Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how many refresher driving lessons you had?

27 replies

Grace212 · 15/08/2019 14:05

I know it’s a bit like asking how long a piece of string is

Just had two lessons after not driving for about 17 years.

The second one was two hours today and I def lost concentration by the end of it.

I originally thought I’d need about 20 hours. Instructor said 10 more likely. Just curious to know about the experience of others. Also, is a two hour lesson a bad idea as I’ve not done driving for so long?

OP posts:
thecatneuterer · 15/08/2019 14:15

I had a break of around 10 years between learning to drive and actually driving. I think I had 6 or 7 refresher lessons.

Offler · 15/08/2019 14:15

I just had 2 one hour refreshers about a week apart.

I had driven a handful of times over about 18 years before that.

Been driving nearly every day now since 2016. In town, motorways, country roads. One small accident since, not my fault!

You’ll be fine 😊

thecatneuterer · 15/08/2019 14:16

Shorter lessons are probably more effective. There is no correct answer to this though - everyone is so different. Just do what you feel comfortable with/you feel you need.

Iilana · 15/08/2019 14:59

I was in your position two years ago, due to living in London I hadn't driven or needed to in twelve years. I then got a job where I needed to travel to clients up and down the country and needed to drive. I had 5 refresher lessons, I like yourself originally thought I'd need more but driving instructor was happy as was I. I did one of the lessons as a two hour one covering motorway as I was feeling v. Apprehensive about that and that really helped.

Original poster
Grace212 · 15/08/2019 15:38

Wow, everyone seems to have had fewer than I was thinking.

Instructor says “you haven’t lost skill, you’ve lost confidence”. She nearly had to brake for me today as a boy racer came up to undertake three cars. But I managed to deal with them before....

So it does feel like skills need to be relearned to some extent.

Also, I learned in the area my parents drove round, I’ve realised how annoying it is to rely on someone giving directions when you don’t know where you are. Obviously before I drive I will be getting familiar with maps of the area! I never did any journey in the past without checking a map. But it’s quite congested round here, tons of roadworks, so she has to play it by ear in terms of where we go.

OP posts:
Basketofkittens · 15/08/2019 15:45

One hour after not driving for 5 years. Instructor said I was fine and to go out when it’s quiet to build up confidence.

Original poster
Grace212 · 15/08/2019 15:50

Basket - One hour? I don’t even feel ready to test drive a car at the moment. Did you drive a lot in the past?

OP posts:
Basketofkittens · 15/08/2019 16:05

I drove quite a bit for a few years.

Nacreous · 15/08/2019 16:10

I bought a car, got my dad to pick it up, we drove somewhere very quiet and then I just got on with it. Didn't go into a big town for a few weeks though.

Nacreous · 15/08/2019 16:11

(I hadn't really driven after passing my test and bought s car two and a half years later)

ALittleBitAlexis · 15/08/2019 16:12

I had 20 hours of lessons after not driving since passing my test 6 years before. I had a real fear of driving though, after a bad experience during a test, so my lovely instructor had a lot of work to do! I think if I hadn't had the major nerves to get over 10 hours would have been fine.

I always had 2 hour lessons. I had to get used to driving on motorways because my new job involved long-distance drives, and I wanted to practice parking on each lesson too. 1 hour would have been over too quickly.

Original poster
Grace212 · 15/08/2019 16:28

Interesting to hear all these experiences

I don’t really want to buy a car and drive it till I’m 100% confident about the main journeys I’ll be doing, which will be dual carriageways and motorways. Also, I live in a horrible overcrowded outer London burb, so the immediate local roads are not quiet. I’m not going to see many quiet roads in my driving life. Just getting the car from a dealership to home will be busy.

My late father was an excellent driver who loved driving, and even he thought my local area, and the weird tiny entrance to the flats car park here, was a bit of a mare. That said, in my youth I had to drive round East London a lot.

One point the instructor made was that she thinks people are much more aggressive than when I was last on the roads. So that’s something I have to tackle.

OP posts:
SirJamesTalbot · 15/08/2019 16:33

I didn't drive for about 18 months after I passed my test. My then-bf let me use his ancient tiny car to go round and round a carpark late then on quiet roads. Unless you need to do manoeuvres, then shorter lessons are probably better. Or ask to drive to a destination say 40 minutes away, then drive back with time for a debrief if you prefer longer lessons. Treat it as though you're on business.

SirJamesTalbot · 15/08/2019 16:36

If you live in a London borough, then do practice using the North or South circular roads (A406) as they can be hellish at times.

