February 1st, 2011
Categorized under: Driving tips
I am often asked what are the best roads to learn to drive on in St Albans. My immediate answer is – head over to the industrial area on a Wednesday morning and it’s like a beauty pageant of driving instructors!! You can’t move for learner drivers.My more considered answer is St Albans has many areas that are good to learn to drive on. You need to find somewhere that has :
- Quiet roads – not lots of traffic and queues
- Roads with few parked cars to make manouvering and concentration easier
- Wide roads, so you can safely practice your turning in the road
And of course, it’s always good to practice around the route where your actual driving test will be.
So, go out and find the best roads to learn on in St Albans. I suggest some of the following:
Changes introduced to the practical driving test from the 4th October
2010 now mean that part of your test includes an ‘independent driving’
section
What does that mean?
Well, for the majority of the test examiners give you step-by-step
instructions – but during the independent driving section you’ll be
expected to follow a series of directions or follow traffic signs
This can sound intimidating, but don’t worry – it is not a test to
prove that you can find somewhere without using sat-nav, it is about
whether you can make decisions on your own (like deciding when it is
safe to ask where you should be headed)
You won’t be failed on making a wrong turn, as the examiner will help
you get back on the right track when you ask, you can only be marked
down if you commit a driving fault
Ultimately, this addition to the test is designed to help you be a
better driver when you pass – I always make sure my students are
confident about every part of their practical driving test before they
sit next to the examiner, and the best way to make sure you are
prepared for independent driving is to practice with your instructor
For more information check out this video, created by the DSA to help
people understand the independent driving section better:
You can also read more about it on the DirectGov website:
