Car insurance - Tips & Advice - Car insurance for young drivers
Learning to drive can be a nerve-wracking experience. When you first get out on the road there seems to be so much to remember - clutch control, changing gear, not going too quickly, and, of course, 'mirror-signal-manoeuvre'. And that's without having to worry what other road users are getting up to - cutting you up, honking their horn when you make a mistake and so on…
Those people who have been driving for years may have started off practising behind the wheel around car parks or business parks where there was little traffic, just to become familiar with the workings of a car, before actually heading out on the road. Nowadays, with the advent of the latest technology, its possible to learn at least some of the skills either in a driving simulator or even at home on your PC.
Driving simulators
As Matt Toplis, owner of Accelerate Motoring School in the West Country observes, 'While driving simulators are not a replacement for the real experience of getting behind the wheel of a car, they can be of benefit to people who are especially nervous or who have trouble with coordination.'
Advocates of driving simulators would agree, claiming that they are a great way to pick up the basics, test your skills and build up your confidence before you get out on the road. So what is a simulator like? Put simply, you sit in a seat which has a steering wheel, pedals and gear stick, with a series of screens in front of you and familiarise yourself with situations you would encounter in a real car, such as:
- Moving off, accelerating, slowing down and stopping
- Changing gears
- Emergency stops
- Dealing with junctions
As you will be doing all this under the supervision of an instructor you will also get feedback along the way. The theory is that you will progress with actual driving more quickly once you get out on the road. And as driving simulator lessons cost less than on the road lessons, they can, theoretically, reduce the overall cost of learning to drive.
Learning at home
If you are unable to find a local driving simulator, another alternative is software that you can use on your PC at home. These programmes often provide learning modules which comprise video tutorials and fact sheets. They also have interactive training, where you will have to react to situations on your screen.
Admittedly, simulators, particularly the ones you sit in, have a number of advantages – not least that you can use them before you are 17, you can learn the basics and build confidence and mistakes don't matter in the same way.
But as Matt Toplis emphasises, there really is no substitute for getting behind the wheel with an instructor, emphasising that: 'A simulator can't tailor itself to your needs, it can't teach complex techniques and it doesn't have the "feel" of a car.'
That said, every driver is an individual and if using a simulator or a computer programme works for you and helps you along the road towards that all important pass, then there can't be anything wrong with that.
Once you have passed your test, an online quote is just a click away.
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