Driving Lessons should boost confidence

If you are paying for driving lessons with an instructor, then you should not only be learning the skills necessary to keep you safe on the road and pass the dsa practical car test, but these lessons should also act as a confidence booster.

I have seen many new learner drivers come to me who claim to have been taught by qualified dsa approved instructors, yet they seem to lack confidence in either the knowledge or skills they have been taught, and this reflects in the decisions they make while out on the road.

A typical example was someone taking driving lessons in hampstead who had driven many times home through the narrow NW3 streets, yet was not confident of when he had the right of way at a meeting situation, even when he was nearer to the narrower part of the road than the oncoming vehicle, always stopping to the let the other car through (even if that meant slowing down road users behind us). Many people think that being safe is okay by acting over cautiously while on the roads, the truth is that if you always drive with hesitation, you will cause drivers behind you to overtake at places not suitable because you are slowing them down unnecessarily, and the DSA examiners will mark this against you.

So I like to check peoples knowledge, and re-assure them when they do the right thing, that it is okay, like using the car horn to stop a pedestrian from walking into the road while talking on the mobile phone and not paying attention to what is happening around them.

Make sure that your driving lessons are boosting your confidence, and that your instructor is saying some positive things about your driving skills, not just negative feedback during the debrief at the end of a day's session and while training is taking place.