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Confidence

To be a Good driving Instructor is a difficult job especially when our customers come to us with huge fears of driving, being in control of a car, driving out on the public road in heavy traffic etc etc.

Let's take a scenario: Martin is 31, and phones me looking for driving lessons. He says that he has driven a few times in an automatic car but wants to learn how to drive a manual car. He expresses that he is very nervous.

My name is Derek and I'm the owner of Driving's Cool Ltd. I have been a life coach for 2 years now and life coaching is something that I implement into my lessons everyday!

The key to a great relationship is excellent communication, so I listened to Martin and then asked him why was he nervous.

Martin was so quiet on the phone and very vague. I try with every student who phones, to get an idea of their driving history by asking my 9 general questions, Martin told me something that he did not want to tell me. He told me that he had 1 driving lesson with another driving instructor and that the instructor got angry with him. This put him off booking his second lesson and off driving for ever.

There are a lot of instructors who don't like their job and to them, it's just a job, a way of earning money.

The great thing about me is that I love my job and on every lesson, I guarantee a smile or a laugh at some point. Learning should be fun! Martin had 16 lessons with me and passed his test in finglas RSA February 2010.

What I say to nervous students firstly is to watch the Learn to drive DVD to get an idea about the Mathematics of driving. Once you have this done, through excellent communication and relaxation techniques, as well as life coaching, you will be driving in the first five minutes of our 1st driving lesson.

It's as easy as it sounds!

A lot of people come to me on a daily basis with negative attitudes about learning to drive because of fears or experiences they have had previously. With us driving will be like breathing fresh air surrounded by peace and calm. That's why I encourage learners to have their lessons in the Phoenix Park for their beginning lessons as it's calm and there is open space everywhere so you don't feel stressed or agitated.

You will love driving!

The Wrong Way

The worst thing a learner can do, is to get a friend to show them how to drive. Ask any driving instructor and they will tell you that they make more money from the people who try to save money in the beginning by not having professional lessons! It takes less time to teach a total beginer than someone with a little experience of bad driving techique.

Scenario 1:

Michelle from Corduff, Dublin 15, watched our DVD 6 times, booked her first lesson of 1.5hr in the Phoenix Park and was doing 1st gear, 2nd gear, 3rd gear, and 4th gear within 30mins of her first lesson. She had 9 lessons in our learner car, 5 lessons in her mother's car and then passed her test in Finglas the first time.

Financial Breakdown:€12 DVD, €324 on lessons. €75 for the driving test.
Total cost: €411.

Scenario 2:

Stephen from Clonsilla, Dublin 15, got his provisional and taught himself to drive. Stephen has sat his test 10 times, 6 at €38 and four at €75. He has had a two hour pre-test before every driving test at a cost of €90 each. You don't need a degree in maths to see there is something wrong here, but it took Stephen €1128 to see that there was something wrong with his driving.

He phoned me saying that he was driving 3 years and that he was a good driver and that he never had an accident. I told Stephen anyone can move a car from A to B, but not everyone can do it the way the Road Safety Authority want it. There is a certain technique that has to be followed, if it's not, you fail, it's very simple! I'm very direct with the way I teach. You will always know when something is right and if something is wrong we work on it.

Stephen asked for a 2 hour pre test which was his first mistake, because in a pre-test, the instructor will tell you where your mistakes are, but not show where or how to change them. Stephen spent €900 on pre-tests which is crazy unless you have money you can throw away. I asked him could he afford another €900 or was he ready to change his attitude? Stephen had phoned me 11 days before his test and going out with him for 1.5hr around Blanchardstown, we worked on everything the first day!

Stephen had issues with the following:

By the end of Stephen's very first ever driving lesson with me, he was tired, but he went home amazed, that he could now see all the mistakes he had being making but never shown how to correct!

I gave Stephen his "home work" and told him not to phone me until his home work was done.

4 days later, Stephen texted me, and we had a 1hr lesson and worked on the reverse corner, which was a fright!

Answer this question: What is the maximum distance a car should be from the kerb when finished the reverse corner?

On a daily basis students will complain to me on how stupid they think the reverse corner is and ask me why they have to do it. I did not design the RSA driving test, but the reverse corner is great fun once you are shown how to do it correctly!

What mirror can be adjusted for the reverse corner?

Stephen went home after that lesson and worked hard at his home work and after 5 hours with me in total, went for his test in Raheny RSA and passed. The cost was €74 for the test and €125 for his lessons = €199. If he had taken lessons from the beginning he would be €1000 richer!

How much money have you spent??????

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