Passing your driving test is an excellent achievement , it's the important first step towards becoming a safe driver for life. Here's what you should do next.

A few words of thanks to your instructor would not go amiss but before you rush out on your own to celebrate with your friends just consider the following: Your extreme happiness can affect your driving - let yourself calm right down before you drive again. The person who wrote this site had an accident on the way back to the test centre after he had just passed the test! That was in 1965 when not much traffic was around. Before you ask, it was not Mark!!!

Your instructor will probably have some words of advice as well as praise, after you pass. Listen carefully as you are now a high-risk driver.

To avoid becoming one of these statistics, treat every drive you make as a learning experience.

We recommend you buy a set of green "L" or "P" plates for your car, so that other road users realise you are an inexperienced driver.

Try to maintain and develop the high standards you adopted as a Learner driver.

In a few years when you have more experience, consider taking the Institute of Advanced Motorists Test. It's very low cost and well worth doing.