60 hours to learn to drive?

[mamaandthegirls]

I'm on my second driving instructor right now as I didn't get on with my first one and she seemed very money grabbing!
With my second driving instructor I have only had 5 lessons with him, today he told me that I will most likely be in it for the long haul and that I'm not a "natural driver" I asked him how long he thinks it'll take me to learn and he said about 60 hours of 1 hour lessons every week, which obviously works out a year or so.
I was absolutely gutted! I am 32 weeks pregnant at the moment, which he is aware of and knows I won't be straight in the drivers seat after birthing out a human! But I know the birth recovery etc may hold me back even longer!

I have had a few weeks with him where I have felt very confident and he has complimented me on my driving, but today he seemed stressed with me and told me that I'm not a natural driver and that it'll take me a while to learn. I am learning in an automatic due to co-ordination difficulties, so couldn't grasp a manual when I tried.
I'm wondering does this sound about right? Or have I found another money grabbing instructor?
I must admit, I do struggle with steering and with several things going on at once, so I'm not exactly Lewis Hamilton! I'm just feeling really down and put off by the comments today, it's making me wonder if driving just isn't for me I have always wanted to drive since have my first child, and now having a second it does make me want to try even more, but the fact that the length of time is so long, I am really unsure and feel like 'what's the point?'

I hated learning to drive you need. 2 hour lesson tbh one day I just clicked and it all fell into place.

60 hours (on top of the 5 you've just had, and all the other ones with the previous instructor sounds a LOT, BUT if - after all those lessons, you are saying I must admit, I do struggle with steering and with several things going on at once, then you are clearly really struggling.

I would suggest that any money you spend now, f probably going to be a bit of a waste.
Why not put the money by, each week, from now until you are ready (after the baby) and then have 2 hour lessons, x 2 a week. It gives you longer to get in to it, and less time to drop back between lessons. It wll seem expensive during those week, but over the whole time you'll probably spend less and pass a whole lot sooner.

That's bollocks. Both my kids had 30 hours then a test. One of them did those 30 hours in a week. He's seeing it as a long term income for himself !

I struggled with one hour once a week for ages. I switched to 2 hours, twice a week and by the second week of that it all clicked.
3 weeks of that and I booked my test (which was a 7 week wait) and kept up with the 2x2hr (3x on the last week).

You need lots of practice outside of lessons; is there anyone that can take you out? maybe you'd need to get a bit more confident first, but really you should be looking at getting in some practice most days once you have mastered controlling the car.
And if you are not a natural driver ( I'm not, my spatial awareness is dreadful), then you would need more lessons than someone who finds it easy.
I had 150 lessons ( got a Saturday job in the driving school to pay for it: 3 lessons a week for a year) and passed 3rd time, many years ago. So 60 doesn't sound a lot to me!
My younger brother, on the other hand, who is good at all that stuff, also passed 3rd time, but only had about 10 lessons.
Horses for courses...

I did a one week crash (excuse the pun) course and passed first time.

Didn't have the time to mess about as BF had left and I was stranded where I lived!

I had to stay in a hotel because there wasn't a week course near me but I went on the Sunday night, started lessons on the Monday, had driving lessons everyday (9-5!)except for Wednesday afternoon which was for revision of roadsigns etc... took my test on the Friday afternoon and passed.

Pros: Easy and I passed
Cons: I knew the place where I took my test (Wigan) like the back of my hand but was scared of driving other places on my own for ages!

Don't think the place I went to is still open, cant find them on the internet (it was years ago). But I.m sure similar schools exist. Is that a possibility OP?

I agree that 60 hours in an automatic is ridiculous. I did 20 hours in an auto to pass my test. Taught by a policeman friend in his spare time and I just paid for petrol. The same person taught one of my daughters 20 years later and it took her about the same amount of time. Your instructor is taking the piss. Do you know an experienced driver who could take you out and give you a honest opinion?

I wasn’t too bad as a learner driver and it still took me 2 hour lessons every week for 5 months plus practice in my parents car. 1 hour a week would not have been enough

Use YouTube to boost your learning, you can watch videos of other instructors. That way you won't have to rely on your instructor teach you everything. Why not take two lessons a week, and spend another two or three hours watching (and re-watching multiple times) driving instructions on the internet?

Oh, and don't compare yourself with other people's number of lessons. Your only goal is to learn how to drive well, not to win a contest of having taken the fewest lessons.

My driving instructor was frankly stunned when I passed my test first time, as was I. I had a lot of lessons - I think it took me just under a year so not that much less than 60. And I dreaded each and every one of them: for a long time driving felt awkward and unnatural to me. But with time you can learn to be a skilful driver. I probably did most of my real learning after I passed my test, and I've loved driving ever since.

Took me 11 months to pass in an automatic, 2 hour lessons once a week and about 4 hours a week pootling about with DP.

