Instructor ripping off my niece?

mruncleman

Which is why I'm so. Annoyed as had the instructor taken her over these roads then I have no doubt she wouldn't have been taking lessons for over a year and still be not close to pass ready

mruncleman

These roads btw are only 5 minutes away. 

mruncleman

mruncleman said:

If you want to make judgements about the type of driver I am. I am 33. I've been driving for 15 years not even a bump. I drive 60k miles a year, I've driven in 20 different countrys, I driven cars buses hgvs, I have my advanced police driving qualification. Am I the best driver in the world. Do I have bad habits, of course. But I am aware of them and know not to pass these on. sometimes I make mistakes like everyone else but I think my opinions are valid and have no doubt in would pass my test 

Just so you know 😉

An in the best driver in the world, no*

That was meant to say

MalMonroe

mruncleman said:

If you want to make judgements about the type of driver I am. I am 33. I've been driving for 15 years not even a bump. I drive 60k miles a year, I've driven in 20 different countrys, I driven cars buses hgvs, I have my advanced police driving qualification. Am I the best driver in the world. Do I have bad habits, of course. But I am aware of them and know not to pass these on. sometimes I make mistakes like everyone else but I think my opinions are valid and have no doubt in would pass my test 

Just so you know 😉

To be honest, I agree with you that your niece's instructor appears to have been lazy. And not only that, he's taken 12 months to get her to the stage where HE thinks she can pass a practical test. Maybe she can and maybe she can't.

BUT nobody seems to have considered the fact that learners these days have to first of all pass a quite complex theory test before they can be put in for a practical. Has your niece passed hers?

It seems to me that examiners and instructors now assume that if people are capable of passing the theory test then they don't need to experience all road conditions (of which there must be millions - well, certainly too many to be experienced as a learner). 

When I was learning to drive it really did take me ages before everything 'fell into place' as people who had passed their tests kept telling me they would. I stuck with a very good instructor and his car was certainly not a wreck. It may have cost me more (I couldn't have done it with friends or relatives) but I wanted to ensure that I had the best chance. My theory 'test' consisted of three questions from the Highway Code - that's what they did way back when. I'm not even sure I got all three correct but I did pass my test. I feel that theory tests today are meant to take a lot of pressure off instructors and examiners. They are complex and you can try them for free online. Which I did recently for a laugh (it wasn't funny though!) and thankfully, passed. But road conditions are changing all the time, as are rules and you have to keep up. 

Although I agree with some of the others commenting here that you really only start learning how to drive once you've passed, I found it very scary. I can still remember my first time driving on my own. I got in the car, fastened my seatbelt and just shook with nerves. But I knew I had to do it or I'd never progress. And now I've been doing it for 35 years (longer than you've been alive!). Thankfully with just one minor bump - which wasn't even an insurance claim case. 
 
There was the time shortly after I'd passed when I proudly drove to visit a friend in daylight hours and left after dark. When I got home the phone was ringing. "Did you know you didn't have your lights on when you left?" asked my amused friend. Not only that, I hadn't had my lights on all the way home. Embarrassing and worrying. Another lesson learned! (Fortunately it wasn't a long way but still).

It sounds like you only have your niece's welfare at heart and that she is probably not far off passing her practical test. If you want to give her more experience, then so much the better. She will feel more capable and confident on test day and that is not a bad thing. 

I wish you both good luck! 

Ebe_Scrooge

Grumpy_chap said:

People of a certain vintage had some lessons with a professional instructor plus some kind of old wreck to learn to drive in, with a nervous Father in the passenger seat.  Total driving hours / miles before the test could be quite high.  Even then, it was still the case that you only learn to drive after the test.

I must be of a "certain vintage" then    Yep, that's exactly what I did, and drove at every available opportunity.  The weekly trip into town to do the shopping (I quickly mastered the art of parking in a supermarket car park!), the 100-odd mile drive to visit the grandparents every so often, pootling round the local area "just for a practice", whatever.  I was pretty confident, but still surprisingly nervous the first time I went out alone.

Lots of very valid points made in this thread - I guess there's a reason why insurance for newly-qualified drivers costs so much!

caprikid1

"wreck to learn to drive in, with a nervous Father in the passenger seat"

In my case Wreck = MK2 Escort.... Nervous brother !. Instructors car was a Nissan Sunny. 

Chris_English

mruncleman said:

Chris_English said:

mruncleman said:

I think I now see this as typical accepted driver instructor behaviour. I have told her not to bother waisting her money on the instructor and I will teach her. I think having knowledge of the routes should just be an advantage. Someone ready for their test should be (in my view) confident in passing their test having never seen the roads they're driving

Oh dear.

A professional who knows how to get people through her test was doing this, and now someone unqualified as an instructor has decided that they know better.

Worse, rather than discussing it with your niece as an adult, you have “told her” that you will take over.

I genuinely feel sorry for your niece at this point.

You feel sorry for my niece that she has someone that cares about her life enough that he doesn't want to see her in situations she can't handle. That wants her to go into driving with the best chance of avoiding an accident as possible.

Makes sense 🤣

I feel sorry for her that now rather than a competent professional teaching her she's going to have an unqualified relative trying to do it, and that you thought it acceptable to be telling someone else's child what she had to do.

I wonder if there's something more going on here than you've said.

DB1904

mruncleman said:

If you want to make judgements about the type of driver I am. I am 33. I've been driving for 15 years not even a bump. I drive 60k miles a year, I've driven in 20 different countrys, I driven cars buses hgvs, I have my advanced police driving qualification. Am I the best driver in the world. Do I have bad habits, of course. But I am aware of them and know not to pass these on. sometimes I make mistakes like everyone else but I think my opinions are valid and have no doubt in would pass my test 

Just so you know 😉

I know an advanced driving instructor who having taught 100s of cops advanced driving who taught someone to drive. They failed whist their driving was better than the average person who passed they simply didn't drive in the manner required to pass. Be very careful when you interfere.

tommyedinburgh

Interesting read. 

For your niece’s sake, make sure you leave the pent up frustration and anger on the kerb when you take her out.

I worry shes on a hiding to nothing here. 

Marvel1

You learn more after passing.

Learners are not allowed on motorways.