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Learning To Drive With
Drive Smart Driving School
Learn to be a smart
thinking, safe driver! Learn how to be one of the best drivers you know!
Instructors available in
Adelaide's Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Suburbs. Check out
Suburbs We Do.
If you are serious about
becoming truly P Plate ready before you get your P's, ask us about the keys2drive
program. It really works, we've seen the difference. Keys2drive
accredited Instructors available.
You Only Get One Chance
There is so much to learn. If you get
out on the road and don't know what you are doing things can go very
wrong.
You only get one chance to
get this right. What you learn first you remember best. Make sure you learn the right
things first!
What
you learn and practice
will become your habits. Good habits help keep you safe. Bad habits can cause you to crash.
Check out Drive Smart
Driving Tips for some
great driving habits. Work hard to develop them.
Be Sure!
Your Drive Smart Approved
Instructor is qualified to help you become the safe driver you want to
be.
You will be
taught the way you
learn best. You will
understand what you are doing and why.
You will be guided through
the learning process, developing your own skills and knowledge.
You will remember what you learn - for life!
What About Manual Lessons?
Yes we can help with Manual
lessons - Northern and Southern Suburbs.
If you need Manual Instruction in Eastern Suburbs we can refer you to an excellent Manual
Instructor operating in your area.
Prices
for Driving Lessons & Other Courses
How much do driving lessons
cost? It is one of the most common
questions people ask us.
For your Information,
all the
answers are
here for you to view or print out.
Check
local suburbs pages for specials in your area.
Call or
Email Us
Drive Smart Driving School
is here to help people learn to drive safely and think smart on the
road.
Adelaide Wide Talk to Mark or
Jenny on 8285 4059.
Southern Suburbs
Talk to Terry or Kerensa
on 8384
7729.
South Western Suburbs Talk to Harry or
Molly on
7329 6428.
....Then Take A Look Around
This site has all sorts of
information to help you through this exciting time.
If you
are a Learner, this is your page.
Parents and other Supervising
Drivers will find lots of tips and advice on the Parents Page.
Learning To Drive
– A Few Drive Smart Tips
Most people only remember
how dangerous driving is when
someone they know is in a crash. Don’t take learning to drive for granted! It’s really important you
get it right.
We’ve put together a few tips on how you can help yourself become the best
driver you can be. Go for it! It’s worth the effort!
Firstly, find the best teachers you can
If your Family and Friends are good
teachers and you can find yourself a good Driving Instructor, that’s brilliant.
If your Family and Friends are not good teachers then a good Instructor is
even more important.
Driving Instructors have
been taught what to teach and how to teach it. They know the little
tricks that will help you get better, quicker.
Secondly, make sure those teachers
are helping you to be truly safe
Get into the keys2drive
program. Use it, get your parents, family and friends into it. Make sure
you are learning to "find you own way". Make sure you are not just being
"told what to do". Go to the
keys2drive
website, register and get your free lesson ID.
Call us and organise your keys2drive
free lesson, make sure your supervising driver is there and start
"learning to find your own way".
If you have been driving for
a while and think you are pretty good, get a Drive Smart keys2drive
accredited Instructor to take you through the keys2drive "P
Plate Ready Indicator". It's not a driving test, it's a real
assessment of your ability to drive and think for yourself. It assesses
your true readiness to drive on your P's.
Ask us about keys2drive.
Adelaide Wide Talk to Mark or
Jenny on 8285 4059.
Southern Suburbs
Talk to Terry or Kerensa
on 8384
7729.
South Western Suburbs Talk to Harry or
Molly on
7329 6428.
Get the good habits started early
Good habits take time to develop.
You need to get them happening early then keep practicing for at least
three months to get them happening. Check out
Driving Tips for a list
of good habits to start you on the right track.
More than just
“knowing what to do”
Once you know what to do,
practice until the good things happen automatically.
Good driving habits should still work when you are
stressed or faced with an emergency situation. That is
their real value.
Whether it’s the stress of
passing your Driving Test or
driving on unfamiliar roads, your good habits will keep looking after you.
Take the time to learn right – you only get one chance
There are thousands of
things to learn. There are hundreds of “good habits” to get happening.
The best way is to not rush
the whole thing. The very best drivers don’t set themselves a time
limit. They just do what ever it takes, for as long as it takes to
become an excellent driver.
Get lots of
experience – it’s really important!
Make the most of your 12
months and 75 hours. Experience is every thing!
Make the time to go driving. You are going to be on your own soon so you
need to know what you are doing.
Drive everywhere even if you
are not excited about where you are going. Be excited about where you
can go once you get your P’s. Once you are driving on your own is too
late to find out you don’t know what you’re doing!
