Beginning Driving Lessons

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JimmyDee
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Re: Beginning Driving Lessons

Post by JimmyDee »

The generally accepted figure, which proved quite accurate in my case, is that you need about an hour for every year old you are.
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Carlos J
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Re: Beginning Driving Lessons

Post by Carlos J »

Good advice and good luck, LL.

Half of the battle is confidence. If I may say, LL, you tend to put yourself down a lot. Stop that shit. You will show the fear come test time. Hopefully a good instructor will get that out of you. Positivity, and if you fail, so fucking what. You go again.
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Re: Beginning Driving Lessons

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Carlos J wrote:Good advice and good luck, LL.

If I may say, LL, you tend to put yourself down a lot. Stop that shit.
I second this.


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LordLaret
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Re: Beginning Driving Lessons

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deisegirl wrote:I had very low confidence learning to drive, though I forced myself to learn long before I "needed" to drive on a regular basis. I had my licence six years before I bought my first car. The clutch/gearstick caused me the most issues for a while, so at least you have a head start there!

Practice and repetition will make things easier. If you're anything like I was, you'll imagine all the worst things that can happen, but that does go away I promise. And even rhoigh you need to drive for a sad reason you'll be delighted with the independence it gives you.



That's what my instructor told me and I am going down the same route as wanting to get the licence but not get a car unless absolutely needed. (Or even going down the rental route if it was an emergency)
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Re: Beginning Driving Lessons

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JimmyDee wrote:The generally accepted figure, which proved quite accurate in my case, is that you need about an hour for every year old you are.


Yeah, my instructor told me it was around 45 hours of lessons but I am aiming for 50 hours to get everything down for the test and polish off any rough edges.
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Re: Beginning Driving Lessons

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Carlos J wrote:Good advice and good luck, LL.

Half of the battle is confidence. If I may say, LL, you tend to put yourself down a lot. Stop that shit. You will show the fear come test time. Hopefully a good instructor will get that out of you. Positivity, and if you fail, so fucking what. You go again.



I don't even know why this is, it's probably just some inbuilt thing about always having to apologise and not having any faith in myself or such. There's a lot going on that I don't know why I am like this. Admittedly during the lessons, as the time went on, I was feeling better with the left turns and doing alright, I talk out the procedure out loud and that helps remind me get thigns down.
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Carlos J
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Re: Beginning Driving Lessons

Post by Carlos J »

Goo for you and a good instructor will help you.

You can break low confidence, LL.

Simplistic things like finding local others who enjoy the same things.
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VeritasVincit
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Re: Beginning Driving Lessons

Post by VeritasVincit »

When it gets round to test time, will you have a choice of centre?
In the distant past when I took mine, there were two centres available.
One in north Manchester, where there were some interesting hills, for hill starts, and one in south Manchester where the only hills were gentle rises over railway bridges. Guess which we used to make it easier.

Probably of no relevance but a story about a mate on his test.
The examiner told him that when he banged the clipboard on the dash, he should do an emergency stop.
My mate watched him out of the corner of his eye and when he raised the clipboard he slammed the brakes on hard. Examiner went forward and banged hi head on the dash; there were no seatbelts then.
Immediate failure! "You're a danger on the roads".

But, all the above comments about confidence are correct. After a few lessons you'll find yourself doing things almost automatically, without having to think 'which foot' etc. And you'll get used to other traffic being around you.

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Re: Beginning Driving Lessons

Post by deisegirl »

LordLaret wrote:
Carlos J wrote:Good advice and good luck, LL.

Half of the battle is confidence. If I may say, LL, you tend to put yourself down a lot. Stop that shit. You will show the fear come test time. Hopefully a good instructor will get that out of you. Positivity, and if you fail, so fucking what. You go again.



I don't even know why this is, it's probably just some inbuilt thing about always having to apologise and not having any faith in myself or such. There's a lot going on that I don't know why I am like this. Admittedly during the lessons, as the time went on, I was feeling better with the left turns and doing alright, I talk out the procedure out loud and that helps remind me get thigns down.


I used to over analyse everything I did in the car at the start too, but I think I'm just like that when I'm learning ANYTHING new. I felt like a bit of a tool at the time because I had friends who were driving the minute they were old enough to get the licence but I just don't naturally take to technical things and I consider driving pretty damn technical! I even bought a few books about learning to drive! At the end of the day it's the practice that gives you the confidence, but when I was learning it was all about ensuring I was "techincally" correct to pass the test. The test itself was so "fake" (not sure if it's the same in the UK). It was literally driving by numbers. I almost burst into tears when he told me I'd passed, I'd built it up so much in my head! I'm sure he was thinking "I've made a terrible mistake" :lol:

To this day I'm still only in the car a short amount of time most week and I still find myself remembering my instructor's comments about different things. I'm sure I've picked up bad habits but I still see myself as learning to drive. Everytime I have to drive somewhere new it's an errr...adventure. :wink:

Another thing to remember is that there are an enough lot of arseholes on the road. In the early days if your confidence is low and someone starts beeping you, your automatic reaction is to think "I'm in the wrong here" but it's just as likely that the person behind you is an impatient git. Beeping at a driving instructor car requires a special type of shitebaggery in my opinion. These people obviously either (a) took to driving like a duck to water or (b) have forgotten that it can be stressful to learn to drive.

