on your tyres is 1.6 millimetres, across the central ¾ of the tread and around the complete circumference of the tyre. Worn tyres reduce the effectiveness of braking, steering and acceleration, particularly in the wet. Worn tyres are not only dangerous, they are illegal – you could face a fine of up to £2,500 plus 3 penalty points per tyre.
5. The greater the investment, the greater the risk
Road markings and signs are essential to the safety of the road user. Most road improvements reflect past collision history. So in such areas be alert to what might have caused the hazard in the first place and so keep your distance and slow down.
As a general rule of thumb...
More signs = more danger
By law, traffic routes must also be suitably indicated where necessary for reasons of health or safety. In particular, signs with a red triangular border are usually warning signs.
More paint = more danger
Road users often seem totally unaware of the relevance of road markings, even when they see them. The more paint there is on the road surface, the more potential danger there is.
More street lights = more danger
Assume lamp posts mean 30 mph, until signs say otherwise – but remember it could be 20 mph. The law does not allow highway authorities to put repeater speed limit signs on 30 mph roads that have street lights. Instead the Highway Code advises that street lights usually mean the limit is 30 mph unless there are signs showing otherwise. However, on the open road, the presence of street lights seen ahead will indicate a junction or
roundabout coming up – clearly an area of greater danger. Not many people will recognise that every roundabout in the UK is lit by street lights at night.
The law requires drivers to be in proper control of their vehicle at all times, and drivers who, for example, smoke or eat while driving could be prosecuted under this law. There is also a specific law banning the use of hand-held mobile phones, or other communication devices, while driving.
6. You are only human
- Although it is a familiar everyday task, driving is actually a very complex thing. Trying to do something else (use a mobile phone, use Satnav, unwrap a sweet) at the same time, is distracting.
- Listening to music with the volume too high can encourage drivers to speed up. Distracted drivers find it much more difficult to maintain their awareness of what’s happening on the road around them, and are more likely to speed. Using a mobile phone while driving is a classic example of this.
- The law requires drivers to be in proper control of their vehicle at all times, and drivers who, for example, smoke or eat while driving could be prosecuted under this law. There is also a specific law banning the use of hand-held mobile phones, or other communication devices, while driving.
7. Be safe, be seen
People don’t generally hit what they see – so put yourself where you can be seen. Why stay alongside trucks and vans where the driver cannot see you?
Position for vision and early decisions.
Every year about 400 people are killed in EU countries when drivers fail to detect objects in their blind spots whilst manoeuvring. Most victims are pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. ‘Vehicle blind spots’ was a contributory factor in 21 fatal crashes and 2,081 injured people in the UK in 2009*.
(Department for Transport 2009)
8. Safe parking
Damage to vehicles often happens in car parks where we least expect it. Think prevention! Use space – park away from other vehicles, trolleys and activity areas where possible.
40% of all company traffic accidents involve parking, manoeuvring or reversing.
It may seem easier to drive straight into a space, especially when you want easy access to your boot at the supermarket, but reversing into a space provides you with several advantages. The main advantage is that it is safer to reverse into somewhere you can see (the parking space) than reverse into somewhere you can’t (the line of moving traffic). It is also easier to control a car going forwards when it is first started.
Overall reversing means less vision, less experience and much more risk – so avoid it where you can.
9. Should you even drive?
- Someone driving on a motorway at 70 mph who nods off for six seconds would travel more than 200 metres in that time.
- Never drive whilst tired. On long journeys stop for at least a 15 minute break every 2 hours.
- Don’t drink and drive. Alcohol impairs your driving, even a small amount. Think carefully if you’re safe to drive the morning after too.
10. A word to the wise - C.O.A.S.T.
As experience improves, often attention levels diminish. Get to know what affects a drivers attention levels and watch for those who are affected.
Think COAST.
- Concentration – Don’t become distracted. Focus on the primary task at hand, namely driving.
- Observation – Pay close attention to other vehicles and changes in their movement.
- Anticipation – Anticipate the good and bad intentions of other road users to avoid accidents.
- Space – Keep your distance – remember the 2 second rule.
- Time – Plan journeys, allowing enough time to arrive safely without the need to drive hard.
