To think learning to drive in London is easier than elsewhere?

[simplesusanne]

Lots of London test centres don’t have roads much more than 50mph, or narrow country lanes

Lol. Nope. Country Lanes are easy but depends on how you learn I suppose

I learnt in south London and I still absolutely hate country roads. I'll take a longer route if I can avoid them

Wow. Profound.

🤓

I'll add my data to this. Failed my test four times in South East London. Passed first time in Devon.

Failed 5 times in London. Passed in Cambridge.

But if you look at the most common reasons for failing, high speed roads and country lanes aren’t high up the list.
a lot more can go wrong on busy high streets than country roads

I learned in London but come from a small city in thr countryside. I find driving easier in my home city as far fewer cyclists and moped drivers doing crazy things. However I dont love single track country lanes!

I took my test in Ashford/Staines randomly as that was the centre that had availability.

I think suburban driving is my fave!

It’s the yellow boxes, changing lanes if in the wrong one, bikes etc that are the issue.

Passed my test in London first time with 1 minor

Nope. London drivers are super aggressive

I wouldnt have thought so - London roads are bonkers. There is (in my experience as a pedestrian, cyclist, and a motorist) a bigger difference between what the Highway Code and what road users do and expect, than in other areas.

Ex DP had bits of the north circular in his test so absolutely not.

Nope! Way more cyclists, scooters, mopeds around doing random things. You can fail for getting stuck behind a bus, fail for not being assertive enough, eg not squeezing past another car coming in on our narrow roads whereas outside of London everyone waits politely and takes turns.

Driving outside of London is so much easier - I learned in London and find driving everywhere else so easy, country roads are no problem hardly see anyone on them anyway!!!

Driving in London is insane. Good luck changing lanes when you need to. I detest it.

This is so true … you need to know the local rules not just want the Highway Code and driving standards agency say you should do, especially on some of the big roundabouts / junctions on the North Circular!

I disagree. I used to be a driving instructor in south London. Many of the "London" test centres are towards the outer reaches, so there are still fast roads nearby. I had lots of pupils from "inner" south London (areas such as Kennington), and to give them any experience of driving above 30mph, I had to give them lessons lasting at least two hours, or ask them to get an underground train to meet me in a test area near some fast roads. Lots of them found fast roads a big shock, as there simply weren't any in inner London.

With vast areas of London now being 20mph, including the main roads, I can't imagine how anyone learns in London now. The same roads on which I was trying to encourage pupils "let's see if we can get that speed up to 30" are now reduced to a crawl, where if you drive by the book, you get overtaken by buses.

And then the ultra-confusing bus lanes. Many of them are now "at all times", but then, pupils could fail for not driving in a bus lane when it was allowed, because of the rule about always keeping to the left. I avoided test centres that had bus lanes.

I do think that it's generally a bit easier to do a test in heavy traffic - there's a lot of time spent then in a condition where you can't really do much wrong. I say this partially because I've always thought a convenient traffic jam was part of why I passed my test first time (I'm a good driver now, I promise!)

I learnt to drive in SW London and the main challenges were bus lanes, multiple multi lane roundabouts and driving on roads densely lined by parked cars on either sides where some fool would invariably open their car door without looking.

I drive in London all the time and would rather make my way through central London than drive on narrow country roads - I suppose it’s what you know as many of my friends who live in rural areas won’t ever drive in London.

I took my test in London. Didn't get out of second gear. No roundabouts. Passed first time. 1985. Haven't driven since but have a forty years clean licence!

@scalt one route my driving instructor used to take me on went up to 50 & then quickly dropped down. I hated it! Luckily my test route was mainly 20!

Reminds me of the time as a learner when I ended up having to drive around Marble Arch despite my then boyfriend convincing me that wasn’t where we were heading. Terrifying!!

Yeah, I moved from London to Devon and can confirm that driving is entirely stress-free here. No tight corners, hardly any traffic. The worst that happens is sitting behind a tractor on a country lane. Even in towns, there are hardly any tricky junctions.
Driving in London is madness especially anywhere near Croydon, Archway or East London. Doesn't matter how slow you go when you have cars turning into you, scooters whizzing past and people running out into the road unexpectedly.

Yep, I learned in east London. But apparently I can only do city driving and absolutely hate motorways and dual carriageways. I had white knuckles at the one bit where the limit was up to 40

Why did you bother learning if you had no need to drive?

I would love OP to visit my local "motorway", Streatham high road, and see the absolute madness that happens there on a regular basis. I have seen - multiple times - people driving or cycling the wrong way for convenience reasons. Plus half my neighbourhood doesn't seem to think using the traffic lights is necessary to cross said motorway. It's insane. I never see this madness when I visit my parents outside of London.

I passed in the Mill Hill area of London, my memory is that it had lots of roundabouts.