King of the road David celebrates his 500th test pass

Soham driving instructor, David Short reached a milestone 500 test passes this week.

Lucky number 500 for David was 18-year-old Victoria Ashdown, also from Soham, who had a double celebration of her 18th birthday and passing her driving test just 24 hours later.

As well as getting her pass certificate, Victoria was also presented with a bottle of champagne by David for bringing up his 500th successful pass.

David, 59, a former car sales manager at EMG Ford, in Wisbech, launched David Short Driving back in June 2005 after deciding he had had enough of the motor trade.

David had spent most of his working life within the motor industry but decided in 2004 to begin training as a driving instructor as he wanted to work for himself.

After taking the three qualification exams, David took the gamble of leaving his well-paid job and company car.

And now, a decade on, David’s only regret is that he didn’t start 10 years earlier.

He said: “The best part of the job is the satisfaction gained when a client passes their test and gains the life changing freedom that a full driving licence provides.”

David, who clocks up about 45,000 miles a year, says the hardest part of his job is teaching drivers to reverse round left-hand corners because “no two corners are ever the same”.

Though most of his pupils are teenagers, David has successfully passed two ladies in their 50s.