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Rascal's Learning to Drive


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  • 6 months later...

Today was the start of 35 hours of intensive tuition, in an and around Norwich. I am pleased to say it has gone really well, far far better than ever it was in London.

I have a really nice car to drive, a brand new Audi A3 S-Line which you only need to look at the accelerator pedal and it is off - this actually is good because it keeps me alert to speed and judging it far more than the diesel Fiesta I had been using a year ago when in London. The only issue with the car is the steering wheel is not round, it has a straight bottom and this feels really odd when you are doing low speed turns but it is 'cool looking'.

Faye is my Instructor, born and bread Norfolk and really laid back and chatty. She has a good lesson plan and everything is talked through prior to doing it, then we have a talk how it went and then repeat over until it is perfect. I have done very well compared to most having got in my first day up to dealing with the NDR round abouts at Postwick and my only issues have been on a slow speed left turn putting a bit too much steering input in and then having to correct this as I came out the turn, signalling with my indicator on mini-roundabouts and not checking my mirror on the exit of one of the roundabouts - things I am sure will come with practice as the week goes on. Long day tomorrow as will be driving for over 6 hours and 'finish' at almost 7pm but that is good because I can get some rush hour traffic under my belt.

Drivers in Norwich are so different to those in north London, they generally signal, do as they are meant and seem to see speed limits and traffic lights as things to obey unlike in Tottenham where their appear voluntary.

Tomorrow will begin with maneuvers, but since my last lessons the reverse around a corner and 'three point turn' are not longer part of the driving test so  these will be missed off - a shame I think as both are pretty essential for driving. Bay parking both reverse and front in will be interesting but I am eager to get back behind the wheel. I think I've got this.

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2 hours ago, LondonRascal said:

The only issue with the car is the steering wheel is not round, it has a straight bottom and this feels really odd when you are doing low speed turns but it is 'cool looking'. 

Robin,  you have never driven until you have driven an Austin Allegro :default_biggrin:

 

220px-Austin_Allegro_Interior_with_Quartic_steering_wheel.jpg

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7 hours ago, CambridgeCabby said:

all to see the princess , ital and allegro kill our once proad car industry

Don't forget the Metro. That was a disgrace as well! I did my driving lessons in an Austin 1100. A little bit larger than a Mini, but with those same tiny little pedals.

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10 hours ago, LondonRascal said:

Today was the start of 35 hours of intensive tuition, in an and around Norwich. I am pleased to say it has gone really well, far far better than ever it was in London.

I have a really nice car to drive, a brand new Audi A3 S-Line which you only need to look at the accelerator pedal and it is off - this actually is good because it keeps me alert to speed and judging it far more than the diesel Fiesta I had been using a year ago when in London. The only issue with the car is the steering wheel is not round, it has a straight bottom and this feels really odd when you are doing low speed turns but it is 'cool looking'.

Faye is my Instructor, born and bread Norfolk and really laid back and chatty. She has a good lesson plan and everything is talked through prior to doing it, then we have a talk how it went and then repeat over until it is perfect. I have done very well compared to most having got in my first day up to dealing with the NDR round abouts at Postwick and my only issues have been on a slow speed left turn putting a bit too much steering input in and then having to correct this as I came out the turn, signalling with my indicator on mini-roundabouts and not checking my mirror on the exit of one of the roundabouts - things I am sure will come with practice as the week goes on. Long day tomorrow as will be driving for over 6 hours and 'finish' at almost 7pm but that is good because I can get some rush hour traffic under my belt.

Drivers in Norwich are so different to those in north London, they generally signal, do as they are meant and seem to see speed limits and traffic lights as things to obey unlike in Tottenham where their appear voluntary.

Tomorrow will begin with maneuvers, but since my last lessons the reverse around a corner and 'three point turn' are not longer part of the driving test so  these will be missed off - a shame I think as both are pretty essential for driving. Bay parking both reverse and front in will be interesting but I am eager to get back behind the wheel. I think I've got this.

Good luck Robin,  I am sure the day will go well.         I personally hate driving in Norwich so goodness only knows what I would be like in London now,   I used to drive in London regularly and think nothing of it.     It does seem a shame not to have a 3 point turn in the test or reversing around the corner,  however, assume they are still taught as we live in a very quiet area where most of the Learners are brought to start with when they start to learn to drive.         They are definitely taught to reverse around the corner in front of our place.     Mind you I have never seen anyone doing a 3 point turn.      

Someone gave me some advice years ago and that was not only drive your car but anticipate what everyone else on the road is going to do with theirs.     We have the same 'Nellies' up here as everywhere else at times.

All the best.

 

 

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Good luck Robin! I'm sure the week will fly by. I did an intensive driving course based in Leyton many years ago now. For me it was long enough to learn how to drive but not to be confident on the road - I had very little experience of even being a passenger having grown up using public transport all the time so I didn't have the road sense. It's great to hear that you're already finding this better than how you felt learning around north London. I look forward to hearing how you get on.

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2 hours ago, dnks34 said:

I only had 4 official lessons and passed first time.  

Mind you I was taught to drive when I was 12 years old, that probably helped!

I had 6 hours intensive and passed three days after my 17th birthday, I also had been driving around the farm since being about 12 in my 100E Anglia, little Massey Grey and a Fordson Major.

