Tag Archive for: taking driving lessons in Edinburgh

What Kinds of Pedestrian Crossings Are There?

Understanding the different kinds of pedestrian crossings is one of the first things you learn during your first driving lessons.

In addition to being for pedestrian safety, you can encounter them or be questioned about them during your driving test. The purpose of pedestrian crossings is to facilitate safe pedestrian crossings.

The UK government site has a very good guide that people starting to take driving lessons will find very useful:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/know-your-traffic-signs/pedestrian-cycle-and-equestrian-crossings

Different kind of pedestrian crossings include: zig-zag road markings, puffin crossings, toucan crossings, equestrian crossings, pelican crossing, signal-controlled junctions, zebra crossings and parallel crossings. As you can see, there are quite a few and it is important that become familiar with all of them. It may seem a bit daunting at first, but their names will help you remembering what they and you will be glad that you do when you take your driving test.

Looking for driving lessons in Edinburgh? Why not give Colin at Driving Lessons Edinburgh a call for a chat and start working towards getting your driving licence today.

Driving lessons in Edinburgh: Stopping Distances

One of the first thing that we teach here at Driving Lessons Edinburgh is to understand and response stopping distances.

To pass both your driving test and your driving theory test, you must be aware of stopping distances.

The quicker you drive and the wetter the road, the greater the stopping distance. Additionally, it takes some time to comprehend the situation before braking. Bad weather conditions also have an influence on this, so it is best to give it a bit more when the road is wet of visibility is reduced – something we experience very often here in Edinburgh.

You can pass your driving test and stay safe on the roads long after by calculating stopping distances – so it is vital to learn how to calculate them as soon as you start taking driving lessons.

Starting with 20mph, multiply the speed intervals by 2 to give the safe stopping distance in feet. For each additional 10mph, increase the multiplication by 0.5 to provide the appropriate stopping distance:

• 20 mph x 2 = 40 feet (12 metres)
• 30 mph x 2.5 = 75 feet (23 metres)
• 40 mph x 3 = 118 feet (36 metres)
• 50 mph x 3.5 = 175 feet (53 metres)
• 60 mph x 4 = 240 feet (73 metres)
• 70 mph x 4.5 = 315 feet (96 metres)

A lot of pupils fail their driving test because they fail to respect the correct distances. So it is well worth making sure you make it second nature to judge the correct distance. And of course understanding the above is not just to pass your driving test: it is vital for being able to drive safely and avoid accidents.

Expect to learn more during your first driving lesson with Driving Lessons Edinburgh!

A Guide for Beginners: Driving an Automatic Vehicle

Because automatic cars are simpler to operate than manual ones, learning to drive one can be beneficial for people starting their driving lessons.

Beginners may concentrate better on steering, road awareness and making safe decisions in an automated car since there is no clutch pedal or need to shift gears, distracting them from the rest. This helps can boost the confidence of people who just started taking driving lessons, especially when they start to drive in Edinburgh’s busiest roads.

Having said that, here at Driving  Lessons Edinburgh use a car with manual gears, as we feel this is the best for learning and preparing you for your driving test. Once you master driving with manual gears, it is pretty easy to adapt to a car with automatic gears.

If you do any driving practice with family and friends, it may be a good idea to do so with a car that has manual gears to avoid any confusion in the first learning stages.

Call  Colin at Driving  Lessons Edinburgh and book your first driving lesson today!

What do you need to bring to your first Driving Lesson?

What do you need to bring to your first driving lesson? Is there something you may have forgotten about or overlooked?

The answer is “not very much….”

1. Provisional licence – the most important thing is to remember to bring your provisional licence (if you haven’t got one see our blog on how to apply for your Provisional Driving Licence). You instructor must see this before he/she is allowed to give you any lessons. So make sure you bring it with you, or you will not have a first lesson at all.

2. Glasses/contact lenses – if you need them, please remember to bring them. Your instructor will ask you to read a number plate from:

• 20 metres for cars with the new-style number plates (2 letters followed by 2 Numbers KP34 CCA; or
• 20.5 metres for the old style number plates.

If you are unable to read the number plate unfortunately, your instructor wont be able to take you out unless you are able to collect your glasses before the lesson starts. If you were unable to read a number plate on the day of the test, the examiner wouldn’t be able to continue any further with the Driving Test. Also a good idea to make sure you had a recent eye test, as if your glasses are no longer adequate you may struggle.

3. Shoes – it may sound silly but please wear comfortable shoes (trainers or flat shoes are best). This makes things much easier.