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Original poster

If you HATED learning to drive, did you ever start liking driving?

77 replies

ColonelCathcart · 20/08/2019 20:28

I hate it. I’m rubbish at it, I don’t like doing it. I find it so stressful. If you hated it, has that changed? Have you just accepted it? Or does it get better?

OP posts:

BuildBuildings · 21/08/2019 10:18

I didn't hate it but I didn't like It. I wasn't great at it tbh! It took me 3 times to pass. I'm dyslexic and my coordination is too great so I wonder if this contributed.
I now enjoy driving. I drove a van sometimes at work in a job a few years ago which I loved! My partner doesn't drive so I've done lots of long distances. Including 300 miles up and down to London on my own a good few times. So I really don't think that how hard you find it has an impact on how you find it after you pass. I also hate being watched doing stuff. So that is probably why I found learning uncomfortable.

Betaboo · 21/08/2019 10:54

I hated lessons, I still don't love driving, much prefer to be a passenger and I would take a train before I would drive for a few hours. However, I would hate not to be able to drive, it would be so restrictive.

lurkingfromhome · 21/08/2019 11:12

Hated lessons, hated the whole process of learning. I was a very old learner and wasn't used to learning things any more and being bloody awful at them.

Now I do like driving but only if I'm on my own in the car, when I can just focus and enjoy the drive. I find it very distracting when there is anyone with me, as they seem to chatter on and on and I'm used to driving with just the radio and my thoughts for company.

I can't drive with my DH as a passenger at all as he is really critical of my driving and I end up getting flustered and making mistakes that I never would if I was on my own. So I think I've a way to go before I can just get in the car and it's all completely instinctive no matter who is there with me.

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foxyfemke · 21/08/2019 11:19

I hated learning, took me 4 attempts to pass. I was always a nervous wreck. After my 3rd test the examiner told me I was a good driver, but the nerves got in the way. Then my instructor just let me do long distances, really get used to the car, a variety of roads and I started to enjoy it. Beta blockers helped me pass 4th time. That was 8 years ago, and there were a few years where I didn't have a car. Now been back in one for over 4 years, since I had my child, and it's great. I love the freedom it gives me, the car we have drives like a dream and it's fun. I learned to drive properly after I passed.

Hang in there.

KatherineJaneway · 21/08/2019 11:23

I hated learning to drive. Absolutely hated it as I wasn't good at it naturally so I had to work hard to pass my test.

I didn't drive for ages then I had to due to a change in circumstances but I had an automatic car which is much easier than a manual. I like driving now, decent tunes playing and I'm happy bunny.

QueenOfPain · 21/08/2019 11:25

Absolutely hated my lessons, they made me so anxious, failed 4 tests, and had finally got to a point where I just thought “sod it, if I don’t pass this time then I just won’t drive” and I finally passed. I was still anxious my first few months/years of driving but these days I couldn’t give a stuff and a lot of the time I actually enjoy it, and it feels very much like second nature, doesn’t take any thinking about.

Pinkkahori · 21/08/2019 11:26

I hated learning to drive. I failed several tests but finally something clicked and i managed to pass.
I've been driving for several years and am very happy driving in my comfort zone - my nearest town and a few other small towns.
I am still uncomfortable driving in new places and hate motorway driving.
It doesn't worry me though. I can get where I regularly need to go and use public transport for longer trips.
Works for me.

ShowOfHands · 21/08/2019 11:33

I loathed learning and now am pretty ambivalent. Like housework I suppose. I like the result ie being able to get to a certain place in good time, you can listen to an audio book for example to help time pass, it's not remotely challenging anymore. But I find it rather dull and other drivers can be infuriating.

I still use public transport if possible but recently drove to Devon from Norfolk with no concerns, other than how boring it was.

lurkingfromhome · 21/08/2019 11:51

Oh yes, other drivers are the worst. It was a real eye-opener just how rude and dangerous other people (usually men) can be.

I don't like country roads, still can't parallel park or reverse into a parking space. Don't mind motorways though.

MondayBakedPotato · 21/08/2019 12:00

It took me until I was 33 and had two children before I properly learned to drive.
I hated it it for ages and had many perameters about when I would drive.
Driving an automatic helped and one of best friends moving two hours' drive away helped.
Also, Google maps has given me enormous confidence as it is rarely wrong. I do exactly what I am told 😄
Motorways were my big hurdle. I am over it now and I listen to music in the car so it's not so boring.
It was very liberating to not be reliant on my husband to drive me to places, especially my mum's house.

Daisywho · 21/08/2019 12:28

Oh gosh, yeah! I started loving driving the minute I passed my test!

Learning was absolute hell through, so I feel your pain, OP. I used to dread lessons, I found it unbelievably stressful, I went through about 5 diffferent instructors because they all did my head in... I definitely packed it in a few times and had to force myself to go back to it.

The whole thing was a nightmare but ironically when I eventually took my test I passed first time and never looked back. That was 14 years ago and I still love driving now. Hang in there, it will be worth it.

