1stDrive.com

Latest news

CCTV - Don't worry, this isn't big brother. Cameras at the front and rear record not only video but also GPS co-ordinates and G-Force shock. This can be used as a training aid by watching back video of your lessons to see what was good and bad, just like you see on police pursuit programs on TV. We never record you or your voice, just the road. When played back on a PC, your location, direction and speed will be shown on Google maps next to the video footage. It can also be used to prove you were not at fault in the event of an accident, saving you huge amounts of stress! There is a small charge of £3 for us to supply video of any 2 hour lesson on a DVD or memory card if you supply one.

January 2009 - New test fees for 2009

The test fees are set to increase as from March 30th 2009. The new fees will be a rise from £30 to £31 for the theory test and from £56.50 to £63.50 for the practical test. The DSA say that the increases are needed to cover their operational costs.

November 2008 - The new test begins to take shape 

The feedback and results on the new driving test questionnaire have all now been received by the DSA and they are reading through them all. It will be several months before the new test details are revealed, we expect more news around March 2009. The new test is likely to be implemented sometime around January 2010. If you haven't read about the new test yet then scroll down to the bottom of this page for info.

September 10th 2008 - The green driving test is here

From today onwards pupils will be marked on how economically they drive and at the end of the test you'll be given a report on how green your driving is. You will not be failed for this and it will not make any difference to the outcome of the test. The cars used by 1stDrive are ideal for training you in this part of the test as they all have an onboard computer that can monitor how efficiently you are driving by giving you readouts of your fuel consumption.

Green driving is about not braking too hard, accelerating too hard or wasting fuel by sitting still with the engine on for long periods of time when waiting to pick someone up etc. We have been teaching this for years already so it makes no difference to our learners.

July 1st 2008 - More changes to the driving test

From September 2008 the driving tests will involve pupils being marked on how economically they drive. A few examples of this are how you will need to use the highest gear possible at all times, avoid harsh use of the gas when moving off and show better planning ahead to prevent heavy braking. The lower gears use far more fuel than the higher so stopping and starting unnecessarily needs to be avoided as much as possible. Here at 1stDrive we have always taught these things anyway so there will be no changes for our pupils to adjust to.

8th May 2008 - Major changes to the practical driving test

The government announced today a massive overhaul of the entire driving test system. The overall aim will be to reduce the accident rate of new drivers and to show people that passing the test is not the main aim of driving lessons. The test is just one small first step that you take to becoming a good driver, it is not the end. These changes will come in sometime over the next 2 years.

The following points are being considered, nothing is yet confirmed.

Taking multiple tests - The test may be split into separate smaller tests that can be passed one a time, effectively making intensive courses impossible as tests will be spread over several months. This is much fairer for pupils as you won't just have to pass everything in one go and you will have to show you can constantly perform well, not just on one day.

Giving more responsibility to instructors - they will pass you on some parts of your test such as manouvers and it will be compulsory for your instructor to be in the car with you and the examiner for other tests so both can see if you are fit to drive

Giving pupils good marks on the test for doing things well instead of just marking you down for making errors.

A 1 to 5 star rating system for pupils to find a better instructor. The roads are flooded with trainee instructors and instructors that qualified decades ago and hide behind the name of a big school because they aren't good enough to survive on their own. Pupils will now be able to judge how good individual instructors are, not just what school they work for.

Asking pupils to show navigational skills by asking them to drive to the nearest train station, towards the M42 etc using road signs. You will not have to read maps.

Interviewing pupils at the end of a test to judge their attitude to situations encountered on the drive 

Increasing the depth and difficulty of the theory test by adding more questions and using 3D animations to test peoples awareness of situations instead of the current film clips. The questions and answers on the test may no longer be published and instead of multiple choice you may just have to type in the answer, testing your knowledge much better

Post test courses on motorways, night time driving etc to help develop the attitude that the driving test is just one step in learning to drive, not the end.

6th May 2008 - New show me/Tell me questions

There are several new questions being put into the show me/tell me part of the test. Visit our driving test page to see them. These will be used from July 1st 2008

Copyright ©2005-2010 1stDrive.com