Drivers have no patience towards learner drivers

[notedbiscuits]

Don’t they remember when they were 17, 18, 19 or whenever they learned to drive?

I remember myself when learning to drive in 1999/2000 that had some impatient drivers scaring the crap out on me.

Seen drivers beeping horn, flashing lights when learner driver stalls etc. Then overtaking them in dangerous situations.

AIBU?

I try to be kind to learners, but recently have noticed instructors taking them on 60mph roads when they are only capable/confident to do 30 (max). WHY?! There are loads of other slower roads. My instructor would never have let me hold up traffic (and I passed very quickly). Drives me mad.

(My own daughter is learning on private roads at 13 so that she spends as little time as possible pootling when she is 17 and gets to go on public roads.)

Yanbu.

I hate seeing people tailgate learners and being impatient. I always give them plenty of time and space.

I agree with PP. lots of 40mph roads near me and there's constantly learners going 20-30mph. My instructor wouldn't have allowed me to do this and would have said it's not safe to be going so slow when you're meant to keep up with traffic to the speed limit.

@PineappleBanana because their tests also include national speed limit roads! Where they are expected to drive up to the speed limit or else can get a "minor " or even fail!
Having recently sat with my daughter whilst she practised in my car (alongside of instructor lessons) I have been truly shocked at the appalling behaviour towards her. Including Undertaking on a residential road and aggression so bad I was about to call the police, fearing for our physical safety. Not to mention all the overtaking because she was sticking exactly to the speed limit.

Drivers are an impatient bunch in general

There’s a test centre just down the road from me so lots of learners about. They don’t usually bother me as we’ve all got to learn at some point. However the idiot instructor with the learner in front of me yesterday doing 25mph on a road that varies between 40-60 was a bloody nuisance and made me late for my friends funeral. A journey which usually takes 30 minutes was over an hour.

Some people drive shockingly badly around learner drivers but then they drive badly around everyone. It's because they're arseholes with an inflated sense of self importance

Sad to say it's nothing new. I learned to drive as older adult (40 so a good few years back).

There were arseholes up my bumper every time we went out. Funnily, the only time they didn't was when they followed me past the local nick 🙄

I was behind a learner waiting to turn right at a t junction, the driver behind me pulled out and overtook both of us, and turned right, completely on the wrong side of the road. He was an utter twat!. However, ive also crawled behind a learner doing less than 20 in a 30 zone, that is frustrating.

That may be true @LessOfMe99 but they shouldn't be on those roads if they're not capable of maintaining a safe speed.

When I was learning to drive I spent a good few weeks on industrial and housing estates at 20-30mph so I could get to grips with controls etc. before moving onto faster roads. There's no way I'd have been allowed to drive at 20mph in a 40 or even a 30 (unless there was no choice due to other traffic).

I always give learners plenty of space and patience...even when their instructor is an absolute plank taking them on roads they aren't ready for yet.

Being impatient/aggressive/rude isn't going to help them be a better driver. All it's likely to do is cause an accident. I may mutter to myself, but I'll do it without frowning/looking angry...my dashcam audio would probably be interesting!

I try to give learners plenty of space but agree with others, driving at 25mph on a 40+ when there's not a lot of other traffic is really dangerous and annoying. Saying that, I find taxi drivers more annoying than learners, they drive like the rules of the road don't apply to them

Yanbu in general, but I’ve seen learners out in normal cars with L plates on very busy roads at rush hour when they’re clearly nowhere ready to be navigating those yet. That’s not going to help them or anyone else

I haven't experienced that with my learner. Different areas?

Yes to this. My dd is a learner and stalled on a roundabout on a slight hill. The van behind beeped and flashed repeatedly, which made her even more flustered so she stalled twice more. Idiots.

I always leave a bigger gap behind a learner. If the impatient drivers behind me want to tailgate me they can but I’m not getting too close to a learner.

Then wait till they’re confident doing 30, 40 or 50 before taking them on the NSL road! What’s the point of doing it at 30?

I've not experienced it myself when learning (only a few years ago). Yes, there are people driving up my bumper but my instructor always told me to ignore them and hold them up to my heart's content. Which I did and still do now well after passing my test. You literally cannot shake me on the road even if you are going in the opposite direction on a roundabout (true story!). I don't remember driving massively slower than the speed limit through as I already had 10+ years of 125cc riding by the time I was learning to drive.

Yanbu although instructors need to vary their routes. Where i live i see about 20 learners a day, it's so frustrating when they're going 10 mph down a road, there's also a car park right by some busy lights that has a tricky entrance that always had a learner sat in the road trying to enter. I have no issue with learners and are very patient but instructors need to vary the routes!

I am always understanding of learners BUT.... it infuriates me that instructors keep taking learner drivers on routes/roads/times they're not ready for. I feel sorry for the learners because it's not their fault and now they're probably just learning to be nervous drivers.

It's simple - you don't take a learner on a 40 mph road if they can't manage on a 30mph road. don't take them out when traffic is bad in the beginning. Avoid narrow, curvy roads while they're still learning how to control the car. this isn't rocket science.

I live near a test centre. We have learners galore in cars, lorries and buses. Now my own dd is learning to drive in the same area as that's where we live and we have never come across any impatience at all. Maybe it's because people are just so used to learners being everywhere!

It also depends on the instructor and where they take the pupil, as PP said. Busy fast roads at rush hour is not a good plan, nor is practising manoeuvres in Sainsbury’s car park at a busy time.

Of course people have to learn and drivers should be considerate, but it’s difficult when instructors are not sensible about where to take pupils at busy times.

Yanbu, I've recently been helping dd learn to drive, it's absolutely shocking that people beep her for stalling at a roundabout or similar.

It's also completely counterproductive as it just causes more stress so she's more likely to stall again!!

People are dicks unfortunately.

If you think they behave badly around learner drivers, you should see them around learners on motorcycles.

Bare in mind that many on L-plates on scooters and smaller bikes will be 16/17/18 and with no prior road experience except for a day's training on a CBT.

Yes, some might do stupid stuff on the road, but that's why they are on L-plates and should be given more room and consideration!

Totally agree. Have just been through it with my girl and actually hate drivers now. So rude and ignorant