Why you should use a driving instructor and not your parents

Getting to grips with driving a car can take some people longer than others. This is why you will need the expertise of a qualified driving instructor (ADI) from m & m driving school to help and guide you so that you can pass your driving test with flying colours. We had a 94% first time pass rate last year so choosing m & m driving school should insure your success.

Qualified ADI's have undertaken vigorous training to be able to teach people to drive. This is why when you are looking for redhill driving lessons you should choose an instructor from m & m driving school, rather then just have lessons from your parents. Although you will need your parents to take you out in their car to practice once you have the basics from your instructor they will not know the manoeuvres that our required to pass the test.

Also remember that you might pick up some bad habits from your parents as they have been driving for some time and will drive there own way, all be it safe it will not help you in passing you own driving test when that day comes.

So having lessons with your m & m driving instructor is very important in helping you pass your driving test first time.

F1 star Lewis Hamilton backs road safety scheme

A road safety campaign for school children has been launched in Surrey driving lessons area by motor racing star Lewis Hamilton.

Lewis Hamilton: “I think it’s a fantastic initiative”

The educational scheme for pupils aged 14 to 18 will offer hands-on driving experience and training.

Pupils will also have discussions about the responsibilities of being not only a driver, but also a passenger and a pedestrian.

It was developed by council, fire and police officers, with the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy in Weybridge.

Former Formula One world champion Hamilton launched the scheme on Sunday.

He said “It’s a great thing for young kids to come here and at least raise awareness.”

And he added: “Hopefully, they’ll come here and they’ll walk away with a little bit more knowledge which will equip them even better for when they take their own driving lessons and tests.”

County council leader Andrew Povey said: “School children are the drivers of the future so it is vital we educate them now about the importance of responsible driving.” …

If this wets your appetite and you are looking for redhill driving lessons then please give m & m driving school a call.

Lorry drivers call for ban on All driver Texting

Ban imposed on lorry drivers should be extended to all motorists, says ATA's Graves
A ban on text messaging by lorry drivers imposed today should be extended to all motorists, said the president of the American Trucking Associations.

Such a prohibition would be appropriate for "all states," ATA President Bill Graves said at a press conference in Washington announcing the ban on texting by lorry drivers. When will this be coming to the UK we ask here at m & m driving school. When you are teaching all day long you seeing people all the time using their phones, and this is just in and around the redhill driving lessons area, so the bigger picture is something that needs addressing sooner then later.

Nineteen states and the District of Columbia ban texting by drivers. Several other states are mulling similar bans, and Congress is considering federal legislation.

"We'd like to see all 50 states (adopt such a ban), and failing that we would support federal action that bans texting among all automobile drivers to make our roads safer," Graves said. "We'll work with our affiliated state associations to make that happen."

Graves spoke alongside Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Anne S. Ferro. ATA supports the ban, which imposes fines of up to $2,750 on lorry and bus drivers who send text messages while driving.

The ban was imposed by the Department of Transportation while FMCSA works on a proposed rule on what electronic devices lorry drivers may use while driving.

"The ability to ban texting on handheld devices is available and we applaud doing that," said Graves, noting that "we have some tougher tests before us" when it comes to determining whether restrictions should be placed on other in-cab devices.

"Over the last five years we've seen some progress in safety on our nation's highways, from fatality accidents to the injury rate," Graves said. "But in order for those statistics to continue to improve, we need steps like the one the secretary is announcing today."

Please don't speed past my house

A Nottingham man was stunned when he received a speeding ticket when his car was parked outside his house !

The speed camera located close by his car accidentally picked up his cars licence number when another car drove past at 37mph in a 30mph zone. What is very worrying is this is not the first time it has happened, having had a ticket last year.

Some people say its quite funny getting a ticket when you are sitting at home and not driving your car. More importantly is the fact that the camera can not tell the difference between a moving car or a stationery car !!

This is not the only camera to be located close to stationery cars, when giving our redhill driving lessons we see the parked cars going right up to and beyond the speed cameras line of vision, so this will become a more regular problem for all local councils as are parking becomes even more difficult.

13% of British men 'do not drive'

According to insurance company ibuyeco, a third of non-drivers said they did not drive due to the high expense of driving lessons.

This is one thing we try very hard to do is offer affordable driving lessons in the redhill driving lessons area as there are a lot of driving schools competing for a slice of the cake !!

Also a fifth of non-drivers felt under pressure to learn how to drive due to the heavy stereotyping of men and driving, with around 44% of women polled saying they expected a man to have a licence.

About one-third (33%) of men without a licence said they did not need to drive, while 10% said they failed their test the first time and decided against a retest.

A fifth of them also admitted they did not enjoy driving.

The old cliches of men being better drivers still stand and women think it odd if a man can't drive. !

100 % Pass Rate

Well its always nice to be able to say we have a 100% pass rate, but so far this year here at m & m driving school we have.

