Driving lesson support thread

[FannyFeatures]

Anyone else out there learning to drive?

I'm 33 and after years of not wanting/needing to drive I'm finally at the stage where it will actually make my life so much easier!

Currently managing quiet roads easily but struggling a bit with roundabouts but it's more confidence than anything else.

Theory test is booked for the middle of May too 🤯

I’ve just started teaching my 17 year old daughter. Second lesson this evening. It’s terrifying. Am working on just getting her to do MSM and then get into first gear without digging up the road with the bonnet. She will have instructor led lessons too but Lordy she’s likely to kill us first 😱

I needed this thread lol.

I've been on and off with lessons for the last couple of years. My last instructor was absolutely awful and yelled at me multiple times during our last lesson, so I told him to bugger off after that, but I've always had a problem with the clutch. I can never feel the fecking biting point and I find it really difficult to have my feet work independently lol.

So I switched to automatic and started lessons again just over a month ago and I'm feeling much more confident and I even enjoy my lessons! Got my theory booked for the 8th June and really hoping I'll be test-ready by the end of August. To pass by the end of the year would be amazing!

Hope I'm not intruding, as I actually have a licence. Passed at 18, but I haven't been behind the wheel for 12yrs! Until yesterday that is.

Thought I did relatively ok, as only drove around an almost empty car park.

However, today I attempted to drive on the actual road, in a quiet area of town.

Fuck me, I turned into a quivering wreck. 🙈 Really lacking confidence. I'm seriously considering booking some refresher lessons. I'm just so so nervous.

Good luck with the upcoming tests everyone!

Good luck @hmwhatsmynameagain, You can do it!

Robin I'm the same, it's the roundabouts for me. I'm no good at remembering to only look to the right and gauging safe distances between cars so I end up flustered. Need to work on that!

Donna automatic sounds like a good choice, I said if I couldn't get manual this time I'd go for it too. No point in making life harder than it needs to be for the sake of a gear stick :o

I'd like to be on the road by my birthday in mid October 🤞

GripsRus do some lessons, it must be hard to start again as there's a lot to remember and I reckon even since then there's a lot more cars now! I'm sure you'll get your groove back soon though :o

I passed my test when I was 39, I was very lucky as my dad was training to be a driving instructor , so I was paying £5 a hour , otherwise I wouldn't have been able to afford it . I passed the day before I turned 40.

Practice practice practice , I was lucky enough to have my husbands car when I got to a certain point and I would drive us most places at the weekends, which helped with my confidence .

I also two months before I had my test took Kalms, probably more than I should have at times as I was absolutely terrified when it came to my test , but I continued with Kalms and had two bananas before I went and I passed first time .

Last month I finally bought my very own little run around for me and the kids . I love it .

So when you are feeling like rubbish when you have had a bad lesson, don't give up keep going you can do it !!

Good luck everybody , you can do it . !!

@FannyFeatures my 4 year old tells just about everybody we meet that his mummy hates roundabouts! They are my nemesis! I just can’t seem to coordinate my feet hands and brain

I still find confidence is everything at roundabouts, but it's hard to be such with lack of indicators and other motorists flaunting lane discipline. I mentioned to DP last week that I was taught defensive driving 20 years ago, but an overwhelming amount of motorists are dangerously aggressive nowadays. Good luck to you all, go get 'em

I've found the roundabouts so much easier in the automatic. I always panicked about gears and watching the road at the same time. With the auto i literally just need to watch the road!

Big handhold from me. I passed my test 3 months ago aged 39. Learning to drive has been one of the hardest things I have ever done. I found it absolutely bloody terrifying - I was scared of killing someone, killing myself, damaging someone's car, damaging my own car. And no one who learned as a teenager gets it - I would talk about tears and nightmares and get blank faces in response thanks everyone!

So great idea to start this thread for support. And I swear to you, it really does get better. I've been driving for 10 weeks now and have gone from terrified, to scared, to nervous, to sometimes feeling actually ok and vaguely confident. So keep at it, and be proud!

I did it! Passed with just 2 driver observations 😀

Congratulations!! Amazing news, well done you!

Well done!!!!

How fantastic! Be very very proud of yourself

Well done!

Congratulations @hmwhatsmynameagain! 🎉

Wow, so we have 2 graduates already on here. Awesome motivation :o

I'm just back from my 3rd lesson, actually managed parallel parking and reversing into a space with a little bit of readjusting but I can live with that!

