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Driving Videos

Driving Videos

Dec 5, 2024

Learn to Drive With Us! 

At Always Pass we love helping people to learn to drive. Not everyone will learn in the same way, and our experienced driving instructors will be able to help you however you like to learn something new.

In the course of giving driving lessons we’ve noticed some of the road layouts that you might encounter during your driving test are trickier than others. Natalie felt that these could benefit from a ‘how to’ video with a driving instructor driving and narrating to show you how to tackle them safely. If you’re learning to drive, or you just find a big, complicated roundabout fills you with dread why not take a look at the YouTube channel? It’s got videos to help with roundabouts and D junctions. Watching how Natalie would drive through these will give you some useful insights. New videos will be uploaded when we can, and eventually this channel will become a library of videos about junctions and other road features. Watching will never be as useful as getting actual behind-the-wheel practice, but we think this is a useful perspective that can help learners.

Take a look at the videos here:

driving training videos
Are headlights too bright?

Are headlights too bright?

Nov 7, 2024

Bright Lights

Have you noticed new car headlights are more blue than the lights on older cars? This is because new cars come with high intensity discharge beams, these are more blue-white and brighter. A study has just been started by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to see what impact these new brighter lights are having on drivers. They have started this research as the number of drivers reporting being dazzled by lights has increased recently.

If a bright light dazzles a driver it can cause an accident. Your eyes will take between one and four seconds to recover from a bright light. If you’re travelling at speed your car will have travelled a long way in the time it takes for your eyes to be able to see again.

There is a fine line between being well lit so that you can see and be seen by other road users and being dazzling so that you cause an accident. Car manufacturers have gone towards a blue light as it causes more contrast, so it makes it easier to see objects on the road. Older cars have halogen bulbs, which are a yellower light. It isn’t known if the blue lights are just brighter, or are in some way causing more glare.

Do you find newer lights are too bright? We’ve got an article about checking your headlights, if you’d like more information about how to check and adjust your headlights.

Learning to drive safely is very important. We have experienced driving instructors that will be able to teach you not just to pass your test, but to drive safely for years to come.

Bright headlights
What does that light mean?

What does that light mean?

Oct 31, 2024

Dashboard Warning Lights

Happy Halloween! As I enjoy the lights from the imaginatively carved pumpkins in my neighbours front gardens I remember not all coloured lights are welcome at this time of year!

We’ve all been there, you start your car to go home and you notice a new light on the dashboard. Whilst some might be obvious others could mean anything. Depending on the sort of person you are you might Google it, reach for a manual or ignore it (I do know people that have taken the bulb out or fixed some card over it so they can’t see it any more).

I don’t blame anyone that can’t identify all the waning lights on a modern car, there could be more than 50 of them! Ignoring something won’t ever make it go away though, so it’s a good idea to find out what it’s about.

Check Engine!

There are some things you should be able to identify, one is the engine warning light. This might be the outline of an engine in yellow/orange or just say ‘check engine’. If this light is showing you should get your car checked by a mechanic as soon as possible, even if it seams to be driving normally. If you ignore it you could be doing more damage, and end up with a bigger bill.

Check engine
Dashboard warning lights oil

Oil light.

This one is easy to identify, it looks like an oil can (usually in red). If this shows you should check the oil dipstick, and if it is low top up with the correct engine oil. Driving without enough oil will damage your engine. If it’s not low but this light is on it could indicate a bigger problem, and it’s worth getting it checked out before you break down in the middle of nowhere!

Temperature warning light

This one looks like a thermometer in most cars (again usually in red). If your engine overheats it will break down, so it’s better to pull over somewhere safe. Once the engine has cooled down (you do need to wait a while) check the coolant. You may have just run low, and filling it up could solve the problem. If the light keeps coming on you may have a leak, get it checked by a mechanic.

Dashboard warning lights temperature
Dashboard warning lights brakes

Brakes

This light is usually a red circle with an exclamation in the middle. Obviously if a brake warning light comes on you need to pull over as soon as you can. The car may not be safe to drive.

