How long did it take you to learn to drive?

[Namechange8471]

So lockdown has given me a kick up the arse, I will learn to drive!

Wish I did it years ago, I’m now 30 and feeling nervous.

My lessons begin July, I’ve had a few hours previously but feel as though I’m starting again 😩.

How long did it take you? I’ve got no one to practice with, just paid lessons unfortunately.

I’m also unsure how many hours to do, one a week? Four?

Thanks in advance 👌

I needed to learn in a hurry in my mid 20's (job relocated from London to elsewhere). Only paid lessons. I took 2 weeks off and did 2 hours a day. My instructor advised not to do more as I'd need a break, and he was right - I cried in frustration more than once.

But after that I went back to work, had about another 8 hours while waiting for my test date, and took my test and passed first time. I do think doing it semi intensively suited me, as I never really got out of practice.

Had one instructor who was recommended by neighbor turned out to be her relative , load of lessons took first test but didn’t feel at all confident failed when I showed him paperwork he looked and went hmm now we really need to get down to it 😳😳
Took the test result home and showed my husband and he said well looks like you can’t really do a bloody thing right 😡
I really thought driving wasn’t for me but I waited about a year and thought I really want to do this so I saved up for lessons and found myself an instructor and tried again I told instructor on my first lesson that if he thought I didn’t have a hope of passing my test I didn’t want to waste my money but he told me I would need a few lessons but he couldn’t see no reason for me not to pass a test. I felt so much more confident with him, took another’s test and passed .
Must admit I don’t enjoy driving that much but it does make life a lot easier. Phew that was a long one

14 months, 1hour lesson most weeks. No other driving practise. FOUR failed tests [laugh]

4 months, passed second time when I was 41. Now I absolutely LOVE it.

Occasional lessons on/off for 6 months probably 8 lessons in total then took THEORY test and passed!
After that I took two x 1.5 hour sessions every week for 3 months and failed. Carried on with the lessons like that and passed two months later.

So 5 months of quite intense learning (3h a week). Cost an absolute fortune!!!

2 years and passed 4th time. I started to learn at 31. I think the older we get we are more aware of the rusks, dangers etc... compared to 17 year olds who seem to have so much confidence learning to drive at that age. I wished I'd learnt sooner. I still don't like to drive somewhere unfamiliar and can't parallel park.
But absolutely love motorway driving. You'll pass and love the freedom. Good luck.

Meant to add op that I was 32 when I did pass my test , but was going to say I felt after my first experience I do think that if you get a gut feeling that your not happy with your instructor find one you are confident and comfortable with. I felt so much happier with the guy I passed my test with and that made all the difference. I can’t remember how many lessons I had with him there’s a saying it’s usually one for each year of your life , good luck 👍

Exactly a year (first lesson on my 17th birthday, passed my second test on my 18th). I did have to wait 3 months for my second test though.

I had 2 hours a week, so around 100 hours of lessons. I think intensive courses are more the norm these days though.

@Namechange8471

Funtcase95 A part of me really wants to get stuck in, I see people driving and I’m so jealous 😳.

I'm sure you'll do great! Good luck OP

I started when I was 18 and I had 40 hours of lessons plus practice with my dad but I was too nervous, I cried before my lessons. I quit when I was at traffic lights on a slight hill and I just COULD NOT find the biting point so I stalled over and over while the lights went back to red twice and people were honking behind me. I ended up a sweaty, snotty mess and I got out the car and made my dad drive home

I tried again at 21 and stopped again.

At 25 I decided just to get it done come hell or high water, so I started lessons in an automatic. I started in the May and passed in the September. It took three tests but I shouldn’t have failed the second one. The examiner told me I failed because at one point I was doing 40mph in a 30 but that was not true. My instructor checked his dashcam which recorded my driving during the test and he could prove that the examiner lied but between his summer holiday and mine, we missed the appeal cut off by the time he checked it

Find an instructor you trust and like, don’t stick with one you don’t. I passed when I was 29, I had so little confidence.

Probably about six months of lessons?

A month. But then My dad had already taught me clutch control and reverse parking prior to my 17th birthday, by taking me into his site at work which was totally deserted.
And my mum and dad took me out most days between lessons.

Dh is already teaching Ds1 clutch control now, so that he's ready for his 17th birthday. We'll book him lessons and take him out most days. Hopefully he'll pass soon. We've already bought him a cheap car that I've been saving for.

Do you think only 1 x 2 hour lesson is enough per week OP?

I would do a lot more than that, maybe 3. If you can afford it?

Are you practicing I'm between? Can you get anyone to take you out practicing? It's worth it's weight in gold!

I learned at 27 and didn't have anyone to practise with. I think it took me 6 months of 1hr a week - but I passed first time, so that was good! Although my instructor apparently was a part time driving instructor, pet time medium so maybe that helped that's another story...

I did an hour and a half lesson, once a week. I passed first time after seven months of lessons in 2017. I was 32 and nervous that it would take ages for me to get the hang of it but I was lucky and picked it up pretty quickly.

Two years. I'm dyspraxic; it didn't come naturally.

However, in nearly twenty years driving (ugh, I feel old), I've never had an accident more serious than a minor bump (and I've only dented the car twice).

OTOH, a girl I was at school with passes in record time. She was driving her friends home in the rain, hit a patch of mud, and landed in the ditch. She just had cuts and bruises but the girl in the front passenger seat got a faceful of glass and lost the sight in one of her eyes. She could easily have killed them all if she'd been slightly further up the road (she'd have hit trees, not a nice soft ditch).

She's simply never driven in the rain. Ever. And she had no idea what to do.

It really frightened me and stayed with me (as you can see)!

(Sorry, my tenses are all over the shop in that post! }

I can’t really afford 3 lessons a week...

Will have to be one 2 hour lesson a week until I can afford more 😩

Three months on one lesson a week, I learned in central London so going barely over 20mph in the test helped! I was 19.

My boyfriend started learning earlier in the year, he has decided it isn’t for him so won’t be going back to lessons. We also don’t have anywhere to put a second car without spending a hell of a lot on a second parking space.

@hotstepper4 at the time it cost around £300, many moons ago. Where I live in London intensive 5 day courses cost around £1,000- £1,200. One of my dds has been saving for months as she wants to learn that way.

Intensive courses are a fast and efficient way to learn if you can bear being in a car everyday for 5 hours; and able to focus purely on driving.