Pass Plus

...to take advantage of the Pass Plus scheme.

Personally, of all the liabilities floating about our roads, the near-blind 90 year olds driving on the wrong side of the road, the drink/drug impaired fools or the distracted stressed out mother doing the school run with 32 screaming kids in the back or her huge off-roader, I reckon no one is more dangerous, to both themselves and everyone else, than the new licence holder lacking experience ...
...off taking this course called Pass Plus just to equip me with a few more skills and a bit more knowledge. Having worked hard to pass my test, the last thing I wanted was to get back beside an instructor with the lovely L plates on again, but seeing as the folks were paying the £127 fees, I couldn't say no really.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Pass Plus, it's basically an slightly advanced driving course for the new driver, ... more

For those of you who hold a driving licence, cast your mind back to the day you passed your test. If you're anything like I was, an overly keen, overly confident 17 year old 4 wheeled disaster waiting to happen, chances are you'll be cursing having missed the opportunity to take advantage of the Pass Plus scheme.

Personally, of all the liabilities floating about our roads, the near-blind 90 year olds driving on the wrong side of the road, the drink/drug impaired fools or the distracted stressed out mother doing the school run with 32 screaming kids in the back or her huge off-roader, I reckon no one is more dangerous, to both themselves and everyone else, than the new licence holder lacking experience and common sense, but still barrelling into corners like Michael Schumacher. Whether it be the sterotypical spot-ridden Vauxhall Nova boy racer driver with a stereo bigger than their brain, or the timid, lacking in confidence bag of nerves who usually prefers to walk half a mile to get the bus rather than risk going out on the big bad road, chances are at some point we'll have come across them and come to the conclusion that the driving test isn't nearly tough enough.

Sort of couldn't agree more personally. Passed my test first time, six minors, not too bad a score, so the L plates were cast off and off I went, usually at a fair old rate of knots in my mum's poor little Fiesta 1100. And being the full-of-beans rookie driver I was, my folks decided that I'd be best off taking this course called Pass Plus just to equip me with a few more skills and a bit more knowledge. Having worked hard to pass my test, the last thing I wanted was to get back beside an instructor with the lovely L plates on again, but seeing as the folks were paying the £127 fees, I couldn't say no really.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Pass Plus, it's basically an slightly advanced driving course for the new driver, geared towards teaching you a few essential things that for some reason aren't in the test syllabus. It covers four topics, rural driving, night driving, motorway driving and skid control. It's not a test so you don't pass or fail, you do the modules individually until they're all completed. After each session your instructor will give you feedback on your performance and little quizzes on the highway code, driving theory etc, so it's all very relaxed, no pressure learning, and is generally quite enjoyable to do.

As I was going to be pushed for time in the coming weeks due to work, starting college, etc, the instructor decided he could be flexible and do three quarters of the course in one sitting. So it was round a suitable country route in the early afternoon for the rural driving, a dual carriageway/motorway stretch down to Perth in the early evening then the same route back to cover the night driving. Probably not the way the course is usually carried out but it was much appreciated because of my time constraints.

The rural driving section took place on a fairly quiet loop of country roads, free from heavy traffic so I could concentrate on the driving conditions rather than worrying about other drivers. The lesson included learning about "vanishing points", where you use features by the roadside to tell where blind corners are heading and how fast you can safely go into them. This seemed pretty second nature for some reason but having a bit of solid theory to back up the instinct was reassuring. Country speed limits are also covered, as are potential hazards such as road debris, hidden entrances and obstructions such as tractors. Being told things like look to see if the farmer's bothered to put his taillight/indicators board on the back of his trailer before you overtake makes you wonder why you didnt think of them yourself. And it's always a better plan to run over Farmer Giles's cat than try to swerve on a narrow country lane and end up rolling your car into a field. Bit harsh really but perfectly sensible when you think about it.

The main focus of the motorway drive was to learn to read the road ahead instead of just concentrating on the small patch directly in front of you. Your instructor will ask you to look at objects such as other vehicles in the distance and ask you to comment on what they're doing and what they're away to do. For example if you're looking at a vehicle pulled up on the hard shoulder, you'll be asked if it's likely to pull out in front of you. So by looking for any movement, brakelights, indicators, or even if there's anyone in the car, you'll be taught how to come to a conclusion about what's going to happen in the road ahead of you and thus prepare yourself for when you reach it. There's a million little things to keep an eye on and to watch out for, most of which you would have never thought of. Topics such as stopping distances are also covered in detail, as are motorway laws and speed limits, important to know if, like me, you dont usually travel on motorways, so when you do have to, you'll have a bit of prior experience.

Having pulled up at the motorway cafe at Perth for a half hour break, my instructor asked me how I felt about how I'd done so far, went over a few little areas needing improvement and gave me a few little theory tests. The greater depth of feedback provided by this course is much better than on the standard driving test, as it's more informative, you get praise for what you've done well on, advice on what you could improve and there's plenty of discussion between instructor and pupil, as opposed to a normal driving lesson, where you're not told a whole lot more other than somethings good enough or not to keep an examiner happy. And with a pass plus lesson there's no rush to get through things before your hour's up.

