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Rascal's Learning to Drive


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I passed 3rd time, paid 27/6d per lesson learnt in a Viva, but it wasn't available for my last test, so used a mini. Despite having my own car also, I was a very good boy and never moved it as much as a few feet without a qualified driver with me, can anyone else remember the feeling when you passed and were in the car alone for the very first time? My instructor had a string of mild expletives that he used when I performed certain manoeuvres which were "unusual", starting with "Cor......................." this was in 1968-and I still remember them!

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Yep its when you have passed your test that you really learn to drive  , roundabouts will become second nature ,then you go abroad and it all starts again such as the centre of Paris and Madrid , those really sharpen up your skills .

Personally iv been quite lucky in gaining driving experience having traveled extensively abroad even to the point of Leeds west Yorkshire to Davos  in Switzerland solo in a 7 1/2 ton waggon for the world economic summit , that and Dresden to Madrid ( 29 hrs over 2 days )  are the 2 epic journeys that I remember most .

Nowadays iv given that and driving up as it doesn't really work having a car while living afloat except if in a marina .

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P assed first time 11 days after my 17th birthday in 1968, id a MKI landrover complete with breakdawon crane hanging out of the back. He said when you see a patys driving school car round the corner tell me its reg number, "I said ANO 788F"  were not round the corner yet he said, as we turned the corner he said"you can see round rond corners or through buildings" " I said na I fitted the number plates last night while I was doing the PDI (pre delivery inspection). I did an emergency stop in Brentwood Hight steet main A12 in those days.

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2 minutes ago, Ricardo said:

Leeds west Yorkshire to Davos  in Switzerland solo in a 7 1/2 ton waggon

Ive done Bishops Stortford (well Ugly really) to St John Deloupe in the pyrenese in one hit in a 7 1/2 truck via Beiritz a few times oh and once via Le Mans for the 24 hour race

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I remember the emergency stop on my motorbike test, one freezing cold february morning, the examiner stepped out and raised the clipboard. I stopped, then he waved me forward the 50 yards to where he was standing - I dont think he trusted me on the icy roads.

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1 minute ago, grendel said:

I remember the emergency stop on my motorbike test, one freezing cold february morning, the examiner stepped out and raised the clipboard. I stopped, then he waved me forward the 50 yards to where he was standing - I dont think he trusted me on the icy roads.

Hee  hee  bike tests  in winter they were great mine was December n luckily no snow or ice , once passed off to the nearest bike showroom for an upgrade to Honda 400/4 :default_biggrin:

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Swindons got it's own magic roundabout ( that is its official name..)

Magic Roundabout Schild db.jpg

and from above,

Image result for swindons magic roundabout

Boy did i hate that one I used to come in from Oxford then head south or from the south head to the ring road up to Blunsdon. I also hated the trial one they had to the north of Edinburgh at one time..

My first test was, the day the 1976 heatwave broke in Milton Keynes. my two failing points..

I went for 5th gear, unfortunately it wasn't the avenger I learnt in, and it only had 4 gears,

On the emergency stop, after 6 months of no rain it was like a ice rink the roads were foaming as it bucketed down, so the car slid into the kerb when I braked..

 

I then moved and on my first lesson the new instructer said had that been my test I would have passed, unfortunately there was a six month waiting list for tests then, so a lot of money later.

I took my test and did two emegency stops.... one was the required one, then shortly after a lorry reversed out in front of us and I had to stop in a hurry again.. I passed...

 

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3 hours ago, LondonRascal said:

 my first wish is to conquer the Great Cambridge Roundabout on the A10. It makes the NDR ones in Norwich look so tame lol

Going round clockwise will help failing that come from Palmers Green and use the underpass :9_innocent: you can then move on to Hyde Park.

Fred

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The Great Cambridge Roundabout:

Gt Cambridge .jpg

The problem with this is it will always feature in the test here. The examiners however will randomly select which road you approach the roundabout from so that the student will not have gone over many practices from one to get it perfect come the day. Some of the approaches are easier than others, but what does not change is the unforgiving 'London driver' and the fact it is a traffic light controlled but the red traffic lights by most are considered optional to obey for the first 5 seconds after going red. Therefore when you stop the vehicles to your left and right will continue through the red light and those behind will immediately get frustrated the damn learner in front stopped at one. It is why my test centre has the lowest fist time pass rates in the UK (34.2%) compared to best Isle of Mull at 80%.