ALittleBitAlexis · 15/08/2019 16:37

I don’t really want to buy a car and drive it till I’m 100% confident about the main journeys I’ll be doing, which will be dual carriageways and motorways. Also, I live in a horrible overcrowded outer London burb, so the immediate local roads are not quiet. I’m not going to see many quiet roads in my driving life. Just getting the car from a dealership to home will be busy.

I was living in the middle of Edinburgh when I got my refresher lessons, which definitely added to the number I needed because it's not the easiest place to drive!

The good thing with refresher lessons as opposed to learner ones is that you're kind of in charge so you can say exactly what you want to work on, down to specific routes if you want to practice them. I wanted to feel comfortable getting to Glasgow and back, Stirling and back, and with parking in my busy on-street only parking neighbourhood before I stopped the lessons.

theemmadilemma · 15/08/2019 16:40

Being in a London burb I can imagine it's a little more busy/anxious for you. There can be aggressive drivers. I always find most of London a nightmare and I'm only an hour or so out.

I would ask your instructor to concentrate on dealing with that side of things and building confidence. Not let yourself be bossed while staying safe.

And also, most people are going to be nervous driving a new to them car for the first time. I have every time. Expect that, and take it easy.

HunterHearstHelmsley · 15/08/2019 16:42

I had a 5 year break and had one refresher. The instructor made me feel more anxious. In the end, I went out with my Dad a few times (he's a lorry driver) just to get my confidence back.

5foot5 · 15/08/2019 16:44

I did this many years ago. I had passed my test a few years earlier but never needed to drive much. Then I met and married DH and he did all the driving. Eventually just getting behind the wheel had me in a state.

I went to an instructor feeling foolish but he said it happens all the time and would take only 4 x 1 hour lessons - 3 in his car and one in our car with him beside me. He was right!

Also what helped was that immediately after my last lesson DH was told he would have to work away during the week for 3 months. He travelled by train and left me the car which I had to use to get to work five days a week. This meant I needed to drive regularly so I wasn't able to jut let it drift again.

HunterHearstHelmsley · 15/08/2019 16:44

I'd stopped driving 6 months after I'd learned as I didn't actually need a car. Have driven ever since I started again. I've had one no fault accident since.

BrownallJobCentre · 15/08/2019 16:44

I’ve just had refresher driving lessons.

I haven’t driven for about 15 years due to ill health. Previously had only driven for a couple of years after passing test so wasn’t too experienced anyway.

I had 5 normal lessons and 1 2 hour motorway lesson which I felt like was enough for me. I found that once I’d driven a couple of hours and had the instructor brush up on things I’d forgotten I’d got my confidence back enough to feel able to go out on my own. Only driven short journeys so far though.

I try to go out by myself most days if I can, even if it’s just driving 10-15 mins to help build confidence up a bit more.

Original poster
Grace212 · 15/08/2019 16:44

SirJamesTalbot, I know you from fiction don’t I!

Yes, the North Circ will be key for me and my lessons, it’s why I had 2 hours today.

My next one is an hour to focus on manoeuvres.

I think the instructor is optimistic, like pp driving in Edinburgh, I think it’s a factor if you can’t get any quiet learning in. So I’m still going to plan around 20 hours - even though she got excited and told me to think about my car choices this weekend!

OP posts:
gothicsprout · 15/08/2019 17:00

I had 12 1.5hr lessons after not driving for 10 years - passed test the week I went to university and then did no driving at all. Also moved to London in that time and thought it was worth some practice with London roads/drivers, as well as motorways.

The last 2 or 3 lessons were actually in my own car to help build confidence which was really helpful (particularly as my semi-automatic Fiat 500 was a dream compared to the instructor’s manual beast of a Dodge!). And actually for all my lessons the instructor insisted on taking the L plates off her roof, as ‘you’re not a learner, you just need some more confidence’.

Original poster
Grace212 · 15/08/2019 17:07

I will want some lessons in my own car because I’m conscious I’m being treated differently in a driving school car. But I was adding those on to the 20! So not rushing to buy a car just yet. I’m still not 100% thinking “yay”. When I passed my test, I went out for a drive on my own the same day!

OP posts:
onemouseplace · 15/08/2019 17:12

I hadn't driven for 18 years and had two refresher lessons (they were the free ones the AA did for people coming back to driving after a break) and that was enough for me to remember the key things.

I then went out with DH a few times just to get a couple of common routes I needed to drive under my belt (so I'd know exactly what lane I needed to be in etc) and then just made myself go out most days doing short runs on routes I knew just to build up my confidence.

To be honest, all I needed was practice and it probably took me a couple of years to become a reasonably confident driver again.

Makemeaname · 15/08/2019 17:20

No official lessons, but after a 4.5 year gap I drove with my dad for the first week, maybe 10 hours total, and then was off driving on my own fine.