1 hour lessons once a week don't really cut it. I'm not a natural driver either and found it hard.

People saying "well, it took me six lessons" aren't being particularly helpful. OP admits she's on her second instructor and still struggles with steering.

Not everyone is a natural driver. I dreaded my lessons for a long time but I passed first time and I love it now. But it took a lot of work - weeks of lessons and hours of practise with my partner on top of that. My instructor even said to me he was so pleased I passed because I never missed a lesson or messed about and put loads of work into it. I've always been able to drive I just got major anxiety over getting it wrong!

Most of the instructors round me recommend a minimum of 90 minutes per lesson.

There's just too much dead time in a sixty minute lesson.

I can see that it would take much longer to improve at only an hour a week.

I was about 50/55 hours in a manual car and the last 6 weeks were double lessons. It does sound reasonable it might take you 60 hours. The manuouvers can take a long time to teach. Parallel park and reverse round a corner up a hill took me months to master. and now I can’t do either

Good luck

If you’re struggling with steering, which is a basic part of driving, you need to accept it will take a while and cost a lot. That’s the point of lessons to learn.

Some people on this thread are being a bit mean. OP I'm in a similar position to you, second instructor and don't feel like a 'natural' driver. I'm going to try to up my lessons (as much as I hate them!) to 2 a week and see how I go. I know it might feel like you're making slow progress but try not to compare yourself to other people. I'm constantly trying to remind myself that it doesn't matter how long it takes as long as I get there in the end. That being said, I'm keen to pass before winter starts because buses and winter are not a great combination

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Apart from the cost it really isn’t that unexpected to need so many driving lessons. In NSW our learners need to have 120hours of supervised driving (including 20 hours of night driving) and hold their licence for a minimum of 12mths before they can take their test. Of those 120 hours a maximum of 10 hours with a driving instructor will count for 30 hours in the log book. Once you’ve had 10 hours with a driving instructor anything extra only counts as actual driving time.

I agree with those who’ve said try and get out as much as you can during the week. You’ll find you progress much quicker if you’re not going a week between drives.

A natural driver would be someone who has/retains great spacial awareness while driving, who takes to things like steering, parking, controlling speed, changing lanes etc. easily and who already has a solid understanding of road rules eg. doesn’t get confused and flustered at a busy intersection.

Honestly OP if you’re 5 lessons in and steering is still causing you problems, 60 hours seems like the minimum to me. However does it need to be all lessons? Do you have someone who could start practicing with you after 10-15 more lessons? At a certain point it’s just about logging more practice hours and an instructor isn’t really doing much more than a passenger would.

Most people I know had about 10 lessons, then did 100 or so hours with a parent/partner/friend, then had another lesson or two before their test just to make sure they were polished and ready.

If you are only going to do one hour a week with not practice in between then over a year is certainly likely. I don't think this is money-grabbing but I think it's really poor teaching skills to tell a pupil that they aren't a natural and it's going to take ages to learn.

Given that you are 32 weeks pg though you need to be realistic. I stopped driving at all at 37 weeks because the bad sleep I had been having due to my enormous size, coupled with all the hormones sloshing about, affected my reaction times and driving judgement and I had a "near miss" not-quite-an-accident that confirmed I shouldn't be behind a wheel so I wouldn't suggest you attempt to take a test when heavily pg. So could you get sorted in the next 4 weeks? An intensive driving school might be able to fit you in. Otherwise you'll need to wait a few months till your baby is out of the "fourth trimester" before starting again. At which point 2 lessons a week plus 2 hours a week non-lesson practice should be the minimum intensity.

I'm 45.

I started lessons (2hr lesson per week) in November 17, really struggled with as you say needing to think about several things at once ( manual too!) changed instructor, struggled a little less then one day it just clicked.
I passed my test on second try in early May 18. And this is with a break of two weeks at xmas and a break of a month after first fail test in early April.

Honestly it WILL just click one day.

I was the same OP. Struggled with steering and not a natural at all. 60 hours would have been a dream for me, I'm on 200+ and still not passed due to anxiety. It took me 18 months to be really confident and I still go to pieces when being tested. I think YABU. A year to learn something is perfectly average.

It's the one hour a week that is the issue, if you only do that then it will take forever. At a minimum you need to be doing 2hr/wk with an instructor in a dual control car (since you are admitting to be a poor driver) and when they say you can go out in a non-dual control car then you need to be looking at 2-3 other drives a week.

It's possible that by saying you need 60hr at 1hr/wk your instructor is trying to give you big hints that you are not doing enough.

It took me way more than 60 hours to learn. TO be fair was definitely not a natural and was also pretty scared of the road which made me take longer. Even with a great instructor though it just took a long time - however I'm so bloody glad I did it. I'm also glad I didn't rush it even though it was frustrating and expensive - I have the rest of my life to drive I don't regret taking my time to learn properly.