Inclusive Driving: specialist disability driving school

Let’s say you are driving past a school at 30 mph. A child runs out in to the road 10 metres ahead. How fast will you be travelling when you hit the child? You’ll need some extra information to work out an accurate answer, but have a guess…

Here comes another snippet of information: the overall stopping distance at 30 mph is 23 metres. Do you want to change your answer?

And another snippet of information: the thinking distance at 30 mph is about 9 metres (remember the child you are about to hit is only 10 metres away). Have another think about your answer.

Using official Highway Code figures for braking distance and Department of Transport figures for reaction time (thinking distance) you will still be travelling at about 27 mph when you hit the child. At 40 mph you won’t even have time to reach the brake pedal before hitting the child.

At 20 mph you will hit the child at about 7 mph. Not acceptable, but the child will probably walk away with bruises. Driving near a school or playground? Twenty is Plenty

Inclusive Driving is the only Carbon Neutral driving school in the West Midlands (1). And if others follow suit (we hope they do) then we will still have been the first, and will be proud to have started it!

Based on our fuel use in the car, and our fuel use in the office over the financial year 2018-2019, we have calculated our carbon footprint and offset it with an accredited scheme. We will do the same every year.

With both local and global offsetting projects, we not only achieved carbon-neutral status: we achieved climate-positive status, meaning that we offset more than we produced.

We have also produced our Environmental Statement, showing our commitment to teaching eco-safe driving, and reducing our environmental impact.

Inclusive Driving Environmental Statement

By the very nature of driving instruction, it is impractical to reduce car use. We minimise our environmental impact in the following ways:

• Longer lessons reduce the number of miles travelled between customers. We encourage customers to choose two-hour lessons and offer a 22% discount on the hourly rate for lessons of two hours duration or more.
• Customers who live more than 7.5 miles from our base are encouraged to use public transport to a local train station or tram stop, and we offer a financial incentive for this.
• We use B7 diesel/biodiesel blend, containing 7% biodiesel from renewable sources.
• We teach in a car with a Euro 6 emissions rating: currently the most stringent standard.
• We choose not to use a roof sign, reducing drag and reducing fuel use.
• We offset all of the carbon dioxide produced from diesel during lessons and during personal journeys through certified carbon schemes both locally and globally.
• We exceed net zero emissions by offsetting a further 25% over our actual emissions.
• We include “eco-safe” driving in our syllabus to reduce our own fuel use and pass on the skills for learners to continue eco-safe driving after they pass their test.
• We include essential car maintenance in our syllabus to ensure learners continue to run their own vehicles with minimum environmental impact.
• Our office utilities suppliers produce electricity from renewable sources.

Proud to be a carbon-neutral driving school

Note to learners: prepare to he nagged even more about going easy on the gas and changing gears early!
1. Correct as of August 2019, based on search engine results. Email for verification

Lets look at our knowledge!

This blog isn’t going to be too long (I don’t think!), however I do think that it’s a really important topic to explore, and discover where we can get knowledge from, and what to do if we don’t understand something.

Why do we need ‘knowledge’?

Knowledge is at the heart of what we all do!

If we didn’t have any knowledge, we wouldn’t really be able to drive! Practical experience of driving is fantastic, and clearly really useful. However, if you don’t have the knowledge of the road, rules, signs and markings, you wouldn’t be able to drive effectively, safely, or even legally.

This is why it’s important that we learn new things, and continuously update our knowledge!

It’s also important that we have a good understanding of our knowledge. Again, it’s all well and good knowing that the white sign with a black stripe means ‘national speed limit’ – but what does ‘national speed limit’ mean? What is the national speed limit? When would you drive to the national speed limit? When wouldn’t you drive to the national speed limit?

Understanding our knowledge means we can use this together with our practical experience and become an even better, safer, and more responsible driver.

Some people prefer the practical side of things – they are better at physically driving and controlling the car, but lack knowledge and understanding. Some people are better at the theory side of things – and have the knowledge and understanding, but find the practical side harder.

Why do we have a theory test?

Our theory test is important to show that we have the knowledge and understanding of different topics. By passing the theory test, it demonstrates you have the knowledge which the DVSA require you to know in order to be able to drive safely.

You must pass your theory test before you can book and take your practical driving test, however you don’t need to have passed your theory test to start learning to drive. You will pick up knowledge from your practical experience of learning to drive.

