About You

Hello You!

Youre an experienced driver. You worked hard to get your drivers license, studying your drivers ed, highway code, the theory of driving. You learned the different markings on the road, different speed limits for different types of road and what to do to keep safe and legal. You learned  the workings of your car. You practiced with different speeds, forward and reverse, you learned all the technical words and their meanings. You practiced really hard and finally got your precious license.

You were so excited to finally pass the test and be allowed to drive on your own. No-one needed to sit beside you because now you’re now fully licensed to drive without help. Maybe you drove a lot or a little, but somewhere along the line your confidence started going down instead of up.

Was it a gradual loss of confidence or did something happen? Not having a car for a while, travelling abroad or an illness can keep you off the road and its hard to get going again. Or was it a crash, a near miss or getting lost that knocked your confidence?

Whatever happened, dont give up. You need to know there is hope and that your driving confidence can be rescued, recovered and  rehabilitated. You can be back to and way above the level of confidence where you were before. So you will become not just confident again but even MORE confident  than ever. The even better news is that with new confidence comes more skill, so you will be even less likely to  have a crash, get lost, have a flat tire, run out of oil or have a fault due to neglect.

No more putting off journeys or turning down that job. Now you can take those opportunities that come along.  A trip with friends, sharing the driving on a long road trip, taking your kids to those fun and exciting places, starting your own business or getting that new job, or just driving to everyday places you need to go.

So dont give up, there is hope. If you’re willing to work with me on your driving, then together we can help your confidence to soar again.

I work with you to

  1. Drive further and drive to new places you want or need to go.
  2. Avoid fear of other drivers.
  3. Know the roads and what you can/cant do.
  4. Enjoy your driving.
  5. Know exactly what your car is capable of.
  6. Feel confident in strange areas and keep safe.

To find out more you can email me on DrivingConfidence@MoiraBenson.com

 

What happens to our confidence?

Many things can knock our driving confidence, but there are also so many things that build our confidence up too.

So its no surprise that our confidence in driving, like other areas of life can be a bit up and down.

You get another job and start driving further every day and your confidence soars, but maybe you have a near miss or take a wrong turning or have a crash and your confidence drops again. I can completely understand how things that happen to you can change affect how you feel about your driving.

I hear so many stories about drivers who limit the places the can go to or times of the day when they drive. Their driving world get smaller and smaller until they almost want to give up driving completely. Gradually they let other people drive until it has been weeks since they got behind the wheel, then the weeks turn into months.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way. I can help you turn your driving confidence around and instead of your driving world getting smaller, it can get BIGGER.

My passion is to help you build up your confidence and skills so that you will want to drive more and drive further each time.

Working together we start with where you are at now. [Just to be clear, you must be a fully licensed driver and you need a full, valid drivers license]. We set goals and help you to get to turn things back to where you are a happy, confident driver. It will be true confidence that comes from knowing what you’re doing, what your vehicle is capable of and what other drivers and pedestrians  are going to do next.

That’s true confidence.

You can email me on DrivingConfidence@MoiraBenson.com for more details.

When did you drive your absolute best?

Think of a time when your driving was very good and you felt confident.

What were you driving? Where did you go? Were you alone or with someone? What did you do to achieve your best ever, most confident drive?

All of these things shouldn’t really make any difference to how we drive, but they do. Perhaps your passenger made you feel good about your driving, or maybe you drive your best when you are alone and you can concentrate on the road.

Bring back your confident memories

Was it a long time ago or just recently? Can you remember the date? Maybe you had to make a long trip or just take a tricky route where you had to dig deep and summon all your strength, courage and navigational skills.

What were you driving? Was it a new car or your first car that made you feel really good about driving? Or was it the way you conrolled the car, maybe in a tricky situation or a dangerous road that you handled really well. Who else was proud of you, or was it only you who knew about it?

What ever you did, no matter when it was and what you were driving, hold on to that experience and keep it fresh in your mind. Look after that memory and cherish it. You can draw on it when you feel you are not so confident and reassure yourself that you can be a confident driver.

Irma’s story

I recently coached an older driver who was in her 80s. Lets call her Irma, because I think that’s a lovely name. She had lost her confidence because she had a long break from driving. When her husband retired, he did all the driving, so she didn’t get behind the wheel very often.

So when her husband died after a short illness, she was coping with being alone but also had a fear of getting back to driving. She wanted to get out more in the car but she was scared to get back behind the wheel. They had a lovely sporty car which was sitting in the garage, and she was sitting alone at home.

Getting her confidence back

She used to drive a lot when her husband as working and she used to tow a trailer on holidays too. So we worked together on her confidence, helping her to see that if she had done that in the past she could drive again. She wanted the independence to drive to the shops, to the car dealership, to the doctors and to other local places.

I kept reminding her about towing the trailer, but there were lots of practical things I helped her with too. First I drove the car – reversing it out of her garage for her – and found out all the things it could do. I let her know what all the buttons and dials were for, and helped her to see what the engine and gearbox were capable of.

She did it and you can do it too

Then she drove on a quiet road just to get the feel of the car again, and she began setting goals for our next sessions. Next time we would go further out of the city on roads she had been on before, then she was ready for strange roads.

Dont get me wrong, it wasn’t easy for her. She didn’t feel fantastic on the first try and there were a few things she had forgotten. Small but important things such as what the road markings mean and speed limits and a few other things.

She said she had been very nervous before our first session and pretty tired out afterwards, but she was so glad to have got her driving mojo back again.

I was very understanding, patient and reassuring. After 4 or 5 sessions she was ready to drive herself to the doctors alone, which we had done together as a trial. We had even planned where she would park.

I also taught her some modern gearbox techniques, as she learned to drive about 50 years ago and things have moved on.  She was able to get more miles out of her tank of fuel.

Remembering how she had towed the trailer was an encouragement for her, but actually doing the driving and going to the places she needed to was a practical boost for her too.

So back to you! Whats your best memory of confident driving?

Hold on to your best memories and they will help you in your driving today. Keep your skills up to date as Irma did and you will feel much more confident every day.

 

If youve got an specific driving problems let me know and I will answer them by email, on this blog or on social media. However you like. Moira@letsalldrivebetter.com