Driving Instructor Webinars

If you're a driving instructor with a question about running a business, tax, mindfulness, training or anything else, you're in the right place. Find out how to get in touch with them through ADI Network.

How to Get Expert Help with Your Business

Thanks to ADI Network's partnership with Intelligent Instructor+, you've got the knowledge of experts in ADI training, mindfulness, accountancy and more at your fingertips — and they're ready to answer any questions you have.

We have a host of talent with different specialist areas who are ready to answer your burning questions - all for free when you join ADI Network.

Tommy Sandu is our expert in Business Advice. He runs Smart Learner Driving School, a hugely successful, and award-winning driving school in the Midlands. 

Tommy is highly respected within the industry, with fresh ideas and innovative ways of engaging with both learners and instructors. A regular presenter of webinars and conferences. His knowledge will help you make your business more efficient and successful.

Ray Seagrave is our expert in Training. As an advocate for coaching and client-centred learning, Ray is an industry award-winning trainer and public speaker. 

A Grade A (51/51) ORDIT Instructor trainer and Grade A ADI, his passion is helping ADIs and PDIs develop their client-centred teaching and coaching skills to deliver the national driver and rider standards around safe driving for life.

Ruedi Preiss is our expert in Electric Vehicles. He's a passionate ADI who runs a driving school that has been an early adopter of electric vehicles. He often shares his experience with others, and is very passionate about the future of the driving tuition industry.

San Harper is our expert in Mindfulness. She is a well-respected mindfulness expert, well known for her knowledge and experience. An ADI for 18 years, San is now of a Grade A standard and is a qualified fleet trainer.

Having been a former taxi assessor for the Blue Lamp Trust and a former trainer for speed awareness courses on behalf of Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership, San Harper is the calmest person behind the wheel!

Andrew Drewary is one of our experts in Road Safety. He's a multi-award-winning road safety specialist and collision/incident investigator with 23 years of experience. Andrew has managed the investigation and analysis process for over 40,000 road traffic collisions.

His specialist areas are in: Collision and incident investigations, driver and management training, policy writing and public speaking.

Charlotte Le Maire is another expert in Road Safety. She's a motor criminal and regulatory lawyer and barrister and is frequently instructed to provide critical advice in the immediate aftermath of a serious/fatal incident.

Charlotte's specialist areas are in: Defending drivers and employers after serious or fatal road collisions and incidents, driver and management training, policy writing and public speaking.

Amy Hartley is our expert in Tax & Accountancy. She joined FBTC Accountancy Services in 2011 since then she has helped driving instructors through all phases of their business, ensuring guidance and support when needed.

If you're a driving instructor looking to improve your pass rate, you should consider switching from a teaching style of instruction to coaching. Find out how to get started and why it's important on ADI Network.

Coaching vs Instructing

You've probably heard of the latest trend in the driving tuition industry: coaching rather than instructing. It might sound confusing given that you're a driving instructor, but it's more than just a buzz word that will disappear faster than it arrived.

The word 'instruct' usually means the act of telling someone else what to do. Think back to your time in education, and you'll remember your teachers telling you what you need to know. All you had to do was take notes and remember what you were being told.

Now you're no longer in school, do you know what equation to use to work out the radius of a circle? For most people, the answer will be no. One of the core reasons for that is because everyone has a different learning style, and instruction doesn't really take that into consideration.

It's easy to zone out or struggle to pick up skills that are just being told to you, and a lot of people struggle with learning something new until they apply it themselves.

Coaching is more of a collaborative effort between yourself and the learner. You're still sharing your knowledge and taking on a mentor position, but there are a few key differences.

To be an effective coach, you should focus on asking questions to allow the learner to reach the answer themselves. It's also important to listen, reflect and paraphrase to show you understand and to make sure you're on the same page with the learner.

A regular contributor to ADI Network, Ray Seagrave is a national award winning driving instructor, who has since moved on to ADI training.

He has 25 years of experience in of working in senior business marketing management positions, which has developed his skills around building rapport with clients. He is also qualified as a Fleet Driver Metrics Coach and accelerate instructor trainer and teaching ADIs 'Coaching for Driver Development' all over the Midlands.

Ray has a passion for personal development, improving driver safety and the development of the driver training industry, which shines through in the work that he does with Intelligent Instructor & ADI Network.

Learn more about coaching

Coaching vs Instructing: The Difference

A good driving instructor doesn't just help their learner pass their driving test. It's important to teach good habits to ensure they're a safe driver for life. Find out how with ADI Network!

How Driving Instructors Can Create Responsible Drivers

Driving instructors know better than anybody that young drivers are the most likely to be involved in a road accident. But did you know an 18-year-old is six times more likely to crash than their parents?

Ability comes with experience, so it’s logical to assume that somebody driving for 1 year is more at risk than those with 10+ years of experience behind the wheel. However, when you zoom out and look at the wider stats, only 20% of new drivers aged between 35-44 and 16% over 55 are involved in an accident during their first year of driving.

In comparison, a whopping 26% of new drivers aged between 18 and 24 are involved in a crash in their year as a driving ‘fresher’, so it’s clear to see that age isn’t just a number when it comes to road safety.

