[sundogs]

So I have a 2 hour Pass Plus lesson booked for next week.
What did you think of the course? More difficult than regular driving lessons and did you feel as if you were learning valuable skills? It's a fair bit of money and want to make sure it's worth it.

[james1211]

Waste of money IMO

[jeddows]

I thought mine was pretty useful. Over a couple of lessons, I did night driving, some proper county lane driving, motorway driving (including a 'breakdown' stop on the hard shoulder), and possible most useful of all city driving. Oh and a 50mph emergency stop.
Because I spend a fair bit of my driving time at night (usually coming home from training, or the pub) it was useful to get some proper guidance, likewise with country driving (I'd driven country roads before, but it was useful to get some more experience, especially with overtaking). Motorway driving was ok, but tbh I've never had that much of a problem with motorways (just gotta remember there may be cars either side of you), and the break down was pretty easy, just hazards on, slow down and stop on the hard shoulder, then remember to build up speed before you enter the road again. The emergency stop was easy enough, but the city driving was the most useful bit. I've driven in towns, but never in a large city before, so having the chance to drive through busy, 'complicated' road systems was really good.

As for being more difficult than a driving lesson, I didn't find that, in fact I found it pretty relaxed (my driving instructor treated it more as just a drive and not a lesson), but it definitely was useful. HOWEVER, I don't know how much of a difference it made to my insurance. Because my dad sorted out insurance with his insurer, I wasn't able to get a with/without pass plus quote, but if you think you need the experience, and can afford it, then I'd say it's worth it. (btw, have you looked at your local council, as some of them do pass plus for a reduced fee, or even for free?)

[ROG.]

Worth considering - the advanced driving organisations give advice and use all available types of roads for usually less than an ADI will charge for the same time doing a PP course

[Khadijah6987]

I did mine and never received a discount with insurers etc. It was a complete waste of time for me. Road experience with driving on my own has made me a confident driver.

[Dan1909]

It's good experience if you feel you need it. Some people feel confident to just hop in and go after passing their test, some people will prefer the extra experience. Be aware though that there's near enough no chance, at all, of you getting discounted insurance for doing it. It's experience only.

[Maccees]

It cost me £150 to do, and I got £150 back from the insurance company, so I suppose it was worth it just because it was 'free'.

[TheCurlyHairedDude]

(Original post by Maccees)
It cost me £150 to do, and I got £150 back from the insurance company, so I suppose it was worth it just because it was 'free'.

Did yo usay that to them?

I paid £150 for this, so I expect you to recognise and reinburse me the £150 ,buyt takign £150 off the qutoe?

[Maccees]

(Original post by TheCurlyHairedDude)
Did yo usay that to them?

I paid £150 for this, so I expect you to recognise and reinburse me the £150 ,buyt takign £150 off the qutoe?

Nah haha, I just called up my insurer and said I had completed it (had to give them the certificate number and stuff I think, this was a few years ago) and they gave me £150 back (I'd paid for the year, not monthly).

[SillyEddy]

It never really made a financial difference to me (maybe a few quid off the insurance, but not masses). The skills I learnt were more important though. It was nice just to get behind the wheel of my actual car and learn to drive that.

One of the best skills in Pass Plus is actual a flaw in the learner scheme - Motorways. You can't learn on them unless you just have a go or do Pass Plus. My instructor took me out for a drive up to Manchester and back all on the motorways, and it was useful to do. Sure, I could've done it with my parents, but I felt a lot more comfortable learning with my old instructor. I was actually being taught properly.

[ROG.]

(Original post by SillyEddy)
One of the best skills in Pass Plus is actual a flaw in the learner scheme - Motorways. You can't learn on them unless you just have a go or do Pass Plus.

In my area we have the A46 leicester west bypass which is just like a 2 lane motorway without a hard shoulder - it has m'way type slip roads as well

If a learner can cope with that then the m'way is no different

[xAmberN]

I found it useful, motorways and city driving in particular. And of course it brings your insurance premium down.

