https://www.facebook.com/110401418326120/

Pass with Ash, St Ives (2026)

25/08/2026

One of the most common questions driving instructors get:

“How many hours will it take me to pass my test?”

There really isn’t one number that fits everybody. Some people learn quickly, some need longer, but there is a lot you can do to help yourself between lessons.

If you have access to private practice, use it. Don’t just practise the things you enjoy or already find easy. Practise the things your instructor has identified as needing work.

Even without private practice, you can still learn between lessons. Sit in a stationary car with the engine OFF and practise moving through the gears. Practise the physical routine of your mirror checks. Get familiar with where the controls are.

When you’re a passenger, put the phone down occasionally and actually watch the road. Look at junctions and roundabouts. Ask yourself what you would be doing if you were driving. Which lane would you choose? When would you check your mirrors? Where is the potential hazard?

Study your manoeuvres too. Ask your instructor to draw them out, including the observations, steering and reference points that work for you. Then go over them between lessons rather than trying to remember everything a week later.

Theory shouldn’t just be something you learn to pass the theory test either. Understanding signs, markings, priorities, stopping distances and hazards makes the practical side of learning much easier.

The more you put into your learning between lessons, the more we can build on during the next one instead of repeatedly going over the same things.

One of the biggest signs that you’re getting close to test standard isn’t simply the number of hours you’ve had.

It’s when the person sitting next to you becomes very quiet.
No constant instructions. No reminders at every junction. No prompting you to check mirrors, change lanes or make decisions.

You’re driving independently, safely and consistently.
Learning to drive is a two-way contract. Your instructor can teach, explain, demonstrate and guide you, but we can’t do the learning for you.

The question isn’t only “How many hours will I need?”

It’s also “What am I doing with those hours?”

Sheena Ahmed

22/08/2026

🚘 The Loneliest Seat

There’s a strange moment after a learner passes their driving test that nobody really talks about.

They walk out of the test centre holding that pass certificate, smiling, relieved and proud. But very soon, they’ll get into a car and that passenger seat will be empty.

No instructor beside them. No examiner watching. No familiar voice saying, “Check your mirrors,” “Watch your speed,” or simply, “Take your time.”

Just them, the car and the road ahead.

For weeks or months, that passenger seat has been occupied by someone teaching, guiding, prompting and reassuring them. Then one day, it becomes empty.

And for a new driver, that empty seat can suddenly feel like the loneliest seat in the world.

But it also represents something incredibly important. Independence.

That empty seat means somebody believed they were ready to make their own decisions, recognise danger, manage situations and trust everything they’ve learned.

Passing the test doesn’t mean the learning stops. In many ways, it’s where the real learning begins.

So when you see a new driver taking a little longer at a junction, hesitating at a roundabout or leaving a little more space than you would, remember your own first drive alone.

Don’t intimidate them. Don’t sit on their bumper. Don’t make an already nervous driver feel they have to rush for you.

Give them time and give them space while they find their feet.

Because eventually that passenger seat doesn’t feel lonely anymore. It becomes the seat where friends sit, where family sit, where conversations happen, where journeys begin and memories are made.

And one day, that new driver will glance across at it and realise just how far they’ve come.

That passenger seat was never really empty.

It was filled with everything they were taught to get there. ❤️

Sheena Ahmed

19/08/2026

Congratulations Monica on passing your test 1st time today! Stay safe 🎉🎈

19/08/2026

🚘 THE DRIVER WHO SLAMS THE BRAKES ON FOR A SPEED CAMERA

Have you ever noticed some drivers can be travelling perfectly happily at the correct speed limit, see a speed camera and suddenly react like that yellow box has personally jumped into the road holding a warrant for their arrest?

They’re doing 30 in a 30. Everything is legal. Nobody is being chased. Then they spot the camera and BANG — BRAKES. Suddenly we’re doing 17. Mate, you were already doing the speed limit. What exactly are you frightened of? Do you think the camera is going to look at 30 mph and say, “Ooooh, cutting it a bit fine there, Sebastian Vettel.”

Some of them brake so violently you’d think the camera had launched a surface-to-air missile. One minute I’m sitting comfortably, the next my handbag is in the footwell, my sunglasses have reached Newport and every loose object in the car has joined the RAF.

Then we approach the camera like we’re passing a sleeping Tyrannosaurus rex. Nobody speak. Nobody breathe. Don’t make eye contact with it. If we creep past slowly enough, perhaps the yellow box won’t notice the enormous car travelling directly underneath it.

I’ve seen people doing 27 in a 30 STILL brake. Twenty-seven becomes twenty-two. Twenty-two becomes eighteen. By the time we actually reach the camera I’ve aged four years, remortgaged the house and started receiving my pension.

At that speed the camera isn’t taking your photograph. It’s considering sending somebody out with a cup of tea and a defibrillator to check you’re all right.

And then comes the miracle.

The second they pass it…
WHOOSH.
Off they go like someone has fired them from a medieval trebuchet.

Apparently the entire understanding of the speed limit is:
Before it? Silverstone.
At the camera? Mobility scooter with a flat battery.
After it? Cape Canaveral.
Three… two… one… LAUNCH.

What exactly do people think is inside these cameras? A tiny police officer sitting in there with binoculars and a flask shouting, “HE LOOKED A BIT QUICK FROM HERE, DAI. GET HIM.”

And please don’t get me started on the people who brake for a camera on the OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD. Suddenly it’s the Eye of Sauron, monitoring every vehicle, every lane and possibly your council tax within a six-mile radius.

Speed cameras aren’t crocodiles. You don’t need to creep past them quietly hoping they don’t wake up. They’re not going to leap off the pole, attach themselves to your bonnet and drag you into a hedge.

Know the speed limit. Check your speed regularly. Drive smoothly and at an appropriate speed for the conditions. If you’re already travelling legally, seeing a speed camera shouldn’t trigger an emergency stop that rearranges everybody’s internal organs.

Because the speed limit doesn’t magically exist for twelve feet underneath a yellow box.

It applied before the camera and despite the Cape Canaveral launch some drivers perform afterwards…

IT STILL APPLIES AFTER THE CAMERA.

Sheena Ahmed