To change my driving instructor because I am still stalling after 10 months of lessons?

[twirlywoo69]

As the title says. I have been having lessons for 10 months and unable to drive my lesson without being prompted for 80% of it. I feel very nervous on the road and find driving really difficult. I still make frequent mistakes and usually stall or roll backwards at least twice a lesson. I really panic whenever I am at roundabouts and in town centres which also results in me making mistakes as I go completely blank. Im not sure if it's just me that is rubbish or my instructors method of teaching. Starting to feel quite down and embarrassed about how rubbish I am after so long. Is it normal for some learners to be stalling still etc after 10 months? Am I just a slow learner or should I just change instructors?

You need more than one hour a week of lessons. Ideally you need 2 hours at a time preferably twice a week. Sorry but if you're stalling and struggling you're probably nervous so you need to do more driving, more regularly to help you feel more confident.

It took me 4 tries to pass my driving test at age 32. I did 60 hours of lessons (2 hours once a week) but it was only when I finally did an intensive 5 day driving course (every day 9-4) that I actually passed. I just needed a LOT more road practise.

I had 4 different driving instructors, I really liked guy number 3 but just couldn't drive the car (new mini) I've driven one since (no with 10years driving experience) and STILL can't drive one without stalling, overevving etc. Maybe it's the car?

Definitely try longer lessons if you change. When I was learning I found that I needed the first 15 minutes to warm up so sn hour lesson wouldn't have given me enough time to actually just drive. It took a while for clutch control to click for me but once it did my driving improved massively. I have quite a severe driving phobia but passed first time after six months of lessons. I had lessons two years before this but couldn't cope with the stress. The instructor I passed with was an ex Ghurka so I think that helped!

Also, if you pass on a manual you can drive whatever you want. I stuck with a manual but loads of people pass in a manual and never drive one again.

I was ok ish at driving but developed a total and utter loser complex about the test - literally shaking so hard my feet wouldn't stay on the pedals etc.

I found an instructor I clicked with, went to the doctor for beta blockers on her advice, and passed on my seventh attempt. You can get stuck in a failure rut.

Maybe it's the car

Having a year's worth of lessons is fairly normal I think, unless you spend an awful lot of time practising with a family member etc. No one passes after 10 lessons these days - there's far too much to know. If they do they are probably not safe because of lack of experience, which is not the same as being able to control a car.

Do you ride a bike? Perhaps you could try that to build up confidence at junctions? You are moving slower, can see much better, can stop and start easily and if you can do a tricky junction on a bike it's much easier in a car!

Excessive nerves = bad, but when in a car you are in a lethal weapon that can easily kill someone so to some extent, embrace your fear because it's a good thing that may save someone's life. Driving slowly and cautiously and stalling is unlikely to kill anyone (rolling backwards is not a good idea though ;)

Zombie thread but I wonder how the OP did. I shall use the new @ thingy for the first time ever!
@twirlywoo69 did you switch instructor? Did you ever pass?

I finally passed on my fourth attempt, three fails with the same instructor, the pass with a new one. Change - particularly if you 'can tell he gets annoyed'. If you are not comfortable telling him you are changing just tell him you are giving up, you don't have to explain yourself. Give yourself a month off and ask around among friends for recommendations, have a trial lessons with a couple of different people - don't feel you have to go with the first, tell them what you have trouble with and see what they do. I ended up finding a one man band who did not have a big school to hide behind. I was the same with lousy clutch control and remember spending a lot of time on the hill outside his house for the first couple of lessons :D

Has your instructor explained to you how the clutch works and what happens inside the car when you use it? I found that my second driving instructor explaining this helped me with clutch control and never stalled with him in the 3 months I learned with him.

OP - first of all, do not despair! There are options in terms of how to sort this.

Firstly: your instructor. I think you DEFINITELY need to change instructors. You've lost trust and confidence in your instructor and it sounds like you need a fresh approach. I note you comment on your instructor prompting you a lot. While prompting is necessary certainly in the early days, I do believe some instructors "over-prompt" - the result being that the learner doesn't really build confidence. Better to explain why you need to do something, prompt a couple of times, and then allow the learner the opportunity to "take over responsibility" - otherwise what are you going to do at your test when you have no one to prompt you?!