Last year we had a 94% first time pass rate, with only four people taking and passing their practical test on the second attempt. We are very proud of these figures as we work very hard to give the best possible redhill driving lessons.

With over 23 years teaching experience there is nothing we have not seen here at m & m driving school surrey. So whether it is first time lessons you are looking for or just some refresher lessons we can help you, with male and female instructors.

Prices helded

Here at m & m driving school we have held our prices for the start of the new year.

We feel that the increase lessons price might just be the the point of which people say no to learning to drive with us. We have always tried to keep our prices reasonable and offer a great service to match our lesson costs.

So if you are looking for redhill driving lessons, reigate driving lessons, horley driving lessons or surrey driving lessons then we can help you.

Just contact us either by phone or via the web site and we will be happy to arrange your first lesson with us.

Drink and Drive the car that says no !

OK this is not here in the UK but this is a great story from Minnesota where 500 volunteers have had a device fitted to their cars so they can only drive if they are sober.

What they have to do is breath into an ignition interlock switch that won't let you start your car if your blood-alcohol level is just one fourth the normal legal limit to drive.

The car will ask you to carry out this procedure three time as your drive, so if you get someone else to take the first breath test to start your car then you will find when you take the second test you will fall and the car will not restart, thus leaving you able to drive having had a drink.

Is this technology of the future, well if it were then taking redhill driving lessons certainly would be different, with each pupil having to carry out this test on each lesson.

Driving Test Tip - Neutral Gear

This a tip for those drivers who hold a foreign and international licence and have decided to take the DSA practical driving test without the help of an approved driving instructor.

While I don't think that this driving tip alone will guarantee you will pass your driving test, it will be one step in the right direction.

One common driving habit we find is when foreign licence holders are taking their surrey driving lessons is that they shift into neutral gear just as they are about to stop. This is a very unsafe habit, and it doesn't matter if you are stopping on the left, in traffic or at a junction, if you get hit from behind by another car while your car is in neutral gear, then your car will be free to roll into the junction, or the car in front of you !

So if you are an international licence holder that wants to take redhill driving lessons then you will need an approved instructor to help you work on this bad habit, and I can tell you from my 22 yrs plus teaching experience the longer you have been driving the harder it Will be to stop this habit.

Almost 50,000 driving tests cancelled

Thousands of driving tests have been cancelled across the UK since late last year as treacherous road conditions made it too dangerous and in some cases impossible to carry out.

The DSA have re-scheduled 47,500 driving tests due to snow and ice, the real problem started after 21st December with 4,382 tests cancelled and only 69 scheduled driving tests going ahead since 21st December.

Our driving tests here at m & m driving school surrey were cancelled on the day of the test, this is done like this because the examiners wait to see if the conditions will improve.

In and around the redhill driving lesson area we were able to carry out most of our lessons leading up to driving tests. However the weather has been very disruptive and this has been the longest period of time driving tests have been cancelled.

Toyota IQ Banned from Driving Test

The DSA have assessed the car and said the all round visibility was too poor to be used on the driving test.

At a constructive meeting with Toyota UK the DSA demonstrated the problems with limited visibility from the passenger seat. So the Toyota still remains unsuitable for the driving test and we have no plans to reassess it after banning it from driving tests.

Here at m & m driving school surrey we use VW Golfs so we have no problems with our cars going on driving tests. We can offer you male and female instructors in the redhill driving lesson area, this can be day time, evenings and weekends.

The DSA said some modern cars have good forward vision but large blind spots to the rear, which present examiners with problems of observation.

"Vehicles for test must allow examiners all round vision so they can see approaching vehicles, particularly when the vehicle is at an angle to others during reversing manoeuvre and when emerging at a junction with the vehicle at an angle the the major road" said the DSA.

Driving Rest - Changes in October

There is a radical change being made to the UK driving test by the DSA which will come into effect from Oct 2010. You might be thinking October 2010 is a long way off, so do many people who take their theory test with us at m & m driving school, pass and then have 2 years to take the practical test but some how allow the pass certificate to lapse !

The change is the introduction of independent driving where the test candidate will have to navigate their way to a set direction using only road signs, no directions will be given by the examiner, not only will you have to know how to get there, you will still have to do it safely, signalling at the right time, being in the correct lane for a roundabout, take the correct exit, keep to the speed limit, and still not make a serious or dangerous driving error.

In order to facilitate independent driving on the practical test, the DSA will cut the number of reversing manoeuvres to one, but since you don't know which one, you will still be taught all the manoeuvres by your m & m driving school instructor. So preparation time will not be cut, but rather increase as you will need more redhill driving lessons to learn independent driving and have a good chance of passing your test with your surrey driving schools instructor.

So book your affordable driving lessons now with m & m driving school surrey. Your lessons can be around school, work or evening time.

Cheap Driving Lessons

There are rumours that the DSA will be introducing changes to the way driving tests are conducted before the end of 2010 that could signal the end of cheap driving lessons.