More On Learning To Drive
Freedom And Choice
Many things change once you
are on your P’s. Being on your P's gives you freedom and choice... What will it be like?
It will be exciting, but it could also be tough at times too.
A short story based on real
experiences that will give you some idea. A driver writes about their
big day trip to Victor Harbour.
Worth the read, it is
titled,
"You're The Driver Now!"
Already got your P's? Not
sure your driving is up to it? Be sure! Talk to us about a Drive Smart
Defensive Driving Course for
P Plate Drivers.
Getting your licence in
South Australia
South Australia has what they call the
Graduated Licensing Scheme
for all new drivers.
The steps from Learner through P1 and P2 to Full Licence are:
Then, to get your P1 licence you must:
-
Be on your L’s for at least
12 months.
Applies to all first time drivers, no matter what age.
-
Complete at least 75 hours driving experience (at least 15 at night), writing
every minute into the “Log Book” (green part) of your “Driving Companion”. Once
again, all new licences must do this.
-
Pass the VORT (Driving Test)
or complete the CBT (some call it Log Book) Course and get your “Certificate of
Competency”.
-
Take the Certificate,
your correctly filled out 75 Hours driving experience record and Learner's Permit to
a
Service SA
Customer Service Centre.
Fill in the “blue form”, pay your money (about $70) and come away with your P1
licence.
You then drive, gaining
experience on your P1 licence for at least 12 months. This will vary
depending on your age and whether you stay out of trouble with the traffic
police.
Once you have been on P1 for
the required time, go back to Services SA and successfully complete a
the Hazard Perception Test
($25 each attempt) - to get your P2 licence. To
find out how this works and what is required, check
out
Hazard
Perception Test - Part 1
& Part
2.
You can then take your P
Plates off and keep driving on your P2 licence until eligible
for your Full Licence.
You go back to Services SA,
pay more money and get your Full Licence.
And that’s the simplified version. Full
details in your “Driving
Companion” under
Graduated Licence Scheme
(orange part). It’s all there,
including what happens if you do the wrong thing along the way.
Driving School lessons –
do you need them?
What we can tell you is:
-
It's not compulsory to have lessons with a
Driving Instructor but it’s a good
idea.
-
A good Driving Instructor will help you become a much better, safer driver.
-
A bad Instructor
could make you worse than if you only drove with
family and friends.
-
Drivers who have
professional lessons are less likely to crash than those who are
only taught by family or friends. This was shown in a 2008 study
conducted in the Philippines by the
Quezon City Police District Traffic Enforcement Unit.
Over 70% of drivers who crashed during the 6 month study period had
never taken lessons with a driving school.
(Ref.
See document ... )
-
Actual Folder may
vary from image due to publishing changes...
Experienced drivers forget how much they know!
People that have been
driving for years can forget. They often don’t realise that they have
learned thousands of things over the years. Some
things they were taught, some they learned from experience. Some they had to
learn the hard way.
Experienced drivers may not pass some of
the really important lessons on to you.
Instructors know what to pass on and they know how best to pass it on.
The other thing is that
experienced drivers will assume that learning to drive is simple and
because you drive around without hitting things that you are a safe
driver. They may not notice all the things you don't know yet.
Get yourself a good instructor and learn from them. Also
work hard with family and
friends learning and getting valuable experience with them. Learn from every
one, don't end up learning the hard way.
Do you want to drive like they
do?
What habits will you learn from Parents, Family and Friends? Will they be good
habits?
Know it or not, you have been learning habits from them for years.
Driving is like other life
skills, you start learning at a young age by watching
people you know. You tend to inherit their habits.
The Top Five bad habits Learners "inherit" and what to do
about them
These are some common bad
habits we see on the roads all the time. We also see them when we
conduct Defensive Driving Courses and in Learners who have been driving
quite a bit before having their first driving school lesson.
-
Failing to give way
to Pedestrians: Many drivers have absolutely no idea when and
where to give way to pedestrians.
-
The Fix:
Always look for and give way to pedestrians who are crossing the
road you are turning into. Main road or side street, the rule is the
same. Your car will do huge damage to a pedestrian, look out for
them everywhere!
-
Tailgating: Most
drivers leave less than half of the safe space between their vehicle
and the one in front. Minimum safe space in front is a 3 second gap.
Most drivers leave 1 second.
-
The Fix: Drive
with at least double the space most drivers leave in front. If the vehicle in front catches you by
surprise and stops suddenly, you will need every bit of that space to
brake and avoid a crash. If you hit the car in front, you will have
to pay for all damages because it's your fault and you will probably
lose your P's.
