Have you just passed your test? Congratulations if so, welcome to freedom and miles of open road ready for you to explore.
We do know for some of you that the prospect of that is a daunting and so we’ve given you some extra tips to help you in dealing with these common issues.
- Music – Have it on, it actually helps. Some quiet background music helps take the edge off and is a subtle welcome distraction. Obviously if it’s too loud it can be really off putting, so adjust it to your liking and if your struggling simply turn it down.
- Late night driving – Take a break, tiredness kills! Driving at nice is usually quieter and actually quite peaceful and relaxing. A lot of people have issues with staying awake or adjusting to low light levels. Try not to drive tired, managed breaks, don’t look at bright lights or oncoming headlights.
- Peer pressure – Taking your mates on road trips is always an exciting idea and good fun but sometimes they can hinder your driving by being too loud and disruptive. Be confident in asking them to be quiet to allow you to concentrate when needed.
- Affects of alcohol and others – We’ve all been there, designated driver, everyone takes turns. When it’s your turn, be sensible, ignore silly requests from drunk passengers and if necessary stop and as a last resort ask them to leave the vehicle.
- Journey planning – Don’t be late by design, plan ahead, look at your route in advance and leave extra time. Don’t forget peak times (morning, evening and weekends) can be busier. Avoid primary routes, shopping centres and city centres if possible.
- Mobile phones – This is simple, DO NOT TOUCH IT! Lock it away, switch it off, just leave it alone. Remember the fine and points you can accrue. Using it as a sat-nav is fine, just don’t mess around with it other than that. If your in a car and someone else is driving with one, tell them to stop, it is not acceptable.
- Drive Thrus – Go for it, we all need a pit stop every now and then. Just remember they are tight and usually quite busy so take it slow, you don’t want to miss the order screen or pay booth. Talking of payment, just make sure the vehicle is secure before paying, we don’t want an accident.
- Sat-Nav – Use it, don’t feel guilty we all do. Just program it ahead of schedule, be prepared for route re-calculations if there’s traffic or an accident but don’t panic and change direction without planning.
We hope these have been helpful and if you have any other queries or areas that you are struggling with please ask and we’ll do our best to help.
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