I would suggest the following:

Seek out another instructor - and bear in mind it can take a few goes to find one you really connect with. You need one who will listen to your concerns, have patience, and EXPLAIN things properly - not just tell you what to do - but why. Find one who will explain how a clutch works - it really does help. You want one who will build your confidence.

If, after giving it a go a bit longer you are still struggling - then look at learning and passing your test in an automatic first. There are plenty suitable automatics around these days and they don't have to be expensive. An automatic will allow you to focus on actual driving - the roads, other traffic, junctions, roundabouts etc... and simplifies the process a bit.

Then, take your test and get your automatic licence and a nice automatic car. Then get out driving - by yourself - a lot. Build your confidence up. Go out driving in towns, countryside, motorway - the lot. Get comfortable driving and get confident with it.

Then, after a while, if you still wish to have a manual licence you can take a few lessons with a view to "upgrading" your licence to a manual - but it will be easier because you're not learning to drive - just learning how to manually operate the gears/clutch etc... - you're already comfortable with roads, other drivers, different driving conditions etc... that part is by then natural so it's less to worry about at one time.

But try a new instructor first - a fresh pair of eyes on the situation and a different approach may be all that is necessary.

You can do this!

I had 130 lessons and was perfectly competent (according to my instructor) my nerves just got the better of me on all 4 tests. I've given up now, I couldn't drive now anyway due to chronic illness and various medications.

I've come to the conclusion that, some people are meant to drive, others are meant to be chauffeured. I am clearly the latter!

I've been driving for 10 years and I still stall (sometimes repeatedly) on cold and damp days. It's something my particular model of car just does (my car is only 1 year old and my previous 2 models have done the same, I lease a new car every 3 years).

However, I also struggled with my lessons and switched instructor to someone who was much better. Even then I was very nervous even right up to my test and my instructor didn't think I'd pass, but I knew everything and when the prompting was taken away I had no choice but to cope if I wanted to pass. I still have days or certain junctions where I feel on edge and I switch routes if I feel I don't want to deal with a particular roundabout etc. Making those kinds of decisions are what makes you a driver, not necessarily being able to handle everything with 100% confidence all the time (that makes people complacent and take risks).

Look into finding a different instructor - don't feel silly to ask how they feel about nervous learners - you'll get the right feel from the answer they give. The one I went with in the end was recommended by my godfather who trained driving instructors (and police/ambulance drivers) for a living. She was brilliant and used humor to relax me, which was the best approach for me.

Hi OP, I'm also learning at the moment and finding it pretty tough - have failed 3 tests!

I have found that there are several kinds of instructor/teaching styles and I really wish I had spent more time at the beginning finding one I felt comfortable with who I didn't feel was getting annoyed.

My current instructor is of the "Just let them drive" mentality, v laid back, hardly ever explains anything, I spent my first few lessons driving and then frantically googling in the week afterwards to find out what I should have been doing every time I made a mistake! He also texts, smokes, reads a magazine during my lessons. It worked, I'm much better at driving now than when I started but I had to be proactive about it and it probably would have been quicker to have things explained in person.

Do you know what a clutch actually does, what happens in the car when you press down on it, for example? Things like that I found were a huge help to me, but I had to find out by asking my sister (who was also having lessons), friends who had learned before, youtube videos. I didn't have much choice of instructor as I'm in Germany so the language is a difficulty, but in the UK this shouldn't matter.

The second instructor I had was awful, very critical, took every unnecessary opportunity to put his hand on mine (e.g. when changing gears), made me spend ages redoing the same thing until I got it perfect, and totally knocked my confidence, he was so creepy. Luckily I could go back to the first but I wish I'd spent more time looking around for someone who was more like the third style of instruction which is an instructor who is more of a teacher, taking the time to explain each part slowly and build on what you've learned or tells you what to think about and look for when you're a passenger until your next lesson etc.

And try this channel on youtube. I thought it was brilliant, even though it was of limited use to me here.

YES I also totally totally agree about some instructors over-prompting.

Some people are of the brain type who can pick up on prompts and translate that to "Ah okay, so this rule applies then and in the other situation it's that, got it" and some are not able to translate prompts into "This is what to do" and need to be given either chance to work it out for themselves or a rule of thumb to stick to. In fact if you have any kind of neurodiversity (ASD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD) you will definitely struggle to pick up on rules/patterns presented in this way and will need the rule of thumb (or even just the explanation as to why it was safe to go then) explained separately.