The good news is, if you can deal with this area it sets you up well for what may follow elsewhere.

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37 minutes ago, LondonRascal said:

 It is why my test centre has the lowest fist time pass rates in the UK (34.2%) compared to best Isle of Mull at 80%.

The good news is, if you can deal with this area it sets you up well for what may follow elsewhere.

You do not have to take your test in the area you live

Book your test when you feel confident enough, in Norwich, Yarmouth anywhere,  take a couple of lessons with a driving school there and book their car for the test.

Cracked it, could be done in Norfolk in a week.

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The roundabout I hate is the one off the M11 near Stansted Airport. Going round it back on to the M11 towards Cambridge gives me palpitations:( 

As many people have already said, you really learn to drive after you have passed.

We invested in a lot of lessons for my daughter then got her a car to trundle about in. We went out most days till she got to a point where she wasnt having to think what gear to be in etc. Had a few more lessons and passed. . She had failed the first time, partly for not looking in her mirrors enough.

Her first year’s insurance was near £3000 on a  1.1 peugeot. Gulp!  I know we could of got it cheaper putting her on our policy but wanted to have her own from the start. It should reduce quite a bit after year 1.   

 

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2 hours ago, LondonRascal said:

It is why my test centre has the lowest fist time pass rates in the UK (34.2%) compared to best Isle of Mull at 80%.

 

Fancy a week's trip to Mull in independence?

Due to the huge backlog when I was taking the test I was offered other test centres , but being in the RAF and training at the time I could not get the time off to go elsewhere.

Mull is a nice place, not much traffic, no roundabouts, no dual carriageways, but you'd better be good at hill starts...and dodging sheep.

 

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No disrespect Robin but that is one of the easier Roundabouts in London, I wish I had a pound for every time I have been round it, if you are having that much of a problem maybe you need to look at your road sense and lane appraisal rather than your instructors ability.

Fred 

 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, FairTmiddlin said:

You do not have to take your test in the area you live

Book your test when you feel confident enough, in Norwich, Yarmouth anywhere,  take a couple of lessons with a driving school there and book their car for the test.

Cracked it, could be done in Norfolk in a week.

Exactly how hard can it be ? .

The 80% pass rate on the isle of mull made me laugh , so both of them passed who failed the sleep ?  

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Fred, Robin didn't make any mention of the instructor's ability, a tad harsh that comment, I thought. Every learner has mountains to climb that in retrospect look lower than they did at the time, it's part of learning. 

My own driving instructor was so scary-fierce if you made a mistake that had I not passed first time, I doubt I'd have ever gone back. He also had non PC rhymes/mnemonics for lots of routines which still occasionally come back after over 40 years. Some were very funny.

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4 hours ago, LondonRascal said:

The Great Cambridge Roundabout:

Gt Cambridge .jpg

The problem with this is it will always feature in the test here. The examiners however will randomly select which road you approach the roundabout from so that the student will not have gone over many practices from one to get it perfect come the day. Some of the approaches are easier than others, but what does not change is the unforgiving 'London driver' and the fact it is a traffic light controlled but the red traffic lights by most are considered optional to obey for the first 5 seconds after going red. Therefore when you stop the vehicles to your left and right will continue through the red light and those behind will immediately get frustrated the damn learner in front stopped at one. It is why my test centre has the lowest fist time pass rates in the UK (34.2%) compared to best Isle of Mull at 80%.

The good news is, if you can deal with this area it sets you up well for what may follow elsewhere.

Don't convince yourself into thinking you are being given the mother of all driving tests. There are many many many strange road layouts in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow , to name just a few. 

It's very much a London thing , I think. Centre of the universe mentally. 

Its actually easier driving in big cities, the traffic flow is so slow , you have an age to decide your next action . Trust me, there are aggressive drivers in every city , town and village If you convince yourself you are going to get it tougher than anyone else , then you create a hurdle before you even start.

Good luck

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35 minutes ago, Polly said:

Fred, Robin didn't make any mention of the instructor's ability, a tad harsh that comment, I thought. Every learner has mountains to climb that in retrospect look lower than they did at the time, it's part of learning. 

My own driving instructor was so scary-fierce if you made a mistake that had I not passed first time, I doubt I'd have ever gone back. He also had non PC rhymes/mnemonics for lots of routines which still occasionally come back after over 40 years. Some were very funny.