Airbag warning light

This light looks a bit like a driver with a circle in front to represent the airbag. If your airbags are faulty you need to get them checked out. Don’t think it’ll be fine, I’m a safe driver I don’t need them anyway! Even the safest drivers can have an accident, and you need your airbags to deploy to stop you and your passengers from being seriously injured. Faulty airbags can also cause accidents, as one could deploy when you are just driving safely. This is why there is a warning light for the airbag system. If you see this light it’s time to take your car to a mechanic to get it checked out.

Dashboard warning lights airbag

Learn With Us!

At Always Pass we’ll tech you to drive responsibly, and understand your car. This will make you a great driver in the future! If you’re interested in driving lessons please get in touch.

How do numberplates work?

How do numberplates work?

Aug 14, 2024

First Numberplates

The first number plates were issued in the United Kingdom in 1903, as a result of the Motor Car Act, which came into effect on January 1, 1904. The act also introduced driving licenses and speed limits. The idea for vehicle registration was borrowed from the Netherlands, which was the first country to use national registration plates in 1898.
The first number plate known to have been issued was DY1, which was given to the second Earl Russell’s Napier car in Hastings on November 23, 1903. The early number plates were made up of one letter and one number, and often included an area code to identify a specific location. For example, “A” was used for London and “B” for Lancashire.

Numberplate Format

The format of number plates has changed over time:

1932: A three letter and three number series was introduced

Mid-1950s: Some authorities began reversing the order of letters and numbers

1963–1965: A year suffix was added to all plates

1967: The registration year was changed from January 1 to August 1

Numberplates

Alphabet System

In the UK, number plates on a car were ran the alphabet system. They were annually moved to the next year on the 1st September. This system started in 1983.
Example plate is L123 ABC – The L at the beginning of number plate was related to the year it was 1st registered…
1993 – L 1994 – M 1995 – N 1996 – P 1997 – R 1998 – S 1999 – T
1999 – V 2000 – W 2000 – W 2001 – Y

You might notice there’s no O, Q, U or Z, these weren’t used as they looked too much like other numbers or letters, or were kept for special vehicles.

All Change!

In 2001/2002 it all changed as they were running out of number plate configurations, so they introduced the new system. Twice a year new number plates were bought out, 1st March & 1st September.

From the 1st September 2021, the DVLA decided to start the plates at 51, so September 2001 was an example plate like this BR51 NGG.

 

Years And Reg Plates

   Year           March           September
2002/03       02                    52
2003/04       03                    53
2004/05       04                    54
2005/06       05                    55
2006/07       06                    56
2007/08       07                    57
2008/09       08                    58
2009/10       09                    59
2010/11       10                    60
2011/12       11                    61
2012/13      12                    62
2013/14      13                    63
2014/15      14                    64
2015/16      15                    65
2016/17      16                    66
2017/18      17                    67
2018/19      18                    68
2019/20      19                    69
2020/21      20                   70
2021/22      21                   71
2022/23      22                   72
2023/24      23                   73
2024/25      24                   74

Year

2002/3

2003/4

2004/5

2005/6

2006/7

2007/8

2008/9

2009/10

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

March

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

September

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

Year

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

2019/20

2020/21

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

2024/25

March

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

September

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

Standard car number plates contain 7 letters and numbers divided into two separate blocks.

The first two letters are called an area code, and correlate with a region in the UK where the car was initially registered. For example RD51 SMR is first registered in Reading. It depends on which region you come under, with the area code system. If you live in Leeds for example, you then start your number plates with a Y, for the Yorkshire region…

The two numbers that follow identify the age of the vehicle (so if it was registered in March 2024, it will read ‘24’). The final three letters are selected at random

Numberplates

Learn to Drive

We have the knowledge and skills to teach you to drive, whichever year your first car was registered! Get in touch today if you’d like some driving lessons.

What is car tax?

What is car tax?

Jul 25, 2024

Car Tax

Car tax, or Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is a charge that is applied to cars using public roads in the UK. There are exceptions that actually don’t have to pay. They still have to ‘pay’ their bill of £0 through the same online portal, as all cars are required to have VED. The exceptions are vehicles used by a disabled person, vehicles that are over 40 years old, mowing machines, steam vehicles, vehicles used for agriculture, and forestry.

