Common accidents during driving lessons

Many teenagers in the UK apply for a provisional driving licence at the age of 17 which then entitles them to take driving lessons by a licensed and qualified driving school or self employed instructor. As the prospect of being a licence holder is both exciting and daunting, many do not realise that accidents can still occur whilst learning to drive.

As a learner driver, accidents are rare as the driving instructor has duel controls to help control the vehicle if needed but sometimes accidents do occur especially in cases where dual controls are not available in the car. If you are a confident and patient driver with the ability to listen to what the instructor tells you to do, then the chances of an accident are reduced.

When being taught to reverse, you may not realise all the dangers and obstacles that are around whilst reversing. On top of using your mirrors and checking your blind spot, you have to be aware of passing cars or pedestrians trying to cross the road. There may also be a lamppost, post box or railings and these must all be taken into consideration to avoid bumping into these obstructions.

Learner drivers can often bump or scrape the car when learning to parallel park. Usually the instructor will ask you to parallel park behind a car which doesn't have any vehicle at the back or one which has plenty of space behind. Sometimes this isn’t possible and you may need to park in between two cars and for inexperienced drivers, this is when collisions can happen.

Big roundabouts can also be daunting when having to choose which lane to take for your required exit; sometimes learner drivers find it difficult to stay in their lane causing them to crash into the car next to them. This can be avoided by doing a little bit of reading to help you understand and know the rules regarding which lane to take at roundabouts. Usually if you are taking the first or second exit you can stay in the first left hand lane and if you are taking the third, fourth or fifth exit then you must take the middle or right hand lane.

Dual carriageway driving can also be a bad experience if you have not done it before and if there is a lot of traffic. You sometimes forget that there are speed limits in place and drive faster than you should so when the instructor asks you to switch lanes you forget all about awareness and may crash into the car next to you. Quite often learners tend to drive very slow as well when the speed limit is a lot more than what they are doing because of lack of confidence which can result in dangerous accidents because of cars coming at full speed and crashing into the rear of your car.