Many drivers do not anticipate a bend in the road and how this will affect their driving.

Too many drivers take a bend too fast when they need to consider how tight the bend is, will they need to reduce their speed and when will they need to do this, otherwise drivers behind will not know of their intentions.

As you drive towards a bend it is good practice to check your mirrors.

The way to approach a bend is to slow down sufficiently before the bend so you can come of the brakes as you enter the corner. You can then accelerate gently during the bend if needed. This ensures that your tyres aren’t under too much pressure and reduces the risk of skidding.

What are your thoughts on this article? Send your views to Britannia Driving School by using the comments link below:

A Shrewsbury Town footballer who was caught using a mobile phone at the wheel escaped a driving ban because he said he needed his car to get to training sessions.
Reuben Hazell, 32, who signed for Shrewsbury in June, told a court that no-one was available to chauffeur him on the 110-mile round trip from his Birmingham home to the League Two club’s Greenhous Meadow stadium.
The defender claimed special hardship, saying no family member, including his uncle, former Wolves defender Bob Hazell, or colleague could give him lifts.
Hazell already had nine points on his licence, and was handed three more for using his phone while driving, which meant he could have been handed an immediate ban.
Appearing at Oldham Magistrates Court, he admitted using a mobile phone in his car at Oldham in March.
Julie Spaven, prosecuting, told the court that a police community support officer had spotted Hazell, who was then playing for Oldham Athletic, using his mobile phone while driving his Volkswagen car.
Hazell told the court his partner worked full-time for the Crown Prosecution Service so could not drive him. And the court was told there were not any trains that ran close to the club’s ground and he could not afford to take a taxi every day.
Asked by court legal advisor Kay O’Sullivan whether he would be fired if he could not get to work, Hazell said: “I presume not, but there is no guarantee if you start missing a day of training.”
He had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.
As well as giving Mr Hazell three points on his licence, chairman of the bench Chetana Bhatt-Shah handed the footballer a £150 fine, charged him £35 costs and imposed a £15 victims’ surcharge.

When driving you need to have continual awareness of your surroundings. By ensuring your mirrors are positioned properly, this will allow you to observe without taking your eyes of the road for more than a couple of seconds.

The brake pedal is there to help the car stop or significantly slow down, it is not to help you control speed. If you want to slow down slightly, reduce the gas or if you are travelling downhill select a lower gear to help you maintain speed.

Sitting in the driver’s seat correctly doesn’t sound too difficult yet many drivers have bad posture, by keeping an upright position you will be able to see the road clearly and have better control over the car.

Ensuring your lights are on in dark, wet or foggy conditions, but to be vigilant if using your full beams as these should only be used in remote locations with little or no light.

What are your thoughts on this article? Send your views to Britannia Driving School by using the comments link below:

WALKERS hiking up Snowdon – the highest mountain in England and Wales – were shocked to find a car, apparently driven by a Cheltenham man, parked just a few hundred yards from the summit.
Mountain rescuers yesterday branded as “dangerous” the audacity of the driver who steered the 4×4 vehicle up the 3,560ft mountain.
It is understood the Vauxhall Frontera was abandoned on Saturday morning after becoming stuck, and Cheltenham man Craig Williams has been charged following the discovery. A spokesman for North Wales Police said the charges related to driving a vehicle on common land, moorland or land which is not part of a road.
Williams, 39, of Bridgend Road, has been bailed to appear at Caernarfon Magistrates’ Court on September 16.
Llanberis Mountain Rescue said vehicles were not allowed on the mountain and that it was amazing the driver had managed to get so high.
A spokesman for Snowdonia National Park Authority added: “This sort of incident is unacceptable and shows a lack of responsibility on behalf of the individual or individuals involved.
“Along with the obvious dangers posed by this type of incident, it could cause damage to the footpath and landscape, which means added work for the footpath teams.
“In respect of the severity of the incident, the Snowdonia National Park encourage the police to take firm action against the owner of the vehicle.
When approached by the Echo last night, Mr Williams said: “You wake up one morning and you are bored and want a new challenge.
“It seems insane, doesn’t it?
“I think they are making a mountain out of a molehill.
“The intention was to drive to the top and bring it back down again.
“It looks like I’ll have to pay thousands of pounds in recovery costs.
“I can’t say a lot about what else has happened at the moment.”
Mr Williams said the incident occurred when he was on a weekend break alone.
Speaking from his home in Bridgend Road , Craig’s father, Ken Williams, 70, added: “I didn’t know anything about it until I started getting some calls today.”

Driving brings people a real sense of freedom but with it requires training, experience, patience and determination. By having lessons with a qualified instructor, you will receive the proper training, learn the requirements to pass the test and gain immense experience that you couldn’t gain through learning independently.

The more road experience you have the better, so taking additional lessons with friends of family can be beneficial as long as you are at a good standard of driving.

Learning with an instructor means you will cover many aspects of driving such as, town, countryside, dual carriageways, at night and in rainy season which you may not be confident doing with family or friends.

An instructor will be somebody that is current and up-to-date with all theory aspects. Most drivers whether you have held your licence for 20 years or not could probably do with revising the Highway Code and taking a few refresher lessons.

With an instructor you will be provided with a car which is current, reliable and fitted with dual controls. We all have moments of madness where we make silly mistakes, with the instructor’s dual controls you are safe at all times. Instructors have done extensive training which allows them to not only watch out for the driver’s techniques and errors but plan ahead to ensure all other road users and pedestrians are safe.

