Providing Driving Lessons in Bedford

For over fifteen years BDS has provided high quality driving tuition in Bedfordshire and surrounding areas. This has consistently produced driving test success and hundreds of satisfied customers.

 By providing a family run, friendly, personalised service we achieve most of our work through recommendation and our customers’ satisfaction and enjoyment of their learning experience has always been our main objective.

 Our experience shows us this approach works time and time again. (See our testimonials page at www.bdsdrivingschool.co.uk)

 So if you are looking for a driving school and are not sure who to choose get in contact, and we will be pleased to provide you with references from both current and past pupils. You can also try a FREE off road taster session. (Please ask for further details, must be 16 or over, no licence required) to get to know both the car you will be learning in and your selected instructor to suit your individual needs.

We will be pleased to discuss with you our BDS discounts and pupil benefit packages to tailor your learning experience.

 Please visit our website www.bdsdrivingschool.co.uk or contact Tim Chandler on 07901984943 tim@adiselect.co.uk

Martins Money Saving Tips – 15th Feb,2011

If you have recently taken your practical driving test in Bedford, you may like to take part in a survey by DSA (Driving Standards Agency). 

BADDIA Bedford Driving Instructors are encouraging you to take part in this survey, whether your experience has been good or bad, the DSA would like to know.  These details all assist the DSA to improve their services to future driving test candidates, and you can help.

Assessing candidate satisfaction

The DSA are conducting this customer satisfaction survey to gather feedback from practical test candidates.

If you have already taken a practical test and would like to take part in this survey, you can follow this link:

dft.gov.uk/dsa/consultation/candidate_survey

The closing date for this survey is 11 February.

 “ Paul Burchell of Drive Smart based in Biggleswade and Bedford was horrified recently when he discovered that a client ofhis had paid £51 for her Theory test”.  Paul is calling for action from the DSA to stamp out these third party booking agencies.

The “Official” price for the theory test is £31 and £62 for the normal weekday practical test. This is the price charged by the Driving Standards Agency ( DSA), who administers the test. However, there are a lot of “Booking agency’s” springing up who will charge a booking fee on top of the real cost. In most cases this amounts to an additional £20 each for the theory and practical tests.

“This seems to be a growing industry. A casual search on the internet using the sort of phrases a person might use if considering booking a test, will be directed to a number of companies, who all look very professional, and will lead you through the entire booking procedure, without even mentioning the price until you actually Submit  the booking confirmation. By this time, the learner just accepts this as being the correct price and just pays up”

This sort of practice has been going on for quite a while, and is perfectly legitimate but be aware that by booking through an agency, you are paying well over the odds and getting nothing more than you would have got had you booked direct with the DSA.

“What has really upset me this week is that there is now a Bedfordshire based driving “School”! who are trying to cash in on the current bad weather situation. If, as is pretty well inevitable in snow, ice and fog, a driving test is cancelled, then the candidate will be given an alternative date by the DSA as soon as possible. However, demand is so high that this could be 6 to 8 weeks ahead. Naturally, the candidate would be upset about this.

 A “Driving School”, who also operate a booking service, have just contacted me saying that they can re-book a test on behalf of the candidate much sooner.  They claim, even next day on some occasions or typically within 21 days. So, my question is, “How can they do that”? Well, the answer is that they “Buy” a block of test spots from the DSA, (quite legally) and then re-sell them, at a profit, to somebody who is desperate enough to pay well over the odds for the test”.

“I suppose” Paul continues, “It’s similar to Ticket Touting outside a Take That concert!!

The fact is that if an instructor or the pupil is willing to spend a few minutes on the phone or the internet, an earlier date can usually be found at no extra cost”!!

So, be warned. The Theory test should cost you £31 and the standard Practical test £62. If you are paying more than that. Well,!!!!!!

LOCAL DRIVING SCHOOL
Based in Arlesey, LOCAL is the only DSA approved Driving School in the area to cover three test centres… Letchworth,  Stevenage and Bedford.

Stuart Warren is your LOCAL driving instructor and is a member of BADDIA, the Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association.

Learn to drive with us and you will have the opportunity to learn to drive for real…. not just on test routes.
Independent driving?  We go beyond that.  As well as showing you exactly what that means, when we think you are ready, we will get you to pick your own route to a known destination… and discuss and analyse the options.
We aim for you to be able to drive confidently well before your test, as well as teach what the test is about and how to control it.

Do you have access to your own or parent’s car? 

We have access to excellent short or long term insurance.