In this article, we’ll look at why young drivers are more likely to find themselves in an accident, and what you can do as an instructor to help them stay safe.

Why are young drivers more likely to crash?

Road safety charity Brake found that people aged 17-19 are involved in nearly a tenth of all serious and fatal crashes in the UK, despite only making up 1.5% of driving licence holders. This amounts to an average of 1,500 young drivers being killed or seriously injured in the UK each year. These figures are seriously worrying but help to shed some light on why car insurance is so high for teenaged drivers.

So why are younger drivers most likely to be in a crash? It can be boiled down to 3 main reasons:

After passing their test, a lot of young drivers are pumped full of adrenaline and excitement to get out on the open road. In other words, they’re on top of the world and feel like they can take on any challenge.

This isn't a wise attitude to have when driving. Over-confidence is one of the biggest factors that lead to young people being involved in a disproportionate number of accidents.

You can hardly blame somebody who’s recently passed for lacking experience. After all, they’ve probably only spent around 50 hours behind the wheel before taking the test. And, according to the ROSPA, it takes around 1000 hours to experience most challenges that the road offers and be considered ‘experienced’ — so most young drivers have a way to go before hitting those numbers.

The first thing many in their late teens-slash-twenties do with their new pink licence is take their mates out for a spin. This is all harmless fun — if the driver concentrates on the road and doesn’t let things going on inside the car distract them.

And then there are mobile phones. Young people, as we all know, are glued to their smartphones, and this habit can easily creep in while driving. They might think “it’ll only take a second” to skip a song or check their notifications, but that second can be the difference between life and death.

Distraction combined with inexperience and a dash of over-confidence = a recipe for disaster.

So now we know why young drivers are more likely to be involved in a bump than other age groups, let’s look at how we as ADIs can help to impart sensible driving habits on them.

We’ll start with the most obvious, but something still worth saying — being a positive example to our learners is crucial. As their instructor, you’re probably the most authoritative driver in their life. Most teens will let what their parents say go in one ear and straight out the other (I’m sure you’ve experienced this, one way or another!) — but you’ve got the advantage of being a fresh voice of influence.

Speak to your students about the dangers of speeding. Tell them stories of drink or drug drivers who ended up in jail, or worse, dead. Never let your emotions get the better of you during lessons, so they learn to stay cool in every situation.

One factoid that can really hit home with young men is that more young women die as passengers than drivers. Nobody wants to put their girlfriend’s life in danger by showing off and driving carelessly.

Arrange lessons in as many conditions as possible

This is easier said than done, especially when students are eager to pass or are taking an intensive course. However, it’s usually possible to arrange at least a few hours of driving in the dark and/or rainy conditions (this is the UK, after all!).

Extra care needs to be taken when driving in adverse conditions, and you’re the best-placed person to teach learners exactly what they need to do.

They might not like to hear it. They might even see it as stunting their newfound freedom. But black box (a.k.a telematics) insurance can be a real lifesaver while also helping to save a bit of cash.

Most young drivers dread taking out their first policy, and many will ask you for your advice on how to limit the costs. Try to encourage a black box insurance policy — your learner will drive with more care in their first year of driving, helping to build vital experience in the meantime.

Most recent passers will be glad that they don’t have to pay for driving lessons anymore (no offence to us ADIs, I’m sure!), so many young drivers could turn their noses up at advanced or PassPlus training. However, it’s worth the discussion, especially as PassPlus can also help to drive insurance costs down.

If the learner isn’t thrilled with the idea of post-pass driving tuition, see if their parent/guardian is more open to the idea. If that still gets you nowhere, you could try to incorporate motorway tuition into their regular driving lessons. This way, the learner gets important motorway and high-speed driving practice without feeling as though they’re paying extra or being treated like a baby.

How about sharing these tips with your learners? You can help to keep them safe and, eventually, save a few pennies on their insurance! Share this article on how young drivers can stay safe with your learners and recent passers.

How Driving Instructors Can Help Learners Become Responsible Drivers

If you're a driving instructor looking to improve your career and business skills, look no further. Discover how ADI Network's free webinars from industry experts will help.

As we all know, driving instructors tend to work for themselves, and spend most of their time delivering lessons with customers.

Unlike most jobs, driving instructors don't get much chance to spend time with their colleagues, which is a vital way to learn and develop.

The nature of work as a driving instructor means you can sometimes be left feeling isolated and unsupported. You want to develop your career — but how? Let us answer that for you.

ADI Network has partnered with Intelligent Instructor+ to bring you tonnes of video and written content about every aspect of being a driving instructor.

If that wasn't good enough, members of ADI Network get free access to monthly webinars from experts across the industry.

From mindfulness to lesson planning, standards check tests and business advice, there's something for everyone no matter your experience level.

Self-Care and Setting Boundaries by San Harper

More webinars are announced every month, so keep an eye on your inbox and the app to find out what you'll be learning next.

Can't make it to the webinar? Don't worry — you can catch up on all webinars for free on the ADI Network app.

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Driving Instructor Webinars

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