I was the opposite of SwanR. I had all the confidence in the World in my driving ability. That is until three months later when I stuffed Mum's brand new Vitesse 2.0 litre convertible  into a grass bank only 200 yds from home, bent the chassis and wrote it off. Taught me a valuable lesson.

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6 hours ago, SwanR said:

. . . . . . . . . I did an intensive driving course based in Leyton many years ago now. For me it was long enough to learn how to drive . . . . . . . . .

You only learn to drive when you have passed your test. The period  is before is  spent learning to pass your test.

In my opinion, it's only when you have the pass certificate in your possession and you lose the comfort of dual controls and an experienced driver beside you, that the art of appreciating roadcraft begins. 

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1 hour ago, VetChugger said:

" brand new Vitesse 2.0 litre convertible "

 

I'd be cursed with nightmares for life if I had committed such a terrible sin as writing one of these beauties off!

Triumph Vitesse.jpg

Mum's was white. I don't think she ever really forgave me even though it was replaced with an identical car except the seats were black not red. She was still mentioning it 20 years later. After the car was written off I tried to get my father to replace it with a GT6 mk2 but he said that I had done enough damage in the Vitesse.

Anyway Dad was not a bad old stick, he bought this for me for passing my A levels. We must have been down the pub as Judith is driving in one shot. We got engaged in Jan 69 on Judiths eighteenth and drove the Spitfire to Callafell for our hols that summer.20180302_171222.thumb.jpg.67c89f6c2c8457687a7273b2c1af3afa.jpgDSC_0399.thumb.JPG.dfa6d099a66551fad8ea6360f39819ca.JPGDSC_0398.thumb.JPG.248c8aeabbd4e295393760a390e8d57a.JPG

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Well, another day and all went well. Confidence is growing and I am now ‘a day ahead’ to most pupils since we covered parallel parking, forward and reverse bay parking and the new ‘pull over to the right hand side of the road and reverse back two car lengths’.

I found reverse bay parking far easier when I do this to the left as the bay line comes into view sooner in nearside mirror. It’s also handy to have an auto dipping mirror as you go into reverse and of course front and rear parking aids along with an auto hold handbrake - it leaves very little to worry about other than observing and manouvering. 

Did the above front and reverse parking  six times and then moved on to parallel parking. Nailed that first time and four times after but was told I could be up to 3 feet from kerb and two car lengths away from the car in front to pass so my wish to do it perfectly every time could wait until after I passed. The concept clearly is you doing everything that is required and not much above, much like modern day GCSE’s - of its not in the curriculum it ain’t taught. 

Was a long day from 1pm to 6pm with a 15 minute break. I did not feel tired though and was pleased how much we did and the wind and falling debris added to the real life nature of things. We did small and large roundabouts, but I must watch myself as I am sometimes cutting the keeping to the left and straightening them out. 

I sill hate the square bottom steering wheel when doing lock to lock turns, it just feels so clumsy!

 

F22ABC0B-158E-4DDD-ACA0-D829F3A5616F.jpeg

27CF4445-4E4A-4A32-AE72-851D7E690BEC.jpeg

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Interesting to read how you are getting on Robin. Reminds me of something that occurred to me some while back. Our main car has lots of these modern safety driving features - as many sensors and cameras as you could want and things that think for themselves. But if that's what you learn to drive in, and pass your test in, but then you get back into a little old car with none of this, are you really qualified to drive it. The car industry has built us a halfway house between manual and automatic but with no in between for driving licences.

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24 minutes ago, SwanR said:

Interesting to read how you are getting on Robin. Reminds me of something that occurred to me some while back. Our main car has lots of these modern safety driving features - as many sensors and cameras as you could want and things that think for themselves. But if that's what you learn to drive in, and pass your test in, but then you get back into a little old car with none of this, are you really qualified to drive it. The car industry has built us a halfway house between manual and automatic but with no in between for driving licences.

So once the car passes the driving test when do you learn to do more than point it in the right direction, this is not aimed at you personally but an observation on your description of modern driving technique, no wonder standards among new drivers are so low.

Fred

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One thing for sure Robin, You're doing a lot better than me when I first went on the road, growing up on a farm i was used to racing about in old bangers driving around the headlands of the orchards flat out most of the time not a thought for the danger, had excellent control of the car, when I first ventured onto the road with L plates and father beside me I got a bit of a shock in trying to keep the car between the curb and the white line down the middle-of-the-road as I was used to racing round fields.

I did actually pass my test when I was 17 but it took me four attempts, After the third, I took 12 proper lessons, I feel sure You will do well and hopefully pass first time (No pressure then) Regards Ted

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My son learned to drive in a diesel, passed his test then bought a petrol which he kept stalling unlike the diesel and got really frustrated by this.  He had a few more cars with no fancy gadgets and he's a really good driver. He now has a fancy car with all the gizmos, parking camera etc but Im so glad he had the grounding of basic cars.  Done the same for our daughter who passed last year.  She has a lovely little basic  Peugeot. I can really tell the difference from her just passing her test to now.  Im not aware her driving instructor's car had lots of gadgets. Ill have to ask her now! 

I dont rely on my parking sensors, they go off at all weird times but it is an old truck now. 

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