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How did you find learning to drive?


SpursRiot2012

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After years of saying I didn't need a car because I live in London, I am (eventually) going to have to go ahead and at least get a license.

 

I've found a decent instructor, I think, at a good price.

 

How did y'all find learning to drive? Both practically and the theory? How long did you take to go from first lesson to passing your test? Did you pass first time? All that shit.

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Don't worry about the theory at all, it's literally common sense with a few road sign questions & other easy stuff to remember.

Try doing one now and see what your score is, usually without ever learning you could get 70%.

 

I was one who went and did It all as soon as I could at 17, so for me it was exciting and nerve-racking as I wanted to pass by a certain date.

 

Practically once you get the feel of the clutch you become confident, the acceleration and brake pedals will be easy enough to find the right pressure after a few tries. The clutch (and changing gears) is where I realised I wouldn't be confident until I managed to do that process smoothly.

 

All the manoeuvres are secondary and take confidence, as they are all pretty easy when there's no pressure on doing them.

 

I learned with a family friend who used to be an examiner for a few years, so he taught me exactly what the test would be like. In total I had about 25 hours or so. Though as it wasn't in one hour blocks, I can't know for sure but seems about that much.

 

I passed on my second attempt with 3 minors, after the failed first attempt where I went down 30mph road at 35mph as I could have sworn it was 40mph. Apparently that totalled a major. It was bloody heartbreaking!

 

I have a friend who started learning at 24 and found it easier and even passed first time. Also I'm not sure if it's a myth, but supposedly examiners prefer older drivers and will be more lenient compared to teenagers.

 

What I found is after a while I got to that cocky point where I thought I could take my test no problem, but try and ignore that. As you will find it boring once you have gotten the hang of it all and are just driving around going over the small things, just make sure you do everything by the book and you will be fine.

 

Having driven in London a lot, I'm really interested in what it would be like to learn there, as it seems utterly horrible to try and do things to test standard. As driving for the test is completely different to driving in real life.

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Try doing one now and see what your score is, usually without ever learning you could get 70%.

 

 

 

I did a mock one yesterday, and a hazard perception one, and passed both of those. It does seem to just be a lot of common sense.

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When I was unemployed when I was 21 I had a bit of spare cash and decided to go on kind of a crash course. In the space of two months I passed my theory and driving test with 20 hours of driving experience. As soon as you get use to the biting point of your clutch and have the spacial awareness of the dimensions of your car using your mirrors it is a doddle. I was fortunate on my test though, I was terrible at parallel parking but I wasn't given that task. I started with a reverse park, then a reverse round the corner and an emergency stop. 

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I had two different instructors the first one a had was a ok teacher just his style didnt real work for me as he only taught you to pass the test and not actually to drive. My second teacher was much better and taught me how to drive on the road and not just to pass the test give me lots of tips most important one he gave me was the examiners want to see continuous movement rather than stopping and setting your biting point every time you stop. Always check there pass percentages as well gives you a good indication of how good a teacher they are. Also when you finally take your test have a banana before and have some chewing gum for during it calms the brain and makes you concentrate, I have no proof other then it worked for me. Good Luck 

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Get a car & drive - it's hard with lessons alone. 

 

I got lessons alone when I was 18 and progress was very slow - 1hr a week is shit. Then when I was 19 I got on my Dad's insurance and just started driving everywhere - I failed my first test (but that was just because I didn't actually know any theory). I passed 2nd time.

 

But the key is practice - and you can only do that by having access to a car & driving as much as possible.

 

Not sure what the rules are now, but when I got my first provisional license when I was 17 I really just used it for ID. When I actually started driving properly 2 years later, I was on my 2nd provisional which meant I could legally drive on my own - which was crazy, because I'd never really driven! But the assumption was I'd been driving for 2 years on my 1st provisional. 

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