How long is reasonable for driving lessons?

philipmag

i was late 30's; did 2 hour lessons & found them great; passed in less than 3 months, after approx 50/60 hours of lessons

SallyCinnamon

I learned at 17 in about 54 hours but, like other posters who had lots lessons, I did pass first time. Unfortunately, I never really drove after passing my test for a variety of reasons. I'm now 39 and have just done a load of refresher lessons and had my last one yesterday, I just need to get out on my own now and build up my confidence.

It is harder the older you get but keep focusing on the advantages of being able to drive. For me it means I can do loads more with the kids and can also give my OH a break from driving some times. I would also second 2 hour lessons, it is draining as it's intense for a long time, but an hour isn't really long enough to get into it. I had a couple of 1.5 hour lessons which was just about perfect to be honest.

Good luck and don't lose heart. PS if you happen to be in East Surrey and ever want a recommendation for a new instructor PM me!

thehappybutterfly

dorsetlady wrote: »

I was 33 when I learnt to drive. I hated it and nearly gave up several times - I used to go home and cry after each lesson! I needed 38 but passed first time. I was SO nervous and had no sleep at all the night before the test! I'm not a nervous driver now though - I have driven to Spain on more than one occassion.

I was the same! I used to stand by the living room window before every lesson praying the instructor wouldn't show up! Once I was behind the wheel I was fine. Now I love driving and only get nervous when I'm driving in England - there's so much more traffic than in my wee bit of Scotland - or when there are roadworks and I don't know what's what.

WantToBeSE

I did 2x3 hours a week (sometimes 4) for almost a year.
Loads of people were telling me that my DI was ripping me off, and that it shouldn't take that long etc.

But I did pass 1st time. 4 minors.

My sister did 2 hours a week, for 8 months and passed 3rd time.

**Patty**

16 hours of lessons.....passed 3rd time.

3 of those hours were before each test.......apparently on the first one i was too confident!

BUT......i was driving at 15 on private ground.......Family of Garage owners

barbiedoll

"Advanced years"....hahahaha....I passed my test at 46!

I found my instructor by asking my neighbour, she is around my age and I realised that if she could do it, so could I!
I did have a couple of tests when I was in my twenties but my then husband didn't drive so I had no road sense, I failed dismally both times. I used to have lessons on Sundays and back then, the roads were empty, shops didn't open on Sundays. When I was faced with rush hour traffic in my tests, I just froze with fright.

After spending years as a front-seat passenger, I now have much more of an idea of how traffic moves, how stupid pedestrians can be and how you need to have eyes up your backside, at least if you need to drive in a large town/city. It's true what they say, you only start learning to drive after you have passed your test, I now drive through south-east London all day, I never thought I'd be able to negotiate the one-way system in Greenwich!

Get out to practice using the car as much as you can. My husband used to take me to the local industrial estate, early in the morning at weekends. I could practice parking and reversing and when he knew that I could use the brakes, he would get out of the car and let me drive around the car park on my own. It was hugely helpful and I eventually passed at the 2nd attempt. (I only failed the first when a driver didn't indicate at a roundabout and pulled out in front of me. I now know never to trust anyone at roundabouts!)

When I first took the car to work on my own, I was a trembling wreck when I got out at the other end. I'm still not the most confident driver but I'm getting better all the time. Get to know your local roads, take notice of what your husband does when he's driving and ask him questions. (Why are you in this lane? etc etc)
Keep at it, it's a great feeling when you pass, I promptly burst into tears when the examiner told me that I had!
Good luck!

Person_one

When you do pass, and after maybe a few months of driving and getting the hang of it, I highly recommend taking a course with these people:

http://www.iam.org.uk

Its only £139 and it will make you a much safer, better and more confident driver.

vicx

I would recommend taking double lessons (two hours) rather than one hour, an hour lesson seems to go too quick so you will learn a lot more with double lessons.

I took 2 double lessons per week for 5 weeks and passed first time 9 years ago. I was confident on the roads (unlike when i had a few lessons off my dad) and had a great instructor which helped. Some instructors are out for the money and not bothered about getting people through their test as quick as they can. Another thing I would recommend is learning with a driving instructor who is self employed and not through big companies, they tend to have a higher pass rate, you could google to see if there are any reviews about your instructor.

I learned with a local instructor who was recommended by friends who had heard he got people through their test first time. After I passed I recommended him to friends and he got them through their test first time. A few of my friends learned with big companies and they have failed 3 or more tests! My instructor didn't advertise because he didn't need to, he has a good pass rate so he gets his customers through recommendations.

lippy1923

I had 10 lessons (2 hours each time) per week and passed first time. I felt that 1 hour at a time wasn't enough for me. By the time you've faffed around going through saftey checks, listened to the DI talk and tell you what you need to do, what you did wrong etc... its time up!


My DI didn't like taking learners who had been learning for more than around 30hours already because he said that they had been doing it too long, so they tend to pick up bad habits which show during tests.

It's different for everyone, but you tend to know when you're ready to take the test. Good luck

Johnmcl7

Pleaseadvise wrote: »

I've recently begun taking driving lessons at an advanced age. I've had 2 lessons so far and the instructor is saying it will be a long process. How long would you give it? I'm thinking that if I'm not ready to take the test in about a year, I ought to give up then.

Everyone is different so there's no real answer to this, some people pass very quickly, some take a while. I think it's too soon to be thinking of this aspect for now as two lessons really isn't any time at all. I'm a bit concerned that your instructor is saying it's going to be a long process after such a short amount of time as it takes practice before you start to get anywhere. You should feel yourself whether you're being taken along too slowly or too quickly, a good instructor should take you along at a suitable pace but I've seen plenty who have taken friends far too slowly and really dragged it out with predictions of it's going to take a long, long time then they've switched to another instructor and passed shortly after.

Also I'd say duration of lessons is very individual as well, I did one hour lessons in the car which I found was plenty to give me a good practice run as I hated learning to drive even though I was desperate to drive. I passed first time after only a few lessons, later I took motorbike lessons and did a longer sessions but I didn't find them beneficial, would have preferred to stay with shorter lessons as I felt I was just throwing money away and not learning as much as I should. That's just me though, it's fair enough that longer lessons work for others.

Can your husband take you out for any practice? One of the most difficult parts I'd say about driving is simply being able to co-ordinate everything (clutch, accelerator, gears, steering etc.) without having to think about any of it so if you can get practice just pulling away, stopping, going through the gears etc. it could save a lot of money on driving lessons. If your husband can't take you out in his car, Arnold Clark and possibly others will hire a dual control Corsa for £9 an hour plus there's a small excess charge. My sister was wanting to learn to drive so I took her out for a few hours when she was home mostly just letting her practice the basics, my own car wasn't practical if insurance was even possible and the dual controls are very handy.

It does depend how good your husband is though, it is difficult as the person you're with has to remain relaxed to keep you relaxed as well as you make bad mistakes when getting stressed in the car. I just couldn't go with my Dad in the car as he just got annoyed as I mistakes so I started very tense, make more mistakes etc. It's very important that you're confident you can do it and not to panic when things go wrong, easy advice to give not so easy to do I know.

John