Private practice is a great way of building your road experience, improving on skills and enhancing your knowledge. However, for some parents and pupils alike it can be quite a daunting experience, especially as they don’t have dual controls and don’t want to knock your confidence.
Here’s our top tips for practising with someone at home:
- Start quiet & build – start in a familiar area, you will know the area well and will be able to anticipate any potential problems that may be ahead quite early. This also allows you to get used to a new/different vehicle and from there progress and build on those foundations
- Gain an understanding – make sure you know what each other means, when one says no it means no it stop means stop. It’s much better to be safe than sorry.
- Let them practice – this is mainly for parents or accompanying drivers, allow the pupil to practice what has been covered in previous lessons to maintain and improve skills in that specific area
- Question each other – driving styles have changed over the years, the way we teach and learn now is different to back then and so if your parents question why we do it a certain way now try to explain
- Use the videos – we have made some amazing online manoeuvre videos for your revision on the pupil portal. Show these to your accompanying driver so they know what to look for and can help more accurately.
- Follow instructors advice – your instructor has spent many years learning their trade and building their knowledge, trust their opinion and follow their advice. Try not to jump the gun on learning new things but practice what you have already learnt
- Ensure your over 21 with 3 years experience – although this is the legal requirement for an accompanying driver many insurance companies require the accompanying driver to be over 25, please check your insurance policy first
These key points are vital for successful private practice and will ensure you fast track your learning without cutting corners and comprising your skills.
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