Monthly Archives: April 2019

April 16, 2019
Good News! Road Works to be Suspended

The Highways England has made a promise to suspend 400 miles of roadworks for the Easter Weekend. Approximately 459 miles of existing roadworks will be cleared away for between Thursday 18th April at 6am and 12.01 Tuesday 23rd April, this means 99% of England’s main roads and Motorways will be free of roadworks over the Easter bank holiday weekend.

The Highways England’s traffic Officers will still be on hand to help motorists who unfortunately are involved in an accident or have broken down, the officers are in black and yellow batten burg marked vehicles.

Advice issued by the organisation are to take the time for basic checks on your vehicle, this will help yourself and other road users avoiding a cause of issues for traffic for the weekend.

These following checks will help to avoid unnecessary breakdowns

Check your fuel, tyre pressure and condition, windscreen fluid, lights and the engine oil.

Familiarise yourself with motorway signs, the overhead gantries will display a large red X if for any reason a lane is needed to be closed.

Remember driving in a lane showing a red X is not only dangerous but illegal, It not only carries up to a £100 penalty charge but also 3 points on your license.

Also, the Highways England have also recommended that people towing caravans or trailers have the correct licenses and equipment and are correctly connected and with the relevant insurance.

Highways England’s customer service director Melanie Clarke said: “We’re doing everything we can to make journeys as smooth as possible this Easter and that’s why we’re keeping around 99 per cent of the road network we manage free from roadworks,” she said. “Safety is our top priority and we know from experience that almost half of breakdowns can easily be avoided if motorists carry out simple vehicle checks before setting off over this period.”

Simon Bush of Britannia Instructor Training College said: “The Highway Department is doing all it can to ensure the roads run as smoothly as possible, it’s our duty to help them by keeping congestion to a minimum.”

Happy and safe Easter Driving from all at Britannia Driving School!

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April 4, 2019
Automatic Vs Manual Transmission???

Automatic Vs Manual Transmission???

Before embarking on driving lessons your first decision will be whether to learn in a manual or automatic car.

Its often thought its an easier option to learn in an automatic because there is no clutch or gears. But you must remember that you still will have all the other factors in learning how to drive in an automatic.

There has always been a great debate as to whether learning is easier in a manual or automatic car, some say manual is the only way and others stick by automatic.

Automatics have become more sophisticated and economical in recent years, as this has always put drivers off as they consumed more fuel and were more expensive to buy.

Advantages of driving a manual

Passing in a manual car entitles you to drive manual or automatic, if you wish to change to an automatic car then you can, however this only works one way as passing in an automatic you can only drive automatic and must retake tour practical test in a manual car should you wish to change transmission.

Manual cars use less fuel – when driven properly. A driver in full control of their manual car will know when to change gears as so to avoid the engine over revving and wasting fuel. It is recommended to change gear about 2000rpm in a Diesel, and 2500rpm in a petrol car.

Manual cars will help you staying more alert especially when taking driving lessons, there is so much more for you to focus on when driving a manual as you have the changing of the gears and clutch control to think about.

Advantages of driving an automatic transmission car

Most pupils that learn in an automatic will learn faster than those learning in a manual, they will have less to learn with no changing gears, biting point or clutch control to learn.

Automatics are generally the easiest to pass in, the pass rate is higher for automatic tests, due to having fewer attributes to meet in terms of clutch control and gear changes, so less chances to fail.

The most persuasive point as to learning in an automatic is its easier.

No gears, no bite point, no clutch control or the embarrassing situation of stalling as an automatic does all this for you, this can leave the driver more time to concentrate on the road.

The argument of manual or automatic will probably carry on, here at Britannia Driving School we have noticed a massive change in more and more pupils choosing to learn in an automatic it has really become popular.

Still unsure which to choose? Why not give Kerry a call take a driving lesson on either and go from there.

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