Should I take a motorway lesson?
Your driving instructor will make sure you have gained the road experience you need, including the ability to control a car at higher speeds, awareness and planning skills and general hazard perception before taking you on a motorway. You may have had the opportunity to practise these skills on a dual carriageway in preparation for your motorway drive and be ready for this next step in your learning. Your instructor will help you know when you are ready.
Motorway lessons won’t be compulsory and motorway driving won’t be tested on the driving test! Despite there being 2,300 miles of the motorway network, there are many hundreds of miles of the country where many thousands of learner drivers and driving instructors, will not have easy access to a motorway. For this reason, pre-test motorway experience will remain voluntary. Whilst we recommend motorway driving lessons, it is entirely up to the individual. Make sure you feel ready within yourself!
As a provisional licence holder you will ONLY be allowed to drive on a motorway with a fully qualified driving instructor in a dual controlled vehicle.
What will a motorway lesson involve?
What’s Relevant?
Your instructor will make the lesson relevant to your needs, talking with you about route planning and journey preparation, possibly covering your most likely first motorway drive. For example, the drive to university or a day out with friends to an amusement park or festival. This will help you plan for factors that may influence your journeys, such as time of day or passengers.
How do you feel?
A motorway driving lesson is a chance to discuss how you may drive differently depending on the weather or visibility. The topic of tiredness and recognising when your concentration is not 100% and how to then remain safe is also an important one to have, including how to plan for regular breaks and what to do if you begin to feel tired.
Your skill level
It’s likely that even with previous dual carriageway experience until you drive on a motorway you may not have had the option of a lane 3 or even a lane 4! Your instructor will be guiding you in the best way to utilise the extra lanes so you can make safe progress when interacting with other motorway users, particularly when two motorways merge or separate.
Breaking it down
It’s an opportunity to discuss what to do in an emergency or a break down on a motorway, as this can sometimes be a scary thing to experience, particularly if you are unsure what to do.
