About Your Approved Driving Instructor in Milton Keynes
Christopher Cook
Despite living in Milton Keynes for most of my life, I actually learned to drive in the State of Michigan (USA) when I turned 16. My Father took a two year posting there for work and so I gained the chance to experience ‘Driver’s Ed’. I had to attend a week-long theory course at a local supermarket and was then asked to drive for around 25 minutes in an automatic (in a giant circuit)… that was it!! After being signed off to drive with my Parents for a minimum of 30 days, I then gained my driving license.
My first cars were both automatic (a Dodge, and a Chevrolet)… My Mother owned a manual Saturn car and so I was able to practice using the gears in that. I didn’t have too many problems as for years I had watched other people driving. Unlike in the UK, in Michigan a driving license didn’t specify whether you could drive manual or automatic. We then returned to the UK when I was 18.
On return to the UK I was able to drive on my Michigan license for a year and then I took my driving test in 1997 at the Bletchley Test Centre using a manual car. I can’t actually remember much about the test, I think I was asked to turn the car around in a road, I don’t remember whether it was a good pass or not - I wish I could remember how many ‘faults’ I gained. Obviously I passed the test and gained my UK license.
After passing the test I started working towards the Advanced Driving Test with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). At the time I recall being happy when I was told that I was ready for the test, I didn’t actually take the test at that stage.
Fast forward a few years later and I was crewing ambulances and had to attend multiple additional training courses and assessments to drive ambulances and cars under emergency conditions. One of my lasting memories is being stranded in traffic on a non-emergency journey in central London on 11th September 2001. The World Trade Centre attacks may have been in New York City, but London was absolutely gridlocked!
Another leap forward in time saw me having trained as a teacher and being appointed as Education Manager for St John Ambulance. During this time I had also passed the RoSPA Advanced Driving test with a ‘Gold’ grade and then took a place on the Diploma in Advanced Driving Instruction course. I managed to pass this with a ‘Distinction’ grade. As I was responsible for all driver training in the organisation I became a Member of the Association of Industrial Road Safety Officers and attended conferences for the ‘Blue Light User Group’.
2018 saw me deciding to leave that job for a better work / life balance. I decided it was time to set up my own business… this time as a driving instructor for people who were learning to drive for the first time. I set about working through the training for this fairly quickly and progressed to become a ‘Licensed Trainee’ which allowed me to take on learners while studying for the final exam as an ‘Approved Driving Instructor’. Then Covid hit and due to test availability I landed up as a Trainee for far longer than I had ever expected.
After passing the final exam in 2022 I was finally able to take on learners and run my own business…
Driver Training Milton Keynes was finally born!!
