Learn With Cal

23/10/2026

🚗 YOU ACCEPTED A LIFT.
YOU DIDN’T SIGN AWAY YOUR SAFETY.

Getting into someone’s car is an act of trust. You’re trusting their judgement, their concentration and their ability to get you home safely.
You haven’t bought a ticket to an amateur stunt show, and the passenger seat shouldn’t feel like the front row of your own nightmare.

Yet how many people sit there quietly, pressing an imaginary brake into the carpet, watching the speedometer creep up while trying to work out how to say something without causing an atmosphere?

Perhaps the driver is checking their phone, following so closely you could count the stitches in the headrest ahead, or treating every overtake as a personal challenge. Meanwhile, you’re gripping the door handle and wishing you’d caught the bus.

You are allowed to speak up.
Being a passenger doesn’t mean leaving your voice on the pavement when you get in.

“Please slow down.” “Put your phone away.” “Leave a bigger gap.” “I’m not comfortable with how you’re driving.” You don’t need to deliver a courtroom defence of why you’d quite like to arrive home in one piece.

If they laugh, call you dramatic or give you the old “I know what I’m doing”, that doesn’t settle the matter.
Confidence is very easy to manufacture. Safe driving takes judgement, restraint and consideration for the people sharing the journey.

“I’ve never crashed” isn’t a safety certificate either. Yesterday’s luck won’t steer you out of tomorrow’s mistake.

If their behaviour continues, ask them to pull over somewhere safe and suitable so you can arrange another way home. Don’t let embarrassment buckle you into a journey you want to leave.
A taxi fare, a phone call or an awkward conversation is a price worth paying for your safety.

Young passengers especially: you do not have to prove your friendship by sitting through someone else’s stupidity.
You’re their mate, not a crash-test dummy. If keeping you safe makes you “boring”, wear that label proudly.
There are far worse things for your family to hear.

Drivers, when someone tells you they’re frightened, listen. Don’t turn the radio up, roll your eyes or put your foot down to make a point. They have trusted you enough to get into your car and then trusted you again by telling you how they feel.
Take your foot off the accelerator, give yourself space and change what you’re doing.

The person beside you is someone’s whole world.
Treat that seat as a responsibility, not a captive audience.

Please share this, especially with young drivers and passengers.
Have you ever spoken up about someone’s driving, or swallowed your words to avoid an awkward journey?

Sheena Ahmed
Motorvation school of Motoring

23/10/2026

Storm Austen is sweeping across Wales today, bringing high winds and heavy rain. 🌧️💨

If you're driving, take extra care on the roads:

🚗 Slow down and leave more space between you and the vehicle ahead.
🌊 Watch out for surface water and the risk of aquaplaning.
Be prepared for sudden gusts of wind, especially on exposed roads, bridges and when passing high-sided vehicles.
🔍 Make sure your lights, wipers and tyres are in good condition before setting off.
⏱️ Allow extra time for your journey and avoid unnecessary travel if conditions worsen.

No journey is worth risking your safety. Stay alert, adjust your driving to the conditions, and help keep Wales' roads safe for everyone.

23/10/2026

17/10/2026

THE TRUTH ABOUT LEARNING TO DRIVE 🚗

Before you book your first lesson, let’s have an honest conversation. Learning to drive takes more than buying a provisional licence and announcing you’d like to pass by Christmas.

You’re learning to control a powerful machine around people who would quite like to get home safely. Your decisions matter. Getting it wrong can have consequences that nobody gets to rewind.

It takes time, effort and money. You’re developing coordination, judgement, observation and the ability to make safe decisions while everything around you keeps moving. You might understand something when I explain it, but being able to do it consistently, without me prompting you, takes practice. There is no express delivery option for experience.

You also have responsibilities from the moment you start driving. Those L plates tell people you’re learning; they don’t give you permission to ignore everything you haven’t quite got the hang of yet.

Please take your theory seriously. If your entire revision plan is to memorise enough answers to scrape through, you’re missing the point. You need to understand what the signs, markings and rules mean when they appear through the windscreen, without four possible answers underneath them.

Stop comparing yourself with everybody else. Your friend passing after fewer lessons tells me absolutely nothing about what YOU need. You’re learning with your own confidence, coordination, experiences and challenges. Taking longer is nothing to be embarrassed about. Pretending you’re ready when you’re not is far more concerning.

Friends and family can be a huge help, and I encourage suitable private practice alongside professional lessons. I’m also happy for a parent to sit in on a lesson so we can work together. However, “Dad doesn’t do it like that” isn’t quite the trump card some people think it is.
Dad’s habits may need a little supervision themselves.

Talk to your instructor, ask questions and understand what you’re working towards. Readiness means being able to drive safely and independently, including when something unexpected happens. Knowing exactly where to turn on a familiar test route won’t help when life sends you somewhere else.

Finally, passing your test doesn’t mean you’ve finished learning. It means you’ve demonstrated the standard needed to continue without an instructor beside you.
The prompts stop, but the decisions keep coming.

