your driving lessons & test stories and costs etc

[MickeyBravo]

i passed First time...TWICE lol

passed @ 17 with 5 minors- Back then tho for the theory part,it was on paper (set out just like an exam sheet lol)
Got band @ 18 no insurance covering other cars- For driving a mates car on my dinner hour to nip home,and got caught on way back to work...was only round corner from work aswell,was gutted,nearly got away with it lol
STILL at 18 with 3 minors (after 6 month ban was up)repast my test 1st time again..But 2nd time computers were introduced on the theory..

I gota admit tho,id probably fail the theory part now if i were to have my licence taken off me,i think the hazard perception thing wud get me lol

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

I learnt to drive in a 05 plate 1.4 TD Fiesta. On one test I p'eed off a BMW that was tailgating me in a 40, by dropping it into 3rd iirc, and leving him behind when it went into a dual carrageway (and it done the Diesel leave a smog thing behind you :devil

I'm surprised I didn't fail as I almost ran a bloke over has he was walking round the back of the car with his fish and chips and I rolled back at the junction. Surprised the blind examiner didn't notice.

And I think the examiner was freezing, as I had the aircon on full due to nerves dispite it not being the warmest of days

Jon

 

[The Beard]

It's amazing how many people seem to have passed with very few lessons. In the 21 years since I first sat in the left hand seat of a driving school car, none of my pupils, that hadn't had some previous lessons, had passed in under 24 hours. In 2009, I would suggest that anyone learning to drive will need the best part of 40 hours of lessons. Now either I'm a crap instructor or I trained people to drive and not just pass a test. The pressure is often on A.D.I.s to get their pupils through the test as quickly as possible, with assurances (often from Dad) that "You only start to learn to drive after you've passed your test." Which is the biggest lie since:"I love you. The cheque's in the post and I'm from the Government I'm here to help you." Driving is a "Life skill" and as such is something that should be developed as you go through life, not something where you throw all the precautions you've
been taught out of the window.

 

[puntomadboy]

It's amazing how many people seem to have passed with very few lessons. In the 21 years since I first sat in the left hand seat of a driving school car, none of my pupils, that hadn't had some previous lessons, had passed in under 24 hours. In 2009, I would suggest that anyone learning to drive will need the best part of 40 hours of lessons. Now either I'm a crap instructor or I trained people to drive and not just pass a test. The pressure is often on A.D.I.s to get their pupils through the test as quickly as possible, with assurances (often from Dad) that "You only start to learn to drive after you've passed your test." Which is the biggest lie since:"I love you. The cheque's in the post and I'm from the Government I'm here to help you." Driving is a "Life skill" and as such is something that should be developed as you go through life, not something where you throw all the precautions you've
been taught out of the window.

i just think kids are learning quicker these days.. especially with all the latest cars they do there test in, most of the driving is done for them.. test's should be made harder...

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

i just think kids are learning quicker these days.. especially with all the latest cars they do there test in, most of the driving is done for them.. test's should be made harder...

:yeahthat: half of them don't even know the basics, like what a choke is. And they recon my car runs rough when cold. I think not!

 

[The Beard]

i just think kids are learning quicker these days.. especially with all the latest cars they do there test in, most of the driving is done for them.. test's should be made harder...

I'm afraid I don't agree. The Test in many ways is getting harder to pass. The
distance has been extended in order to get in more complex junctions and higher speed limits. I also think that young people (that makes me sound old) have less practice at Psycho-motive skills as they are growing up. Although I don't take many pupils nowadays, over the years 17 and 18 year olds seem to do less things that help them develop physical skills. In other words, despite what you may think, less of them seem to ride bicycles or work on cars or bake cakes or do woodwork/metalwork at school. Increasing numbers seem to be taking media or computer studies at Uni. Tourism is another popular one. Very few seem to be studing Engineering. Almost the only physical thing they often do by the time I've dealt with them is learn to drive.

 

[puntomadboy]

I'm afraid I don't agree. The Test in many ways is getting harder to pass. The
distance has been extended in order to get in more complex junctions and higher speed limits. I also think that young people (that makes me sound old) have less practice at Psycho-motive skills as they are growing up. Although I don't take many pupils nowadays, over the years 17 and 18 year olds seem to do less things that help them develop physical skills. In other words, despite what you may think, less of them seem to ride bicycles or work on cars or bake cakes or do woodwork/metalwork at school. Increasing numbers seem to be taking media or computer studies at Uni. Tourism is another popular one. Very few seem to be studing Engineering. Almost the only physical thing they often do by the time I've dealt with them is learn to drive.

i just mean that the learning process today does seem easier, even tho it may not to you...
yes most kids may not have time to learn. i.e school, work studies.. but it is far more easy to learn to drive nowadays then it was say 10 years ago..

the actual test may be getting harder. but like with all things in life there are certain thing that make learning so easy...

Anyway i guess iam just being a bit grumpy now. take no notice..

 

[The Beard]

i just mean that the learning process today does seem easier, even tho it may not to you...
yes most kids may not have time to learn. i.e school, work studies.. but it is far more easy to learn to drive nowadays then it was say 10 years ago..

the actual test may be getting harder. but like with all things in life there are certain thing that make learning so easy...

Anyway i guess iam just being a bit grumpy now. take no notice..

Alright I won't. Actually that doesn't make for much of a reply.

 

[Big Black Stilo]

I'm afraid I don't agree. The Test in many ways is getting harder to pass. The
distance has been extended in order to get in more complex junctions and higher speed limits. I also think that young people (that makes me sound old) have less practice at Psycho-motive skills as they are growing up. Although I don't take many pupils nowadays, over the years 17 and 18 year olds seem to do less things that help them develop physical skills. In other words, despite what you may think, less of them seem to ride bicycles or work on cars or bake cakes or do woodwork/metalwork at school. Increasing numbers seem to be taking media or computer studies at Uni. Tourism is another popular one. Very few seem to be studing Engineering. Almost the only physical thing they often do by the time I've dealt with them is learn to drive.

agreed

none of my mechanic skills were taught at school, neither was i taught how to fix a variety of other things (by studying how things work). I can cook but never did cookery at school. Its all self taught (with a bit of help from uncles and mothers) from just going at it!

 

[The Beard]

I know it's a bit of an old fashioned notion, but lads used to help their Dads with changing brake shoes and pads on the car, with woodwork/metalwork, decorating and the like. We used to change tyres on our bicycle when we got a flat. We knew how the Derailleur (sp?) gears worked which meant we knew how the gears on a car worked. Girls used to help their mum with the cooking and they used to sew etc. Might seem a bit banal, but it all helped with hand to eye co-ordination, judging distance etc. One of the things you do when learning to drive is learn about how much pressure you have to put on something to make it work, eg. when changing gear or applying and releasing hand brake or switching between intermittent and first speed on the wiper lever. Think about the amount of effort it took to put a screw in with a slotted screwdriver or to feel when a brace and bit was just coming out through the other side of a piece of wood, or when stirring cake mix how you could tell when it was getting to the right consistency. All useful little bits of muscle memory for when first learning to drive. When I first started as an ADI in 1987, remember, with no power steering and no engine management systems to help you move off with little or no gas and no ABS with a compulsory Emergency Stop on the test, the average number of hours a new pupil with no experience would need was about 24 hours. Now, it's closer to 40!