Dynamic Duals

06/03/2025

Things you don’t realise about dual controls in a driving instructor car:

The controls allow us to aid with the clutch and brake if need be and stop the car if a pupil is going too fast, we have no control over the brake if the pupil brakes too hard, we can only tell them to come off the brake! We also don't have a dual gas pedal, we can only encourage them to safely speed up. We can control the car very well from the passenger side, and actually drive from that side if absolutely necessary, however, we cannot remove a pupils hands from the wheel, sometimes they need prompting to relax, release the wheel, release the clutch or the brake, which all takes a second or two to talk through.

If they suddenly stall at traffic lights or in slow moving traffic, the car will just jolt to a stop, there will be no brake lights, the car will stop dead, if you are tailgating the Learner, odds are you will drive into the back of us!

With regards to beeping the horn when a pupil stalls, there is generally a brief pause before the pupil moves off, this is due to the pupil getting a “brain freeze”, the instructor then has to either intervene or talk the pupil through the moving off procedure, not made easier by some impatient drivers beeping their horn, making the pupil even more nervous and self conscious and putting them under more pressure!

You may say pupils shouldn’t be in traffic if they can’t handle the pressure, we move them in stages and situations they can deal with for example, we make sure they have full control of the car controls before we introduce any traffic and situations outside the car BUT because they are learning they do sometimes have a hiccup and mess up that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be on the road they are on!

Remember, you learnt to drive at one point, you were not born with a licence!

Please be patient, we will be out of your way as soon as is safe to do so!

For the ones that show immense patience behind us, we don’t always get to thank you but I promise you it never goes unnoticed ❤️

04/03/2025

Well, it's been such a long time coming, and this lad for so many reasons has had a lot on his plate, but I'm incredibly proud to announce that Kyle Hey has passed his driving test at the FIRST ATTEMPT much to his amazement 🤣

He's worked so bloody hard but he's done it.
That's both Heys on the road now, as Megan passed a few years ago with me too!
Well done mate. Genuinely could not be happier for you, stay safe, keep being the brilliant driver you are, and hopefully I'll see you again!

05/02/2025

Massive congratulations to this amazing lass, Daniella Moulson who's just passed her test at her first attempt today!!

A cracking little driver, having put in the extra effort in her own car, she's got herself to this point, and although she was being a bit over cautious on her test, she's walked away with her certificate, and can now go off and enjoy driving around independently.

I've loved our lessons, we've has such a laugh, and I'm so proud of what you've achieved, given you used to ask me every lesson if you'd ever get the hang of it 🤣🤣

See you soon for your motorway lesson, take care, see you on the roads 🚗

04/02/2025

Good Evening all

At present, in this industry, we are being inundated with calls and messages regarding cancelled lessons, due to instructors not being able to continue their pupils tuition as the instructor has failed their final exam, or queries regarding charges on test day.

When you decide to book driving lessons please check what badge the instructor holds:

(This badge should be displayed at all times while charging for your lesson)

* Green badge: fully qualified ADI (passed all 3 parts)
* The badge should be displayed at all times in the windscreen, and clearly visible while charging for a lesson.
* Pink badge: PDI (potential driving instructor) - this basically means they have 3 attempts to pass their final exam. If they don’t achieve this standard then unfortunately they will be unable to continue lessons
* By law a pink badge holder has to state that they are not fully qualified to a student, and should always have their badge on display in the windscreen.
*please check the picture and date of licence to make sure the instructor is who they say they are

Please check what licence they have and question where they are at with their training as you don’t want to end up taking a break in your lessons due to them not being able to continue teaching, as finding a decent instructor can be difficult.

The charges for your test day:

The cost of the driving test is £62.00. This is paid directly to the DVSA and confirms your booking date, time and place of test.

If you go with a driving instructor that is fully qualified, or on a pink badge, the standard charge is roughly the cost of the time you have the car for, so for example:

**Test time is 9:15am:**

Your instructor may pick you up at 8:15am and then your test time of 9:15-10:15 so basically you have the car from 8:15-10:15 (2 hours) at an hourly cost of around £35 (depending on their standard hourly rate) would mean the test day would incur a charge of approx £70 which is a reasonable charge.

I’ve had numerous posts about instructors charging anywhere from £80 - £200 extra for the test day, on top of all the above fees, claiming that this is an insurance charge or fee of some kind.
This is not the case. Any learner car driven by a driving instructor is covered under their policy for lessons and use of car on test day, so we don’t have to pay any extra charges for you to take our car on test whether we sit in the car or you take it with just the examiner accompanying you.

So, the take home here is, first of all do your research on your instructor, and secondly find out about test charges and what they are, as right now it’s hard to pull any legal proceedings against instructors who are ripping clients off with a deceptive charge.

Please guys, don’t fall foul of this scam, a trustworthy instructor will only charge you a reasonable rate for your driving test!!!

