Safe Speed Forums

Looking back today in a bit of a traffic jam I was remembering just what a fantastic day passing my test was. It's easy to forget when you've been driving for awhile doing the mundance commuting what a huge change getting a licence - and a first car was.

I was taught to drive mainly by my dad, with a few proffesional lessons to 'polish off'. Contrary to a lot of people's expierence learning with my dad was great, he was very patient and a damn good teacher. I feel I probably would have passed without the proffesional lessons, but he insisted to make sure. About a week previous to my test date I'd made possibly an erroneous mistake and bought a car, a 1992 1600 Ford Escort. I say it was possibly a mistake because I felt under much more pressure to pass, knowing that I could jump into my now gleaming motor that same day.

I had the first test of the day at about 8.40 I think, which was perhaps good because the traffic was heavy and we didn't get as far as normal. Overall it was probably one of the worst drives I'd done in a long while, almost stalling it at a roundabout by leaving it in 3rd I rekon though that that took some pressure off, as I thought I'd failed. Thankfully however I passed, first time! I got it insured straight away and off I went! I thought I'd splash out on a full tank of petrol in the naive belief that it was going to last about a month That same day I drove anywhere and everywhere, to the point of visting some rather distant relatives just becase I could! It was a hoot though, out on my own, my first real freedom without being tied to timetables! Went down well with the ladies at college as well

36 hours later the needle was in the red.

Apologies if you were expecting a point to this post, there isn't one, I was just thinking back to probably one of the best days of my life, and wondered what others felt about passing theirs?

Well I started driving tractors when I was about ten years old, then had a variety of off-road motorbikes which I used to play around with on the land around the farm.

Thus when I was old enough to ride on the road I truly believed I already knew it all. Off I went on my 17th birthday armed with a provisional licence, a set of L plates and an elderly, ratty aircooled Yamaha RD250.

I learned my basic roadcraft the VERY hard way over the ensuing months, which was how it was in those days. I shudder when I look back! Then I got "caught out" by not getting round to taking my test before the 125cc restrictions came in the following year. I had to put my beloved 250 into storage and borrowed a 100cc bike which I took my (by now two part) test on. The first part was a joke to anyone that could actually ride a bike, though in hindsight the training course was excellent.

The day finally came for the second part, which was the "on the road" bit with the instructor sending you off round the block and observing from the roadside! After the first lap he pulled me over and pointed out that the indicators weren't flashing properly. This was due to the pathetic 6 volt electrical system of the bike combined with a slightly weak battery - whenever the thing dropped back to tickover there wasn't enough voltage to make the bimetal indicator relay flash. I said I was happy to complete the test using hand-signals but he refused, saying that if he did so he would be encouraging me to use a defective vehicle, with which he told me to book another test, turned on his heel and walked off.

To say I was angry was the understatement of the century. How I survived the 20 mile trip home without mishap is one of life's great mysteries, as it was all undertaken at Vmax or close to it!

Booked the re-test, swapped bikes with a mate who had a newer model with better electrics and passed with flying colours. I still remember the glorious feeling with which I went home and wheeled my other bike back out. Fantastic!

Two years later I bought a car - a beat-up old Vauxhall Viva HB. I had six driving lessons with a local instructor and booked my test. Meanwhile I got the car taxed, MoT'd and insured with the unshakeable confidence of youth, that the test would be a foregone conclusion.

I remember zooming round the test route in what my instructor later told me was a record time. He was convinced I'd failed and the examiner had curtailed the test, but I guess I must have simply been "making progress" . In truth I had about 8 years experience at "driving things" and a couple of years hard-earned roadcraft skills, so I suppose a fail would have been a bit of an embarrassment.

As it was I came home to find that my elder sister had generously booked a table at a pub for a celebratory meal. Whilst I remember appreciating the gesture, it was killing me to sit there when all I wanted to do was drive my car without a qualified passenger as "going solo" was the most amazing feeling in the world at that moment. In hindsight it was pretty brave of her to accompany me anyway, as the pub in question was the Masons Arms at Strawberry Bank, so she had to sit next to the amazingly over-confident and newly qualified JT flexing his new-found skills over the infamous "Gummers How" road!

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It was August 1988 when I passed Mine. I can't remember much about It to be honest, Only at the end when he told me I had passed The3 other attempts before that were pretty mediocre I had one Examiner twice

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RoADA Member -GOLD 2008
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.

