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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that this woman should not have been on the road?

43 replies

TheFantasticMrsFox · 15/07/2014 15:56

I have followed a car home this afternoon. Two people in it so possibly a lesson but no visible signs of a driving school, only indication was a P plate on the rear windscreen (so presumably the driver has passed a test)
The driving was appalling, misjudging corners, painfully overcautious, unable to pull out of a junction. The car behind me was hooting his horn at this point which would have made the driver more flustered but even so, it was quite dreadful.
To make matters worse the car was heading down a main road at school pick up time and past the county hospital A&E entrance (thankfully we never met an ambulance)
Now I'm aware that everyone has to learn and some people are more confident drivers than others. I just personally felt that whoever had taken the decision to drive that particular way (driver or passenger/ instructor) at that particular time had made a grave error of judgement and it can no way have done anything to build up the drivers confidence Hmm

OP posts:
littlewhitebag · 15/07/2014 16:00

If the driver has passed their test then they have every right to be on the road. Sometimes people are very cautious and lack confidence in the days after passing their test.

It may have been the first time they have taken a passenger somewhere or maybe it was a new route. Maybe something happened earlier on in their journey to throw them a bit. Whatever, maybe a bit of patience was needed.

The P sign is there for a reason - it's a fairly new driver. Back off.

MrsMaturin · 15/07/2014 16:00

I passed my test three years ago this week so I do remember what it's like to be a learner. YABU. New drivers need to learn and develop their skills in all road conditions. They shouldn't stay at home because it's school pick up time. I mean what's the relevance of that? Hmm I'm sure all the parents taking to the road for the school run can cope with being delayed by a few minutes whilst some poor bugger (who was getting hooted at!) tries to concentrate on the cars in front of them and not kill anybody.
I think you need to work on being a bit more patient OP.

TheresLotsOfFarmyardAnimals · 15/07/2014 16:01

It's the only way to learn so YABU

Billygoats · 15/07/2014 16:10

P means recently passed so they are hardly going to be an amazing driver just yet. YABU.

TwosaCrowd · 15/07/2014 16:14

YABU how will they ever learn? I passed my test last Friday and drivers like you just make me more nervous!

MsAnneThorpe · 15/07/2014 16:18

No, you are not being unreasonable. To have passed their test, a driver must show a degree of competence, consideration and confidence in the skills required to drive safely on the road.

While it's important to show some patience for those who have recently passed their tests, the person you described seems to have been particularly lacking in those aforementioned skills.

bigdog888 · 15/07/2014 16:21

It's true. Some people just shouldn't be on the road despite having passed a test. The driving you describe sounds incredibly poor.

MrsMaturin · 15/07/2014 16:21

I don't think we can tell what this driver lacked. We only have the OP's word for it as she breathed down her neck and herself got wound up further by other drivers horrible impatience. Judgement at junctions is not easy to well judge unless you're in the car with the driver and can see exactly what they see. Which you can't from further back in the queue. In any case caution IS safer in this context than gung ho.

LastTango · 15/07/2014 16:22

Like my instructor said to me when I had passed my test.........."now you'll really learn to drive". He meant gain experience of situations, judgement, etc. etc.

He said it because just after I had passed, when passing a stationary lorry, the lorry driver opened the cab door and jumped down onto the roof of our car without looking!

DoJo · 15/07/2014 16:35

It might have been nothing to do with being a new driver - they may have had something or someone in the car that made them unwilling to accelerate too fast or corner too swiftly.

(Remembers journey with half full fish tank on the back seat and similar one with friend who had whiplash and would be in pain if we had done any jerky manoeuvres).

Fixitagaintomorrow · 15/07/2014 17:03

Yabu. P plates are there to let other drivers know that person is new to the roads. You definitely need some more patience. I think what you described is better than a car with P plates racing about, swerving all over the place, slamming breaks on etc (saw that just last week!)

