Kym's Driver Tuition

29/01/2026

16/01/2026

Driving Barefoot ,Legal or Illegal?

This is one of those questions that refuses to go away.

Many drivers are convinced it’s illegal to drive without shoes.
It isn’t.

There is no law in the UK that bans driving barefoot. What the law does require is that you remain in proper control of your vehicle at all times.

That means whatever is on your feet or not on your feet must allow you to use the pedals safely and effectively.

In fact, footwear such as flip flops, high heels, heavy boots or loose shoes can often cause more problems than bare feet. If footwear slips, catches, or reduces your control, and an incident occurs, you could be dealt with for driving without due care and attention.

The rule is simple.

Barefoot driving is not illegal.
Losing control is.

You must always be able to brake, accelerate, and change gear confidently and safely.

If your everyday footwear is unsuitable, keep a sensible pair of driving shoes in the car.

The law does not focus on shoes.

It focuses on control.

Motorvation school of Motoring

12/01/2026

Cold weather driving catches people out every year, not because the roads are “bad”, but because winter exposes limits that are easy to ignore the rest of the time.

Salt helps, but it does not turn ice into grip.

It lowers the freezing point of water and needs traffic and temperature on its side to work properly.

In extreme cold, even treated roads can stay slick, shiny and unpredictable.

What really gets tested in winter is technique.

Many drivers rely heavily on braking to control speed, especially downhill. On ice, braking is what breaks grip.

Once the wheels lose traction, control disappears quickly.

Using gears to manage speed, easing power gently, and slowing well before hazards matter far more in winter than quick reactions.

These are skills many drivers have never had to learn.

Modern cars add another layer.
Heavier vehicles carry more momentum.
Electric cars deliver power instantly.
Rear wheel drive behaves very differently on ice. Safety systems help, but they have limits, and when those limits are reached the driver has to take over.

Most people have never practised correcting a slide.
They have never learned how to read road surfaces or recognise when conditions have crossed the line from difficult to unsafe.

Winter driving is less about the road and more about judgement.
Knowing when to slow right down.
Knowing when to leave huge gaps.
Knowing when not to drive at all.

Cold weather does not forgive impatience or overconfidence.

It rewards calm, planning and respect for physics.

Sheena Ahmed
Motorvation School of Motoring

05/01/2026

STOP BLAMING DRIVING INSTRUCTORS FOR TAILGATING

This appears in the comments every time tailgating is mentioned.

“Bad instructors.”
“They do not teach distance anymore.”
“Learners are never told this.”

That simply is not true.

Most instructors teach following distance properly.
Time gaps.
Stopping distances.
Why space equals thinking time, not just braking distance.

I teach it.
So do many others.

When many of us learned to drive, following distance was taught as a safety principle, not a test trick.
Even without motorway lessons, the importance of space was drilled in early.

The real problem does not start during lessons.
It starts after the test.

Once a licence is passed, there is no reinforcement.

No refresher culture.
No expectation to maintain standards.
No correction until there is a collision, penalty points, or worse.

Motorway driving makes this worse.

Most drivers never receive professional motorway tuition.

They learn motorway behaviour by imitation, not instruction.

Drivers copy what they see around them.
If traffic sits a car length apart, that becomes normal.
If tailgating is everywhere, it gets copied and accepted.

Pressure also changed behaviour.

Modern driving comes with congestion, time pressure, and impatience.
People feel late even when they are not.
That pressure shortens tempers and distances.

Tailgating becomes a way to express frustration, not to make progress.
It feels active, but it achieves nothing except removing safety margins.

Technology adds false confidence.

Modern cars brake better and feel more stable.
That comfort can trick drivers into believing they can safely drive closer.

Physics has not changed.
Reaction times have not improved.
Stopping distances still depend on speed, space, and attention.

The rules have not changed either.

Rule 126 of the Highway Code is still very clear about leaving enough distance to stop safely.

What changed is how often it is reinforced.

This is not about instructors failing.
This is about a system that treats driving as a one time qualification instead of a lifelong skill.

Tailgating is rarely ignorance.
Most drivers know it is wrong.

It is impatience.
Habit.
Pressure.

Space is not politeness.
It is control.

If we want higher standards on the road, we need to stop blaming the people who teach correctly and start looking at what happens when nobody is checking anymore.

Sheena Ahmed

19/11/2025

We’re making some subtle but meaningful changes to the practical driving test. 🚗

You may have seen that we have been trialling changes to the driving test at 20 driving test centres.

As part of the trial, learners drove on routes containing more high-speed, rural roads during their driving test, where location allowed. Now, we are rolling out the changes to all driving test centres in Great Britain from 24 November 2025.

As well as increasing the amount of time spent on higher-speed roads, we are:

✅ reducing the number of stops during the test from 4 to 3
✅ lowering the frequency of emergency stop exercises from 1 in 3 tests to 1 in 7
✅ adding flexibility to the independent driving segment, allowing it to run for the full duration of the test

These changes are designed to help improve road safety by better replicating the conditions motorists face in the real world. They won’t affect the skills needed to take a driving test.

Find out more about the changes 👉 https://ow.ly/vMIL50Xu1bT