I teach you to drive for life, not just to pass a test.
Your examiner sees one drive.
You have to live with your driving afterwards.

Everyone sharing the road deserves your care and consideration. 🫶🏾

Please like and share using the share button, tag your friends in 🫶🏾
DO NOT COPY AND PASTE.

Sheena Ahmed
Motorvation school of Motoring

12/10/2026

Overtaking another vehicle
Drivers - Before pulling out, turning, overtaking or changing lanes, actively search for motorcyclists. Don’t rely on a quick glance. Because a motorbike is much smaller than a car, it can often be closer and travelling more quickly than you think.
Remember, pillar blind spots in a vehicle can obscure an approaching motorcyclist.
Riders - Don’t assume you’ve been seen, your safety is your responsibility too. Always be alert to hazards and be ready to take action.

Department for Infrastructure Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Air Ambulance Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service NI Road Policing and Safety The Road Ahead NI Road Safe NI Charity New Driver NI

06/10/2026

This is a question that pops up frequently on forums and Facebook groups and it always raises the same question in my mind.

Why on earth would you want a cheap driving instructor?

Responsible parents and pupils who are serious about learning to drive and being able to do so safely long after passing their test, tend to want good instructors, patient instructors, recommended instructors, successful instructors, experienced instructors, qualified instructors, reputable instructors or a hundred other superlatives I could include

Learning to drive and become a safe driver isn't a cheap process but as with many things in life - buying cheap often results in buying twice. I've lost count of the number of pupils who have eventually arrived with me desperate to pass their test who have sometimes wasted thousands of pounds on cheap driving instructors. They'd have saved themselves a fortune and a load of time, if they'd just bought quality in the first place.

Now you might imagine that the cheapest instructors would be the busiest and have long waiting lists but the opposite is often true which begs the question, why is this instructor so cheap and how come they are immediately available?

ADI's play a vital role in road safety. Passing the driving test is only the start. Far too many newly qualified drivers are killed and seriously injured every year because they didn't have the skills, understanding or experience to deal with a developing situation. More than 1 in 4 crash within the first year.

Is saving a few quid on lessons really worth seeing your son or daughter being cut out of a crumpled vehicle.... or worse. Only last week, a 17 year old driver drove into the harbour in Sunderland killing 3 of his friends. He now faces a charge of causing death by dangerous driving and a long prison sentence, whilst his friends are never coming home.

Responsible, reputable and talented driving instructors don't tend to be cheapest. We keep our prices fair and we deliver value for money which is why we are in demand and others are desperate for work.

So do you really want recommendations for a cheap driving instructor or would you like a really good one?

06/10/2026

Tyres are the only part of your vehicle in contact with the road.

Worn or under-inflated tyres can affect: • Braking distances • Steering control • Fuel efficiency • Grip in wet weather.

New, inexperienced drivers will be relying even more on their tyres to stop them in time as they may not react to a hazard as quickly as a driver with more experience.

Show them how to check tyre tread and pressure and make it part of a weekly routine.

As a newly qualified driver, they are more likely to hit a kerb, drains or pot holes. Explain to them the importance of checking for tyre damage if this happens or a least telling you so you can help them check for any splits, tears or bulges.

Taking a few minutes to check your tyres could help prevent a collision.



Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service
Warwickshire Police
WCC Road Safety Education & Active Travel
TyreSafe

06/10/2026

“DRIVING LESSONS ARE EXPENSIVE.”

Funny how an hour with a driving instructor gets treated like we’ve quoted for a private jet, when plenty of other professional services cost similar money.

Every profession on a list deserves to earn a living. Hairdressers, nail technicians, riding instructors, trainers you’re paying for their skills, equipment, experience and business costs.
Driving instructors deserve that same understanding.
Except our workplace moves.
We sit beside someone who is still learning to control a vehicle, while sharing the road with people who passed years ago and apparently consider mirrors an optional accessory.

We’re watching the learner, the junction, the pedestrian, the cyclist and the driver behind who thinks an L plate is a personal insult.
We’re explaining, reassuring, anticipating and deciding whether to intervene, sometimes all within a few seconds.
We put our own safety on the line every working day.
“Yes, but you’re just sitting there.”

So is an airline pilot.
Presumably you’d prefer them to keep doing their job.

Your lesson fee pays for far more than our time.
There’s the tuition car, fuel, specialist insurance, servicing, tyres, repairs, training and the running costs of a business.
The amount you pay is not the amount we take home.

After 22 years, you’re also paying for the experience to spot a situation developing before you even realise there’s something to spot.
I teach people to drive for life.
To make safe decisions when my seat is empty and their family is in the car.

You’re allowed to have a budget. Of course you are.
But please stop confusing “more than I want to pay” with “not worth it”.

Just tell me you can’t afford me.
You don’t need to devalue my profession to explain your budget. 😉
Your welcome to share your thoughts 💭

Share and tag your friends in 🫶🏾

Sheena Ahmed

03/10/2026