To keep my L plates on a bit longer?

[2fast2upset]

I passed by driving test recently (1 minor fault) and have been learning over 2 years with lots of private practice. I am not perfect. I am a new driver. But I am not overly hesitant or nervous.

I have been amazed by the hideous driving behaviour I have experienced since taking off my L plates. People pulling out straight in front of me into very unsafe gaps and making me slam my breaks and cutting me up on lanes. I hadn’t experienced behaviours like this before.

Would I BU to keep my L plates on for another week just whilst I get a bit more used to driving solo? From what I understand the worst that can happen is the police will pull me over, ask for my license and ask me to remove them. There are no points or fines attached to doing this.

I am displaying P plates at the moment but it’s not making a blind bit of difference.

So you should be - a least I have good manners

I don’t think message boards are for you.

Your time would be better spent doing other things if you reply to posts without reading them.

Skimming a short post and jumping in to offer your irrelevant advice is not good manners I assure you.

Or maybe you’re not feeling the confidence that having another driver in the car can give you? You need to get out there and practice practice practice. People will only intimidate you if you let them

@MrsMoastyToasty
The first rule of driving. Everyone else is an idiot.

& unable to read apparently.

@2fast2upset if you think the P plates aren't making a difference, then by all means leave the L plates on.

The risk is that you get stopped by police (or even challenged by members of the public) for driving a car unaccompanied with one person in the car but I think it's very low risk because plenty of people when their kids are learning to drive but L plates on the car and leave them on even when they drive alone.

I'm not sure that L plates would make much of a difference either but give it a try if you think it will help you.

Like most things in life, driving gets better with more experience. You won't always feel like this but you must stick at it because if you start leaving long gaps between driving, it will get worse.

I don’t need more driving experience with a supervisor- I’m fine.

Something worth considering is having a couple more "advanced" lessons - not to do a full advanced course/test but one or two extra advanced lessons. I did this and had a motorway lesson as part of this. I learned some very useful safety stuff - some of which is very apparent that other drivers just don't know by they way they drive. It was very worth it in the long run.

No wonder you have problems on the roads if this is your entitled attitude. As for message boards being not for me - I’ve been on here for nearly 20 years

@2fast2upset

I just don’t really like having to adjust to this arsehole behaviour when I am literally in my nascent days of driving.

But it's your "new normal". Driving standards and behaviour is appalling these days and the sooner you get used to it, the better. It's not going to get better, it is what it is. You have to treat every other driver as if they're a lunatic and learn to avoid/ignore them. Whatever colour/letter you put on your car won't change their lunatic behaviour - many probably don't even have insurance and/or a driving licence so a little sticker on your car won't make a blind bit of difference to them.

Another vote for removing the P plates.

Aggressive drivers assume P plate drivers are nervous and slow, and will do anything to get around them/intimidate them.

They make you a target, imo.

In my friend group as young new drivers we found P plates were like red rags to bulls and just didn’t bother with them.

It's sounds like other drivers are treating you like an new/incompetent driver, with the cutting up etc and that's probably due to your P plates. Lots of drivers see a L or P plate and straight away think 'This driver is going to delay me' so will make these maneuvers. Personally, I'd take your P plates off and definitely wouldnt put your Ls back on! They are causing you more trouble than they are worth!

Thanks for your reply. I have my extended lessons booked for motorway driving- the section you quoted me on, I was replying to someone who suggested I wasn’t confident and needed to do more with my dad and husband. Really not the case- I am a good and confident driver…it’s just wild being alone out there!

I’m going to heed other people’s advice and ditch the P plates. Thanks everyone for your comments. X

Please note: The Reply button on here does not work. If you use it you will not actually reply to that post but create a new post not linked and nobody will be able to follow the conversation.

Please use Quote (under the three dots) instead or copy part of the post you want to reply to and put it between asterisks to make it bold.

PSA over.