Stuart Warren – BADDIA member

In a recent blog post, BADDIA reported on the findings of a study done by Cardiff University Researchers into young drivers – and the results were more than a little controversial. Price comparison site moneysupermarket.com did some of their own research, and found that the public doesn’t necessarily agree….

Last month, Sarah Jones, who led the investigation, announced that the introduction of a Graduated Driver’s License (GDL) could save up to 200 lives a year and prevent almost 2000 injuries in the same timescale, but the public have voiced concerns over these suggestions.

Forum users were polled by Money Supermarket, and asked about one of the key restrictions mentioned in the research – that being whether young drivers should be allowed to drive at night.

While nearly two thirds (60% of those asked) said that young drivers need road experience, opinion was split equally as to how that could be achieved; half of those asked said the only way to gain the experience was to get out there, whereas the other half suggested supervised learning, or other similar ideas. Just over a quarter (26%) of visitors said they did not like the idea, saying that it would be impossible to please, meaning that over half of responses suggested that a GDL would not benefit young drivers, instead just causing extra laws and therefore strain on the police forces.

Those who raised concerns over policing of the restrictions asked what would be done in the darker winter months, when young people could potentially be forced to pay for the upkeep of a car as well as using public transport (Effectively doubling costs in some cases), or what would happen should a car of teenagers be lost miles away from home. This, they posited, would use up valuable police resource and potentially leave their children far from home with no way of getting back.

One positive of these suggestions for young drivers would be the possibility of cheaper insurance for young drivers – which would be excellent news for 17-22 year old males who now stand to pay around £2457 for an average insurance policy – Over £200 a month. If the GDL was brought in, companies would be able to offer cheaper quotes by using ‘black box’ type devices to track their usage.

The GDL would have one not inconsiderable benefit for young drivers however; it would likely allow insurers to offer cheaper deals to youngsters; great news for young men in particular, who are currently feeling the brunt of an average £2457 car insurance premium – That’s more than £200 a month! Insurers claim that the policyholder having a tracking device fitted to their car that records times, distances and speeds driven by the user can hugely decrease premiums, and encourage young drivers to consider such policies.

What do you think let us know in the comments below. Is banning young drivers from driving at night just delaying the inevitable, or does the GDL sound like a good idea to you?

Study also says prohibiting young drivers from carrying peers or drinking any alcohol would cut number of road accidents

Published by guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 21 September 2010 10.16 BST

Researchers say a ban on newly qualified young drivers from driving at night would reduce accidents. Photograph: Rex Features

Buying a used car – know your consumer rights

• Published by DSA Wednesday, 15 September 2010

The number of consumer complaints about used cars from dealers has increased, so make sure you know your rights before you buy.

DSA press release

Real driving experience for learners

To help make the driving test more representative of real driving, the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) will no longer publish details of test routes, Road Safety Minister Mike Penning announced today.

Currently test routes used by each driving test centre are published online but this will stop when new routes are introduced at the beginning of October.

This change is being made to support the introduction of independent driving, which will allow candidates to demonstrate their ability to drive safely in more realistic driving situations rather than memorising a particular test route.

Mike Penning said:

“We want new drivers to be able to drive safely and independently and learning to drive test routes by rote isn’t the way to achieve this.

“Stopping the publication of test routes will help to make sure that the driving test better reflects realistic driving conditions and will give new drivers the skills and confidence they need to stay safe on the roads.”

DSA’s Chief Driving Examiner Trevor Wedge said:

“Evidence shows that the biggest challenge newly qualified drivers face after passing their test is learning how to cope when they no longer have their instructor there to help and prompt them.”

“We want to make sure that new drivers and riders are ready to make their own decisions when driving alone; learning how to do that in preparation for their test should lead to better and safer drivers.”

To better assess whether a learner driver is ready to drive unsupervised, independent driving will be introduced into the test on 4 October 2010. Candidates will drive for about 10 minutes, without step-by-step direction from their examiner. This will involve either following a series of directions, following traffic signs, or a combination of both. To help candidates visualise the directions, the examiner may also show them a simple diagram. The remainder of the test is unchanged.

In January 2010, DSA published independent research showing that with careful route design, candidates were able to complete the independent driving tasks without any significant impact on pass rates. Additional research found widespread support for inclusion of independent driving in the practical test.

08 September 2010

Comments please from driving instructors and driving schools who are BADDIA (Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association) members giving driving lessons, Pass Plus, a2om BTEC in Driving Science, advanced lessons, automatic lessons, disabled lessons, towing lessons, refresher courses, motorway lessons, fleet training, instructor training, in preparation for driving tests or driver improvement in the Bedford area