ANSWERS TO
Frequently Asked Questions
The reality is that many parents would struggle with the PDA if they attempted it today. This is because bad driving habits creep in over the years. Many parents are also unaware of changes to road rules that have occurred since they got their licence, there is a widespread misunderstanding of how to indicate at roundabouts, and many don’t come to a ‘complete stop’ at stop signs/lines.
Just take a look at the quality of drivers on Perth roads and it’s obvious that standards are seriously lacking across the board. Some of these bad drivers are parents of teenagers.
Many parents avoid the more dangerous - but incredibly important - manoeuvres such as turning right at traffic lights without an arrow, and turning right onto a busy dual carriageway from a stop or giveway sign. Students then present for lessons just before their PDA without any experience of these tricky AND DANGEROUS manoeuvres.
A lot of parents also teach their children to steer using an inefficient, shuffling push-pull style despite they themselves quite legitimately crossing their hands when turning corners and parking. This misguided belief which is held by many parents is due to an ‘urban myth’ that has been perpetuated for decades by parents, learners and some driving instructors – particularly those who may have been trained overseas under different rules. The official instruction in the “How to Pass Your Driving Assessment” booklet issue by the WA Department of Transport is:
“You do not have to use a special method of steering or using the gears but the method you use should help you operate the car safely.
- Steer with both hands unless you are operating the controls.
- Keep your hands on the outside of the steering wheel.
- Keep your hands in a position that allows you to adjust your steering if you need to do so.
- Do not completely cross your ARMS”.
While the system allows for parent instruction, it is very important for a learner to be taught correct habits from the outset. An accredited instructor understands the required standard for sitting and passing the PDA and can provide this initial input and help set up the learner driver for later success
ILUKA Driving School offers Train the Trainer sessions to reacquaint parents with the way that they should have been driving for all those years and allow them to pass on correct driving advice to their children. These sessions are basically a tour of the Joondalup test area highlighting areas of interest and tricks and traps for the unwary. The parking exercises are also demonstrated, road rules emphasised and the format of the driving test explained.
Parents are not expected to drive but to merely come along as a passenger so that they can take in as much information as possible.
For a relatively small investment of $125 for 90 minutes, parents can equip themselves with much of the required knowledge to teach their child properly and potentially save a bundle of money in the process.
Contrary to popular belief, you can use either method. There is a misguided assumption among countless learner drivers, parents and some instructors that the push-pull method should be used in the PDA, however this is not the case.
The official instruction in the “How to Pass Your Driving Assessment” booklet issue by the WA Department of Transport is:
“You do not have to use a special method of steering or using the gears but the method you use should help you operate the car safely.
- Steer with both hands unless you are operating the controls.
- Keep your hands on the outside of the steering wheel.
- Keep your hands in a position that allows you to adjust your steering if you need to do so.
- Do not completely cross your ARMS”.
NOTE: Crossing of ARMS refers to the situation where your elbows lock after half a turn if you try to turn the wheel with your hands locked in the “10 and 2” or “9 and 3” position – not the mere crossing of HANDS as per the hand-over-hand technique!
As a Joondalup Department of Transport Driving Assessor once advised me, “Push-pull steering is ‘old school’ “.
At ILUKA Driving School we demonstrate both methods and allow you to decide what’s right for you.
There are strong opinions about the merits of each steering method within the driver training industry, however we won’t engage in that debate here!
If you come to us with a preference of either push-pull or hand-over-hand, we won’t try to change you to another technique – provided that the execution of your chosen style is EFFICIENT and allows for quick changes of direction in low speed manoeuvres.
Yes you will.
Apart from being an essential driving skill, there is a chance that you will need to perform the manoeuvre in your PDA.
As they say, “practice makes perfect”. Well, actually, “perfect practice makes perfect!” We spend a lot of time learning and practicing the various parking drills so you are best placed to execute correctly in your driving test.
And more importantly, your friends will think you’re a legend if you can confidently parallel park in the last available space right outside your destination, rather than making them walk half a kilometre in the rain because you weren’t prepared to attempt it and had to go and park somewhere easier further down the road!
It’s not that hard – you just need to know how!
ILUKA Driving School isn't run under the typical driving school model of turning over as many clients as possible.
We only have a limited number of students on our books at any given time and specialise in the following two categories:
- Experienced learners who need their driving polished prior to attempting their PDA.
- Learners from outside of the Joondalup area who have booked a test in Joondalup due to the relative ease with which Joondalup tests can be booked compared to other test centres. These drivers often have little or no experience of the Joondalup test area, other than some tips that they may have picked up online or through word of mouth.
Lessons are $85 for a full 60 minutes (not just 45 or 50 minutes). Payment can be made during the lesson by Direct Bank Deposit, Cash or Debit/Credit Card.
Because we're a small boutique Driving School, we generally don't book up back to back lessons so if we need to go overtime on your lesson to finish something off properly, we can do so - at no additional cost.
Purchasing blocks of lessons as a package can also be a cost effective option. See our Pricing page for more details.
We accept all major Debit/Credit cards, tap and go, cash or online bank deposit (by arrangement). For packages, we can tailor your payment arrangements to suit the package and your budget.
ILUKA Driving School provides lessons 5 days a week from 6:30am to 6pm, and on Saturdays (for Joondalup PDA bookings only).
Anyone who gets their learner’s permit when they turn 16 could be on L plates for 12 months before sitting the PDA. In many cases, it simply isn’t feasible to be paying for lessons for that period of time. Our recommendation is that you start by getting a good grounding with lessons from an accredited instructor to instill good driving habits and to learn the basics on how to park, then go away and reinforce these learnings with your parents for several months. If you then go back to an instructor with a month or two to go before your PDA, they can ensure that you have retained and reinforced those good driving habits and skills, and do any required fine tuning.
We sometimes see learner drivers coming to us for their first paid lessons just a week or two before their PDA with bad traits that they have developed over several months, often seeking a fast-tracked course in parking. It’s very hard to correct things in such a short time after bad habits have become embedded, so our advice is to get some proper lessons early and then get as much driving experience as you can to reinforce what you’ve learnt.
No, we don’t – but we are less than impressed with people who repeatedly cancel at short notice! We realise that situations arise from time to time that you can’t avoid. We also know that some of you are working very hard after school or uni and on weekends to pay for your own lessons. But at the same time we are trying to run a business and having to turn away other customers because we are fully booked, only to have people cancel on us (sometimes just 10 minutes before a lesson) makes it difficult to provide the best possible service to all of our customers.
We don’t charge any fee for cancellations – but we have a strict three strikes policy. If you continually mess us around without providing adequate notice, you'll be looking for another instructor!
You don’t need to come up with some far-fetched excuse for a cancellation! We've lost count of the number of grandmothers that seem to die just before lessons - always the grandmothers, never the grandfathers! Just send us a text with reasonable notice and we can simply cancel or reschedule.
You’ll be driving a low mileage Toyota Corolla Hybrid Petrol/Electric automatic, with dual controls to help keep you safe and sound, a reversing camera for enhanced visibility and safer manoeuvring, air conditioning for your comfort, and a five star ANCAP safety rating.
This zippy little car is small enough to negotiate the tight streets and parking spaces around Joondalup’s CBD, but big enough for even the tallest teenager. The quietness of the cabin when the car is running exclusively on the electric battery makes for an amazingly relaxing environment in which to learn to drive.