Red Driving school goes into administration

Posted on February 19th, 2010 by admin, under Advice for Learner Drivers, Latest News.

Red Driving school the third largest driving school in the country went into administration on Thurs 18 February 2010

The company made a 2.2m loss in the last 16 weeks

The administrators say it is business as usual and they think they will find a buyer.

NO NO NO,

RED Driving School is DOOMED

Customers

Do not make any advance payments for driving lessons or Instructor training courses to Red Driving School you could end up loosing your money, if you have already made an advance payment get your training done as quickly as possible whilst you have the chance.

Potential Buyers of Red WATCH OUT

Be aware, Red Driving school has taken millions of pounds in advance payments for driving lessons and driving Instructor courses, they are probably liable to much more than what is on their books. Look at the terrible reputation they have on the web, it is unlikely anyone is going to be foolish enough to pay them anything in advance, so all you will have is no income and plenty of prepaid training to do.

No Comments

Driving Instructor Earnings

Posted on November 26th, 2009 by admin, under Driving Instructor.

Driving instructor earnings is probably one of the most talked about topic in the industry. As with anything hotly debated, there is confusing diversity of opinions ranging from feel good sales pitches to grave outlooks from pessimists. The best thing to do here would be to think for yourself. Indeed, with some market sense and research you can estimate your potential earnings by yourself and decide if being a driving instructor is an option. Essentially, you want to ask yourself three questions. What can I charge my pupils without compromising my ability to stay competitive in a given economic climate? What are my business expenses? Where is the industry going?

How much can you charge?

You have to realise what is involved in being self-employed. That’s what most ADIs are. It means you don’t have a merit of a steady monthly salary. ADI earnings build solely on the fees they charge their pupils. In a recession, rough national average fee for driving lessons dropped to £20 per hour. It’s not quite advantageous but still profit-making. There is a growing number of driving instructors who are charging less than that under economic pressures, but this doesn’t sound anything near a viable strategy. So let’s estimate your possible earnings using that £20 rate. You simply multiply the rate by an average number of hours to complete a lesson plan. That’s how much can you make off teaching one pupil. Done? Well, it’s too soon to jump at the figure if it looks like a deal to you.

What are your expenses?

That £20 is not all yours to spend. About half of that soon is spent to cover your business expenses such as fuel, vehicle maintenance and advertising, leaving you with about £10 out of which you will have to give HM Revenue and Customs and national insurance their pound of flesh. To cap it all, if driving instructor falls ill or their car breaks down, they get paid nothing at all. Self-employed do not enjoy paid holidays, sick pay and other benefits employees might get. So after all business overheads, tax and insurance, your net hourly income plummets to about £7.

Where is the market going?

It’s going down. The downswing brings to mind the advertising buzz about earning £30,000 a year and army of pupils eager to learn to drive. First, there is glut of supply on the market, meaning less work, tougher competition and downward prices. You have to rub your brain cells together finding ways to save your costs and lure pupils in rather than chasing that a pie in the sky £30,000. Second, with the average £20 per hour and more people cutting back on spending, you will find it awful hard to even earn a decent living. There ARE ADIs who really make that £30,000, but for a driving instructor just out of school it’s a long way to go. We are not being pessimistic though. There is always silver lining. Good news is fewer ADIs doing it, meaning the supply is going down toward the point where it can meet existing demand. So prices will stop deteriorating. Anyway, you need great deal of business sense to seize opportunities as they appear.

2 Comments

Learning to Drive with Special Needs

Posted on November 26th, 2009 by admin, under Driving Instructor, Driving Schools.

Having moderate learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or Aspergers syndrome can’t deny you an opportunity to learn to drive. This opportunity is vital for you to feel independent and fulfilled. Learning to drive with special needs can be very challenging both physically and emotionally. But aren’t you facing challenges in your everyday life? So think of learning as just one more challenge. Thousands of disabled people hold their driving licence, enjoying the excitement of driving. With diligence, robust motivation and the right training, you will be able to overcome your disabilities, too. Find out how you are going to make it.

Applying for Provisional Licence

Before you start looking for the right driving instructor, you need to consult your GP on your plan to learn to drive. The doctor will brief you on existing DVLA (Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency) guidelines for learners with special needs who are willing to get a driving licence. The agency’s medical advisers will establish whether you are able to meet conditions for safety driving and issue a special certificate that entitles you to apply for your provisional licence with Driving Standards Agency. It would be advisable to get medical reports from your GP to reinforce your application.

