driving help

sarahward919

I have automatic license only as I could get to grips with manual. I passed in 4 months and its made my life easier. My insurance and cost of car is probably about the same as it would be for a manual.

victor2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I needed to get my licence very quickly when my husband lost his and I passed my automatic test two months later, at the age of 50, having struggled to learn in a manual several times before. I took my manual test a couple of years later when I needed to be able to rent a car abroad, so I can say that I passed my test first time - twice!

Good point there. You could go for your license in an automatic now. Then once you've passed and got a bit of confidence driving in general, you could always have lessons in a manual.

LilacPixie

OP give the manual another shot, I hate gears when i was first learning, for some reason i used to steer to the left when changing gear but i stuck in an something just clicked, once it ha there was no stopping me. That was 1998 an i've always ha a car since.

I have 3 little kidlettes. 4, 2 an 4 months and I can't imagine not being able to take them places or do things

valos_mummy

I'm considering taking auto lessons at the moment, I've never learned as when I was 17 I had epilepsy and hadn't been fit free for 2 years. Which was a !!!!!! as now I'm nearly 32 - I keep joking that by the time I take the test it'll be so hard there'll be a section of stunt driving your car through a hoop of fire to pass! :rotfl:

Thing is OH has passed, and is now really trying to preach the benefits of driving to me - i can't deny he's right, I would love to but it just looks so hard...I'm worried about

1. Hill starts, or being in a queue on the hill, not starting correctly and rolling backwards!
2. Not judging the length and width of the car, and hitting/scraping a wall/car/small child
3. Stalling lots. My cousin's girlfriend stalled 9 times at the lights after passing her test and wouldn't go in the car for a week after that. I know me. I'd have a minor meltdown at the lights and wouldn't go in the car ever.
4. Parking. For reason no.2. Parallel parking is also a worry, I'd just find somewhere else to park in real life! I have to admit, when I saw the ad for the new focus that parks itself I was like :D:D

I just feel that I'd be better in an auto because I'd have more time to concentrate on the driving part than worrying about what gear I'm in. OH seems to think it won't make much difference at all.

cprtknight4

FireyFaerie - no worry on taking over on the thread. Would like all info anyway.

Thank you all for your responses, going to look into driving schools and independant driving instructers for prices, going to have another crack at manual (give it 5 to 10 lessons) and if I still find it difficult then will go to auto. My plan is if I do go to auto I will try for the manual as suggested at a later date once confidence habeen gained.

Will be hopefully starting in a few weeks, had a slight injury to my shin which doc has suggested resting and could take upto 4 weeks to heel. Thats what I get for chasing my son around the park and not looking where I was going lol.

SWT_D.I

I am a former ADI, now working in another industry as a staff trainer.

Learning to drive involves just TWO skill sets;

1) Car control skills
2) Road procedure and behaviour

Picking up car control skills in a manual transmission car takes a considerable amount of time and can be quite confidence-sapping, especially when trying to learn car control skills e.g. clutch control etc 'live' in traffic. Ideally, some 'off road' time should first be spent acquiring car control skills without having to focus on the dynamic road traffic environment.

Before I left the driver training business, I decided to teach solely automatic lessons for people with disabilities and mobility problems. I discovered to my surprise that most people, including complete novices, were able to master the required car control skills in two-to-three lessons. I was then able to teach them road procedure and appropriate behaviour fairly quickly as they were no longer struggling with car control concerns.

The ideal situation is to acquire these two skill-sets separately. We do not live in the ideal world however, hence the need to learn car-control in the traffic!
This is precisely why learning in an automatic is far more cost-effective and enjoyable. It takes all the stress out of the learning situation, leaving you free to enjoy it. Fear and phobia are both very negative emotions and really get in the way of your learning progress (costing you money as a result)
Once you master driving in the auto, learning in a manual is an absolute piece of cake.

To cut the long story short;

Take lessons and pass the test in an automatic - you'll absolutely love the lessons and enjoy your driving I promise.

After passing in the auto, drive around for a period of three-to-six months (or until you feel confident) then take a single two-hour lesson in a manual car with an ADI then apply for and pass your manual test.

This is the cheapest, quickest but most importantly, stress-free way of learning to drive. You'll save yourself ££££££s and will absolutely love learning to drive. I guarantee it.:beer:

puddy

Tropez wrote: »

I have an automatic-only licence and don't really care whether anyone thinks it is cheating or not. No car I have ever wanted has been unavailable in an automatic and while getting a used car may sometimes be a little more difficult it isn't such a big deal.

I did originally take lessons in a manual and was doing fine but I had to stop before I was able to complete all my lessons and do my test due to an injury. When I came back to driving about a year or so later, I just took an automatic 3 week intensive course and had my licence shortly after. No regrets whatsoever about doing it that way.

I dont need to read the rest of the thread to know that this view will be in the minority. Im an automatic driver only and I heard all the arguments that its not proper driving, that you'll be limited to the cars you can drive (how many cars do you need anyway?), blah blah blah

I took most of my lessons in a manual. failed one test, retook and 'forgot' to turn up to the next 2 tests to the exasperation of my instructor. gave up for a bit and then took up with an automatic instructor who told me that one lesson with him in an automatic (which i had never driven before ) and i wouldnt look back.

i never had problems with gears but its unbelievably more simple (think why the americans are mainly automatic drivers!)

in this day and age of information overload, to be honest its one less thing.

it hasnt limited anything. i bought my first car at the age of 35! and then forced my partner to drive (10 years older than me) and he also went automatic only, so we drive each others cars. i dont have any concern that when we replace our cars in time to come, that i will find it difficult. i dont know why people come out with this stuff

Firetastic

I went for automatic as I struggled with the gears. I found it so much easier. I had coordination problems with the manual eg when I was looking out back window on RRC my foot would just lift off the clutch and the car would stall.

Right now I'm not driving because I can't afford a car yet. When I have more experience of driving I may consider going back and trying a manual again.

I eventually passed my test in an automatic first time round.

LolaMadeline

I don't think you need to learn to drive a manual at all. My car is automatic, so was the last one, that is 20 years of cars. Any car we ever rented was automatic.

I learned on a manual, 48 years ago. I recall going up a hill, waiting to turn left. I killed the motor. Mom said, "I knew you'd do that". That was helpful.

A young man worked for me who had to learn to drive an automatic. Dad went with him and Nathan just couldn't get it. Nathan took my advice and practiced by himself in an empty parking lot for 15 minutes. He got it then.

LolaMadeline

I'm American. The last car with a manual transmission we had, the transmission went bad and my son and I had to drive home in 3rd and 4th gear. He was driving and a new driver. We had to coast through stop signs so we could keep going. Boy that was a bad car! Because of a computer glitch, it would appear to run out of gas and stop. That happened on a long interstate bridge for me. It was a Chevy and after that we had Acura, Honda, Acura.