Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday and what a fabulous day it is . .the sun has been shining all day Doesn't it make you feel good Makes me feel like am glad to be alive Got the bottle of wine chilling in the fridge  and just fired the barbie up Got some marinated chicken and some tasty Angus beef burgers with caramelised onions mixed in  . . .going to be a Fab evening Back to work tomorrow and got Alex from Blackpool about to take her test on Wednesday so need to make sure she's up to test standard  . . .  But that's tomorrow :)))

Big-screen highlights banned by angry Ollie - Blackpool FC - Blackpool Gazette

Big-screen highlights banned by angry Ollie - Blackpool FC - Blackpool Gazette

Super Sunday

Well incredibly I have given myself a day off today to follow my favourite pastime which is? You guessed it,  driving my car out and about to discover new places of interest. The most popular being driving up to the lakes and finding little country pubs for a spot of lunch and turning off the main roads and seeing where the B roads lead to More often than not that means I get lost :) But I'm damned if I going to buy a Sat-Nav . . . nothing wrong with a good old fashioned map even if the folds in it wipe out half of Cumbria and Westmorland So here I go off for the day with a few butties and a flask o' coffee :)
L-a-t-e-r !

Saturday morning

A busy day for Blackpool's Best Driving School All our instructors are out today with pupils I myself have got Kieran from over the bridge in Hambleton at 08:30 then Holly in Thornton who is up for her test first week in May then a bit of a treck over to Wesham . . . and yes I know its pronounced Wesssam :)) Got Leanne who is about to try a mock Test this weekend to see where we are in the bigger scheme of things So better get going :) All the best Stephen

A police State ????

The Police in Thornton-Cleveleys had coned off a lay-by ahead and were conducting random spot checks on vehicles in the area.
"I hope we don't get nicked" laughed Claire my pupil.
"I shouldn't think so" I was just saying, when surprisingly we were directed into the lay-by.
Now some driving school cars are not obviously driving school cars, but mine has signs on the boot, doors, all down each side and even the roof with a big “L” plate up there. It is without doubt - a driving school car, which is why we were astonished by the Police Officer's opening question...
He leaned into the driver’s window and said . . .
"Can you tell me the purpose of your journey, miss?"
With more than a little disbelief, Sarah replied, "I'm on a driving lesson!"
The Officer stepped back and took another look at the car, we could both see his discomfort, and sheepishly he said, "Oh yes... Of course you are... Carry on." And with that he waved us through.
Good to know that our Police Force have such amazing powers of detection.

Both eyes on the road ahead...

I thought I might do a blog about a pupil who came to me last year . . .

It's always a little daunting when you first get into the car with a new pupil, especially one who has told you over the phone that he can already drive! I find myself wondering what experience they have had, how well they can actually drive compared with how well they think they can.
Having said that, I am generally releived to find that they do have some driving skill and I will just need to tidy up their technique. Other times, however, I am not so lucky.
When I collected 'Shyam' who told me he'd been driving for five years in his own country (I won't say which but it was very hot there :))) and for a further year in this country on his international driving licence, I was quite confident in his ability.
Unfortunately the first action he took was to tilt up the rear view mirror to face the roof. When I asked why he'd done that, I was told with all sincerity that, "I can't drive with a mirror there. I can see things moving behind me which is distracting."
I felt this may be a rather longer lesson than first anticipated.

hmmmmmmmmmmm . . . . .

Hmmm...
I recently had a very nervous female Pupil who when taking her driving test was asked by the examiner
"What do you do for a living?"
Her reply was, "Oh, I'm a student."
She then said to the examiner...
"So what do you do?"
After quite a pause he replied  . . . . . . .
"Well actually I'm a driving examiner!!"