Choosing Sensitive Driving Instructor

If you think that driving lessons come natural to pupils with no special needs, you are not quite right. Many people never pass their tests and have to start all over again. Frequently, it is not even their fault. Anyone wishing to learn to drive needs a good driving instructor. But you want to look for more than that, a sensitive, experienced driving instructor who has knowledge of your needs. These people have special training and they can teach you more than just to drive. They will show you how to get in and out of the car more easily and how to operate adapted controls. Big part of learning to drive is learning how to handle adaptive equipment that greatly eases driving and reduces discomfort. Another consideration may be to contact the Forum of Mobility Centers, a network of organisations across the UK that specialises in advising and teaching those with medical conditions which may impair a driver’s ability to drive safely. They also provide a special course for driving instructors who take on teaching people with special needs.

There is no need to say a lot of disabled people can drive a car. If you can do that too, you will accomplish much more than able-bodied learners because daring to get your driving licence is really a heroic deed you can be proud of.

No Comments

Learning to Drive Programme Unfolds

Posted on November 24th, 2009 by admin, under Advice for Learner Drivers, Driving Instructor, Driving Test.

DSA continues to be taking measures aimed at improving road safety and the way learner drivers are instructed and tested. Today we are going to update you on DSA’s Leaning to Drive Programme. We will recap what’s been achieved already and look at what’s coming next.

Learning to Drive Programme focuses on newly qualified drivers and includes measures built around three themes.

• Pre-driver education
• Strengthening the learning processes and the way learner drivers are tested
• Post test

The programme includes three basic phases.

Phase 1: Voluntary Pre-Driver Qualification and Abridged Theory Test, 2009

January saw the introduction of a voluntary pre-driver qualification in Safe Road Use. It targets 14-16 year olds but remains open to all age groups. The course consists of two modules, each taking about 40 hours. Despite the course is voluntary, it gives an advantage to those who passes it. They gain a credit towards the theory test, valid for three years. This credit means an abridged theory test, including 35 multiple choice questions instead of 50 and a lower theory test fee.

Phase 2: Case Studies, 2009

If you are currently on the training, you should be aware about case studies included in the multiple choice section of the theory test. The revamp came into effect on September 28. DSA explained this move as a measure designed to better assess learner drivers’ understanding of the theory. Case study puts knowledge into context and brings pupils closer to real life situations. Case study takes form of a short story on which five multiple choice questions are based. Only one case study is currently introduced.

Phase 3: Assessment of Competence to Drive Independently, 2010

From October 2010, DSA plans to introduce an assessment of competence to drive independently on all practical tests. This independent section is supposed to assess the candidate’s ability to drive independently of direction from the examiner. In other words, the candidate will drive as if they were alone. This new section makes perfect sense as learner drivers should be able to make timely and independent decisions before they can safely use roads by themselves. Independent driving will not add extra time to the test. DSA plans to reduce the number of reversing manoeuvres from two to one to fit the interdependent section in.

No Comments

Stark Message for Impersonators

Posted on November 24th, 2009 by admin, under Latest News.

Beware of DSA, driving test fraudsters and impersonators! DSA’s Fraud and Integrity Team has sharpened its prowess at tracking down criminals who attempt to evade or infiltrate the driving test. DSA’s achievements cumulated in winning first national identity crime award on 20 November.

The National Identity Crime Award was introduced to honor police forces and government agencies which contribute to the national combat against identity crime. To address increased activity of organised criminal gangs which impersonate people unwilling or unable to pass the driving test, DSA established Fraud and Integrity Team in 2004. Since then it has investigated over 3,000 alleged incidents of impersonation, resulting in 821 arrests and 1,186 driving licences revoked. Hundreds of criminals, who were never qualified for driving, were barred from using public roads.

Impersonation is a serious crime that is punishable with imprisonment. Criminals supply driving licences to people who are unwilling to pass driving tests or even those who are not eligible to do so. It may negatively impact road and public safety. In addition, driving licence may be used as a false identity to support further fraud offences.

DSA’s head of Fraud and Integrity, Andy Rice, accepted the award and reassured: “We will continue to develop our methods and intelligence in the future to combat all forms of crime around the driving test. Our investigations, and the resulting court sentences, send a clear message out to anyone thinking of this type of crime – we will use every method at our disposal to bring you to justice.”

No Comments

More Powers Given to the Registrar of ADIs

Posted on November 16th, 2009 by admin, under Latest News.

