Driving test

jazzyjustlaw

I am going to take my test in January. I like driving but I do lack confidence. People tailgate me and park right up in front of me knowing i am either in a learner driver car or driving in OH's car with L plates. They even rev up behind me. OH and instructor say i am a good driver but lack confidence if people rev I sometimes stall and that makes the culprit worse can someone give me some advice please?

rich1000

hi, im currently teaching my wife to drive - some people might say it a bad idea to do that.. but it's been going well so far..

i'll tell you the same thing i tell her.. stay cool.. try to stick to the speed limits when it is safe to do so.. now a days so many people are in a rush... so take your time and concentrate on your driving and not the people behind you..

do the speed you feel that is right for the type and conditions for the road..

i hope it helps..

tonys_3

You gain confidence by constantly practising.The more adept you are at using the clutch and changing gear whilst maintaing a straight line the better you feel.The more in control of the car helps too.
What you can't control is the reaction or behaviour of other drivers.so don't try and don't worry about them.

Also, people rev their engines for all sorts of reasons.Boy racers like the sound it makes.Some cars don't run well whilst idling etc, etc.So don't assume that they are revving to wind you up-and if they are,look on it that they are poor drivers and they are wasting petrol and you are not going to changr the way you are driving, because you are driving well

I can't believe that drivers deliberately park their cars close to learner drivers.The opposite would be much more likely.But as it does give you practise in getting out of tight spaces,that should help your confidence.As you get more experience,you learn things like defensive parking,which in your case might be to find a place to park where cars cannot park right in front of you-it may mean that it takes longer to find that place and/or you have to walk further after you have parked.

As for tailgating-I am afraid that too many are guilty of it.Take comfort that they are doing it to you at around 30 mph when others are at risk at 70 mph.

PS Good luck with your test.

scheming_gypsy

When you're driving the OH's car turn the radio on it stops you concentrating on what you think you should be doing and you actually do it.

My mum hadn't driven for years and was taking refresher lessons so i took her down to a car park so she could scoot round. She was jittery and nervous and everything had to be pre-planned which caused her to do things wrong. I turned the radio on and told her to do it again, and she did almost perfectly.

jazzyjustlaw

Just an update to say I had improved since I started the thread but had a really bad lesson stalled a few times and that really annoys me.

Bossyboots

Don't worry about it jazz, it will come right in the end.

I used to go home from my driving lessons in tears at the start. Mind you, it didn't help when my instructor told me I was better at driving backwards than forwards and that if nothing else I would pass the reversing round the corner bit of my test!

Oh, btw, I passed first time so I must have learnt something about driving forwards eventually.

jazzyjustlaw

Bossyboots wrote:

Don't worry about it jazz, it will come right in the end.

I used to go home from my driving lessons in tears at the start. Mind you, it didn't help when my instructor told me I was better at driving backwards than forwards and that if nothing else I would pass the reversing round the corner bit of my test!

Oh, btw, I passed first time so I must have learnt something about driving forwards eventually.

But this isnt the start for me really. I had two lessons last year but the guy shouted at me for stalling on a corner so i came home cried for ages then got anothr driver. Nothing really wrong except he would make me drive round in a circuit and it was boring. I then got a new driving instructor who taught me a lot and I can reverse park quite well. I can turn in the roads sometimes really well and sometimes quite bad. My problem is I think about it too much. My lessons in July was good then I had my foot op and had 9 weeks out. I went out with my driving instructor last week and she was really impressed then I book my test my OH gets me to drive in rush hour traffic then I drive like its my first or second lesson and then my lesson yesterday was not good. My driving instructor is fantastic after stalling she made me drive in a queue at peak hour so I had to practice my clutch and gas control.

Thanks though bossyboots I am afraid I did laugh at your post!

Bossyboots

When I say I cried at the start, I should perhaps qualify that with meaning several lessons when I first started.

I can laugh about what my instructor said now, but at the time I was mortified. I think if I had taken time out, I may not have gone back so you need to hang in there and your confidence will come.

I still drive like a novice when my OH is in the car (I've actually been driving 24 years!) as he can be very critical and when he drives, he takes chances I wouldn't so he thinks I am being too timid.

As for people revving behind you when you stall, thats not just because you are a learner, its because other people are pig ignorant. I stalled on traffic lights a few weeks ago and within seconds of the lights changing people were beeping, even though the ones three or more cars back could not see what was going on. For all they knew there could have been an accident or something in the road but they still kept beeping. I was all for getting out and going down the line having a go at them but my daughter thought perhaps it was best just to get her to work on time. I did however creep off slowly and keep the rest of the traffic held up behind me as long as I could before the dual carriageway had space for two cars.

Also, I work on main road and it does sometimes get congested. On one occasion, a little boy had been run over round the corner and the air ambulance was in the road. Even so, we had cars along the road beeping at the traffic ahead which was not going anywhere. They seemingly had not noticed that no traffic was coming the other way which might have been a clue something was wrong if only they weren't so far up themselves they couldn't give thought to anyone else.