driving lessons

[Mel]

This has Nothing to do with towing, but please help anyway. My daughter needs to learn to drive but works quite long hours and so weekly lessons are tricky to fit in. She is thinking about one of these intensive courses when she has a holiday. Question: are these 40 hour (or similar) courses any good? She is a complete beginner and we are not a well co-ordinated family so she is not going to be a "natural". Anyone had any exeriences of these courses that they can share. BTW I already know how much they cost (goes pale and trembles) but if they do the job it may be cheaper in the long run.

Thanks in advance

mel

 

[smiley]

My daughter bought a car and we sat in. With lessons so expensive its an alternative

 

[Guest]

They can work but it depends very much on the person being taught. If they are a fast learner and they enjoy intense learning then fine but most people need time between lessons to let the skills and knowledge stick.

There is also another aspect to it... getting test slots can be difficult on intensive courses. The DVLA don't give priority to intensive courses and so unless you book weeks in advance you might have to wait to take the test at the end of the course.

I would recommend intensive courses but if that is how you want to do it then it can work.

BTW I am training to become a driving instructor (ADI) at the moment so no expert but have discussed this very topic with experienced ADIs on other forums! When I qualify I will not be keen on offering intensive courses but some people want it so I will do them of course.

Remember this though... no one can guarantee you will pass at the end of the coure so question any pass guarantees offered.

 

[602]

Hi,

Somewhere in my atic, I have a copy of What Bike magazine from many years ago. I kept this one because it has an article about someone learning to ride a motor cycle.

They found a volunteer who had never had his leg across a saddle, and enrolled him on one of those intense courses. He passed his test at the end of the course. He reported that riding a Honda Fireblade with L-plates earned him some funny looks.

Would you like me to see if I can find the magazine, copy you the article?

On my son's 17th birthday, we booked him a "free trial lesson". I told the instructor to forget the formal lesson, just take him up the Valley, give him his head. Son returned, smile from ear to ear ...... said he'd got up to 55mph. After that, it was back to basics. But I think that first lesson gave him a bit of confidence.

602

 

[602]

Oh yes,

My son says the best bit of advice I ever gave him was to ignore how far his NSF corner was from the kerb, but to concentrate on how far HE was from the kerb.

602

 

[602]

Hi,

Sorry me again.

Once upon a time you could join Civil Defence, and they would teach you to drive, at their expense. But no more. How about the TAs?

602

 

[Guest]

Oh yes,

My son says the best bit of advice I ever gave him was to ignore how far his NSF corner was from the kerb, but to concentrate on how far HE was from the kerb.

602

That is fair enough but most people benefit from having reference points with which to judge distance and position. I don't want to get into a detailed discussion regarding learning to drive on this forum... not the right place IMO, but reference points are a vitally important component to allowing a learner driver to judge they position on the road and during manoeuvres... it is not a good idea to ignore them and they can be a great help to experienced drivers too who don't usually need them, especially when parking. Mind you,everyone is different and if they don't work for you then don't use them!!!

 

[smiley]

My son did the weeks motorbike course having never been on one.. He passed with 1 fault. Mind you he passed his driving test in my old escort and passed with 2 faults he was most indigant.

My daughter bought her car and 20 weeks later passed her test.

 

[Mel]

Thanks everyone. I have reservations too, snax. I suspect that she won't pass at the end of an intensive course but it might give her a fast start and shorten the process.

thanks again

mel

 

[Guest]

Fair enough Mel... you never know so don't be too surprised if she did pass. You can never tell until she tries...

 

[Steve L]

Intensive coarses are good, but there can be no substitute for gaining experience through road miles and often the pupil is more at ease with a patent at their side.

My daughter is a natural driver. By that I mean that overtwo years that she was on L plates she had to stop driving for operations three times and even after months of no driving she went back to the car with perfect clutch control and accuracy etc.

As she is a nervous person around strangers, we paid for her to have intensive half day lessons (3) and the last one finished with her taking her test and passing first time.

I've trained her on motorway driving (AIM & ROSPA trained myself), which I firmly should be included in the driving test as 80% of drivers I see on the M5 need to be issued with a ticket for driving without due care and attention. As a motorway driver you need 20/20 forward vision , eyes in your a**e and ears for radar's.

She now drives to a high standard and safely which gives me peace of mind as she travels the M5, M49 and M4 between Taunton and Hereford which is about 75% motorway/dual carriageway.

Bets of luck.

Steve L.

 

[Dustydog]

"I've trained her on motorway driving (AIM & ROSPA trained myself), which I firmly should be included in the driving test as 80% of drivers I see on the M5 need to be issued with a ticket for driving without due care and attention. "

Steve ,

I did the IAM test 25 years ago and went on to become an Observer. I think your sentiments are well founded.

However, I suspect the average learner will not be interested particularly where restraint is required eg not exceeding the speed limits after passing the standard test.

If there was one thing I learnt well from the IAM was observation. If more people were aware of what was going on around them then I suggest it is possible fewer accidents would happen.

Maybe if Mel's daughter did an intensive course closely followed by the IAM Test she may have the foundation for a good attitude to driving for the rest of her life. Personally quickie courses are not for me. Experience is the key.

Cheers

Dustydog

 

[602]

Hi,

I started driving just after the Suez crisis, when HMG decreed that you didn't need to be accompanied ...... no point in wasting petrol on driving lessons. Wonderful! I had three lessons with BSM, to learn how to go round corners without the tyres squealing. Passed first time in Dad's 1935 Austin 10. Passed again the following year in a RAF Bedford RL 4x4 7-tonner, mixing it with the trams in Blackpool.