[SillyEddy]

(Original post by ROG.)
In my area we have the A46 leicester west bypass which is just like a 2 lane motorway without a hard shoulder - it has m'way type slip roads as well

If a learner can cope with that then the m'way is no different

Likewise, there are plenty of dual carriageways with ramps, etc, near where I live. A motorway is practically just a 3 lane dual-carriageway, but the roads around here are usually very quiet. I live near the M6, so I had plenty of fun in heavy traffic there.

Motorway driving shouldn't be a completely alien skill, but it is different to regular driving. Having overtaking lanes was a bit of a new thing to me - Generally on the roads you want to keep a good distance from other traffic. On the motorway the general objective is to maintain your speed by overtaking as required.


Given the number of bad drivers on the motorway, there should definitely be something in the driving syllabus about it. I don't know why, but a lot of drivers seem to think that the rules are void when drive onto one of them.

[theonefrombrum]

I've only had a few driving lessons atm but i can imagine that i'd take a few lessons on motorways as it's quite a big step up from dual carriageways and professional guidance would be appreciated, just so my first time on one isn't terrible and if i do make a mistake, it can be corrected as soon as possible as opposed to me being on my own and being in **** street. I might not though, if i could get my dad to come with me as i can imagine that while it's quite a big thing to drive on a motorway, it wont exactly be brand new and it wont be so hard, i mean it's just a long stretch of road really which you'll usually just cruise down in 4th gear, not requiring much skill at all.

[SillyEddy]

(Original post by theonefrombrum)
I've only had a few driving lessons atm but i can imagine that i'd take a few lessons on motorways as it's quite a big step up from dual carriageways and professional guidance would be appreciated, just so my first time on one isn't terrible and if i do make a mistake, it can be corrected as soon as possible as opposed to me being on my own and being in **** street. I might not though, if i could get my dad to come with me as i can imagine that while it's quite a big thing to drive on a motorway, it wont exactly be brand new and it wont be so hard, i mean it's just a long stretch of road really which you'll usually just cruise down in 4th gear, not requiring much skill at all.

5th gear. Definitely 5th gear! You'll waste fuel and kill the engine if you're going that fast in 4th.

You could also ask your instructor to do a pass-plus-esque scheme with you. After you pass your test, and get insured on your own car, you could ask if the instructor will ride along with you and practise the Pass Plus skills. Sort of 'off the record'. You won't be able to get the Pass Plus, but it might be cheaper and you'll be able to learn a lot of the skills.

[ROG.]

I think a lot of this motorway thing is simply the dread of it that is instilled unintentionally by the DSA system

ooooo ...... you cant do motorways as a learner cos of this or that but none of what is said actually means squat!!

That does not help the mental thinking that the learner now has about them

[tdkr]

i see it as a waste of time. as soon as i passed my test i was driving in all sorts of environments/scenarios; driving to town on a night out (i wasn't drinking just going out with my drunk mates), driving on long country roads and motorways (at night too) and driving through very tight spots that can last for quite a long stretch of road (at night too)

[ScoobyB4]

I did the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists)course after passing when I was 18. Didn't really help me much, but atleast I feel like a big man on pistonheads!

[fortransexual]

might be worth a look in, on my first day of driving I crashed twice (into a gate and a parked car - both belonging to the same person lol) and drove 12 miles at 3 a.m with my headlights on dim mode because I couldn't figure out how to get them brighter

or you could just go out with your parents/ trusted friends a couple of times

[ROG.]

(Original post by ScoobyB4)
I did the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists)course after passing when I was 18. Didn't really help me much, but atleast I feel like a big man on pistonheads!

I have had many associates in their teens who passed the IAM and all said it helped immensely and far more than the PP if they had also done that

From what I could accertain - it was the opening up of the thinking process which helped the most by opening up more safe options rather than the actual way that was required for test