OK - like JT grew up in the countryside (Hawes) and drove farm vehicles around. Prior to that terrorised the whole area with home made bogey go-karts

Aged 17 - got my provisional licence and had my first lessons. My folks did what I did with my eldest and will do with the twins later - they booked lessons en bloc and my birthday is in the long summer break so that was a bonus.

The Head at my school had sent a letter home in the summer term clamping down on missed lessons for driving tests! so I applied for my test on the day my provisional arrived and my mum kept calling for the centre to get a date - and managed to get one the day before term started....only she never told me about it. I rememebr the day clearly as she breezed into my bedroom at some ungodly hour in the morning when I wanted my final long lie-in and whipped off the bed clothes and told to to hurry up and get dressed as I had an important appointment. When I queried this - she just smiled and said - driving test. I do not think I've ever woken to full alertness that quickly before or since. In desperation I tried to recall the Highway Code and though after just 5 weeks I'm gonna regret this.

We drove to the centre - I'm feeling calm at this point. We enter the waiting room and my examiner comes out. My mother notes the other two instructor appear to look "relieved" and my guy does my eye test and abruptly tells me to get in the car. I open the passenger door for him and make sure it's closed properly and then get in the driver's seat where I lokked at him and asked him to put on his seat belt as the brakes on this thing defy all stopping distance and he;d hit the screen in the emergency bit. He complies with a grunt (this is pre 82). We set off - he directs. He says "Take the next turning on the left" I went through a very notable MSM routine and turned at the next left. Only... it was someone's drive! I say "oops" and do reverse out. I do not dare catch his eye as I can see he's trying not to laugh here We continue and at the emerency stop bit he even remarked that he saw what I meant!

I passed! and after driving my mum back home - I went out on a solo and it was bliss.

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My test in Germany was different to UK. We had written test which has always included First Aid und Basic Car Mechanics in the questions.

Passed the written bit with flying colours und proceeded to the practical German driving test has a motorway drive und no A/bahn was limited when I took my test Und they did not restrict the speed either for learners at the time. Now ist 80 mph equiv for learners regardless of where tested.


Anyway - my test began with a move off from the car park und onto a main shopping road for a parallel park test. Und then around the residential und quieter roads to prove vehicle handling - reverse around the corner, three point turn und the emergency brake test. Then back onto a busy urban and out to the motorway via a rurall road where I proved to the examiner I knew really knew how to "just test out a car " Aftre that around a 20 mph urban und more hazard prone roads und back to test centre where I had to reverse into a parking spot. Und I passed . After that I just had to go to test my motor again

Ist always been a challenging und comprehensive test which require a very precise style of using all mirrors und proving COAST! skills

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Je ne regrette rien!

The examiner said 'I'm pleased to tell you that you have passed the driving test'

I said, beaming, 'I suppose I should kiss you or something now'

he declined my offer.

excellent june day, straight down the beach in the vening with a youn g lady in my parent's montego mayfair 2.0efi!!!!

Test One after taking 4 hours lessons in a Datsun 1200Y, 30 minutes in an old Mini, passed, despite initially having to move off in 2nd gear because 1st gear was jammed up. Reversing round a corner was done round a right hander.

Test Two, a weeks solid training in an Army issue Bedford TK, Failed, through overconfidence mainly, passed second attempt, despite breaking into a fit of giggles on seeing a huge great fat woman jogging along the footpath, and running out of air for the brakes in the middle of Aldershot.

Test Three, after a highly intensive week of classroom, workshop and road and cross country training, Passed my Track licence on an AFV 432.
This training also included repairing and maintaining the vehicle, including a thrown track or two.

Test Four, after a week of training on an Army issue Bedford TM with a close coupled DROPS trailer. Passed.

The next test I want to do is the one to drive a Denby Double.

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Semper in excreta, nur quantitat variat.

Ahh, the 432, my mate has a few of those!! www.tanks-alot.co.uk ,I purchased a Saracen from him, great for going down to the pub, even better when he takes his Abbott mot exempt and 90 quid a year fully comp, obviously doesn't have the option for a like for like courtesy vehicle.

1st test, took it in a mini, in a town I didn't know, stalled the thing as I was ready to pull out of the test centre failed!! Examiner was a grumpy so-an-so. Never ever, take your test in an older version mini.

