Welcome, Chloe. I really look forward to helping you not only prepare for your restricted driving test but to help you to become a safe and confident driver.
Lesson #1 – 31st October 4pm until 5.30pm
Chloe, you demonstrated some sound driving skills on our first drive together and I have no doubt you can pass your restricted test. My suggestion is to book another test date late November / early December and that we meet two to three more times to get everything finely tuned so that you can go with confidence and obtain your restricted license.
My feedback from our meeting yesterday on the aspects you need to work on is as follows:
Think about your hand position on the steering wheel as sometimes you are creating a little oversteer meaning that your hands are working harder than they need to turn the steering wheel. Practice the push / pull method so that your hands do not really need to leave the 9-3 hand position and you just use one hand to push the wheel and the other to pull the wheel to where you need it to be. Hold a dinner plate and turn it all the way around without dropping it. That is the push/pull method and is the safest way to avoid the car over-steering. You also sometimes tend to let the wheel spin through your hands which is something you can fail a driving test on as this is seen as a lack of control of the vehicle.
Try the slow down method as you turn into a left-hand road as well as use the triangle on the give way intersections to assess at a crawl whether you need to stop at all if it is clear.
Think of reducing speed so that you are completely at the posted limit just before you reach the sign. A couple of occasions meant you only reduced to the limit just as you passed the sign. However, speed control was excellent most of the time.
Remember to always conduct your head checks when you are turning or leaving a roundabout or indeed moving into a right flush median. This is essential for your driving test.
I really recommend you practice using your handbrake, despite it being an automatic vehicle. No driver should rely on a vehicle not rolling back so please let’s work on this together, so it feels familiar.
Gap selection was particularly good and if you crawl from the give way triangle you should be able to assess both sides and not necessarily need to stop if there is plenty of room to leave the intersection.
Your merge manoeuvres were excellent! Just remember to keep driving whilst merging rather than slowing down.
Rural driving / open road driving was pretty good. However, you have been given the wrong information when you mentioned staying torarsd to central line on the right of the lane you are driving in. Try practising looking ten seconds ahead ( about four lampposts) and focus your eyes on the left hand solid white line and drive nearer to that so that you have a chance of avoiding a collision if oncoming traffic happen to be on or over the central divinginding line.
I think it would really help for you to begin to use the hazard identification method silently in your head so that when you carry out the test, you are fully aware and planning for the driving environment around you noticing all signs as well as the moving hazards.
This is a record of your progress and must be kept by us on your behalf for 12 months and when added to your lesson plans forms the overall training plan.
Student Name
Lesson Date
Lesson Plan #
Subjects Covered
Seat adjustment
Instruments & controls
Pre-drive checks
Signals
Moving off (straight)
Stopping
Directional control
Moving of (at angle)
Basic gear changing
Speed control
Moving off (uphill)
Moving off (downhill)
Parking on a hill
Gears on hills
Head checks
Stopping times
2 & 4 second rule
Lane driving
12-6-3 Second scans
Hazard awareness
Decision techniques
Amber lights
Priority rules
Blocking rule
Gap selection
Roundabouts
Decision rechecks
Vehicle dynamics
Cornering techniques
Open road driving
Motorway driving
Low-speed control
Three-point turn
“U” turns
Reversing (straight)
Reversing (left corner)
Reversing (driveway)
Parallel parking
Angle parking
Night driving (optional)
Pre-test practice
Developing a training plan with you is where we begin once you have your theory learner test behind you.
Your training plan will be a structured and logical sequence of progressive lesson plans with the provision for the review of your progress as we go.
Each lesson plan will have its own TRAINING OBJECTIVE which will outline what you will achieve as a result of the session along with the STANDARD to which you need to perform the task and the conditions under which the performance will be assessed along with the RESOURCES that will need to be supplied.
How we deliver our knowledge to you is through three main methods
Controlled Practice – This is where your tutor will carry out the manoeuvre with a full verbal description as we go a couple of times so you have a chance to observe and feel comfortable trying it yourself.
Prompted Practice – Once you are comfortable, you can then try the manoeuvre whilst your tutor prompts you with a word here and there as a reminder as you concentrate on carrying out your manoeuvre
Transferred Responsibility – Yay – this is the bit you get to do it yourself and practice.
The following behaviors will not be tolerated by either the tutor or the student or any staff member of ALL TERRAIN DRIVING ACADEMY
Sharon is very experienced when it comes to driver education. An NZTA approved driving instructor, a defensive driving instructor in STREETALK and a member of the New Zealand Institute of Driving Educators and a fully qualified assessor carrying out driver assessments for various NZ government organisations. Sharon is an off road driver trainer too, so you are in experience and patient hands.
You can contact Sharon on 021 029 28023 ( a text is always better) if you have any questions.
Learning To Be A Model Driver
On & Off Road
Off Road Helps Your On Road Knowledge
Modern Day Learning Techniques / Up To Date Tech