The theory test includes different topics, including two main ‘bands’;

1) Road Procedure

2) Traffic signs and signals, car control, pedestrians and mechanical knowledge

Overall, this incorporates;

• Accidents
• Alertness
• Attitude
• Documents
• Hazard awareness
• Motorway rules
• Other types of vehicles
• Road and traffic signs
• Rules of the road
• Safety and your vehicle
• Safety margins
• Vehicle handling
• Vehicle loading
• Vulnerable road users

There are two parts to the theory test;

• Multiple choice questions
• Hazard perception

For the multiple choice questions, you must score 43 out of 50 to pass.

You have 57 minutes to answer 50 questions.

For the hazard perception, you must score 44 out of 75 points.

There are 14 video clips with one hazard in each – and in one clip, there are two hazards! You can score a maximum of 5 points per hazard – so the earlier you see the hazard, the more you score. If you miss the hazard, or click too many times, you will score 0 for that clip.

Where can I get my knowledge from?

Lets take a look at where we can get our knowledge from!

The Highway Code

The Highway Code is a valuable resource – this tells us all the legal requirements of driving on the road, as well as other advice and information to help us drive safely and responsibly.

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Driving: The Essential Skills

The Driving The Essential Skills book is like our bible for driving! It is a comprehensive guide, and the ‘driving manual’!

We genuinely believe that the Highway Code and Essential Skills are the two most important books,

The DVSA have also published many other materials, documents, eBooks, PDFs, books, and CDs/DVDs.

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Know Your Traffic Signs

The perfect companion to the Highway Code

This handy reference title illustrates and explains the vast majority of traffic signs that a road user is likely to encounter. Thorough knowledge of all traffic signs is essential for all road users, not just new drivers or riders.

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Roadcraft

Prepared through close consultation with the police, other emergency services, and driving instructors – has been fully revised and updated to give the best evidence-based and authoritative guidance on advanced driving skills.

Roadcraft is recognised internationally as the gold standard for driving.

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Driving Test Success

Driving Test Success is simply the best system for practicing for your theory test.

It also includes fantastic videos for the practical side of learning to drive: to our knowledge, none of the competitor’s apps provides this!

You can sign up here

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We have also partnered with The Colour Academy – who have published a colouring theory book! What a fab idea for those who maybe struggle with reading lots of theory information, those who may have dyslexia, those who may not speak English as a first language (as the theory test can only be done in English, Welsh, or British Sign Language), or those just enjoy colouring and want to learn a slightly different way!

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You could also look through some of our blogs and gain information from those – do let us know if you’ve read something and want us to clarify or explain further!

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Family and friends may have some good advice and tips, especially if they’ve been driving for some time – they will have experience. Do be aware though that the rules and laws do change – and your family or friends may not have kept their own knowledge up to date!

Do you know what we love doing? We love getting our friends, family members, parents etc, to take a free mock theory test (here)! It’s fascinating to see their scores and see their strengths and weaknesses, and it’s such a good opportunity for them to refresh their knowledge and support you with your own learning and revision for your theory test. How about getting your family and friends to do a theory test? Let us know how you get on!

You can also ask your own driving instructor! Driving instructors are trained to a very high standard, and we’re proud of that! We have a wealth of information and knowledge, as well as the skills to teach you. That’s what we’re here for! There is no such thing as a silly question – so PLEASE do ask us if there’s something you’re not sure about – we’d absolutely LOVE to help you!

We’ve teamed up with Marmalade to bring you what we think is the best and most flexible learner insurance there is.

Without affecting your parent’s no claims discount, this is a separate policy in your own name. Click the image to give them a visit and find out more.

Learner Driver Insurance

You want to make the most of your driving lessons, and getting some extra private practise with friends or family can be incredibly useful! Let’s look at how we can do that…

There are two main ways to get insurance;

Named driver insurance

This is where you add yourself to another driver’s insurance policy. This means you don’t have to set up your own policy, but this option can be expensive. If you need to make a claim on the policy, it will affect the policy-holder’s no claims discount and the cost of their insurance might increase next year. This could make them unhappy.

Learner driver insurance

This is where you have your own policy, on your own or somebody else’s car (e.g. a friend or parent) usually with a specialist learner insurance provider. As these types of insurers specialise in learner insurance, the cost can often be lower. This also helps you build up your own no claims bonus in your own name too. If you need to make a claim, it will not affect the car owner’s policy (which will make them happy).

Can anyone supervise a learner driver?

A supervising driver must be over the age of 21 years, and must have held their licence for 3 years or more. They must also meet the minimum eyesight requirements, and must hold a valid UK full driving licence – this means that if they’ve had their licence revoked for driving offences, or revoked for medical reasons etc – they cannot supervise you. They must also follow the same rules as a driver must – such as, no drinking alcohol, no drugs, no using their mobile phone, not being distracted, etc.

