Pass plus or similar things are they worth it?

Thomas_Holding

I have been driving for 9 years but not many miles just once or twice a week dropping my son off and a few longer trips.
I am thinking of doing pass plus - partly because I want to do some longer trips abroad and I want to make sure that my skills are good.
Are they worth it?

DullGreyGuy

Thomas_Holding said:

I have been driving for 9 years but not many miles just once or twice a week dropping my son off and a few longer trips.
I am thinking of doing pass plus - partly because I want to do some longer trips abroad and I want to make sure that my skills are good.
Are they worth it?

Depends how you value them?

Will your insurance premiums go down to offset the fees in year 1? Highly unlikely, many dont even ask about supplementary qualifications these days. 

Will you potentially learn a reasonable amount and become a better driver? Probably

ButterCheese

I would not do pass-plus.  In my experience from when I was a biker, it did not make any difference in Insurance because insurance simply doesn't work that way anymore.  It is all based on risk; e.g. number of claims made on the model of car you drive, number of claims made in your agegroup and so on.

I would just book a normal lesson with a driving instructor and do as many lessons as you think you'll need.  You might only need a few, and might be cheaper than doing a full post-test course

daveyjp

There is no such thing as too much education and skill building if you feel your skills are lacking.  Passplus is one way which is a set number of lessons to cover areas not generally covered during the test.  Others are ROSPA or IAM.  Whilst you may not save on insurance premiums, you may avoid accidents and incidents leading to a claim which would increase your premiums!

My dad was an instructor and whilst Passplus wasn't something he did often during one of the Passplus lessons he was giving he witnessed a new driver approach a bend far too quickly and total the car.   

The driver had passed the week before, had just picked up the car, had never driven much above 30mph, had never driven on a country road and had never had passengers other than an instructor.

DullGreyGuy

daveyjp said:
The driver had passed the week before, had just picked up the car, had never driven much above 30mph, had never driven on a country road and had never had passengers other than an instructor.

How did they pass their test then? I thought you had to do national speed limit driving? Certainly most lessons in the 90s for me inc some time on a dual carriageway at 70mph

daveyjp

30 minutes of a driving test does not offer a chance to assess everything, that's why Passplus was introduced as an option.

The national speed limit part of my daughter's test last year was 800m of NSL dual carriageway.  She barely got to 50.

Thomas_Holding

daveyjp said:

30 minutes of a driving test does not offer a chance to assess everything, that's why Passplus was introduced as an option.

The national speed limit part of my daughter's test last year was 800m of NSL dual carriageway.  She barely got to 50.

In some parts of the country that should be ok considering the amount of speed restrictions.

daveyjp said:

There is no such thing as too much education and skill building if you feel your skills are lacking.  Passplus is one way which is a set number of lessons to cover areas not generally covered during the test.  Others are ROSPA or IAM.  Whilst you may not save on insurance premiums, you may avoid accidents and incidents leading to a claim which would increase your premiums!

My dad was an instructor and whilst Passplus wasn't something he did often during one of the Passplus lessons he was giving he witnessed a new driver approach a bend far too quickly and total the car.   

The driver had passed the week before, had just picked up the car, had never driven much above 30mph, had never driven on a country road and had never had passengers other than an instructor.

Thank you although my skills aren't that bad I have driven a bit on motorways.

EnPointe

daveyjp said:

<snip>

The driver had passed the week before, had just picked up the car, had never driven much above 30mph, had never driven on a country road and had never had passengers other than an instructor.

"  never driven much above 30mph,"   interestign assertion given all  test routes include some NSL , ideally  a dual carriage way NSL  

" never driven on  a country road"    interesting assertion again  - sucggests deficient  instruction  

Thomas_Holding

EnPointe said:

daveyjp said:

<snip>

The driver had passed the week before, had just picked up the car, had never driven much above 30mph, had never driven on a country road and had never had passengers other than an instructor.

"  never driven much above 30mph,"   interestign assertion given all  test routes include some NSL , ideally  a dual carriage way NSL  

" never driven on  a country road"    interesting assertion again  - sucggests deficient  instruction  

If you learn in some parts of London the second is quite easy to believe.  I agree with you about 30 mph though.