2nd test, Nissan Bluebird, took it in Henley, all one way, was a doddle, examiner was human.

3rd test, motorcycle, took the test, no problems, made the mistake of taking my racing leathers (for racing) with abrasions all over the place, especially the knees and arse, it must have looked a picture to him. Passed at any rate. At least I took the sliders off at any rate.

first test, got 2 mins from the test centre and was rear ended at traffic lights by a moped. although he obviously didn't fail me for this I did about 5 majars after that. 'kin mopeds.

booked a second test for asap, got friday the 13th which was suprisingly empty (only two tests all day at a centre with about 7 examiners) and passed. the other kid failed.

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Fear is a weapon of mass distraction

I was rear end shunted by a bus at traffic lights during my test. The instructor told me to stay put while he had a word with the bus driver. I didn't ponder the legality of that at the time...

Brian

About all I can remember is that it was 19th September 1957 and I was really chuffed to have passed first time. The details now seem to have faded somewhat - the old memory is not what it was.

Tell you what though - I can remember what those white discs with the diagonal black stripe used to mean, and to me they still do.

Take care all,
Dave.

Like the other oldies in here, remember it was May 1966, don't remember much else except i thought i'd fluffed it when i turned right as i thought a bit close in fornt of a car coming the other way at start .thought WTF, failed now, lets give it a good go and surprise passed.

Yes, triple s - those white disks with a leaning black bar still mean the same to me., trouble is keep getting held up by the boy racers

I remember it well, March 1988. I'd been off work ill the previous two days and wasn't feeling that great. Took the test in my driving instructor's 1.0 litre Metro. It was a damp day with a lot of traffic, and it was 25 minutes of the most intense concentration I can remember.

Still, there were no near misses or dramas at all, and I passed first time. When I rejoined my instructor in the car park afterwards I think I said "I'm pleased to tell you you're fired" or something like that.

A few days later I bought my first car - my dad's old company car that was up for renewal - a VW Santana GX5. Two litres, five cylinders, fuel injection, 115 horsepower, alloy wheels, electric windows, one careful owner It was £3500 to buy, but £900 to insure - ouch! (With my nice clean record I now pay half that for a car with more than twice the power.)

It had a tricky clutch with a sharp take-up and a strong spring, making it intimidating for a novice - not enough revs and you'd stall it, too many and you felt it was quite capable of punching a VW-shaped hole in whatever was in front of you. With an engine C of G ahead of the front axle line it was also capable of terminal understeer if you approached a corner too fast, as I found out on a couple of occasions. With hindsight I think all this was a good thing, as it taught me respect. Perhaps it would improve road safety amongst the young if all new drivers, instead of being restricted to a cheap low-powered car (by insurance costs if nothing else), were instead made to drive something that scared them witless...

Well before the test I had lessons from 2 different instructors. This was not deliberate, my main instructor had to go to hospital for an operation and couldn't drive for a few weeks afterwards so her driving-instructor friend took me for a few lessons. I found this very ineresting, how they both had quite different ideas of what was most important when driving. For example, when coming to a stop at traffic lights, one got me to put the car in first gear before coming to a complete stop and then put on the handbrake, the other one insisted I came to a complete stop and put the handbrake on before touching the gear stick. I would recoment anyone having lessons to have them from 2 different people.
Early on I was shown basically how a clutch worked and was taught to do push-pull steering, which I still do now most of the time. I was taught "Always be able to stop in the distance you can see to be clear" which I thought was quite possibly the single most important thing to remember.

I remember being shown around near the test centre, in particular the not so obvious one-way street which was just around the corner from it. I was told that they had sometimes taken people along there and would say "take the next available road on the right" and had failed them for going down the wrong side!

I can't remember much of the actual test any more. (I was quite nervous at the time!) But one thing I do remember was when we stopped at a traffic light junction and there was a horse and cart going accross in front of us! The examiner made some comment about that being the way to travel I was glad that we went straight on and didn't turn right so I didn't have to overtake it!
I passed first time! I'm sure I had a couple of minor faults but I don't remember what they were now.
A few hours later once home I had to go out for a drive on my own to get used to it. The idea was very scary so I decided I would just go around the block. Once I set off I wasn't as scared and went a bit further than I had planned. The feeling of being free to go where I wanted was great.

