Gifting a driving companion for legal driving with a provisional license

alihd

I need to practice driving. Due to COVID, driving instructors are super busy and don't have free slots so that I can practice. Also, I'm working full-time and can only practice in the evenings, which makes it even harder to find any instructor and practice in his car. 

I kept booking tests and failed 3 times so far. My instructor said I am skillfully enough to pass a test (and I've been driving in my home country for 13 years), but since he doesn't have any free times, I am getting for the test as I have no access to any car and I'm forgetting the skills. Also, I am sstressfull (about tests) and get worse in each test, so I need to practice many hours in a car to get comfy in with the car and with driving in London.

Apparently the only solution left is to buy a car for my own and practice driving. Someone with a licence should accompany (supervise) me to make it legal to drive with my provisional license. However, none of my friends living nearby have a licence. 

If I ask a stranger or distant friend to help me, how can I legally compensate them? It is not legal for me to pay them (because they are not instructors). Is buying gifts or gift cards, etc, also illegal? Any workaround for this?

Car_54

The law prohibits "payment of money or money’s worth", so, no, there is no workaround.

Car_54

And both of you would be committing the offence. [Road Traffic Act 1988, section 123(4).

Grumpy_chap

You say you have been driving in your own country for 13 years, so you are not learning the basics about vehicle control (which is where any driver can help).  You must be failing the test because of bad habits and it is probably only a professional driving instructor that can overcome this.  If you are willing to learn, you should not need many lessons, or so I would have thought.  If local driving instructors are booked up, try one of the national driving schools.  Given you failed three times with your instructor, a different instructor seems a sensible change.

scot22_2

Just an highest idea.  Is it worth finding your local Advanced Drivers group and ask if one of their driving observers might be willing to help.  Not sure it's allowed but may be.

prowla

Grumpy_chap said:

You say you have been driving in your own country for 13 years, so you are not learning the basics about vehicle control (which is where any driver can help).  You must be failing the test because of bad habits and it is probably only a professional driving instructor that can overcome this.  If you are willing to learn, you should not need many lessons, or so I would have thought.  If local driving instructors are booked up, try one of the national driving schools.  Given you failed three times with your instructor, a different instructor seems a sensible change.

It may be because of differences between the countries, including signage, driving conventions, and suchlike, so differences rather than bad habits per-se.

The change of instructor does seem like good advice.

If it is because of unfamiliarity with the road rules, then learning the Highway Code and doing practice Theory tests may be worthwhile.

If the other country drives on the opposite side of the road, then that is something which can catch you out if you've not got your wits about you, especially of you've relaxed and suddenly revert to what your mind thinks is "normal". I've driven abroad and had to really concentrate to make sure I'm doing not messing up.

Grumpy_chap

Thanks Prowla - they are very fair observations about differences in rules and customs between different nations.

alihd

Grumpy_chap said:

You say you have been driving in your own country for 13 years, so you are not learning the basics about vehicle control (which is where any driver can help).  You must be failing the test because of bad habits and it is probably only a professional driving instructor that can overcome this.  If you are willing to learn, you should not need many lessons, or so I would have thought.  If local driving instructors are booked up, try one of the national driving schools.  Given you failed three times with your instructor, a different instructor seems a sensible change.

I agree that I need to change the instructor, as I usually fail for mistakes that he had not told or reminded me when practising, For example, I hadn't realized that I don't turn my head around fully to see the blind spot before moving off (I scan roughly 270 degrees, not 360 degrees, and once failed the test because of that, but my instructor had never noticed this issue).

To be clear, I've been a driver for many years, but I do have technical issues, too. My mistakes are either the UK-specific difficulties (nearside/offside; observation); or the generic ones that have not been a concern in my home country (e.g. our area was flat, so I've never been into controlling the car in steep roads).

Nevertheless, my main intension for practising on my own car is that:

1. Driving instructors are unavailable: they barely have any free slots, due to the backlog of learners/examiners in COVID times.
2. I am forgetting what I've paid to learn: When I fail a test, I need to wait for at least two weeks so that I can book another, and by then I realize that I am forgetting things. I need to keep practising in the meanwhile, but the instructors are not available.
3.  Test booking: Due to the very long backlog, I need to book the test via cancellations. The cancellations show up only a few days before the test: so whenever I find an empty test slot, it's either for tomorrow or within the same week. It's quite unlikely that the instructor to have any available time for the test. And if I find another instructor or car hire service to take the test, I would not be very familiar with the car (e.g. the reference points, etc.) and the test would be more challenging.

Is it stupid to ask the instructor to train me in my own car? (so that I can book different instructors and still stick to the same car)?
Any other solution?

Grumpy_chap

I suspect that instructors will be reluctant to teach you in your own car.  It is possible their professional registration / insurance will not even permit that.

Car_54

Grumpy_chap said:

I suspect that instructors will be reluctant to teach you in your own car.  It is possible their professional registration / insurance will not even permit that.

There's really no problem: I've taught a number of foreign drivers wanting a UK licence in their own vehicles. A complete beginner would be a different story ...

missile

You might find instructors available outside London?
You might find it easier & cheaper to learn and sit the test a short train journey from London?