Well, the snow they forecast arrived mid-afternoon. I had a lesson booked at 7pm, and after considering the conditions and the pupil’s ability I decided to go ahead with it and use it as a “snow lesson”.
It’s incredible when you do a lesson that goes so well, and which you know is going to be useful for the rest of their lives.
First of all, moving away on his road, I got him to stop and witness how easy it is to skid. I made sure that he understood that in snow (and on ice), slight skids and wheel spins are almost inevitable – but the important thing is not to let them overlap with other traffic or hazards.
So we dealt with speed and planning ahead – particularly anticipating lights, bends, other traffic, and anything else which would require us to slow down or stop. Using the gears to slow the car down gradually, rather than braking, was especially important.
He was amazed driving through Colwick on the Loop Road (as was I) that some prick decided to overtake us and the three cars we were following – at speed (maybe he had a nail in his tyre) – on about an inch of lying snow, pulling in sharply in front of us at one point to avoid colliding head on with a car coming the opposite way. I wish I’d got his number or caught up with him at the lights, but he was going too fast.
He realised the importance of planning ahead and anticipation when going uphill towards lights, and trying to keep the car moving to try to avoid the problems of moving off on ice on slopes. I wasn’t so lucky going up a slope in Clifton later, when some prat coming downhill with parked cars on their side decided to apply the Clifton Gene (it only has one helix in it), and barge through. I had to stop, then was unable to move off again and had to turn around.
Travelling through Bingham, we were tailgated extremely closely by a Nissan Navarro (reg. no. AY08 FPG) as we were doing 30mph on a 
40mph road on snow which was, by now, quite deep. If we’d stopped, he wouldn’t have. As soon as we got on to the new roundabout down there, he overtook at speed and flew off down the A52 towards Nottingham, I think – he was going so fast, he was gone by the time we got round there. Mind you, I lost count of the number of Audis that overtook me as I was going to pick the pupil up.
All in all, though, a great lesson. We covered all the snowy stuff, and he handled it brilliantly. I just wish all pupils could have a lesson in snow – that way, maybe fewer of them would end up driving like those other idiots out there.
Between lessons this afternoon, the Traffic News just went nuts – there were multi-car pile-ups on just about every motorway the moment snow started to fall. So when my pupil said “how do they get away with it?”, the answer was: “eventually, they don’t!”
Common questions:
Will my driving lessons be cancelled due to snow?
It depends on how much snow there is, how far advanced you are with your training, and your instructor’s attitude to teaching in snow. There is no rule that says you mustn’t have lessons in snow. In fact, it makes sense to do them so you can get valuable experience. But beginners shouldn’t do it, because it’s just too dangerous.
Also remember that what YOU see as being “advanced” in your training, your instructor might not agree with. It’s his or her decision.
Will my driving test be cancelled due to snow?
Quite possibly. And with the amount we’ve had, almost certainly until some of it thaws. You need to phone up the test centre on the day using the number on your appointment email confirmation and check. Otherwise, you MUST turn up – even if they cancel it at the last minute. If you don’t, you’ll lose your test fee.