Back on the road, the sun had gone down just enough for us to start on the night time driving. Same principles as most of the motorway driving apply, keep an eye out up ahead so you don't have to react at the last minute. Proper use of lights is another topic recieving attention as is the meaning of the different colour of "cats eyes" and the difference in the meaning of different layouts of road markings. Essentially though, this part is really just a confidence builder for driving in the dark which to be honest a lot of people are nervous of.

Parked up at home, another feedback session, more discussion and that was three of my four modules completed. Nice and easy, no stress or worry. In a day I honestly felt like my driving had changed, and even if I got into bad habits afterwards, which inevitably I did, at least I had a bit of extra knowledge to keep with me.

I'd really been looking forward to the skid control session, a few weeks later. Fancying myself as a bit of a Colin McRae as all young blokes surely do, I reckoned chucking a skid car round a car park, screeching tyres all the way, would be a damn good laugh. Predictably, that vision was all a bit too good to be true. The skid car was basically a standard Ford Fiesta, but modified with hydraulic inserts in the rear suspension and brakes to steer the rear wheels and simulate a slide. Bit disappointing from my point of view but in theory the skid car should react the same as a car losing grip on a slippery surface.

The three main types of skid are covered, understeer, oversteer and locking brakes. The skid course is just a circuit of cones round a car park, which you take at relatively low speed, about 30mph, with your intructor sitting next to you pressing buttons on a control pad to make the car "slide". Under braking the instructor would simulate the brakes locking up and the car going straight ahead, which of course you counter by releasing the brake pedal, letting the tyres regain grip before braking again or taking avoiding action. Takes a few goes to get the hang of it and a few traffic cones were wiped out that day, but none were seriously hurt so I'm told. Understeer, the old front-end slide, was effected by the rear wheels being made to steer in cooperation with the fronts, lessening the steering effect and again reasonably simulationg a skid. So it's off the gas, clutch down and hold the wheel still until you get some grip back. Pretty simple but again needs a few goes to master it. Finally, the rear wheels trying to spin round and overtake the fronts, technically known as oversteer, was simulated by the rear wheels steering the opposite way to the front wheels, making the back end of the car step out. All rather easy peasy, again off the gas, clutch down but this time steer into the slide, rally driver style!

After a final debriefing session, I got my fourth box ticked and and I'd passed-plus. I was given a little certificate to prove to insurers I'd done the course, so in return i could claim 10% off my premium, or the equivalent of a years no-claims bonus, whichever scheme the insurer was offering. Not all insurers do this though so its best, as always to shop around and find one that does. Should pay off the £127 in a few years in saved premiums probably, and definitely well worth in saved accident repair bills. But we shall get to that later...

After the course I definitely felt like I'd be a more competent and safer driver, and definitely less of an outright hazard to others anyway. But if one extra driving course was all it took to turn this particular 17 year old rolling death wish into a sensible driver, the government would probably have made it compulsory by now. So a few weeks after the course ended, the bad habits were firmly installed, I was driving at speeds beyond the limits of the car and myself and was in truth a total nuisance to others as well as myself. No, there's only one way to calm down a mad driver and that's to give them a damn good scare. And that's what I ended up getting. Charging about in the dark and the pouring rain one night with two mates around some back roads, that skid control session suddenly paid off. Going into a corner way too fast trying to be a hero, the brakes locked up, the front end slid towards a ditch then snapped to oversteer, sending me into a spin. I slid sideways up the road about another hundred yards before gently coming to rest against a wall.

Getting out to survey the damage, I realised that subconsciously I'd done exactly as the skid training taught me. Brakes locked! Off the brakes, got the grip back, try to turn... Understeer! Off the gas, hold the wheel, caught it... Oversteer, turn into it as fast as possible.... Suddenly I thought to myself that mickey mouse skid simulation must have done the trick cos I'd done exactly as I should have without even thinking about it. Maybe even I'd have kept the car on the road completely if I'd been goin 5mph slower, but even so getting away with a broken indicator and a broken front bumper from a 60mph spin on a single track road between a brick wall and a ditch was still a hell of an escape.

Thinking back I still get shivers about that night, had a mate in the car, he didn't have an airbag, a car load of mates in front and a car load behind, could have taken out either of them, and if there'd been anyone coming round that bend... Doesn't bear thinking about.

So basically, the Pass Plus scheme probably won't turn a banzai driver into a more sensible one, but hopefully it'll equip them with the tools needed to survive the inevitable near-miss that will sort them out. I'm a young bloke, into my cars and driving big time, but I'm a hell of a lot more steady and stable on the old public highway nowadays. I still like driving fast and aggressively, but I've got my racing licence and my autocross car for that. The course is only available for one year after a driver passes their test so if you or anyone you know is driving like a hooligan after passing, talk to your instructor about Pass Plus. It's not exacty cheap at £127, but what value do you put on someone's life?
 

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