The Driving Instruction (Suspension and Exemption Powers) Act 2009 received Royal Assent last Thursday. Under new legislation, the Registrar of ADIs has powers to suspend a reckless driving instructor immediately.

Previously, it took 45 days to remove driving instructors who pose a significant threat to learner drivers and road safety from the register of Approved Driving Instructors. This loophole allowed irresponsible instructors to continue to give driving tuition. New suspension powers will enable the Registrar to take action immediately.

The new law started as Private Members Bill and received support from the Department for Transport and Driving Standard Agency. Law makers hope the act will serve as a strong message for those driving instructors who pose danger to their pupils and the public. The new law will also apply to Potential Driving Instructors.

No Comments

Advice for Learner Drivers: Reasons to Sack Your Driving Instructor

Posted on November 10th, 2009 by admin, under Advice for Learner Drivers, Driving Instructor, Driving Tips.

Getting your driving license is not an easy ride. While you can self-educate on the theory, it seems unlikely you can play the same trick with your practical driving test. To pass it successfully, you will need to find an approved driving instructor (ADI), and a good one at that. And this is the point where you should be particularly careful about your choice.

Finding an ADI is as easy as pie today. You can simply look into your local paper or surf the web. So you phone around until you think you’ve met a suitable fellow. Not the cheapest, mind you, because undervalued hourly rate will possibly mean a substandard service. Nice chat on the phone doesn’t necessarily mean the guy on the other end is as good at teaching as he is at selling.

The real testing comes during your lessons. Below are five main reasons why you should sack that nice guy before you lose your money and hope to pass your driving test successfully.

Quick Tempered

Is your ADI shouting at you? Is he losing his temper every time you make a minor mistake? If so, don’t be frustrated with yourself. You pay for being trained, and training includes making mistakes. Shouting teacher has never been a good one. You are not going to pay for being shouted at, aren’t you?

Not Enough Driving

How much driving is enough? Don’t expect you get under the wheel right away. At your first lessons, you are going to drive for about half of your lesson time. By approximately hour ten you should be driving all lesson long. If somehow you drive less than that, you are not getting value for your money.

No Feedback

Good ADI always keeps track of his learner’s progress. Getting feedback is crucial for learners so they can get an idea of how well they are doing and what are their weaknesses. It is also crucial for ADI because this helps him focus on a learner’s problems instead of simply completing lesson plans.

Mobile Phone Chatter

If your ADI keeps chatting on that mobile phone all the time, just run away. You are charged an hourly rate so his mobile phone use robs you out of time you pay for. In addition, it interrupts and interferes with learning process, let alone takes your attention off the road.

Taxi, Please

Once you drove your ADI to a shopping centre or a bank. But then you start getting this uncomfortable feeling your ADI is using driving lessons to go about his business. You are doing the driving all right, but as your teacher does his shopping, the paid time is ticking away.

No Comments

Motorists Should Go Back To Driving School

Posted on November 6th, 2009 by admin, under Driving Research and Statistics.

It is funny how rapidly learner drivers’ knowledge of Highway Code may deteriorate after they have passed their theory test with flying colours. Only three per cent of driving license holders would re-pass their theory test, if they had to take it tomorrow, according to a new road safety research.

The research in question was carried out by one of the biggest price comparison sites moneysupermarket.com. It was based on an online poll of more than 1,500 British drivers. The poll exposed really worrying road safety picture with only three per cent of those polled able to recognise the simplest rules and signs from the Highway Code.

As far as road signs are concerned, only half of British drivers were aware that 30 mph speed limit sign indeed means the driver has to slow down and adhere to the limit. 65 per cent of polled motorists failed to correctly identify the sign for ‘no vehicles’. 39 percent of them had no idea about the meaning of the sign and 21 percent understood it as ‘obey next warning sign’. About 7 per cent of drivers were unable to recognise the sign ‘oncoming vehicles have the right of way over you’.

The poll further found that 23 percent of drivers did not know pedestrians should be their main priority when turning into a side road. One of the most worrying unawareness of rules was how motorists would perform U-turn. 23 per cent of drivers would look over their shoulder first! Only a quarter of motorists would do signalling so other drivers can slow down.

It seems that after obtaining their driving license drivers never brush up on their knowledge of the Highway Code. This may wind up causing accident on the road or worse. Motorists are required by law to conform to the rules from the Highway Code, or otherwise they could be fined, given penalty points or disqualified from driving.

