Carry On Driving have working to produce a DVD showing how a Driving Instructor uses the Mirrors - Signal - Manoeuvre system for a variety of basic tasks and hazards that can be encountered during a typical journey. The Driving Instructor explains, as he is driving, how to deal with e.g. a variety of road junctions and hazards.

This is often called Commentary Driving however, we wanted his explanation kept simple so that people watching this DVD would have a better opportunity of:- 1) What the subject is about. 2) What could Happen. 3) What would be the best plan of action. This method is known as, Talk - Through Driving.

                         The following articles are a Brief Review written by Eddie Reade about:                                           The Responsible Driving Syllabus - DSA Unit 1 (LO1)          

Can We Go for a Drive Now?

When I started driving I must admit I did not fully understand what, Fit to Drive meant. Most of the time, when I felt OK I would jump into the car and drive. I say the car because very much like so many young people today that pass their driving test before their twentieth birthday, I did not have sufficient funds to buy a car so, I used my parents car whenever either of them were not using it.
 
  Some years later whenever I was under the weather and feeling ill the thought of driving never crossed my mind so in this instance it's reasonable to say I was not fit to drive. Conversely, like most other people I would from time to time catch a cold, get fuzzy feelings in my head, a runny nose and a sore throat. This sounds pretty bad but I would still go to work, still drive my car and never knowingly ask myself whether I was fit enough to drive my car? There appears to be degrees of what we call personal fitness and even this differs from person to person it is therefore an individual assessment, choice and sense of what would be reasonably acceptable.  

  As a driver, do you ask yourself if you are fit, each time you plan a journey that would include the driving of a vehicle?
  
  Having the correct documentation, driving licence, MOT, Road Fund Licence, insurance etc all seem to be fairly obvious for the seasoned driver. Whether documents are up to date is another issue, a driving licence would need to be renewed because the photocard is limited by time. Have you been driving without incident since taking out car your insurance cover.
  There could be a risk of not having any car insurance by not informing the insurance company of a material fact. An example of this, being caught driving in excess of the speed limit, then choosing to attend a speed awareness course instead of receiving say 3 points on the drivers driving licence. Would it be necessary to tell the insurance company? Yes, this is a good reason to inform your insurance broker or company and as soon as you reasonably can, because it is a material fact. Something that had happened since you originally took out your current insurance cover or policy. At that time you probably agreed with your insurance company that there was nothing to add or amend that could alter your insurance cover. This includes any occurrence whether personal or vehicular that may affect your insurance agreed risk. 
  
  Do we consider whether the vehicle that we plan to use, is it fit for the purpose of the journey?

  But what does Vehicle Fitness mean? Let's have a look at some of the items we need to be knowledgeable about.   
  Fortunately today, new drivers have some basic knowledge about cars because during their driving lessons they will learn how to carry out a variety of routine safety checks and to be knowledgeable about other motoring aspects. A Learner Driver attending for their driving test and would be invited to answer two questions from a list of nineteen, one Show Me question and one Tell Me question both selected by their Driving Standards Agency Driving Examiner. Many of the questions and corresponding answers deal with checks that car drivers would routinely carry out on a weekly basis together with a number of items to check if their car is fit for the road and to recognise if their vehicle needs attention by interpreting information displayed by warning lights in the instrument panel.
 
  This is a set list of items to learn about and although most car have the same components they can look quite different also, their location can often be different. Some are colour coded whereas older cars may not have any colour coding at all. To help with this dilemma, every new car sold is supplied with a Car Handbook which can normally be found in the glove box. When about to drive a car that is new to you it is a good idea to read the car handbook so that you can familiarise yourself with the main and minor controls, location of switches, instruments and fuel type. Check what safety systems are fitted and whether it has manual or automatic transmission, locate gear position or selections including reverse. If the car you intend to drive is not yours one item worth checking is whether there is a spare wheel and if so, is the tyre correctly inflated and, tools including a jack to change a wheel becomes necessary. When buying a second hand car it is important to have the car handbook but if it is missing it can be downloaded from the internet. In addition, car maintenance books can be obtained that cover simple maintenence and replacements, bulbs and safety tips.

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                                            The Horse and Carriage of Driving A Car.                              

Congratulations on your decision in learning to drive a car. Before you book your First Driving Lessons we need to view some important considerations.

Perhaps you have heard the words of a song, Love and Marriage, go together like a, Horse and Carriage.

You can love another person but marriage is also a partnership that will require you to give and or give in at times  before you can expect to gain from a relationship such as this.

This is similar to driving a car, the intention to drive carries with it a serious burden of responsibility. The car requires an official authority to be driven together with a sincere desire by the driver to represent safety and uphold the law.

The dream of being able to drive coupled with pictures of a shiny new car in your favourite colour parked outside your home begins the mental story. Your imagery progresses to driving your new car, being with your friends and having some fun. It all looks quite real and is very much at the forefront on your mind.

Conversely, the negatives include having to pay the rising costs of insurance, fuel, maintenance, servicing and possibly road tax. These are all pushed firmly to the back of your mind, mainly because the list of responsibilities seems endless. Your decision to learn to drive and subsequently pass your driving test means that the thing to do in the first instance would be to, gain an understanding of what these responsibilities will entail.

Let's have a look at a few responsibilities that we seriously consider some of the time whereas for others, we choose not concern not to ourselves most of the time. Do we ask ourselves if we are fit enough before getting into the driving seat of the car? In the next article I shall be covering fitness of the driver, vehicle fitness and planning the first journey for an independent driver.