You must also display L plates clearly on the front and back of your vehicle, and your vehicle must have insurance, an MOT certificate if necessary, and road tax. It must also be in a good, legal, and roadworthy condition.

Even as a learner, you, as the driver, are responsible when driving a car: even if you are with your supervising driver, or even your driving instructor.

What happens to my learner insurance policy when I pass my test?

It’s very important to note that the second you pass your practical driving test, you are no longer a learner! Your learner driver insurance might become invalid. This means that if you’ve taken your car to your driving test, you are unable to drive home – so it’s worth making sure the family member or friend with you is insured on your car. If you are with your driving instructor, some instructor’s policies allow them to drive other vehicles – you would need to talk to your driving instructor before they decide to drive your car back to your home after your test.

The other option is for you to ring your insurance company the second you pass your test, and change your insurance to a full licence holder policy – you must make sure this has changed over before you drive home. Always double check with the insurance company as to when this will take effect from, as some insurers may tell you to wait 30 minutes for the change to take effect.

Or take out a policy with Marmalade: some of their policies cover you when you pass too!

Should I get a black box?

Often, black boxes are seen as a bad thing – however they can be incredibly useful and reduce your insurance significantly. There are many misconceptions about black boxes, so lets have a look at them. They are very small, and the insurance company will fit it for you, under your dashboard.

How do black boxes work?

Black boxes often work on a ‘points’ system, so the more ‘good things’ you do whilst driving, the more points you get. The more ‘bad things’ you do whilst driving, you are likely to have points deducted.

Here’s a personal experience from Laura:

I personally had a black box when I passed my driving test, and I could access my black box through a dashboard online. With this particular insurance company, you started off with 100/100 points. The insurers explained that if you got below 50/100 points, you would be sent a letter explaining that you need to improve your driving. If you got below 25/100 points, the insurers would consider cancelling your insurance.

If your insurance is cancelled for any reason (such as poor driving, excessively high number of claims, failure to make payments etc – regardless of if you have a black box), you may find it very tricky to get insurance from other insurers.

I often checked my black box dashboard online to see how I was doing, and I was actually surprised that even though I was doing some of the ‘bad things’ (like driving at night as I worked night shifts at the hospital), I didn’t lose that many points! Admittedly I was even speeding occasionally (such as 75 in a 70), and even though it had a small effect on my points, it didn’t affect my insurance dramatically.

You can see your black box data on an app, or online

After my first year of insurance, my insurance HALVED! I was really impressed, and I know that any normal insurance would never have halved my renewal quote – because they aren’t able to see my driving. If you are a relatively good driver, you would be able to take advantage of better renewal quotes because the insurer can see your driving data, know that you are looking after your vehicle, and driving safely.

Black box considerations

Black boxes are often used to track your location, speed, acceleration, braking, and the time of day that you use your vehicle. Lets have a look at what can have a positive/negative impact on your black box points.

Location – Insurers like to know where you are driving, because statistically the safest roads to drive on, are motorways!

Positive impact – Driving on motorways
Negative impact – Driving on country roads

Speed – Insurers can see the speed limits for the roads you have been driving on, and can compare your speed on that road. If you have been speeding excessively, you may be sent a letter from your insurance. It’s important to note that the insurance company can not report speeding offences to the police.

Positive impact – Driving within the speed limit
Negative impact – Driving over the speed limit

Acceleration – Insurers like to see smooth acceleration from you – harsh acceleration may indicate racing type or anti social behaviours, and this is not fuel efficient.

Braking – Insurers like to see smooth braking, rather than harsh/heavy braking. If you are braking harshly it may indicate you are not looking and planning ahead, and are seeing incidents or slow moving traffic very late, not leaving yourself enough time to slow down safely. Harsh/heavy braking can be a surprise to vehicles behind you, could cause an accident, could put unnecessary wear and tear on your brake pads, and is not fuel efficient.

Time of day – Statistically, the time of day you are most likely to have an accident is between 2200-0500. This is mainly due to it being dark and you may be more tired. Each insurer will have their own time frame of when they consider it most unsafe to be driving. This is not to say that you can’t drive during this time, just that your insurers don’t like to see you driving during this time frame for your own safety. Some insurers may also consider it unsafe to drive during rush hour, for example between 0600-0800 and 1630-1830.

Who else provides learner-driver insurance?

We’ve also teamed up with Collingwood Insurance: click the image and get a £20 voucher when you buy one of their policies.

Are you a visual learner? Do you dislike books with lots of words? Does this mean you might struggle to learn your theory?

Have a look at this book from Colour Academy.
Use this link to get a 5% discount