School of Motoring

Your Instructor

  • When your Driving Instructor arrives for your first lesson, he / she should be displaying their ADI (Approved Driving Instructor) badge in the top or bottom left-hand corner of the windscreen (on the passenger side).
  • If the badge is green, the instructor is a fully qualified ADI
  • If the badge is pink, the instructor is not yet fully qualified, but has passed the first two parts of the qualifying exams, and is training towards the final part.
  • The instructor's photograph should also be displayed on the badge towards the inside of the windscreen.
  • Both Green Badge and Pink Badge holders are entitled to charge a fee for instruction.
  • If the instructor is not displaying either a Green Badge or a Pink Badge, then they are probably not qualified to give instruction, and as such cannot legally charge a fee, and may be teaching incorrectly.

 

            

You

Before you begin your lessons, you MUST have a valid, signed provisional driving licence for the category of vehicle you are learning to drive. You MUST inform the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) if you change your name or address. Both the card and the paper counterpart MUST have your signature to be legal and valid. Your instructor should check this before you begin, so please take your licence (both parts) to your first lesson.

  • You MUST be able to read an old style (e.g. A 123 BCD) car number plate at a distance of 20.5 metres (67 feet), or a new style (e.g. AB 12 CDE) number plate at 20 metres (66 feet) before driving, wearing glasses or contact lenses if you need them. If you can’t meet this requirement, please see an optician first. Again, your instructor should check this before you start (If you can’t meet the requirement, you will not be able to take the practical part of the Driving Test, because this is one of the first things the examiner will check, and if you can’t meet it the test will be stopped). If you need glasses or contact lenses to meet the requirement, you should always wear them when driving.
Non-European Holders of non-European Community licences who are now resident in the UK may only drive on that licence for a maximum of 12 months from the date they become resident in this country. To ensure continuous driving entitlement:-
• a British provisional licence should be obtained and a driving test(s) passed before the 12-month period elapses, or
• in the case of a driver who holds a licence from a country which has been designated in law for licence exchange purposes, the driver should exchange the licence for a British one.s

 

If you have your own car

MOT

Cars and motorcycles MUST normally pass an MOT test three years from the date of the first registration and every year after that. You MUST NOT drive a motor vehicle without an MOT certificate when it should have one. Exceptionally, you may drive to a pre-arranged test appointment or to a garage for repairs required for the test. Driving an unroadworthy motor vehicle may invalidate your insurance.
Law RTA 1988 sects 45, 47, 49 & 53


Insurance

To use a motor vehicle on the road, you MUST have a valid insurance policy. This MUST at least cover you for injury or damage to a third party while using that motor vehicle. Before driving any motor vehicle, make sure that it has this cover for your use or that your own insurance provides adequate cover. You MUST NOT drive a motor vehicle without insurance. Also, be aware that even if a road traffic incident is not your fault, you may still be held liable by insurance companies.
Law RTA 1988 sect 143


Uninsured drivers can now be automatically detected by roadside cameras. Further to the penalties for uninsured driving listed on page 126, an offender's vehicle can now be seized by the police, taken away and crushed.
Law RTA 1988, sects 165a & 165b


The types of cover available are indicated below:
Third-party insurance - this is often the cheapest form of insurance, and is the minimum cover required by law. It covers anyone you might injure or whose property you might damage. It does not cover damage to your own motor vehicle or injury to yourself.


Third-party, Fire and Theft insurance - similar to third-party, but also covers you against your motor vehicle being stolen, or damaged by fire

Comprehensive insurance - this is the most expensive but the best insurance. Apart from covering other persons and property against injury or damage, it also covers damage to your own motor vehicle, up to the market value of that vehicle, and personal injury to yourself.

Registration certificate

Registration certificates V5c (also called harmonised registration certificates) are issued for all motor vehicles used on the road, describing them (make, model, etc.) and giving details of the registered keeper. You MUST notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Swansea as soon as possible when you buy or sell a motor vehicle, or if you change your name or address. For registration certificates issued after 27 March 1997, the buyer and seller are responsible for completing the registration certificates. The seller is responsible for forwarding them to DVLA. The procedures are explained on the back of the registration certificates.
Law RV(R&L)R regs 21, 22, 23 & 24

Vehicle Excise Duty (VED)

All motor vehicles used or kept on public roads MUST display a valid Vehicle Excise Duty disc (tax disc) displayed at all times. Even motor vehicles exempt from duty MUST display a tax disc at all times.
Law VERA sects 29 & 33

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