On to the last in our EDT Lesson series, with learner driver Alanna. She’s now mastered all the basic driving techniques, gotten plenty of practice, and is feeling confident as we head into her final two lessons.

Last week we covered EDT Lesson 9 – Changing Direction 2 (More Complex Situations), where she practiced changing direction in different driving situations and EDT Lesson 10 – Speed Management, which focused on adjusting her speed to the flow of traffic and staying within the speed limits.

EDT Lesson 11 – Driving Calmly

Driving can be stressful. Bad weather, traffic jams, and aggressive drivers can test even experienced drivers. Alanna needs to learn to stay calm, even when things get tough on the road.

We talked about the things that can cause stress when driving and how to counteract them. One thing Alanna finds stressful is parallel parking – so we talked about ways she can make it easier and that it can take a bit of practice to master. Practicing on quieter streets with less traffic will help Alanna was also worried about other drivers getting impatient – but it’s ok to get the angle wrong and pull back out of the space and reposition the car, to try it again.  It’s important to remember everyone was a novice driver once. If you also struggle with this, check out our Guide to Parallel Parking for some useful tips.

New drivers often struggle with stalling in traffic, so we also practiced restarting after stalling to help ease the pressure if this happens.

Things like weather and traffic jams are beyond your control, so you just must stay calm. Always try to ignore aggressive drivers and try not to take their attitude personally

If you find driving stressful, the following steps can help

1. Plan your route in advance,
2. Check for traffic updates
3. Allow yourself plenty of time to get to your destination
4. Make sure to check that your seat is properly adjusted, so you feel comfortable
5. Always check your mirrors before setting off.
6. Never drive when you’re stressed or tired
7. Pull in for a break if you need to

All of these will help to make your journey more positive and relaxing. You can also find some great tips in our Mindful Driving blog article.

EDT Lesson 12 – Night Driving

For our final lesson, it was time for Alanna to take the car out at night, with the new set of challenges that brings.

Reduced visibility at night means that Alanna had to adjust her speed and increase her stopping distance. She also had to watch out for pedestrians, cyclists and e-scooter riders, who may not be wear reflective clothing or using lights.

We started the lesson by checking the outside of Alanna’s car to make sure that her lights, indicators, reflectors and number plate lighting were clean and in good working order.

We talked about which lights to use when. Alanna must make sure to:

• use her dipped headlights from dusk to dawn in well-lit and built-up areas.

• use her main beam headlights on dark country roads and should dim them as soon as she sees an oncoming car to avoid dazzling the driver. If she sees the the headlights of a car coming towards her, she should avoid looking directly at by looking towards the verge on her side of the road. If it becomes too much, she should pull over to the roadside, if safe to do so.

• She should only use her fog lights in dense fog or heavy snow.

With all 12 lessons now under her belt, Alanna needs to practice as much as possible and prepare for her test and review everything she’s learned so far. If you want a handy EDT Lesson recapcheck out our AXA Guide to EDT Lessons.

It’s a good idea to take a few extra lessons to help if you want to focus on and it’s definitely worth booking a few pre-test lessons on test routes in the run up to the test. Check out our Top Tips for your Driving Test here for some extra help.

Thanks to Alanna, and the Best of luck with the Driving test!

End of lesson Q&A

At the end of the lesson, Rod and Alanna had a chat about her progress so far.

Here’s what Alanna had to say about her final two lessons:

“I had my last lesson yesterday and it went quite well. I can definitely see an improvement. I feel a lot more confident driving. Of course, there are still a few things I find tricky like reversing but Rod reassured me that it will become easier with time and practice. Overall, I had a really great experience doing my ISM driving lessons, and can only praise my fantastic instructor Rod for his patience and ability to make me feel comfortable when driving. He’s a great teacher and couldn’t have done it without him.”

Rod’s Review after the final two lessons with Alanna:

“On Alanna’s last few lessons, we did a recap on some familiar manoeuvres including reversing around a corner, practised some parking forward and in reverse, how to merge at junctions and the left and right turns. 

Alanna is in a really good place with her driving and just needs to gain a little more road experience so she’s prepared for her driving test. We’ll arrange to do some pre-test lessons once Alanna is ready so she can feel confident.” 

And don’t forget – learner drivers aged 17-40 can get 12 EDT Lessons for €545 AND if you have an AXA car insurance policy and you could get up to €400 off your car insurance if you complete your lessons within 12 months. Read more now on the AXA Website.