The proposed change is that there might be a minimum requirement to have taken professional driving lessons over 12 months and a DSA approved and registered instructor will have to sign a decaration to that effect as well as physically present their pupil to the examiner at the test centre on thier test. This would bring the UK in line with most other EU countries.

One of the reasons why there are alot of cheap driving lessons in places like London, Birimingham, Leeds etc. is that you don't need to prove to the examiner that you have had any training, you can just book a practical test once you have passed the theory test.

Of course here at m & m driving school surrey we will make sure you have reached the required standard before you can apply for your practical test appointment.

This new DSA test requirement will effectively mean learners will not be able to take driving lessons with family and friends anymore(private practise after the minimum required professional tution say from a m & m driving school instructor will still be allowed)

Cold & Flu can affect your driving

Having a bad cold or the flu can significantly affect a drivers responses insurance companies have said today.

100 drivers with a range of conditions from colds, stress and headaches and 50 who were all healthy were put through a hazard simulator test.

The results found that drivers with colds scored on average 11% worse - equivalent to the effect of a double whisky.

We have always said here at m & m driving school that whether its cold, flu or just plain not had enough sleep, you should not drive. With this latest research 60 people with colds/flu and 40 with other conditions such as premenstrual syndrome were used to carry out this study.

They have said that applying the 11% effect to reaction times would add 1 metre to stopping distance. To learn more on stopping distances ask your redhill driving instructor to help you.

So if you don't feel up to driving then try not too, all our redhill driving lessons, whether its your first or your last will always be to our highest standard, so we will encourage our pupils to tell us if they feel under the weather.

Driving in snow

Well they said it would come last night and boy did come !!

Today at m & m Driving School Surrey we had to cancel all our lessons, not because of the snow but the lack of gritted roads around the Redhill driving lesson area.

Once the roads are gritted then teaching pupils how to drive in the snow is a great experience for them, better to learn form their reputable driving school in Redhill then later on in their driving have to try without any knowledge.

Just remember to not use any control too much, so very gentle braking, smooth use of the clutch and do not over steer or try speeding up on a corner.

If you would like to improve your winter driving skills then please contact us here at driving schools surrey and we will be very happy to help you.

First female examiner retires

The was 1971 and Lillian Braun was empolyed as a Driving Exainmer in Illinois.

To her it was just a job, a single mum and was looking for a steady job. Not unlike some driving instructors who move onto to becoming examiners. In the surrey driving schools area there are many test centres so the demand is quite high in the area.

Lillian turns 86 this month, having retired from her job on Friday. Asked why she had not retired at 65 she just said "The years go by so fast"

At m & m Driving School Surrey we only teach people to drive, so have no fear we don't have our own Lillian, as you will need to go to the local test centre to take your driving test.

Best ever driver 41 today

Its always hard to say who is the best driver, we all say we are. Here at m & m Driving School Surrey we feel that we have the best instructors offering Redhill driving lessons.

Today though probably the best ever F1 Driver in the modern era is 41. And to then return to racing after 3 years away is fantastic.

Welcome back Michael Schumacher 7 times world champion, and happy birthday from all of us here at surrey driving lessons.

Don't forget we offer affordable cheap driving lessons in the surrey area here at m & m Driving School.

Potholes - Danger for Surrey Driving Instructors

The every increasing number of potholes on our Surrey roads is becoming a major headache for learners and their instructors.

Many potholes are left for extreme lengths of time before the local authorities get round to filling them in and as the time elapses the hole just gets bigger and bigger.

Add to this rain and you have an unseen danger as pupils will think that an innocent puddle is just water and not a large or even deep pothole !!

Here at m & m Driving School Surrey we have been watching to see where the worst potholes are and have been rerouteing our lessons to avoid them.

Figures suggest that there are over 1.5 million potholes on our roads, this represents a major concern to drivers, especially less experienced ones.

In the Redhill driving lessons area we are looking out every day to make sure that any new potholes are logged down so our instructors can avoid them.

Surrey Driving Schools Testimonials

At m & m driving School we pride ourselfs on our service and skills we offer to all our pupils.

Our pass rate is very high, last year we had over a 90% first time pass rate, this we are very very proud off.

Remember this is just not for pupils taking just one lesson per week but for pupils having refresher lessons, intensive driving lessons and check test training as well.

Don't just take our word for it read our testimonials page and see for your self what our pupils think of us.

Check Test Training

We all hate to receive the letter on our door mate, but it happens to us all some time.
At m & m Driving School Surrey we can offer you check test training to help you through this task. We can either just brush up on your 'P's' and 'Q's' or help you with preparation on the whole lesson. This could be Lesson Planning, Q and A Technique or Prompting on the move.

This can be done on a one on one bases with us coming to you and/or you come to us for role play. What we usually do is visit you and sit in the back and see you teach then work form there.

We cover the surrey area so contact us to see if we can help you either by phone or via e-mail.