So why not call us at Britannia today on 0208 543 8050 and let our instructors take you on the road to freedom.

What are your thoughts on this article? Send your views to Britannia Driving School by using the comments link below:

Learning to drive is something most people aim to achieve in life as it gives you a real sense of freedom and opens up endless opportunities across the country or even further.

One sixth form in Breightmet – Bolton St Catherine’s Academy take the same views and now offer their students free driving lessons and their own personal laptop.

They believe that all students should have access to these resources and no one student should feel disadvantaged. They currently offer five free driving lessons to all pupils and say it’s a life skill they believe each pupil should achieve to ensure they are ready for real life.

Pupils are welcoming the gesture, saying it will reduce the financial burden college life brings and will allow them to travel to job interviews and attend courses much further away.

What are your thoughts on this article? Send your views to Britannia Driving School by using the comments link below:

The road safety charity the Institute of Advances Motorists has said that younger drivers are 15% more likely to be in a car crash than older drivers due to mistakes at the wheel or bad reactions. The report from the IAM shows that in crashed that have been the fault of drivers under 20, around 50% of them were due to rider and driver error or poor reactions.As experience as a driver grows, this drops to 42% when they are in their 20’s and ultimately 33% when the driver is aged 40-60. Factors that are prevalent with more aggressive styles of driving are also associated with crashes involving young drivers. These include losing control, travelling too fast for the road conditions, exceeding speed limits and sudden braking. Where alcohol was a factor, it accounted for 4.6% of crashes in the 17-24 age bracket and 3% for those aged 25-69.As driver and rider errors were the main cause of serious and fatal crashed for this age group it is clear they need more training and experience. The IAM is now calling for post test training for all young drivers during the first 12-18 months after they have passed their test. This is based on a scheme that was trialled in Austria and subsequently, thanks to the extra training, cut the death rate for young male drivers by 30%.The chief executive of IAM, Simon Best has said that drivers aged between 17 and 25 only make up 15% of the driving population, yet that suffer 30% of all accidents and also account for 40% of all insurance claims. He added that the findings clearly showed that handing a young person a driving licence without offering them any further help or training was putting too many young drivers at unacceptably high risk.

President Obama’s uncle was stopped by police last week on suspicion of drink driving after going over a stop line and nearly causing a collision.

Onyango Obama is thought to have contacted the White House for bail.

There has been some confusion over his immigration status however, a spokesman at immigration and Customs Enforcement – ICE failed to comment.

Obama, 67, was charged with operating under the influence of alcohol, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and failure to yield the right of way.

Obama originally told police he had nothing to drink but later changed his story to having had two beers. When he was breathalysed, he failed the legal drink driving limit.

So no matter who you are and what your status or relationships may be, we must all be law abiding citizens.

What are your thoughts on this article? Send your views to Britannia Driving School by using the comments link below:

THREE quarters (78%) of employers are unaware of impending EU driving legislation aimed at decreasing the number of sight related road traffic accidents.Research commissioned by Specsavers Corporate Eyecare* has revealed that one third of professional drivers have substandard vision. The driving related survey into eyecare policies across 187 UK companies, represented between 295,566 and 448,629 employees.HR Managers are being urged to review their eyecare policies now as a simultaneous poll of 2,000 UK drivers reveals the extent of the problem of poor vision on our roads: of the respondents that had accidents in the last year 17% were as a result of poor vision or not wearing glasses. Contrary to opticians’ recommendations, one in three had not been for an eye examination in more than two years. A further six per cent said they had not had an eye examination in the last 11 years. Most shocking of all, one in five of those who need to wear glasses behind the wheel admitted they often do not bother to put them on. The survey also revealed that one in ten drivers have had an accident or near miss because they were not wearing their glasses while driving.* *New legislation covering eyetests for drivers was passed in the EU Parliament in 2006 and is set to be introduced to member states in 2011. The current proposal is that holders of commercial licences will have to have their eyes tested every 5 years, and holders of private licences will be tested every 10 to 15 years. Each member state has until 2013 to translate the directive into national law.Laura Butler, corporate account manager for Specsavers Corporate Eyecare, says: ’It is astounding that more than three quarters of companies have not even heard of this new legislation. We hope to work with HR Managers to ensure that basic eye tests are implemented for everyone who drives in the course of their work. For everyone’s safety, this should be a priority now, regardless of the date when the actual legislation will come into force.’

Driving brings people a real sense of freedom but with it requires training, experience, patience and determination. By having lessons with a qualified instructor, you will receive the proper training, learn the requirements to pass the test and gain immense experience that you couldn’t gain through learning independently.

The more road experience you have the better, so taking additional lessons with friends of family can be beneficial as long as you are at a good standard of driving.

Learning with an instructor means you will cover many aspects of driving such as, town, countryside, dual carriageways, at night and in rainy season which you may not be confident doing with family or friends.

An instructor will be somebody that is current and up-to-date with all theory aspects. Most drivers whether you have held your licence for 20 years or not could probably do with revising the Highway Code and taking a few refresher lessons.

With an instructor you will be provided with a car which is current, reliable and fitted with dual controls. We all have moments of madness where we make silly mistakes, with the instructor’s dual controls you are safe at all times. Instructors have done extensive training which allows them to not only watch out for the driver’s techniques and errors but plan ahead to ensure all other road users and pedestrians are safe.

So why not call us at Britannia today on 0208 543 8050 and let our instructors take you on the road to freedom.

What are your thoughts on this article? Send your views to Britannia Driving School by using the comments link below: