RPL Driving's Blog

Moving wordpress to the main RPL Driving site

Rob Laird - RPL Driving — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 12:49:56 +0000

After using wordpress to host the blog for some time, I’ve now decided to host it on my site.

This will be the last post on this site, but I will keep it active for some time.

The new blog will have all the old posts, along with plenty of new ones, and it can be found at the New RPL Driving Blog

>BSM May Be Sold…

Rob Laird - RPL Driving — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:15:00 +0000

>Back in November 2009, BSM was involved in a £10 million management buyout. If the news reports over the weekend are to be believed, BSM have sturuggled to pay it’s staff this month.

Now the AA seem to have stepped in with an offer to buy the company, along with it’s debts.

To myself, and other Driving Instructors, it was only a matter of time. The high franchise fees, and the choice to replace the popular Corsa with Fiat 500s pushed a lot of Instructors away.

If all goes ahead as planned, the AA will keep the BSM brand, but no doubt there will be some big changes coming up…

From thisismoney.co.uk

Rob Laird

RPL Driving School

>Dyno Web Design Is Online!

Rob Laird - RPL Driving — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:58:00 +0000

>Well after years of designing websites for friends and family, I’ve decided to offer my services to anyone who is looking for a website.

My aim is to offer affordable website design to small businesses and groups.

If you have any questions please contact me.

(If you’re interested, the website can be found a Dyno Web Design – Essex)

>A slight change… Have a look at this painting site

Rob Laird - RPL Driving — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:37:00 +0000

>Hi all,

It’s not very often I do a bit of shameless plugging, but here’s one

A friend of mine has just started her own company ‘Bigg Splats’. She is showing off some of her paintings, and selling a few. She’s able to change designs and colours if you would like something special.

Take a look at Bigg Splats Painting

Thanks!!

>How Many Driving Lessons Do You Need?

Rob Laird - RPL Driving — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 21:57:00 +0000

>This question comes up at some point or another with just about everyone who learns to drive. Most people ask it out of pure interest to see roughly how long the lessons would take.

Unfortunately, like most things, the answer is:

It depends…

According to the DSA, the ‘average’ driver takes 47 hours with an ADI, and 20 hours of private practice with a friend or family member.

Going from personal experience, this number can vary a huge amount. Previous knowledge from using other vehicles can reduce the number of lessons to as few as 15-20, while difficulties can increase the number to 100+.

However a more accurate guide is 35-50.

Now that the hours are out of the way, on to the important stuff…

The number of hours it will take will vary, just like learning any other skill. Personally, I find learning a new language very difficult, where others can pick it up fairly quickly and can learn to speak several different languages.

Something else to consider when comparing your experience to someone who took their test several years ago is that things have changed. Over the years, not only has the driving test become longer and more involved, but road and traffic conditions have got worse. More cars on the road, and more complex junctions make learning to drive harder than ever.

At the end of the day, everyone’s different, but almost everyone can learn to drive a car safely, you just need to learn the right way.

Rob Laird
RPL Driving
Driving Lessons In Hornchurch

Essex Police Catching Illegal Drivers In Ongar

Rob Laird - RPL Driving — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:10:00 +0000

Last Tuesday, Essex Police were in Ongar as part of a road safety operation, with the aim to target illegal drivers. Offences included not wearing a seatbelt and using mobile phone. One vehicle was also seized.

Read the full report here

Rob Laird
RPL Driving School In Hornchurch And Romford

Theory Test Questions Will Stop Being Published

Rob Laird - RPL Driving — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:56:00 +0000

In a press release from the DSA today, they have announced that from 1st January 2012, they will no longer publish the questions used in the theory test.

Their reasoning behind this move is to encourage people to learn and understand the theory, instead of revising the questions and learning the answers. To prepare for this, the format of DSA books will change in September 2011 to take this into account. Candidates will still have access to practice questions, but the actual test will use a different question bank.

In addition to this, there are plans to extend the case study questions using more challenging scenarios.

In my view, this is a good step forward as so many people forget most of what they have learnt after passing, which leads to problems when taking the driving test. To view the full article, click here

If you have any views on this, please leave a comment below.

Rob Laird
RPL Driving School

Understand The Rules Of Parking

Rob Laird - RPL Driving — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 15:35:00 +0000

With so many people getting parking tickets, often due to lack of knowledge, Moneysavingexpert.com has produced a complete guide covering all aspects of parking rules.

So, if you want to know the difference between double and single yellow lines or the top 10 parking questions, take a look here

Rob

RPL Driving School

Toyota Yaris Replaces The Clio

Rob Laird - RPL Driving — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 22:12:00 +0000

After much research and consideration, I decided to replace the Renault Clio with a Toyota Yaris.

So far I’ve only had 2 days of driving lessons in it, but the feedback from pupils have been good. The car is slightly smaller and has larger door mirrors which makes manoeuvring easier, and the seat and steering wheel offer a wider range of adjustment than the Clio.

Rob Laird
RPL Driving
Hornchurch Driving School

Crackdown On Illegal Number Plates

Rob Laird - RPL Driving — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 07:40:00 +0000

Essex drivers with illegal registration plates could face a £60 fixed penalty notice (FPN) and if the plates are false they could get a maximum fine of £1000

Road policing officers will be cracking down on users and makers of misrepresented plates as part of a nationwide campaign called for by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.
Police and the DVLA are concerned at a growing trend to tamper with official numbers to create names, words or short phrases.
But it is an offence to use fixing bolts to create a letter, use incorrectly sized characters or spacing or illegal font or graphics.

Creating foreign-style number plates, using patterned or textured backgrounds or offensive words is also against the law.

Adam Pipe, casualty reduction manager for Essex Police said: “The main problem with misrepresented number plates is that we cannot quickly identify a car or its owner if it is stolen or used in crime.

“We use automatic number plate technology (ANPR) extensively to keeps the roads safe and trace poorly-maintained vehicles, dangerous drivers or track the movements of vehicles which are stolen or are being used by criminals.

“There can be a delay while ANPR works out the correct identity of an altered number plate and that delay could lead to offenders getting away or stolen cars not being traced.

This follows on from the DSA agreeing to report any illegal number plates on vehicles used for driving tests, and suggestions to include number plate checks into the MoT test.

For the full story, look here

Rob Laird
RPL Driving
Driving School In Hornchurch