EBearhug · 21/08/2019 12:38

I took 4 attempts to pass, and then barely drove at all for about 7 years, because I couldn't afford to run a car after leaving home. I didn’t really drive until I got a job which was a minimum 45 minute drive if the traffic was good, and doing that every day for several months was where I really clocked up the practice hours and became a lot more confident. I'm still nearly always happy to let someone else drive if there's the option, but I am a lot happier driving than I was 25 years ago.

So I think like any skill , the more practice you get, the easier it will feel and the better you get.

EBearhug · 21/08/2019 12:39

Motorways were my big hurdle.

When I finally go

EBearhug · 21/08/2019 12:41

...When I finally got my own car, I had a refresher lesson and a motorway lesson, and that helped a lot.

(Can't drive my phone so well, though....)

thefirstmrsdewinter · 21/08/2019 13:02

I got my license in the US at 17, then went for my UK license when I was 40. Lots of rules are different so I had to unlearn and relearn and it was hard and very stressful. I hated it. I find it easy now and do a fair bit of long-distance/motorway driving.

Can you do a defensive driving course? It helped me get a bigger picture and feel more in control.

If you want to feel more relaxed driving, my advice is to make sure you get some practice driving under the most relaxed conditions possible, ie not just in traffic, to work, to time-sensitive appointments etc.

I used to find circular walks online, then put the dog in the car and drive there. Went for a really nice walk through vineyards in Dorking once. Find a river or park and drive there to take a walk or get a coffee, then drive home. Or drive to a shop you really like where the parking isn't awful. I used to like driving to and from the supermarket

My mum finds driving less stressful with the dog in the car. (You need a dog for this and the dog needs to like the car and be secured correctly. And of course I'm not suggesting leaving the dog in the car.)

MacavityTheDentistsCat · 21/08/2019 13:17

I hated lessons. I had a horrible instructor who treated me like sh*t and robbed me of all my confidence. I used to cry before lessons. The test was a breeze in comparison. I had the head examiner and he was so pleasant and polite that I was totally relaxed and passed first time.

I then didn't drive for about six years though and was a wreck when I finally got back to it. I used to have to drive to an evening class in the dark on a Wednesday evening and would regularly throw up beforehand.

The first thing that made the difference for me was getting my own car, being in it on my own, and practising the same routes. I also made a big step forward when I got a car with a good navigation system that spoke to me! The thing that gave me the final push though was the arrival of DD. I realised that her life might someday depend on me driving her to hospital and it sort of made me overcome that last bit of fear.

I now really like driving but still get the quibbles if I have to drive on the lefthand side of the road. That's where I learned to drive but I moved abroad years ago and have got so used to driving on the right that swapping round again always gives me an OMG! moment.

thesnapandfartisinfallible · 21/08/2019 13:18

I liked it better when I switched to auto. My driving instructor had two cars so I did used to swap between them a fair bit and the manual was a sports model so I did love that car but the auto I had a lot more confidence in. I also got better when I changed to him as he had the most hilarious road rage.

60minutemakeunder · 21/08/2019 13:20

I can’t understand people who go on driving holidays. My manager does huge drives around Europe each year for pleasure, stopping overnight at a different place, there not actually exploring the place other than the hotel. I can’t see how that’s a relaxing holiday!

OnlineAlienator · 21/08/2019 13:24

I hated my lessons, too pressurised, but the second i was let loose by myself i started driving thousands of miles and loving it. Novelty still hasnt worn off

GordonBrockman · 21/08/2019 20:25

Passed 5 years ago, still don’t enjoy it at all and get very stressed by unfamiliar journeys. Not helped by the fact Im really bad at parking so panic about where I’m going to park. Don’t drive other people unless I have to and get really nervous about them watching me drive. I can do familiar journeys without stressing now though. I like being able to drive even if I don’t enjoy the actual driving.

Xmasbaby11 · 21/08/2019 20:27

I really struggled to learn and it took 5 tests. That was over 10 years ago and I still don't enjoy it but I'm competent and it's incredibly useful.

Lindormilk · 21/08/2019 21:18

I only learned as my cousin passed his test. I thought if he passed anyone could! But I didn’t enjoy it even though I passed 1st time. Still caught the bus to work and left the car at home! I have never driven on a motorway, no need to.

DD is learning and doesn’t enjoy it. She is learning as she has to, not that she wants to. Been with her a couple of times and she can drive but lacks confidence. Im sure it will come to her.

Catmar · 21/08/2019 21:23

Never wanted to learn. Hated every minute I had to spend behind the wheel, not to mention dp's eye-rolling and sighing whenever I did anything wrong(in his opinion). We don't have a car right now and I would gladly never drive one again.

Jinglejanglefish · 21/08/2019 21:24

Yes, I love it now I can do it

AlexaAmbidextra · 22/08/2019 00:47

I hated, hated, hated learning to drive. Once I passed my test I instantly enjoyed it and now several decades later still like driving. Especially a nice long drive, down to Cornwall for instance.

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