No Comments

Why Do Driving Instructors Need Business Skills

Posted on October 31st, 2009 by admin, under Driving Instructor, Driving Tips.

Why do you think it happens that a staggering 50 percent of newly qualified approved driving instructors quit within the first 18 months? In most cases, the reverse comes from disillusionment. After being lulled by the advertising industry into believing in a paradise-like future of being a driving instructor, they faced tough challenges and gave up. They were not bad driving instructors. What they were bad at was running their own business.

No Room to Swing a Cat

If you still think that you’ve made it when you stuck that green badge in your windscreen, it is time to start really worrying. The market is packed and it would take a good deal of business skills to rip it open and shove in. Despite advertising fellows telling you that a million of people learn to drive every year, there is still no room for a newly qualified ADI. Advertising does not necessarily misrepresent, but what these chaps don’t want you to know about is how many of your competitors are out there. And there are legions of them. It is estimated there are only 19 pupils per each driving instructor on the market. It goes without saying that luring in just one of those is not easy.

Think Like a Salesperson

To survive in this environment, you first have to think how good your business skills are. Being a driving instructor in most cases means self-employment. And self-employment is in many ways like running your own business. Look at your driving school. Are they sitting around waiting for would-be driving instructors to be pouring into their offices? Hardly so. They go out there and advertise like hell! Or look at a thriving baker’s shop. Their cakes must be the yummiest in the neighborhood, right? To make your “cakes” the best, you will need to take care of the following things.

Get yourself noticed. It all starts with advertising your services smartly. An advertising technique is largely depends on the audience you target. Basically, you customers are going to be young so make sure your advertising is both entertaining and informative. The best choice is to set up a website. It should be catchy. Boring website means you are a bore. Nothing can scary a young pupil away best than a boring teacher!

Be a Good Salesperson. Reaching your audience is not enough. You should be able to convert your audience into your customers. And this magic metamorphosis can be done by phone. Answer the calls effectively. That means you need a good answerphone message when you are not available. But as you pick up the phone, that’s when your salesperson skills come into play. If you don’t have any, start learning right away. If you can’t sell, you will have nobody to teach. Professional Excellence. Eventually, your best advertising is your teaching attitude and your personal pass rates. Your successful pupils may be your reliable references and they can become your word of mouth advertising. They tell a friend, their friend tells a friend and soon you will be teaching those 19 pupils. So it doesn’t matter how good you are as a driving instructor, if you don’t have any business sense, you’ll probably be struggling.

No Comments

Watch Out For Bogus Driving Instructors!

Posted on October 31st, 2009 by admin, under Driving Instructor.

There are certain driving instructors who can make money off driving instruction without investing in all the training and passing all the qualifying exams. Just like Mr. Ferris, of Newport, Gwent, who has been recently fined a £305 for giving illegal driving tuition to three learner drivers.

David Ferris, 50, was deceitful to three pupils that he was an Approved Driving Instructor as he charged them £17 per lesson. Ferris’ qualifications were doubted by Newport Driving Centre staff in November last year. As DSA’s Fraud and Integrity Team collected evidence, the bogus ADI received a warning to stop his illegal activity. Ferris said in response that he was helping his friends with driving training for free. Some time later, DSA received a complaint from one of Ferris’ “friends” and cracked down. The fraudster was arrested at his home on June 26, 2009. Mr. Ferris pleaded guilty for the offences and was fined a combined £305.

It goes without saying that taking lessons from illegal driving instructor may be dangerous and a waste of money. They never passed their qualifying exams and, thus, are unable to provide an adequate training to their pupils. In addition, bogus driving instructors are stealing customers from those who really deserve them.

Protecting yourself from the fraud is very easy. Be aware that any qualified driving instructor should display his coloured badge in the windscreen. Pink badge shows they are still under training and are entitled to provide driving tuition. Green badge indicates you are being trained by fully qualified person who is on the Register of Approved Driving Instructors. Make sure the person on the badge photo quite looks like your driving instructor!

Being an illegal driving instructor can bring about more severe penalties than just paying a £305 fine. One fraudster named Donald Johnson – who could have made a brilliant driving instructor – was sentenced to two years in jail for doing the same thing as David Ferris, but at greater scale and with more talent. In 2006, Mr. Johnson illegally taught 19 pupils, and 15 passed their tests first time! It is almost 80 percent with national average pass rate for pupils who take driving test first time being at only 46 percent.

If you have any suspicions toward your driving instructor, ask him to show you his badge or call DSA.

No Comments