Doing my last lot of manoeuvres next week then it's practice practice practice.

Thank you all

I did roundabouts last week and did well but we're practising them again today. Practice makes perfect ☺️

I find it difficult to keep the car centered in my lane but this is improving. I look as far ahead as possible and try to keep my grip relaxed. Any other tips are appreciated!

Congratulations hmwhatsmynameagain

Hello, may I join in?
I am having refresher lessons. I passed my test 10 years ago after so many goes I lost count (I finally found a wonderful teacher who said 'you can drive, the problem is in your head').
I only drove for a few weeks after passing my test because I lost my nerve after a scary motorway journey in bad weather and then got pregnant with dc3 and had hyperemesis, and then a friend had a fatal crash which freaked both me and dh out.
I had an excellent lesson yesterday which really built my confidence.
I also seem to have evolved more confidence purely as a result of being older. Even if I am not the world's most coordinated person I know for absolute certain that I am not going to take risks, drive aggressively or competitively, go on my phone while driving, etc.
My strategy this time round is to build up gradually and do little and often.

Oops, I seem to have killed the thread...

Hope everyone is doing OK.

Sorry Countess, I haven't been checking my threads much these past few days!

Little and often sounds like a good plan, sounds like you had a rough ride after passing your test so I'm not surprised it went out the window!

We don't have motorways here (arse end of nowhere in NE Scotland) so I won't need to worry about those until I'm ready but I am planning to do the pass plus test afterwards to give me more opportunity with instructor and hopefully build my confidence.

I've been swatting up for my theory test tomorrow, I have a shocking memory so I'm not expecting much but will need to remind myself not to be disheartened!

Good luck with the theory test, Fanny Features.
I have driven twice since I posted. Both times fine.

Can I join in? I'm a new learner at 28 as always lived in areas with good public transport and then had small children and no money so it was easier not to worry about it. We are now very rural and children both in school so despite the lack of money needs must! We absolutely cannot afford lessons while saving for a second car so I'm going out in DH's car every evening and lots at the weekend with the L plates on and then will book just a few lessons before I take my test.
Luckily we live near loads of off road tracks (Byways) and I've been driving them for the last year so I'm familiar with the car and controls.

Test isn't booked yet as we are only on day 7. So far so good and I find that every time I go out it feels less terrifying and I'm actually enjoying it but we are super rural so I've not gone above 45mph yet as so many blind corners and bends and there are rarely any other cars on the roads! Downsides are that its a fairly big 4x4 so I find going onto roads with lanes (as opposed to all the local single track rural roads) terrifying as it feels impossible to fit on my side of the road. Did a decent stretch of a little B road yesterday though and DH reckoned my lane placement was good and I managed to go past a big lorry without driving up the verge (which is what I did on day 1!!)

DH's car is an auto so I'll have to go for an auto license but I reckon that makes learning easier anyway as no gears to worry about. I've also downloaded a theory test app and am working my way through that and rereading the highway code.

Hoping there are some more of us on the thread at the beginning of their driving journey rather than approaching tests and we can cheer each other on. Am planning on going out every day if possible as feels like I've got to keep the momentum up or I'll start forgetting bits.

Hi everyone.

I'm contemplating learning to drive (first time) at the grand old age of 50 something. However, I don't have a lot of money so realistically I'm unlikely to be able to afford a car and insurance and tax etc. so I need to think about whether it really will be worth it.

How many hours/lessons have you youngsters had? Lessons for me will be £28.50ph for an automatic (so £57 per 2hr lesson)

Also, I don't have anyone who can take me out to practice, so I'll be totally reliant on lessons. I am thinking that the cost might not be worth it at the moment as I don't have any dependents to ferry around. On the other hand, it is definitely a useful thing to be able to do and would give me more freedom (although public transport is excellent where I live)

Welcome Shadows and Bunting :)

Shadows sounds like you're doing well in DH's car, do you drive with DC's too? I'm on my cousins insurance as he can take me out 2 times a week without passengers but it's frustrating when we have a car that I could be practicing in more regularly however in nervous that kids would put me off!

I'm still new to this so you're not alone, I've only had 3 actual lessons since receiving my provisional last month.

Bunting if it would make life easier it's definitely worth learning I reckon! I put it off because we couldn't afford it but really wish I could've done it sooner.