Is Tax New?

The origins of VED go a long way back to the 17th century when it was a charge for horse drawn Hackney Carriages. When cars first took to the roads it was agreed that they should also pay the tax, and shortly after this ruling tax discs were introduced. These showed the year that the car had paid tax for, and were displayed in the windscreen. These days it’s all done electronically, and tax discs don’t need to be displayed, but the tax still needs to be paid.

Where Does The Money Go?

The roads are in a terrible state – where does the money go? Is a fair question, but just because it’s collected from vehicles it’s not really anything to do with the maintenance of our roads. The money goes into the same ‘pot’ as other forms of tax, so it’s just as likely to be spent on education, or hospitals as it is on new roads and infrastructure.

VED is paid either yearly or every six months, most people choose to pay yearly, as it’s slightly cheaper and something you don’t have to remember to do again for another year. The DVLA send out reminders so that you know when your tax is due, and it’s easy to pay online once you have your reminder letter.

How Much Is It?

The amount you have to pay varies depending on several things. How much CO2 your car produces, when your car was registered and how expensive your car was when it was first registered. There are several tax bands for VED.

If your car was registered before March 2001 it depends how large your engine is, if it’s under or over 1549cc. Cars registered between March 2001 and April 2017 have a different band system, this is based on how much carbon dioxide your car produces. If your car doesn’t produce very much in the way of emissions your tax will be a lot less, it could even be free! You can see the price table here.

Cars registered after April 2017 have a new system of tax. This was introduced as modern cars are producing fewer emissions, and the revenue collected from VED was falling dramatically. The government changed the tax bands to zero, standard and premium. With only electric cars in the zero band. If you have a car registered after April 2017 that, due to its low emissions would have been paying £35 a year in the previous system, you will now be paying £190! The premium rate applies to cars that were over £40,000 when first registered. These will be taxed at the higher rate of £600 for the first five years, after this five years the standard rate is then applied.

Changes will be made to this in 2025, when the zero rate will be removed and electric cars will be in the standard band, and also due to premium tax if they’re expensive enough.

Learn With Us

Whatever you drive you will have to factor in the cost of the tax as part of the general cost of owning a car. No-one likes paying tax, but it’s just a fact of life! The convenience of owning your own car, and the freedom it gives, more than make up for the cost of ownership. If you’re ready to start driving, get in touch with us today. We have experienced driving instructors in your area.

Increase in Road Deaths

Increase in Road Deaths

Jun 18, 2024

Stay Safe!

New data from the Department for Transport (DfT), shows there has been a sharp rise in the number of road deaths in Britain.

However, these statistics are more in line with the figures that were released in 2019 – before the covid-19 pandemic, so it could just be the world returning to the office after years of working from home.

The Highway Code was changed in January to try to make the road safer for vulnerable road users. Sadly this hasn’t translated to a drop in road fatalities. Is it possible that the changes weren’t communicated very well to everyone.

Road safety

Road Statistics

Sadly the number of motorists killed on the roads this year was 354, 44 more than last year. pedestrian deaths were also up by 15 to 376, and e-scooter deaths were up 2 to 12. Cyclists were the only people bucking this trend, with 26 fewer fatalities than the previous year. Sadly more cyclists were seriously injured than last year, so there isn’t really anything to be celebrated here. The rates are still down on 2019 levels, so it depends whether you’re measuring against the last year or pre-pandemic levels, but any road deaths are a tragedy.

A DfT spokeswoman said: “We welcome a continued decrease in road casualties compared with 2019 levels, and work tirelessly to improve road safety for all, including through our Think! campaign, updating the Highway Code to protect the most vulnerable road users, and recent funding of £47.5 million towards improving the 27 most dangerous roads in England through the Safer Roads Fund.”

As the young are more at risk of having a serious accident we feel instead of being gloomy about these figures we should be motivated to do everything we can. Learners need to be taught to drive safely, to obey speed limits and be made aware of road safety. If we can create good drivers for tomorrow we can help to avoid road traffic accidents.

If you want to learn to drive there’s no need to be nervous, we’ll teach you to drive safely!