Get a grip

Given that learners can’t drive solo you may find displaying L plates will be problematic - not sure what Police would think if you were pulled over for any reason and didn’t have full license to hand to produce. P plates are designed for new drivers.

That’s probably why I got cut up by the bloke at the spiral roundabout the other day. He just saw the back of my head and KNEW that I’m an entitled type who corrects people when they don’t RTFT.

Please stop posting. I was perfectly polite to you, but you appear to be taking everything as a personal slight. It must be exhausting to have been here 20 years and still so easy irked.

(I’m not going to put my l plates back on as I have been schooled- but I do have a full license though. The test certificate can be used to demonstrate this until the license comes)

If it's not illegal to drive with L plates when not a learner, the police pull you over tell you to remove them. What happens if you just say 'no'?

Nobody likes it, but it’s the unfortunate reality of using the roads.

I don’t really understand what your issue is as you say you’re a good confident driver but then seem to want special treatment as a new driver, which suggests that isn’t the case? Everyone would like it if other drivers were more considerate but unfortunately it doesn’t work like that.

It’s ok to not be confident and need extra support after passing, I think that’s relatively normal! The fact it took you two years to pass suggests you probably are quite nervous and that’s ok as long as you don’t let it cause issues on the road and get the support you need.

What would be the point in keeping L plates on your car? If anyone is going to behave differently on the road because they think you are a learner, they will soon realise that either you're not a learner because you haven't got another driver beside you, or that you're being very odd keeping your L plates on. I doubt that other drivers take much more notice of people with L plates than they do with cars with the daft Baby on Board signs in the windows.

Would I BU to keep my L plates on for another week just whilst I get a bit more used to driving solo? From what I understand the worst that can happen is the police will pull me over, ask for my license and ask me to remove them. There are no points or fines attached to doing this.

You say you're not nervous but, quite frankly, you clearly are if you're using the phrase, 'bit more used to driving solo' given that by the point you were taking your test you were in effect driving solo given your driving instructor won't have been using his/her break and would have trusted that you were safe enough to be driving solo (i.e. ready to take your test - they wouldn't have put you forward otherwise). If you're not a confident driver then you shouldn't be on the road. Nervous drivers are as much a danger as arrogant ones.

Ultimately, a few more weeks or even months with your L plates isn't going to make a difference as arseholes will always be arseholes. Better you get used to it now than just bat the issue a few more weeks down the lines because, as I said, arseholes are always going to be arseholes. You'll keep encountering them, L plates or not.

You'll always get idiots, and people will often give learners more space than they would give a regular driver, but I suspect it will get better if you remove the P plates (assuming you're in England anyway).

The assumption a lot of people have is that the only people who bother with P plates are nervous drivers. Might be unfair but lots wouldn't want to be "stuck" behind you if they have that assumption, which will lead to the crap behaviour you've seen.

@2fast2upset

I was driving my dd car one night as mine was in garage and it had l plates on

I got pulled over and told off because I'm not a learner and was told by the officer that's why they are all magnetic now as you are supposed to remove them with a full licence

What is keeping them on for another week even going to achieve? Sounds pointless to me. As people have said, you really learn to drive once you’ve passed your test. You can’t expect everyone to treat you differently because you’re a new driver. Yes, there are some idiots out there but that’s life. Everyone’s just trying to get from A-B and probably don’t really care about your P plates

L and P plates are the equivalent of walking around with a 'kick me' sign taped to your back. Take them off for a bit and see if it helps.

I think you were perfectly polite op
It was irritating me reading the thread - the first few responses suggest something you'd already referred to in your op. Then another person pipes up warning you you might get pulled over if you continue to display l plates which again you'd already mentioned you were aware of.

I just don't get the arrogance of thinking your advice is so unique and helpful that you jump in to post it without even reading the question properly!

But its a huge issue on MN. I don't get it, I spent literally most English lessons for 11plus years doing "reading comprehension" -where the most important thing constantly drummed into you was "first make sure you read the question properly, then read it again until you are sure you understand it" -I assumed it was a national thing but apparently not!