I'm one of those tedious drive at the speed limit types (or at least, a few kms above to allow for the car underestimating your actual speed) and I get overtaken constantly. I used to get very anxious about it. Now I just do my thing. As long as I'm not driving too slow I'm not doing anything wrong.

Keep at it anyway LL, it's definitely worth it. It opens up your world. Even if you don't want to get a car immediately it will be there for you when you do want it.
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Re: Beginning Driving Lessons

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deisegirl wrote:
LordLaret wrote:
Carlos J wrote:Good advice and good luck, LL.

Half of the battle is confidence. If I may say, LL, you tend to put yourself down a lot. Stop that shit. You will show the fear come test time. Hopefully a good instructor will get that out of you. Positivity, and if you fail, so fucking what. You go again.



I don't even know why this is, it's probably just some inbuilt thing about always having to apologise and not having any faith in myself or such. There's a lot going on that I don't know why I am like this. Admittedly during the lessons, as the time went on, I was feeling better with the left turns and doing alright, I talk out the procedure out loud and that helps remind me get thigns down.


I used to over analyse everything I did in the car at the start too, but I think I'm just like that when I'm learning ANYTHING new. I felt like a bit of a tool at the time because I had friends who were driving the minute they were old enough to get the licence but I just don't naturally take to technical things and I consider driving pretty damn technical! I even bought a few books about learning to drive! At the end of the day it's the practice that gives you the confidence, but when I was learning it was all about ensuring I was "techincally" correct to pass the test. The test itself was so "fake" (not sure if it's the same in the UK). It was literally driving by numbers. I almost burst into tears when he told me I'd passed, I'd built it up so much in my head! I'm sure he was thinking "I've made a terrible mistake" :lol:

To this day I'm still only in the car a short amount of time most week and I still find myself remembering my instructor's comments about different things. I'm sure I've picked up bad habits but I still see myself as learning to drive. Everytime I have to drive somewhere new it's an errr...adventure. :wink:

Another thing to remember is that there are an enough lot of arseholes on the road. In the early days if your confidence is low and someone starts beeping you, your automatic reaction is to think "I'm in the wrong here" but it's just as likely that the person behind you is an impatient git. Beeping at a driving instructor car requires a special type of shitebaggery in my opinion. These people obviously either (a) took to driving like a duck to water or (b) have forgotten that it can be stressful to learn to drive.

I'm one of those tedious drive at the speed limit types (or at least, a few kms above to allow for the car underestimating your actual speed) and I get overtaken constantly. I used to get very anxious about it. Now I just do my thing. As long as I'm not driving too slow I'm not doing anything wrong.

Keep at it anyway LL, it's definitely worth it. It opens up your world. Even if you don't want to get a car immediately it will be there for you when you do want it.



This reminds me of what happened to me in the first lesson. I was learning how to just go up and down a backstreet with a lot of parked cars and doing parking, when this boy racer in an old car just blasted past me to the disgust of me and the trainer. I've only had one time the trainer had to put the emergency brakes on, that was in the carpark, practising right hand turns and being so focused on myself and the move. Thank you so much for all this help and tips! =3
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Re: Beginning Driving Lessons

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My instructor once rage beeped someone on my behalf when i got overtaken in a dangerous fashion! I was mortified but also at least I got an early insight into what was considered shitty behaviour on the road.

Boy racers are the dregs of humanity to be fair :|
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Re: Beginning Driving Lessons

Post by AlcoholBrazil »

Maude wrote:I passed with flying colours a few years ago during my mid-20s (record score at my test centre that week).

It's never too late. I even kept the forum updated of my progress, just watch out for the likes of AlcoholBrazil and Lawns sniping away at your achievements and you'll be fine.


Second time around, after having an almighty flounce at the examiner for failing you the first time , then coming on here
announcing the huge conspiracy of thousands of examiners intent of keeping you off the road .
Best of Luck to LL and I welcome all careful and considerate drivers like Royals for example.
As to LL , get plenty of practice and do not worry about making mistakes. You'll get there in the end.
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Re: Beginning Driving Lessons

Post by JimmyDee »

deisegirl wrote:My instructor once rage beeped someone on my behalf ...


That reminds me ... once you pass, never ever beep anyone who's cut you up, or make "wanker" gestures. It could be anyone, a coked up tosser with a knife, anyone. There's no real point, anyway. What are they going to do; vow to moderate their inconsiderate driving practices? I don't think so.
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Carlos J
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Re: Beginning Driving Lessons

Post by Carlos J »

Wise words, Jimmy.
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Re: Beginning Driving Lessons

Post by LordLaret »

AlcoholBrazil wrote:
Maude wrote:I passed with flying colours a few years ago during my mid-20s (record score at my test centre that week).

It's never too late. I even kept the forum updated of my progress, just watch out for the likes of AlcoholBrazil and Lawns sniping away at your achievements and you'll be fine.


Second time around, after having an almighty flounce at the examiner for failing you the first time , then coming on here
announcing the huge conspiracy of thousands of examiners intent of keeping you off the road .
Best of Luck to LL and I welcome all careful and considerate drivers like Royals for example.
As to LL , get plenty of practice and do not worry about making mistakes. You'll get there in the end.


Thank you! I got another lesson Thursday coming. Hoping to do more left and right turns, to help improve on over-steer and the mirror, signal and move set up.
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