I then did the Pass Plus course with the same 2 people who took me for my lessons. I don't remember too much of it as thinking back now it blends in with the lessons. (same people, same cars)
I do remember going for a rather long journey on the motorway and getting up to ~80 in order to overtake some vehicles rather than sitting next to them at exactally 70 for ages. I didn't get any comments about this until I got home when my instructor mentioned it to my parents in a joking kind of a way. "We'll make a boy racer out of you yet" she always use to say! I swear that's not the best advice to give 17-year-old males, but never mind. She had a good sense of humour so all good really

Oh and I almost forgot the theory test! This was in a grotty building in the centre of Bournemouth which had CCTV cameras up to watch you, with big yellow signs in case you didn't notice the cameras. The whole place had an air of un-helpfulness. I went in to the room full of mostly dodgy looking young people and did the test as carefully as I could, reading the questions twice, etc. etc. I passed with only 2 (or was it 3) questions wrong and was pleased that I never had to go there again.

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Andrew.

Johnno1066, you bad bugger, I've just wet myself looking a t this one off the tanks a lot website.
Can I share it with the rest of you please.

http://www.tanks-alot.co.uk/images/hyun ... vtank.mpeg

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Semper in excreta, nur quantitat variat.

*sniff*

seems like the most appropriate thread...

whats your thinking on supervising learner drivers?
i'm helping my wife get some practice so she's driving whenever we normally would be going places together. the advanced stuff has put me in fairly good stead for this but i do find myself stuck on technical/operational aspects, i.e. she stalls (not often) 'what am i doing wrong?' .. i have no idea, i'm not an instructor!

anyway, very proud of her, just driven midlands to wiltshite & back this weekend via fosse way mostly. on the way back today sunday drivers were holding US up! even an overtake on one of the two lane climbs, of a volvo who was going particularly slowly for unknown muppetry reasons.

does require alot of patience... and calmness.. and i won't pretend i wouldn't rather be doing the driving, cosi would, it'd be sooo much easier in some ways.... but then again she owes me 5years of not drinking & driving

I think that once a learner has mastered the basics it's very useful to get in additional practice outside formal lessons, so long as the person supervising doesn't attempt to "teach" in a contradictory way.

I was fortunate that I was able to get a lot of practice with my father and on several occasions did runs of 70-80 miles. Insurance makes that kind of thing more difficult nowadays.

I passed first time in November 1976 - the test was around a very quiet area of town and seemed easier than many of the lessons had been.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Yes, definately! I just love the way you can decide where, when and how to get somewhere and never feel tied to a time schedule. Where I live the public transport consists of five buses a day to one city and one coach a day to London. Getting anywhere else would mean changing to another bus, and before I had a car I had to walk home many times when the bus was late or the other one didn't seem exist (well over an hour's walk from the next village).

I have to admit I failed my test twice, I then went to university (well, what was Portsmouth Poly) for two years and started again when I got a job after I left, although I was driving with my parents in the mean time. My first instructor seemed ok at the time but when I started again with a new one I realised he was a bit of a plank - the new one picked up on precise key problems with my driving and fixed them in no time. I had problems with hesitancy at busy roundabouts and the old instructor didn't really do his job properly. I would definately recommend learners to dump their instructor if they aren't happy, there is certainly no shortage of them. I would also recommend people to use indepedent instructors, they are usually more experienced than the big name schools and always cheaper.

Anyway I passed the third time with about 2 minor faults. My car history in five years has been:

- 1991 Vauxhall Nova 1.2L "Luxe"
- 1987 Chevy Camaro 2.8L V6
- 1985 Chevy Camaro 5.0L V8 TPI (still own)
- 1992 Chevy Caprice 5.7L V8 (still own)
- 2002 Chevy Impala 3.8L V6 (still own)


They are (or were) run by Sylvan Prometric who do all sorts of computerised tests. I actually did mine twice - it expired by the time I took my last test. The first time you just got a pass/fail notice, the second time it was a score, and I got 100% The woman said it was quite rare, perhaps she thought I cheated! TBH the questions are really simple but if you don't "get" how they should be answered it is probably easy to get confused. My sister told me her friend failed it ten times, quite how I don't know, it would be easier to learn the full question set, I think there are only a few hundred basic questions, phrased slightly differently to give a larger set.

Gareth