Staying safe throughout your career
Learning from experience
Driving is not something you ever really finish learning: you can, and should, keep learning from your experiences throughout your driving career.
Keep thinking about how you drive, and how you see other people drive, to find ways to improve your skills. Accept feedback from others – passengers, co-workers, your employer and others who see how you drive. They might notice a bad habit that you have not realised you’ve got, or be able to suggest things you could do better or differently.
Having a session with an instructor can help you if you need to deal with a change in your driving life, eg if you’re returning to driving after a long break or driving an unfamiliar vehicle.
Regular driver development sessions can help you keep up to date and stop bad habits: speak to an approved driving instructor about this. If you’re driving for a living, your Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC ) periodic training will also help you refresh your skills.
You should also be aware that your driving ability will be affected by your health and your age: see advice about your health on the road, for more information about this.
Keeping up to date
It’s important to keep up to date about driving. Signs, road markings and rules are updated from time to time. You can find out about changes
- in Highway Code updates on Twitter or on Facebook
- on GOV.UK
- in government publications
- on motoring organisation websites
- on this website!
You should also keep up to date on changes to vehicle technologies. You’ll find information about these
- on manufacturer’s websites
- in trade magazines and websites.
When there are changes to regulations for vehicle registration, the MOT test or taxation, you can find information
- on GOV.UK search tool
- in government publications
- on motoring organisation websites.
Do not forget that you must keep your vehicle documents up to date too. See the Vehicle documents section for information about updating the vehicle registration certificate (V5C).
If your personal details change, you’ll need to update your licence.
- Change the address on your driving licence.
- Change your name on your driving licence.
- Renew your driving licence if it’s close to its expiry date.
Returning to HGV driving after a break
What you need to do to return to driving an HGV after a break depends on:
- how old you are
- when you originally got your full lorry driving licence.
For more information, read the Return to HGV driving page on GOV.UK.