Driving lessons - drivers advice needed!

SW let us know how you get on! I've actually passed my test but haven't driven since. I did my test abroad where my parents were living so lost all confidence when I moved back as I thought I'd get confused with everything being on the other side of the road...

oh also doesn't drive. We're thinking of getting lessons though as its really a silly state of affairs. I'm just too chicken to book them. ?

I took forever to pass my driving test but l was so glad when l did it but in all honesty l didn’t really enjoy the process. It is handy being able to drive lots of different cars. In previous jobs then l have had to drive different pool / rental cars. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

Urgh!!!!

In terms of me - I was pleasantly surprised. I had it picked back up within a couple of minutes, even managed a 3 point turn! I also remembered exactly what my problem was with driving. My clutch control is fine in manoeuvres etc, when i have time and space to concentrate, but when I'm at a junction and there are cars waiting behind me and I only have a small window to get out, I stall continually, or I threaten to blow the engine up with revving. I just fall to pieces.

Anyway - the instructor was TERRIBLE, she didn't get a feel for my ability before putting me behind the wheel and sending me off towards a roundabout to turn right (before I'd even had a chance to get a feel for the car - and it was rush hour!!) she sat and smoked an e-cig all the way through the lesson, she asked if I minded if she answered her phone while I was in the middle of a stalling tizz at a junction, she never gave me any information/reminders about things like where to position myself in a box or right of way etc, when i was in the middle of a stalling tizz she was shouting 'lift it up, lift it up' at me and I had to ask her twice what she wanted me to lift up (it was the clutch!!) And to top it all off ... wait for it ... when she asked why I was driving now I mentioned hoping to have a baby soon. She referred to my 'husband', I corrected her, and she said "Oh right? I thought you said you were going to have a baby? Are you going to use a surrogate?"

? ?

"Yes that's right, biatch face, I would need to use a surrogate because my lesbian womb is inhospitable!

Anyways - you can be sure I've rung the company this morning and given them full feedback. The owner of the driving school is now going to take me on her books instead.

Ahahaha! I'm sorry SW, but this really made me laugh! I assume she meant donor, what a numpty.

Sounds like you just need some confidence and to learn to relax. Don't forget you've got L plates on, people aren't expecting you to be able to pull away like you've been doing it for years, and if they do they're pricks!

I'm glad you've ditched the numpty instructor, I hope the new one knows what she's doing. Talk through your issues with her before you set off so that she knows you get yourself het up

Good grief! Experiences like that are sooo not going to do anything for your driving confidence Those E-cigs do my nut in at the best of times but seriously!? What was she thinking and I can't even begin to comment on the surrogate thing - such ignorance.

Good on you for giving feedback amd not giving up! Had it been me I reckon i'd have used it as an excuse and thrown the towel in again!

Don't be too hard on yourself though, it sounds like you've retained a lot from your past lessons so focus on what you did well, not what you still have to master!

Oh no! what a nightmare....

I hope it doesn't put you off. I always did the same thing with the stalling and it's just so scary especially when people get annoyed behind you. I'm sure, with practise, it won't be a problem!

Good on you for complaining to the manager!

Oh god! What a div! (her, not you!) Hopefully you'll get on better with a new, more involved and informative instructor!

Well she sounds like a complete twunt! Don't let her put you off though. Hope your next lesson goes much more smoothly.

Ah, SW I feel your driving pain. I did not want to learn to drive, hated the process, but accepted it as a neccessary evil of living rurally.

I have always been relatively confident on short trips on local roads, but anything beyond that was just a no go for me, I'd get a lift of use public transport over a long journey (long being over 1 hour) whenever possible.

Just recently though I have been forced to face my driving demons: my work car is a manual, but I've only driven automatics for the last 4 years so I'm back to doing the whole bunny hops and screaming revs thing again. (Joyfully with my boss as a passenger today!) And, I have always really hated driving 'big' cars (I class anything larger than a Vauxhall Corsa as big), yet this weekend I learned to drive an ambulance!

What a nightmare!!! I hope you got a refund. She sounds like an unprofessional and thoughtless delight!

Err she answered her phone while you were driving? That is actually illegal. She is responsible as the instructor and is in the same position as the driver. You could report her!

https://www.gov.uk/driving-lessons-who-can-teach-you

She sounds truly awful. I would not have been happy with her using an e-cig either - that is just wrong - but the mobile phone puts it into a new space of awfulness.

URGH she sounds like a nightmare. Glad you've got someone new.

EVERYONE STALLS! A lot. When learning. It's how you learn, believe it or not.

(And if you're truly awful then buy an automatic!)

Driving is amazing. Once you get going and get the freedom you'll wish you'd done it sooner. And with little humans... it's essential. When the world feels difficult you chuck them in the car and drive it off and they sleep in their carseats and you sing your songs and breeeeathe and go for a starbucks til you feel human again.