DSA Driving Challenge

Good morning to everyone on this glorious friday :)) As I drive around on my lessons I see lots of people using mobile phones either talking or texting and it is my pet hate You can usually tell when someone is on the phone if you're following them as they are possibly going unusually slow or be positioned very strangely on the road and then if you decide to get past them they don't even know you're there So I found this little page on the DSA web site which approximates what happens when you are driving whilst using a mobile phone and the lack of concentration that results. Just try the challenge . . you might be a little shocked at the results http://bit.ly/hqF1Ku

A funny story for St Patrick's Day

How to Gain Admittance to the Olympics

An Englishman, a Scotsman and an Irishman were without tickets for the opening ceremonies of the summer Olympics but hoped to be able to talk their way in at the gate.  Security was very tight, however, and each of their attempts was met with a stern refusal.
While wandering around outside the stadium, the Englishman came upon construction site, which gave him an idea. Grabbing a length of scaffolding, he presented himself at the gate and said, 'Johnson, the pole vault, 'and was admitted.
The Scotsman, overhearing this, went at once to search the site. When he came up with a sledge hammer, he presented himself at the gate and said, 'McTavish, the hammer.' He was also admitted.
The Irishman combed the site for an hour and was nearly ready to give up when he spotted his ticket in. Seizing a roll of barbed wire, he presented himself at the gate and announced, 'O' Sullivan, fencing.'

Dangers of using the wrong mirrors

One of the causes of accidents or a cause for concern and need for action in my opinion is the totally wrong impression of distance that is given in the exterior mirrors of cars and vans.
The only true reflection of distance behind, to a driver when he has overtaken another or is considering say moving into an outside lane is the inside mirror.
The offside mirror shows something one and a half times distant and the nearside on twice the correct distance away.
This means that if drivers only uses say the nearside mirror [ which many do ] after overtaking they will effectively pull in front of overtaken vehicle and be far to close, this causes both concern and anger to overtaken driver who is immediately tailgating.
Similar occurs when a driver pulls out in front of you when say in 3rd lane of motorway, he has looked in his offside mirror and presumed you are far enough behind when in fact you are almost at his bumper. The effects of this are dangerous.
Van drivers commit these maneuvers regularly because they have no interior mirror to relate distance to.
Ok rant over :))).

Mondays Blog March 14 2011

So welcome to all past and present pupils Just to let you all know my mobile web-site is up and running now  . . with a little help . . . no a LOT of help from my friends, Helen and Sheila at Social Media Buddies. They have set me up with a fab new mobi site which I hope to link to my new main web-site which is under construction. Shouldn't be long before everything is fully launched on the web and fully integrated with the Gods of Google :))

Wednesdays Blog

Hello to all my pupils and colleagues!!!
 Not the best of days for driving lessons with the rotten weather we had.
The roadworks are getting me down a little  . . well not me but I guess other road users are frustrated at the slow pace of their daily commute from north to south or south to north Soon be over though  . . well June LOL Just a reminder to present pupils that we are doing the "introductory special free trial offer" of an hour's free tuition as long as its taken as part of a two hour lesson. And to all the secret sales-persons inside you  . . .  don't forget the refferal reward of an £18 lesson for free . . maybe that's just too many freebies LOL Will be up-loading some videos in the very near future regarding the "show me tell me" questions in the test They just make it easier for you guys to remember the examiners potential questions Well its bye for now Cheers :)))

sundays re-posted blog :)

Another day at Blackpool's best Driving School My first pupil is Leanne in Wesham which by the way is pronounced "Wessam" :) Just to let my pupils know that if any of you introduce a new pupil to me then I will give you a full hours lesson YES THATS TOTALLY FREE saving you at least £18 So if you find ten friends thats obviously 10 hours of lessons worth £180 pounds Not bad eh? Can see myself working for nothing in the near future LOL
OK back to work :)))

My first blog for Blackpools Best Driving School

Well here goes nothing :)

My first ever Blog so better try and make it a good one

This is the first day of my first blog for the brand new driving school which we just launched in Blackpool "Blackpools best driving school" with a little help from my friends at "Social Media Buddies" which is the dynamic new way too run a mobile web-site. Hopefully when I get my head round this stuff I will be able to make my blog a little bit more interesting. So now I'll just say that I'm looking forward to letting you all into the new and exciting things coming your way very very soon here on Blackpool Best Blog but for now just a big thank you to Helen and Sheila down at F Y Creatives on Church St Blackpool

All the best for now  :)