Finally, the time has come and you are finally about to begin your driving lessons. You have done all your research, gotten yourself a good instructor, and you have also prepared a nice outfit for the day. You can do all that and still not be prepared to get behind the wheels with your driving instructor for the first time.
People tend to get all tense during their first lessons because they do not know what they are going up against so it usually takes them by surprise. But what if you knew the things that’ll be involved in your first driving lesson? If you do, then it’ll better prepare you for the lesson and also give you confidence. If you are about to have your first driving lesson and you’d love to know what’ll be involved, then you have made it to the right website because, in this blog post, I’ll be teaching you how to prepare for your driving lesson.
Pre-driving preparation
Before the lesson begins, there are a few things you should set in place if you want your first lesson to go smoothly.
Get enough sleep: This is very important because getting overly excited and not sleeping properly before your first driving lesson can affect your performance.
Do not drink the night before: By drinking, I don’t mean taking your favourite juice or yoghurt before going to bed, I’m referring to taking alcohol the night before your first driving lesson. Not only will it make you perform poorly it could also make you miss the lesson.
Eat before taking the test.
Things you should carry for the lesson
To increase your overall performance on your first driving lesson, there are certain things you should carry along with you and they are:
- Ensure you are wearing a comfortable non-slip shoe. Avoid putting on a tight shoe.
- Carry your glasses, if you wear them.
- A bottle of water.
- Ensure to carry your provisional licence and any other thing you think will affect your performance positively.
Getting picked up
Ensure that you are ready before time and you are not faffing at the last minute because if you are late, your time and money will be spent since most driving instructors work on an hourly basis. Ensure to keep an eye out because some instructors will wait for you in the car while others may try to put in extra effort and ring your doorbell.
Don’t get scared when you go to meet them, you won’t be asked to start driving right away. Your instructor will take you to a safe location where you can begin your first driving lesson.
The cockpit drill
There is something known as the “cockpit drill” and your instructor will explain it to you when the both of you have arrived at a safe place with low traffic. The cockpit drill consists of all the checks you’ll need to do every time you want to start driving. The checks include:
- Ensure that the doors are securely closed.
- Ensure that you are sitting in a comfortable position.
- Establish your steering position.
- Put on your seatbelts.
- Adjust your mirrors.
The controls
Next, your instructor will introduce you to the controls and teach you how to use the clutch, accelerator, brake, handbrake, indicator, and how to change the gear. You are not expected to become a pro in changing the gears right away, so if you should fall behind in that aspect don’t be too hard on yourself, it’s common and most instructors do expect it.
At the end of your driving lesson, your instructor will take you back home. On the way home try to chat with your instructor and ask about how you went and possible areas where you need to improve to better prepare you for the next driving lesson. An important mention: you should consider taking the Safer Driver Course – students that take this have a huge success rate in their test.