Polly as I know the area well I was trying to be constructive, he mentioned changing instructors several times in earlier posts but sometimes you need a reality check and to look at why things are not working out as you wish.

Fred

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38 minutes ago, Wonderwall said:

Don't convince yourself into thinking you are being given the mother of all driving tests. There are many many many strange road layouts in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow , to name just a few. 

It's very much a London thing , I think. Centre of the universe mentally. 

Its actually easier driving in big cities, the traffic flow is so slow , you have an age to decide your next action . Trust me, there are aggressive drivers in every city , town and village If you convince yourself you are going to get it tougher than anyone else , then you create a hurdle before you even start.

Good luck

Well said there are plenty roads outside of London that are just as tricky , the centre of the universe it is not and yes I'm qualified to say that having lived there to say nothing of all the times worked there , if that's a bad roundabout then try marble arch at rush hr n even that's a step down from some places in the UK never mind European city's , the driving test isn't there to catch out the learner driver , its there to make sure you are capable of driving anywhere safely , learning to drive should really be called learning to pass the driving test , learning to drive happens when you pass that test .

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Quote

if you are having that much of a problem maybe you need to look at your road sense and lane appraisal rather than your instructors ability.

Some background: I last had a lesson in July 2017. I have had in all 9 hours of tuition. Not much at all really I don't claim to know how to drive at all.

I have attempted to go around the Great Cambridge roundabout twice. This is the first and only roundabout I have ever dealt with so far - no mini ones no smaller ones just this one.

The first time I encountered it I think was about the third lesson - this went wrong because we were approaching in the middle lane and were stopped at the first set of traffic lights letting traffic filter in from the left (see photo)

Round.jpg

While stationary my instructor suddenly says we should head towards Brent Cross (first exit) and the lights change. I felt really under pressure all of a sudden to try and move over to the exit, so instead I carried on around. If you did that in the test - e.g you were asked to take the first exit but took the second, you would be fine because you carried out the manoeuvrer safely it is not about necessarily following the route as far safer to do such than panic,and at worst stop or try and force your way over just to carry out the instruction.

The second time we approached from a different direction and I confess this may be me because I am more used to the term 'first exit' or 'second exit' which is what a sat nav would say, she would say 'take the next exit' as we entered the roundabout. Well in my mind I think which is that - even if sounds so obvious it being the next one..Anyway, there are videos on you tube on how to approach and deal with this and a lot of course notes about it because so many learners do have issue with it and because it is the top failure reason on the test from the test centre is making a dangerous error and all this further goes to almsot make the roundabout as the big bad boggie man of the roads.

Other reasons I gave up with my last instructor was her talking (messaging) her husband on WhatsApp a lot of the time and me having to ask "shall I go left or right at the end of the road" and her looking up and being suddenly on the spot as what we should do, to being late for lessons but wanting to rush them along - no lesson plans etc so I just used my paid for hours up and stopped.

Since then I did my theory and passed but also since then the driving test last December got longer and harder - great. I am now though all together more keen, motivated and focused. Maybe it is because I have had to have the car serviced and have an MOT,  pay the insurance and so far put £184.68 worth of fuel in it and as yet not actually driven it in a year but just be driven around in it about 4 or 5 times the most recent trip up to Norfolk.

I've also opted not to go with a manual this time - I got used to the clutch but the car is an auto and I certainly never intend to buy a manual and the way things are looking with hybrid and electric coming more and more mainstream and all being automatic the long term future of the manual car seems short - just as it is for the mechanical handbrake - how can you demonstrate hill starts when modern cars automatically hold the car while you let out the clutch when senses you are on an incline!

The only good thing is I am far from a young 'boy racer' give me soft and ponderous any day over fast and furious lol.

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One thing that can help drivers,who have difficulty putting all the skills together, is taking an automatic only test.This removes most of the work involved in changing gears and clutch.It then leaves the driver free to concentrate on the other skills needed.Maybe the way to go if having trouble passing the test.

paul

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certainly if you are driving in London, Automatic is the way to go, driving a manual in London is hard work and tiring on the clutch foot, if I needed to do a lot of inner city driving I would get an automatic as that makes the stop start nature of the driving a lot easier.

Also as your stated aim is soft and ponderous, an automatic will make that a lot easier (dont leave it in sports mode accidentally though.)

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