I taught my wife to drive in a 1951 Sunbeam Talbot 90 in Penang. continued when we returned to UK. I tried to book her into BSM, but they started to chunter about assessing her disability, so dropped that idea. We found a school that would teach her in an unadapted car, so she had one professional lesson. She took her test in West Croydon in a rusty Mini that she drove for the first time the day before. Passed first time, but restricted to Motor Car and Motor Tricycle (since lifted).

After my son had had half a dozen lessons, I took over for a few weeks, then back to school for another half dozen lessons, after which he passed first time. He taught six of his mates to drive....five passed first time, and the other never passed.

But I, my wife, and my son, have all had spectacular "incidents", though we all have full NCBs and clean licences, so perhaps best to do as I say, not as I do.

DO NOT TEACH YOUR WIFE TO DRIVE! She will claim executive authority!

602

 

[emmerson2]

More years ago than I want to remember, Herself booked 6 two hour lessons for Sunday afternons, then on the days in between, I sat in with her while she practised what she'd learnt on the Sunday. Pass first time six weeks later. Sadly, no longer fit to drive.

 

[Steve L]

FAO Dusty.

I totally agree that intensive coarses are no substitute for hours of training and gaining experience.

However, in certain circumstances they do have their place. For example my daughter is uneasy having a stranger sat in the car but settles down after an hour or so. By using the intensive training method, she had become accustomed to different people being in the car as she also had two instructors. When it came to the exam, she didn't notice the difference and showed her true driving capability.

In total contrast, I took a five day intensive HGV class 1 coarse and passed after 2nd test ( not Mr perfect all the time), despite only driving 7 1/2 tonners before. This would not recomend as you are trained in an empty lorry and take your teast in the same way. There is no comparison at all between that and a fully loaded 44 tonner. I would compare them to a canoe and a super tanker in manouverability and weight transfer.

Even today with air assisted everything and tiptronic gears etc, driving a truck is a skilled job. But go back 30 years or so to the old crash box gear boxes (no synchromesh)and it was an art.

In nutshell, it's horses for coarses and lets not forget that its the next 3-4 decades that gives you the experience of driving life.

Steve L.

 

[Steve L]

FAO Dusty.

I totally agree that intensive coarses are no substitute for hours of training and gaining experience.

However, in certain circumstances they do have their place. For example my daughter is uneasy having a stranger sat in the car but settles down after an hour or so. By using the intensive training method, she had become accustomed to different people being in the car as she also had two instructors. When it came to the exam, she didn't notice the difference and showed her true driving capability.

In total contrast, I took a five day intensive HGV class 1 coarse and passed after 2nd test ( not Mr perfect all the time), despite only driving 7 1/2 tonners before. This would not recomend as you are trained in an empty lorry and take your teast in the same way. There is no comparison at all between that and a fully loaded 44 tonner. I would compare them to a canoe and a super tanker in manouverability and weight transfer.

Even today with air assisted everything and tiptronic gears etc, driving a truck is a skilled job. But go back 30 years or so to the old crash box gear boxes (no synchromesh)and it was an art.

In nutshell, it's horses for coarses and lets not forget that its the next 3-4 decades that gives you the experience of driving life.

Steve L.

 

[Steve L]

FAO Dusty.

I totally agree that intensive coarses are no substitute for hours of training and gaining experience.

However, in certain circumstances they do have their place. For example my daughter is uneasy having a stranger sat in the car but settles down after an hour or so. By using the intensive training method, she had become accustomed to different people being in the car as she also had two instructors. When it came to the exam, she didn't notice the difference and showed her true driving capability.

In total contrast, I took a five day intensive HGV class 1 coarse and passed after 2nd test ( not Mr perfect all the time), despite only driving 7 1/2 tonners before. This would not recomend as you are trained in an empty lorry and take your teast in the same way. There is no comparison at all between that and a fully loaded 44 tonner. I would compare them to a canoe and a super tanker in manouverability and weight transfer.

Even today with air assisted everything and tiptronic gears etc, driving a truck is a skilled job. But go back 30 years or so to the old crash box gear boxes (no synchromesh)and it was an art.

In nutshell, it's horses for coarses and lets not forget that its the next 3-4 decades that gives you the experience of driving life.

Steve L.

See what I mean !? Tapped the scroll pad twice. Doh.

 

[Dustydog]

See what I mean !? Tapped the scroll pad twice. Doh.

Never mind Steve

It's when you mix up the accelerator and brake pedals you need to worry!

Cheers

Dustydog

 

[Mel]

Thanks for all your input. We'll probably go for a bit of a mix. Something "semi intensive" when she next has a holiday to give her a kick start, then follow up lessons to give her more experience and her dad taking her out as well. No point me taking her, I am such a nervous passenger, I would have her reduced to a gibbering wreck before we got to the end of the road!

thanks again

mel

 

[smiley]

Here we go then

When my son passed his test in my car.

Running in with that gleeful grin "I've passed I've passed"

then running out to tell his girlfriends and friends.

As I watched my son walk out the door now a driver.

I turned to the window watched him go in is extied state.

Then calmly picked up the phone, rang my insurance and gave them the good news.

Then promptly had him taken off my insurance!!!!

Oh I should have said my daughter passed her test 10 weeks later.