Original poster
TheFantasticMrsFox · 15/07/2014 17:16

Ah, it wasn't me who was impatient though. I was a bit Hmm at what was going on but wasn't in any particular hurry so hardly breathing down anyone's neck. It was more the actual road that they were driving down that I thought was unreasonable. Heavy school traffic, lots of manouvering in and out of spaces (often on the wrong side of the road) young children on scooters etc. There are several other routes you could take which would also avoid the entrance to the A&E.
Perhaps I am actually crushingly unreasonable after all :o

OP posts:
MrsMaturin · 15/07/2014 17:31

It's not on though to say that certain drivers shouldn't be on certain roads because they can't hack it. Young kids and people diving out in to traffic without so much as an indicator flash are hazards wherever you go and this driver clearly coped with that because you haven't mentioned her flattening anybody......Hmm Grin

MrsBellTeapot · 15/07/2014 18:17

Yanbu if you need those stupid P plates up you aren't ready to drive on your own imo.

Fixitagaintomorrow · 15/07/2014 18:25

So you just passed and instantly became a perfect driver?

treaclesoda · 15/07/2014 19:03

what's a P plate?

We have R plates here for a year after we've passed our test. I think they're a good idea because they let people know that you're inexperienced, as by definition you must be if you are newly qualified. They're compulsory, with fines for not displaying them. If P plates are similar, saying that you're not fit to be on the road if you're displaying the fact that you're newly qualified is illogical - everyone has to be newly qualified at some stage.

FluffyPiggle · 15/07/2014 19:12

Bellteapot what a feckin stupid comment. Green P's aren't for everyone but I had them and I was perfectly capable of driving on my own thank you very much

sugaryonthesurface · 15/07/2014 19:26

Im quite a new driver but my dp said dont put the Ps on because people will treat you like a learner still in the respect of having no patience.Its true about those stick on signs making people judge you more,ehen I had L plates on our car and drove perfectly fine people would do stupid dangerous things to overtake when hand on heart i was going the same speed as everyone else and was to test standard just practicing to get road experience and now i havent got them hasnt happened once.

sugaryonthesurface · 15/07/2014 19:27

Sometimes i wish i had them though...

Original poster
TheFantasticMrsFox · 15/07/2014 19:56

It wasn't really an, "oh she's got P plates, she shouldn't be allowed on big roads" type of thread. More that I felt she was a risk to other road users and herself being in that situation at that time. Also that she was unlikely to have gained any useful experience in such stressful conditions as she was struggling already before she got to that point.

And no fixit, not a perfect driver (I am and always have been a confident driver so perhaps I misjudge what people can and can't do ) which is why I said in my OP that I understood everyone has to learn at some point. More that there's a time and a place for practise and as an anxious new driver that was certainly not the place or time.

OP posts:
Fixitagaintomorrow · 15/07/2014 19:58

Sorry mrsfox that comment was aimed at mrsbell, I should of made that clearer.

MrsBellTeapot · 15/07/2014 20:23

fixit and fluffy all drivers make mistakes, not just new ones. I just don't know why you'd want to advertise the fact that you're a new driver. Obviously I know that the idea of P plates was to make people aware that you're new and might make mistakes however ime it doesn't actually work like that. In fact I think there have been a couple of studies that show drivers with P plates were treated worse than those without them.

There are some people who see L plates on a car and then intimidate/bully the driver of the car so what makes people think they're going to treat drivers with P plates any better?

Fixitagaintomorrow · 15/07/2014 20:42

Just because some people want to act like twats doesn't mean they don't work. A lot of people see p plates, sympathise and give the driver a bit more space.

treaclesoda · 15/07/2014 20:45

in some other countries some sort of post test plate is compulsory so maybe the answer is to make them compulsory?

MrsBellTeapot · 15/07/2014 20:48

Just because some people want to act like twats doesn't mean they don't work. A lot of people see p plates, sympathise and give the driver a bit more space.

Some people who behave like twats is one too many for me.