AIBU to think I could learn to drive in a week?

[HamJam1]

Passed my theory but I still cant drive, dont have access to a car and cant afford lessons, practical js booked. Wooo!
A friend has suggested i go spend a week at her place where she can teach me, how possible do you think it is to learn to drive a manual car in a week? Is that insane? I dont even know how to turn an engine on

I tried this - doing a “crash” course. It didn’t work - I think I needed to mentally consolidate what I had learned each week. I quit after day 4 and learned slowly - week by week. I was gutted but in retrospect really glad I didn’t just try to push through as I think it would have been dangerous. I feel like that sort of intensive learning maybe could work if you had been learning slowly for a while and then wanted to “level up” and consolidate what you had learned, but not from scratch.

How to get your car out of a motorway lane when the engine won't start.

Umm, I've driven over 30 years without incident and that would stump me. What do you mean?

For a driving test you don’t just need to know how to drive a car, you need to know how to drive it to the rules and standards that the examiners are marking you on. There are lots of things experienced drivers often don’t do and so your friend won’t know to teach them to you

I really wouldn't let someone with no experience get behind the wheel of my car.

I did! I had 4 hrs of lessons Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and took my test on the Friday.

OP says the friend has offered to do this though.

And what is the friend going to do when OP inevitably makes a mistake and crashes the car?

I know 3 people that did one week intensive courses in Blackpool, none had lessons before and all 3 passed. Two of them are really good drivers, the other one passed and never drove a car again.

Did you have zero other experience before that?

Yes, entirely possible. But with a friend - it will depend upon their abilities and whether they will have the skill to teach you to the required standard. . .

I will take this as a compliment. I did 4 hours a day for 4 days, test on the Friday. It was with a driving school though not a random friend.

Do you have other on-road experience, such as on a motorbike or cycling? That would give you a head-start in terms of road, traffic and hazard awareness. If you're new to all that too, then I'd be concerned that there's too much to take in and absorb in a week.

Also echo pp about wanting experience in all traffic conditions, school pickup chaos, one way systems, confusing junctions, country lanes, dual carriageways, rain, fog. It would be a lot to cram into a week.

A huge proportion of driving is anticipation, judgement and reaction to what is going on around you. Training your brain to multitask and be hyper vigilant. It's not just about the mechanics of how to start, steer and stop!

ETA: don't let this put you off spending a week driving with your friend (with appropriate insurance). That could get you a lot of the way there, especially with basics and then use an instructor to perfect anything remaining or missed.

You can learn to drive in a week in the sense of operate a car.
Doubtful if you could get to a test standard in a week.
A lot of driving skill is experience - like being aware pedestrians can step out behind a parked van, caution around cyclists at junctions.

You will perform better in a test if you are very familiar with driving around the test location.

If you are trying to do this at the very least I would scrimp and save to have two lessons with an qualified instructor in the area where your test is - one at the very start before you start with your friend and one just before the test where they take you round all the known test routes.

The first one is essential to set you up with the very basic standard habits instructors look for like obviously checking your mirrors. You need to have this as a starting point because it will be harder to correct bad habits.

The last one is to get familiarity with likely test routes and the area.

It's not impossible but you would need to be lucky I think and have a very good day on the test day.

Yep.

Not saying it’s a great idea, but you saying you wouldn’t do it is irrelevant because OP’s friend is willing to.

I had 4 hours of lessons over a month then sat and passed my test with no errors, but I already had a motorcycle license which helped. I would imagine some people could learn in a week but not others.

Like @AuntieDensaid, week long intensive courses with a driving school were a thing. I don't know if they still are. Don't ask your friend. You won't be friends for long after that!

Take your friend up on her offer. Dont do it just the week before your test as it's likely you wont be ready then. Reevaluate at the end of the week.

I don’t think it’s possible unless you have an experienced instructor teaching you.

I did it in not much more than a week and passed my test with only 2 minor faults. I paid for an intensive course over a week, but I discovered in the first few days that doing a full days driving lesson is extremely tiring so I ended up shortening the remaining days and taking lessons over a couple of additional weekends.

I think it would be extremely difficult to learn under these conditions with someone who isn’t an experienced instructor.

I would also caution that this approach is like cramming for an exam- unless you have access to a car after getting your licence to continue driving in then you simply won’t retain the skills because you haven’t embedded them. This is exactly what happened to me and I ended up having to get lessons again later in life.

It's not irrelevant - she may have offered but I suspect neither her nor the OP have actually thought through the reality of it.

I would give it a try.

Your friend is very brave. This might end your friendship you know, not everyone is a patient teacher, and you may prang the car (who would pay for that?). It's extremely generous in fact both time and money (the petrol won't be cheap!).

It's tiring and stressful learning to drive. I don't think you could do more than 5 hours in a day driving without really losing concentration. But you could get 70% of the way there I think given your friend is not a trained instructor.

How would you know?

Because nobody sensible would offer the use of their car to someone who's never even put the key in the ignition?

🤔 parents take their kids to drive all the time

On average you need an hour of instruction for every year you are born, with a competent instructor, although this is a guideline and not set in stone. I needed more than that when I passed 30 odd years ago.
Your friend taking you out is a nice idea, but absolutely no way I'd take a learner out in a car without dual controls, especially one thats never been behind a wheel before. Utter madness. I took my DD's out for practice once they had taken several lessons and it was terrifying.
You need a competent instructor , who will go at your pace. If you can't afford lessons, cancel your test, especially as there are many people waiting for tests.
Is this made up?