-
Speeding: Many
drivers consider that five or so kilometres over the limit is quite
acceptable. Amazingly, lots of drivers don't even know what the
speed limits are.
-
The Fix: Know
that if every vehicle on the road was travelling at the correct
speed for the situation, there would be almost no crashes. Drive
slower than most people do, you'll get around just as quickly with
less stress and using less fuel.
If you ever do hit anything you will
wish you had been driving slower at the time.
-
Really poor
merging skills:
Adelaide drivers are very poor examples when it comes to merging,
although we have noticed that things are getting better.
-
The Fix: Get to
know your merging rules. Zip Merge (no dotted lines to cross)
- vehicle in front goes first, signal to let the vehicles behind know
you are merging. Lane End Merge (you are crossing the dotted lines)
- give way, signal to warn others you wish to merge. Never assume
others will do the correct thing when merging.
-
Not allowing for
"things to go wrong".
Most drivers get caught out when others do "unexpected" things! They
drive themselves into potential crash situations all the time, often
without any idea they are doing it.
-
The Fix: Expect
things to come into your path. Look for the possibilities, then
think: That child will run out in front of me; The car slowing in
front will suddenly stop; An ambulance will come through that red
light; A car will come through that stop sign. Slow early and slow
enough so that when these things do happen you can avoid a crash. A
huge number of crashes would be avoided if the "not-at-fault" driver
took any evasive action at all!
Make your driving hours count!
 Use them to make sure you
only have good driving habits before you get your P's. Learning properly is really important. So is putting it all together out on the
road. Drive everywhere you can, as often as you can and in all conditions. Keep
going past 75 hours, aim for 120!
Get the Instructor lessons
happening early.
If you do your 75 hours before getting an Instructor, you might have
75 hours of
bad habits! They can be hard to fix! Much better to learn the good habits and practice them while doing the
75
hours. Saves money and time.
What if you’ve
already completed your 75 hours?
That's ok. Get a good Instructor and show them what you can do. Let them help you fix any
bad habits and build on the good things you are doing. Work with them until you are a good
safe driver. Keep driving, 75 hours is nowhere near enough anyway!
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When should you start lessons?
We recommend starting lessons as soon as possible after you are ready to start
learning to drive. This may or not be as soon as you get your L’s depending on
your situation and how much of a hurry you are in. Starting Instructor lessons
early will help get you started in the right direction, i.e. you won't have 75
hours of 'bad' habits that need to be fixed.
Use your 75 hours to practice what you learn in your lessons. Saves time and
money.
The Time will fly.
If you plan to get your P licence as soon as you can (after
12 months) then you
need to book lessons almost straight away - 12 months is only 52 weeks and the
time will fly!
The best drivers start
lessons early. Don't wait until 6 months have gone by and you have
wasted 26 weeks of valuable driving time! Contact us now to
arrange lessons.
Call and talk to Mark or Jenny on
08 8285 4059 or
email
us if that
is better for you.
In the Southern Suburbs,
call and talk to Terry or Kerensa on 8384 7729.
How many lessons will it take?
This is a popular question
and there is no easy answer. Everyone is
different. Learning happens at different speeds and in different ways.
It very much depends on how
much practise you can get between lessons and the quality of that
practice. There will always be things to practice after each
lesson.
As a guide we find many people take between 12 and 22 (90 minute) lessons to
complete their training. We have had a small number of clients get through the
CBT Training in 7 or 8 lessons. At the other end of the scale, we have had some
who have taken almost 40.
If time and / or money is
tight, you might want to choose the VORT (Test) method. Fewer driving
skills need to be demonstrated to "pass the VORT"
than to complete the CBT Course. Remember that you will have to cover the “extra” things yourself if
you still want to be a good driver.
Saving Money!
Learning to drive well is one of the greatest life investments you will ever
make. You are probably going to be driving for at least 50 years. One mistake
during that time could cost you thousands of dollars and cause you a lot of
pain.
All this sounds good but we know that it doesn't count for much when you are
trying to find the cash for lessons each week. Below are some tips to save you
some money and still become the excellent driver you want to be:
-
Really know your
Road Rules
and other information from the
Drivers Hand
Book.
 We mean more than just doing the RAA on-line Theory test
lots of times. Really study the book. The more you know, the less we
have to teach you.
-
Watch what other drivers do. Whether they are good or bad you can learn from
them.
-
Practice, practice, practice what you learn in your lessons. This is the big
one and makes the most difference.
-
Make your lessons work for you. Ask lots of questions. It will be quicker
to say you don't understand something than to wait for your Instructor to
work it out.
-
Study what you will be doing in the following lesson as much as possible.
Check out our
Supervising/Parents Drivers
page for more tips.
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