New Driver - Stalling at roundabouts

[samlh]

How do I stop myself stalling at roundabouts!

Every morning, without fail, I stall at the same roundabout because I have to stop to give way to traffic.

It's getting embarrassing now!

Hit me with your top tips to help me stop stalling as I can't deal with the disapproving looks and beeps when I get flustered and stall it again!

Note: I passed my test last month and I got my car 3 weeks ago and i'm fine actually driving on straight roads and stopping and starting at traffic lights, it's just this one roundabout where I lose my nerve and it happens every blinking time!!

Thanks in advance

It happens occasionally to me too and I've been driving a long time. I now have the confidence to know that I can just restart the car and carry on, where as to begin with I used to get flustered like you. In the grand scheme of things no one is delayed very long. You will improve.

Sing!

Stalling was my weakness after I passed too, and it was definitely due to me being a little tense/anxious. Anxiety pushes adrenaline through your body, which can make your reactions and actions quicker and stronger - so I think that's why I lifted my foot too quickly when I got that 'its my turn!' moment.

At a roundabout it can feel like when a gap comes up, the starting pistol has fired and you have to go go go! Try and aim for a gentler pull away.

I find that singing really helps, as it regulates your pulse and breathing and forces you to breathe out slowly, which overcomes the anxiety. So you might feel like a fool, but turn the radio on and sing along as you approach and do the roundabout. See if it helps!

@Icedlatte - that's such a good idea!

The weird thing is, I talk to myself constantly. I'm like "yes sam, drop down to 2nd gear now, gently off the clutch".

At the weekend, I downloaded the videos from my dash cam and we were laughing our heads off at me chatting away to myself on these 1 minute recordings.

I'm going to sing my heart out on the way home now (hopefully no one will overhear me as I can't hold a tune) :)

I stalled on my test. At the time, as long as you dealt with it safely and calmly, it's only a minor.

Give more acceleration than you think you need, bring the clutch up slower than you think you need to, give yourself plenty of time. I imagine it goes wrong at this roundabout because you're rushing to pull away. Wait for a slightly bigger gap or a slower vehicle coming around- yes, it'll take longer, but probably less long than stalling. If you feel under less pressure, you'll probably be fine!

Would it be worth asking your previous driving instructor to give you one more lesson, purely on clutch control and roundabouts?
It might just help your confidence to drive a route with loads of roundabouts (or keep approaching the same one from various directions), until you can do it without even thinking about it.
You need to break this vicious circle of feeling anxious that you’ll stall, jerking the clutch in a panic and then actually stalling in a self fulfilling prophecy. Once you’ve conquered that roundabout and sailed through it many times, it will break the pattern for you- you will approach it with the confidence of knowing you can do it.

Aww OP don’t worry - keep practising you’ll get there! Can you try and visualise it differently?maybe imagine yourself approaching a different roundabout/junction that you know you always get right or just imagine it’s a brand new roundabout youve never done before? Obviously being aware of all the hazards of this particular one but just thinking about it differently? Also try to remember the people you are holding up are not the same ones you held up the day before. They don’t know you’ve stalled every day this week. You don’t need to work yourself up so much. Good luck and keep going!

@samlh great! Even if you do stall, you won't care because you'll be so enjoying your singalong!

I used to chat to my instructor all the time in my lessons, and so the singing was my replacement for that when driving alone. I still do it if I approach a tricky junction or get a bit nervy!

Well I only went and did it with absolutely no problems.

I sang along with the radio, put a few more revs on in first and sailed it!

No stalling, traffic was a bit crap but I just went with it!

Thank you all for your responses and comments and hopefully I’ll just keep improving... now to master reverse bay parking

Yay!

Fantastic! Well done!

When I first took my dd out in my car after she passed her test, she was stalling all over the place. Turns out that instructors cars have their cars 'set up' differently. She knew nothing about biting points and finding it. I couldn't believe it, but it came up at a family gathering a week or so later and all the new drivers had had the same issue when they first got in to their own cars, after learning on (different) instructors cars. My younger dd is learning at the moment and was most puzzled by why I put my handbrake on when stopped on a hill at lights, and that I didn't have 3 seconds from when I took my foot off the footbrake before I would start rolling back.

I stalled in stop-start traffic the other day. I've been driving for 32 years, 30 of them with a Class 1.