Driving lessons after driving for 20yrs?

AdrianC

Scrapit said:

AdrianC said:

Scrapit said:

Er, the friend is actually spot on.

No, they are not.

How will "a mistake" the OP makes on a refresher lesson put their licence and insurance "at risk"?

We aren't talking about crashing or being nicked. We're talking about "a mistake". Isn't it better to make that mistake under instruction - ultimately, with dual controls - than on their own?

Same as any point at driving
...
I suspect that's what the "friend" was trying to convey

I admire your optimism... Utterly misplaced, of course.

Biggus_Dickus

ripplyuk said:

I live in a very rural area and am perfectly happy driving locally but I’m really anxious about driving to the city. I’m scared of motorways (mainly the slip road on to it!), multiple lanes and spiral roundabouts. None of these things were part of my driving test so I never experienced them. It’s rare that I need to go to the city or anywhere that I’m not confident driving to but I’d like to be able to go there myself if I need to, rather than asking for a lift. I was thinking of booking some driving lessons for this purpose. Is that something a driving instructor would do or are they only about getting people through their test? I don’t want to waste my money if they are only going to teach the basics. I spoke to my friend about it and she said it could put my license, and my own insurance, at risk if I made a mistake during a driving lesson. Is that true? 

Perhaps a ‘Pass Plus’ course would be helpful?

It specifically covers 2 areas you mention: town driving and motorways. The other modules may (or maybe not!) help to improve your overall confidence/skill.

“Pass Plus is a practical training course that takes at least 6 hours and is for drivers to improve their skills and drive more safely.

It can be taken at any time although it should be most useful to new drivers in the year after passing their test.”

“Pass Plus training takes at least 6 hours. It has 6 modules, covering driving:

in town...in all weathers...on rural roads...at night...on dual carriageways...on motorways”

https://www.gov.uk/pass-plus

Alas, there was no ‘Pass Plus’  when I passed my driving test eons ago,..it was on a Horse & Cart though;...damn, those 3-point turns were difficult!

 

 

 

Sandtree

Scrapit said:

AdrianC said:

Scrapit said:

Er, the friend is actually spot on.

No, they are not.

How will "a mistake" the OP makes on a refresher lesson put their licence and insurance "at risk"?

We aren't talking about crashing or being nicked. We're talking about "a mistake". Isn't it better to make that mistake under instruction - ultimately, with dual controls - than on their own?

Same as any point at driving, your licence is "at risk" when you are driving. Get caught speeding as a learner, goes on your licence. Get caught driving dangeroulsy, all on you as the driver. Its never any different. Now some one who has a licence is less likely to do any of these things that lead to trouble and you would think that would be almost impossible with an instructor as well but still could happen. Its the drivers responsibility. I suspect that's what the "friend" was trying to convey, and they would be entierly correct in saying that.

We are second guessing the friend's intention but I can hardly believe someone would be meaning that you'd be facing the same risks that you do every time you sit behind the wheel of a car. In fact the risks are lower because its dual controlled... does the friend warn the OP each time they say they are just nipping down the supermarket?

My reading of the friends comment is that because its a "driving instructor" they feel they have some way of telling the DVLA/Police to give you points/withdraw your license if they deem you to be sub standard driver which isnt the case at all.

To the OP - when I passed my test (a little over two decades ago now) the driving instructor offered post test lessons such as night, poor weather and motorway driving. I was 17, lived in an area where dual carriageways were the only way to get anywhere and so felt I'd be fine however my mother did do the motorway session with him as whilst she'd been driving nearly 40 years at that point it was only in the last 3 years after my father had died that she'd ever driven on a motorway (round town/errands driving was shared but long distance driving was always his job). As someone sat next to her it wasnt a night/day difference but she felt it helped her alot and he answered lots of questions she was concerned about (eg what to do if you're approaching the end of the slip road and theres no gap to merge onto the motorway)

facade

Sandtree said:

she felt it helped her a lot and he answered lots of questions she was concerned about (eg what to do if you're approaching the end of the slip road and theres no gap to merge onto the motorway)

Out of interest, what was the answer?

DoaM

If it's not safe to proceed, you stop. If it's not safe to stop absolutely (e.g. vehicles behind you closing rapidly) then you use the hard shoulder as an escape route and then stop. (That's how I'd answer such a question).  

Scrapit

AdrianC said:

Scrapit said:

AdrianC said:

Scrapit said:

Er, the friend is actually spot on.

No, they are not.

How will "a mistake" the OP makes on a refresher lesson put their licence and insurance "at risk"?

We aren't talking about crashing or being nicked. We're talking about "a mistake". Isn't it better to make that mistake under instruction - ultimately, with dual controls - than on their own?

Same as any point at driving
...
I suspect that's what the "friend" was trying to convey

I admire your optimism... Utterly misplaced, of course.

Well I wasn't there, sounds like you were.

facade

DoaM said:

If it's not safe to proceed, you stop. If it's not safe to stop absolutely (e.g. vehicles behind you closing rapidly) then you use the hard shoulder as an escape route and then stop. (That's how I'd answer such a question).  

I just wondered what he said

The choices are obviously

grit your teeth and keep going, or stop (and then you are stuck there until the motorway clears completely as you won't have the space to accelerate to merge speed)

I have to say, in over 40 years I never been in that situation- if the traffic is doing 70 then (unless it is artics, they always drive bumper to tailgate ) there has to be enough room to merge in, and if they are bumper to bumper they are going so slowly that someone will let you in by pausing slightly.

onlyfoolsandparking

Don't know whether this is 'technically' correct (a long time since I passed driving test) but when using a slip road to merge onto motorway I adjust speed accordingly to find a gap, I've never stopped on a slip road and I've always merged effortlessly although I do find it amusing watching others struggle to do what is in reality an easy task.

DoaM

I've never had to stop either ... although I did witness this (on a dual carriageway, not a motorway) a couple of nights ago. I had moved to the RH lane so as to allow people to merge ... the vehicles behind me did not. The person coming down the slip road panicked and stopped at the end. This meant everyone behind had to stop and so traffic flow was significantly impacted.

onlyfoolsandparking

At the risk of sounding like 'It's not like the old days' the standard of driving these days is terrible, of course being a biker like yourself DoaM I ALWAYS expect all drivers to be bad and when I'm out on bike I'm not dissapointed, on the plus side merging onto motorway on my bike well It's impossible to struggle with blistering acceleration available