In a driving context, most of the decisions that you take and
the techniques that you employ, will have both an economic and a
safety impact. The decision to take driving lessons is really a
simple one but one that will have far reaching consequences well
into the future. Most, if not all, poor or dangerous habits in
today’s drivers stem from the lack of professional tuition at
the outset. In this second in a series of articles designed to
assist today’s learner drivers we will have a look at the
benefits in taking Professional Tuition.
1.Taking lessons will greatly improve your chances of staying
safe and accident free since providing you retain what you have
been taught, you will be probably better than many motorists who
have been driving for considerably longer. Lack of sufficient
training, or even no training at all which is common in Ireland,
will inevitably lead to accidents at a very early stage in the
driving career. Accidents are to be avoided at all costs. After
all isn’t the safety of the driver, the passengers and other
road users the paramount priority?
2.A course of lessons at the start of your driving career and
not one month from your Driving Test, will give you the
confidence you need to continue the learning process, and will
form the foundation for safe motoring.
3.Taking a course of lessons will give you the chance to be
accepted by an insurance company for your first Insurance
policy. In fact most companies will insist on a minimum number
of lessons completed by a recognised school, before a son or
daughter will be admitted onto a Parent’s policy.
4.On a very topical note, the Irish Insurer Hibernian, in
conjunction with the Institute of Advanced Motorists, has
extended its successful Ignition scheme to provisional license
holders since January 2005.Learner drivers that pass the one
hour driving assessment, will be offered a 21% reduction on
their insurance. This is a substantial reduction for any new
driver, particularly young males under 25 years of age, and well
worth achieving. Just being in the possession of a provisional
license will not suffice to pass this test. A course of lessons
will be needed in order to achieve the required standard and the
test should not be booked until quite a high level of both
competence and confidence has been reached.
5.Passing the Department of Transport Driving Test, sooner
rather than later, will result in further reductions in already
high Insurance costs. Lessons taken just before the Driving Test
will not cut it in today’s Test environment; there is just too
much to learn if one wants to be successful first time out.
6.The long waiting list for the Irish Driving Test is a great
inconvenience for many learner Drivers and also their Driving
Instructors. The long wait is accentuated by the huge numbers of
learners who do not prepare adequately with a professional
school and then are forced to re sit their Test sometimes
several times over. Career aspirations can easily be affected if
the journey to a full License is overly prolonged.
7.Obtaining a full driving license promptly will speed up the
reduction in your insurance premiums via your annual no claims
bonus, providing of course you are not involved in any accidents.
8.As a fully licensed Driver you will have much greater
opportunity to shop around for a competitive insurance quote,
since there are only a very few companies who will insure
provisional license holders and then only at a huge premium.
9.As an addition to item number 4 as a fully licensed Driver,
you may apply for the more advanced Hibernian Ignition course,
providing you are in your first five years of driving .This is a
full day course, the cost of which can be recouped, if you pass
the practical driving assessment at the end of the day. The
reduction in insurance premium for the successful candidate can
be upwards of 30%, so again very worthwhile .Drivers in this
category should take a refresher course with a driving school to
ensure that any bad habits or techniques are eradicated. Once
again it is worth pointing out that the length of your driving
experience is not a guarantee of success unless you started on
the right foot to begin with!
10. If, in the early days of your working life you are unlucky
enough to find yourself jobless through either, takeovers,
cutbacks or closures, a full Driving License will enable you to
pick up an interim job very quickly while you regroup and
examine your future options. There is a shortage of drivers to
fill current vacancies in Europe, particularly in the commercial
sector so there are great opportunities for young qualified
drivers who have been well trained.
Both career and promotional opportunities abound for the fully
licensed driver in any organisation. Faced with two candidates
of similar qualifications, an employer will naturally favour the
person with the full license pretty much every time.
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