03/10/2024

Here's my amazing mia (aka miwi)
so so bloody proud of this girl, my best friends daughter 🥰🥰🥰

After being crashed into on the way to Mia's test 2 weeks ago, she's gone in today in the hire car, having only driven it once before and gone and bloody passed!!!!!
Couldn't be more proud of you, and how far you've come, we've had some laughs and some tears, your endless questions have been a challenge 😂 but ultimately, you're a cracking little driver and I'm soooooo bloody proud of you my girl. You owe me a few bevvys next time we're out now 😅😅

Well done, drive safe, and I'll see you very soon to celebrate 🥳 🎉 🎊 🍾 👏

17/07/2024

ABSOLUTELY BUZZING!!!!! Tyler Dollive has just smashed the UK driving test at his first attempt with just 3 minor faults.
Tyler started driving in February on his 17th birthday, passed the theory in March, and has put in an exceptional amount of effort, to get ready for his test today!
He's been punctual, polite, always engaged in his learning, asked a million questions, to make sure he understood everything he was learning, and it's paid off today, with the result we wanted.
I'm so very proud of you mate, you've been a pleasure to teach!
Enjoy car shopping this afternoon with your family, can't wait to see what you get.
Stay safe, take your time, while getting used to your new wheels, and I'll see you on the roads 🥳🥳

24/06/2024

Here we have the lovely Holly Hardcastle, who's just passed her driving test this lunchtime at her first attempt.
Despite convincing herself she'd failed, and ending up in tears, luck was on her side today, and she's nailed it.
Congratulations hun, so proud of you, and how well you drove despite being so upset and nervous. You should be really proud of yourself ###

07/06/2024

Something to bear in mind

Just to put people in the picture about the "dual controls" that we as instructors have in our cars, they might be supplied by "He-Man" but unfortunately that's where the power stops, in the name 🚗🚗

They are not a magic solution to driving, they don’t control a pupils decision, their nerves and their fears about other drivers cause their decision making to be slightly tainted sometimes!

If you drive too close to a Learner car and the pupil happens to press the brake by mistake or too hard, there is absolutely nothing the instructor can do to override it, other than tell them to come off the brake, by that point it could be way too late and if you go into the back of us it’s because you are too close!! If the pupil all ready has fears about the open road you could have crushed there confidence that takes us alot of work to build up!!

We also have a clutch pedal, which if they struggle, due to stalling, we can help them with, though we would rather not, believe it or not, beeping the horn, revving the engine and getting closer doesn’t make them pull off any quicker, more likely they will stall again!

We don’t have an accelerator pedal, we can’t make them go faster from our side of the car, only encourage them verbally, a learner will naturally drive slower as they try to master the skill of driving, there speed will increase over time, please be patient back off or overtake at the next safest opportunity!!

Often approaching a junction, especially roundabouts, you may find the pupil slows down quite early, the reason for this is because they are listening to where we want them to go on the junction as well as try to master the skill of assessing while controlling the car, so overtime as the skill becomes more natural they will move at a pace that is accepted on these roads!

Multi tasking is difficult for new drivers, please be patient and try and understand what’s happening in the car, a lot of drivers out there do not understand that in todays ever changing world we are dealing with a student that may be on the "neurodiverse" spectrum this covers people with dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism, Asperger's, and many more!! If multi tasking wasn't hard all ready sometimes the pathways in the brain have to be created, practiced and owned, but this takes patience from us as instructors and your patience helps this massively!!

We do only put them into situation’s at a pace they learn but sometimes they can get it wrong, remember they are still learning!

With regards to us as instructors having nerves of steel!! we don’t, we are ordinary family men and women, trying to help other people’s very nervous children and partners learn to drive, which is a skill!! And skills have to be practiced and PATIENCE is key!!

Stay safe everyone and remember at some point in your life!!

"You was a Learner once"

07/06/2024

Massive congratulations to Harrison Bell this morning, passing his driving test in Huddersfield.
A fantastic, well planned drive with 5 minors.
Harrison has worked extremely hard for this, after struggling with his theory, but, all that hard work has paid off, and he's now a full licence holder.
I'm immensely proud of you, and the resilience you've shown, while learning.
Stay safe on the roads mate.
See you around 🥳🥳🥳🥳

18/04/2024

A year and a day Kelly!!! Can't believe how quick that's gone 🤩 x

Well, the girls only gone and bloody done it 🥳🥳🥳🥳woohooooooo, MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS to Kelly Jane who's passed her driving test today in Huddersfield, the day after her birthday 🥳🥳🥳🥳what a present!!!!

So proud of you, you've worked really hard to get where you are and you can now look forward to the freedom that driving will give you, especially with a baby on the way.
Well done again hun, just Paige Hanley to pass now and you'll both be so much better off. Absolutely buzzing for you.... Xx

12/04/2024

Absolutely ecstatic, Stanley Dey has just smashed the UK driving test today at his first attempt.
Unbelievably proud of you mate, you did a fantastic drive with just 5 minors.
You've always had such a positive mindset towards learning, and it's paid off today!!!!
Well done again.
See you on the roads ###