Author Archives: Kerry Smith

Looking for a new career?

Becoming a driving instructor is a very rewarding choice of career- It gives you the freedom to be your own boss, working times and days to suit your life, it also helps you become an important figure in the lives of inexperienced drivers, helping them to gain their independence on our roads. At Britannia we all remember our first driving instructors!

Here at Britannia Driving School we continually work hard to introduce new pupils to all our driving instructors, we give them the edge over the competition. We are different to other driving schools as most of Britannia’s income is spent on the following.

MARKETING: Google, Yellow pages, car livery, internet sites, direct marketing, Offering freephone lines for both landlines and mobile phones, and of course mostly by personal recommendation!

BRITANNIA’S WEBSITE: Our website is a field leader, attracting over 2 million users annually. Major keywords like “driving schools” will take you to a list of search results on search engines and Britannia Driving School will appear at the top from around 153 million driving school results.

BRITANNIA DRIVING SCHOOL OFFICE: Our office is open five days a week to driving instructors and the public. The Britannia telesales staff are highly trained and very motivated, their selling skills will keep you topped up with pupils all year round.

INTERNET DIARY: Pupils are given allocation to instructors according to postal codes and diary requirements and added to our bespoke internet diary. We have a message board to help instructors communicate directly with the office team and vice versa, the diary can be updated and reached by smart phone or computer alike globally.

PRE-PAYMENT: Unlike other schools Britannia has a pre-payment system which eliminates last minute cancellations by pupils.

SUPPORT: Help and advice is always readily available in the office for face to face advice or a phone call away, whether you need help with teaching, book keeping or accounts.

WHY CHOOSE BRITANNIA DRIVING SCHOOL?

Britannia will provide instant access to large marketing base, as well as a largely beneficial association with one of the most trusted brands in driving tuition in Great London. Our brand name attracts substantial number of quality pupils, which helps instructors to minimise cancellations and retain pupils.

INTERESTED: Why Not give our friendly office staff a call, chat online or send an email you will be invited for a non-obligation friendly chat and a coffee, all your questions will be answered and you will be assessed on your suitability to becoming a driving instructor.

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 18^th April at 6am and 12.01 Tuesday 23^rd 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!

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.

Do Cyclists have the same rights as car drivers?

Cyclist & Vehicles – Do they have the same rights?

We are all battling for space on very busy roads daily, one of the biggest grudges seems to be cyclist’s vs car drivers. Drivers of cars think there is no reason for push bikes to be on the road, whilst bicycle riders claim they aren’t given enough room by drivers.

So, here’s a few things which are legal and what isn’t on a bike.

Riding Side By Side

In the Highway code there is no law which stops riders cycling two or more abreast, it’s just an advisory.

The way the Highway Code is worded is a bit confusing, a legal requirement

For a rule saying ‘must’ or ‘must not’ will be backed by a legislation and breaching it would be a criminal act.

An advisory will simply say ‘should’ or ‘should not’ or ‘do’ or ‘do not’, which will be best practice behaviour and there are no implications legally if you break this rule.

Rule 66 in the Highway Code states ‘You should’ but then ‘never ride two or more abreast’. This confuses the reader as the advisory sounds like a legally backed rule.

Also rule 66 states that cyclists should ‘ride in single file on narrow, busy roads or when riding around bends’ That again is just an advisory.

Riding in the middle of the road

Once again, another confusing rule from the Highway Code that can be misunderstood is its not illegal to cycle in the middle of the road.

The rule 169 says all road users should not ‘hold up a long queue of traffic’ and should ‘if necessary, pull in where safe and let traffic pass’. Its mostly directed at large and slow-moving vehicles which can be hard to pass.

The Primary Position, or better known as cycling in the middle of the road can be the safest way to ride, when there are parked cars to the left hand side of the road it just takes a inattentive driver to open his car door without checking for cyclists and could easily knock them off the bike. Cyclists are also much

more visible riding in the middle and it’s also the recommended way to stop cars overtaking you.

Riding outside the cycle lane.

Depending ‘on experience and skills’ riding in a cycle lane can make your journey safer as explained in rule 63 in the High way code.

Jumping red lights

The biggest bugbear of car drivers v cyclists is jumping red lights! This is illegal to cross a stop line when the lights are red for cyclists and car drivers alike and carry a fixed penalty notice of £50. This also applies if a cyclist rides across a cycle only signal crossing when the green light isn’t being shown. Cyclists have the same rights as car drivers, we need to use the road space we have respectfully, courteously and most of all safely. Our instructor Jerry in Shepherds Bush and Hammersmith said:” It would seem both sides are equally to blame which leads to heated arguments on the road. We mustn’t forget we are all human and should have more consideration no matter what mode of transport we use”.

Safe Driving From Britannia!

Tips on finding a Driving Instructor

Recommendation is a good place to look for an instructor or driving school. If someone you know suggests an instructor, ask them how reliable and professional they were.

You can also search online, most reputable driving schools will have a review section on their website from former students and maybe photographs of recent pupil passes.

Instructors will not be so easy to evaluate, do your homework! All instructors in the UK by law must be licensed by the DVSA (Driving and Vehicle standards Agency).

Also, instructors must undertake a DBS check (Disclosure and Barring Service) this is to make sure they are safe to work with teenagers.

Prices will vary from Driving School to driving School, make sure you find out the prices before you embark on lessons, you may be having lessons for quite a while.The majority of driving Schools and instructors offer your first lesson at a discounted rate, ask about discounted lessons if you pre – pay in A bulk of ten or twelve.

The top complaint about driving instructor’s is paying in advance, receipts Should be given for all payments, ensure you are fully aware of discounts, deals and the cancellation policy.

Learning to drive can be an unnerving experience for some and this can be exaggerated when you have chosen the wrong instructor. Don’t be afraid to look for the perfect instructor who can help and guide you to the success of gaining not only your full driving licence but safe driving for life!

Safe driving, from Britannia!

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