You’ve passed your driving test, had the obligatory, ‘holding up your pass certificate’ photo taken, and shared the good news on social media. Now you’re raring to get driving, but, you do have a few (natural) worries about getting behind the wheel alone for the first time.
So, to help you overcome some of these new driver stresses, we’ve picked out 3 of the most common things new drivers worry about, and added some handy tips to help.
Breaking Down
Breaking down is stressful, even for the most experienced driver. And if you’ve only just passed your test, the experience of breaking down can be doubly stressful, especially if it’s on a busy road. However, if it does happen, follow these simple rules:
- Find a safe place to pull over – If your car cuts out whilst you’re moving, check it’s safe to do so, and pull over to a safe spot. Once stationary and safe, put your hazard lights on, get out of the vehicle, and move away from the traffic.Note: If you’re on a motorway, pull onto the hard shoulder or layby, or if you’re on a smart motorway, into the left lane or an ERA (Emergency Refuge Area). Put your hazard lights on, and your side lights if it’s dark or foggy, exit the vehicle via the passenger door, and move away from the vehicle keeping upstream of oncoming traffic, preferably behind a safety barrier.
- Call for assistance – Once you’re safely out of the vehicle, call for assistance, whether it’s the AA, the RAC or a similar breakdown service, or, if you breakdown in a live lane of a motorway and can’t exit your vehicle, call 999. And to help avoid breakdowns, make sure you get your vehicle regularly serviced at a reputable car servicing garage.
Seeing a warning light
It’s inevitable, a warning light on your vehicles dashboard will come on at some point, either whilst you’re driving, or when you’re first starting the vehicle up. If it does happen, don’t panic thinking you need to stop driving or that you can’t drive. Most warning lights are simply a warning that something needs looking at, sooner rather than later.
So, if you do see a warning light, get the vehicle to a garage asap, and preferably a garage that provides a diagnostic check. This simply means, your car is linked up to a computer via it’s ECU, so a mechanic can see what the problem might be, without having to carry out a manual inspection.
The MOT test
Most new drivers worry about taking their car for the first MOT test, for various reasons. But, the main worry is that the car will have something seriously wrong with it that might be dangerous, or expensive to get repaired.
Yes, the car may have an issue, and it might fail the test, but it is a legal requirement that has to be done. So, to lessen the stress of your MOT, follow these simple rules:
- Use a reputable garage: Whether you find the garage via word-of-mouth or through careful research, a decent garage will carry out the MOT thoroughly, give you the right advice, and won’t do work that doesn’t need doing.
- Don’t wait until your MOT runs out: Find out when your present MOT runs out by visiting www.gov.uk/check-mot-status, then book your MOT a week or two before the expiry date. By doing this, you’ll have time to get any (non-dangerous) issues resolved, whilst the vehicle is still legal to drive.
- Keep up a maintenance routine: By keeping up with a good, general vehicle maintenance routine, such as checking your tyres tread depth and condition regularly, keeping fluids topped up, changing bulbs when they go, and getting the vehicle serviced regularly etc., when it comes to the MOT test, you’ll be fairly confident of a pass, as any serious issues would’ve been spotted and dealt with at the time.
Stadium MK garage
Located next to Stadium MK, Quality Car Service is one of Milton Keynes leading car servicing and MOT specialists, providing various car servicing packages, advanced diagnostic checks, TerraClean decarbonising, new tyres and tyre fitting, plus a range of other services designed to help keep your vehicle running at its best.
