Driving Test

[Numero Veinticinco]

Handbrake the fucker in. It’s America. 

[Juniper]

1 hour ago, Remmie said:

Tempted to neg you as my driving continues to be fucking terrible and I feel like I will never get to test standard let alone pass.

 

Seriously though congratulations, it must be such a relief. Not having any more driving lessons alone is worth a celebration as well as actually being able to get to places on your own steam.

I actually thought of you earlier as we were having the same issues at the same time on the previous thread (tried to find it earlier but couldn’t) 

 

Are you still taking mocks? Out of the 8 I did leading up to today I only passed the final one. Everything else I failed and it wasn’t consitant at all and at times my head dropped. One day I made one major, others I did 3 or even 6!!! Wasn’t consitant at all and I couldn’t feel the progress whatsoever. 

 

Everything came good for me when despite that (I hadn’t passed a mock at the time) I thought fuck it and booked the test.

 

Instructors are there to ready you for every eventuality as possible, never came across a convoy of cyclists on a bend in a national speed limit country route, in wet weather before today, but I knew how to deal with it from past critique from my instructor.

 

It was actually easier than I thought it would be, the pressure of the unexpected plays a massive part I think - from my own experience anyway.

 

Dont beat yourself up too much. I’ve been in a similar situations and I passed first time with only one minor (thought I’d failed it early on during the test for example). Weeks ago I thought I was months and months away from that. 

 

Keep going mate, I’ve been driving (on and off) since November 2016. Been a massive hill to climb and I’ve beaten myself up over it many days and evenings but maybe get that test booked and you may find your extra test situation ‘focus’ comes sooner than you expected. 

 

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, 3 Stacks said:

It hasn't so far, but I'll get it eventually. One more question: how far from the target car should you be when you are next to it in the beginning, and how should you be aligned with it (front mirrors aligned, back tyres etc)?

 

Because I feel like I often get it wrong at the start and I get thrown off when the target car is much smaller or bigger than my own car.

One metre approx. I always suggest lining your mirrors up with the furthest point forward of the target and then reversing until the other end of the target is in the rear passenger window (if there are two - small and large, then it should be in the large one not the small) to ensure less risk of touching the target. 

 

If the target is smaller then it will probably not take long to get it in the rear passenger window, if it's bigger it will likely take longer. Also if the furthest point back is low (for example the hood of the car) then you should reverse a little longer as the hood can end up closer than you might think to the front of your car.

 

Edit: It took me quite a while to get a set-up that would work with ANY target and this can include trucks, skips, buses, small cars, large cars and even forward parked cars. The above set-up should work with ANY vehicle.

[3 Stacks]

17 minutes ago, Shooter in the Motor said:

One metre approx. I always suggest lining your mirrors up with the furthest point forward of the target and then reversing until the other end of the target is in the rear passenger window (if there are two - small and large, then it should be in the large one not the small) to ensure less risk of touching the target. 

 

If the target is smaller then it will probably not take long to get it in the rear passenger window, if it's bigger it will likely take longer. Also if the furthest point back is low (for example the hood of the car) then you should reverse a little longer as the hood can end up closer than you might think to the front of your car.

 

Edit: It took me quite a while to get a set-up that would work with ANY target and this can include trucks, skips, buses, small cars, large cars and even forward parked cars. The above set-up should work with ANY vehicle.

Thanks for answering. Appreciate it. 

[Juniper]

Also Rem, I started using 'Kalms day' in the last couple of weeks. Helps with the anxiety and the eventual brain farts a lot, if you can take them

 

Helps settle the nerves a bit so you're not worrying so much about things, even such as if you did a chuffing safety check correctly!!!!

 

Keep at it, you'll get there. Trust me. 

[Remmie]

1 hour ago, Juniper said:

I actually thought of you earlier as we were having the same issues at the same time on the previous thread (tried to find it earlier but couldn’t) 

 

Are you still taking mocks? Out of the 8 I did leading up to today I only passed the final one. Everything else I failed and it wasn’t consitant at all and at times my head dropped. One day I made one major, others I did 3 or even 6!!! Wasn’t consitant at all and I couldn’t feel the progress whatsoever. 

 

Everything came good for me when despite that (I hadn’t passed a mock at the time) I thought fuck it and booked the test.

 

Instructors are there to ready you for every eventuality as possible, never came across a convoy of cyclists on a bend in a national speed limit country route, in wet weather before today, but I knew how to deal with it from past critique from my instructor.

 

It was actually easier than I thought it would be, the pressure of the unexpected plays a massive part I think - from my own experience anyway.

 

Dont beat yourself up too much. I’ve been in a similar situations and I passed first time with only one minor (thought I’d failed it early on during the test for example). Weeks ago I thought I was months and months away from that. 

 

Keep going mate, I’ve been driving (on and off) since November 2016. Been a massive hill to climb and I’ve beaten myself up over it many days and evenings but maybe get that test booked and you may find your extra test situation ‘focus’ comes sooner than you expected. 

 

 

40 minutes ago, Juniper said:

Also Rem, I started using 'Kalms day' in the last couple of weeks. Helps with the anxiety and the eventual brain farts a lot, if you can take them

 

Helps settle the nerves a bit so you're not worrying so much about things, even such as if you did a chuffing safety check correctly!!!!

 

Keep at it, you'll get there. Trust me. 

Cheers mate, I have had shit loads of mock tests and still not passed one. Got close a couple times, one of my most recent ones in fact and it was driving home I made a really bad serious fault that knocked my confidence despite the rest of the mock test being good. I just seem to go through cycles of making different recurring faults, correcting them and then fucking something else up, a few weeks later repeat fault number one. Manouvres are so frustrating, they should be easy and are if I take my time and remember everything but still fuck it up consistently. Also hate big roundabouts with the lane changing at the right time, that is so confusing in Milton Keynes at least. I reckon they are fine in normal driving conditions because if you make a mistake you can just exit on the right hand lane, but they have to be just so in test conditions.

 

Haven't had a lesson in a month as I cancelled them all and my test due to being made redundant and I've absolutely loved not having lessons every week. When everything is settled and I get a new job, I'll do an intensive course with a test booked. I feel bad for my instructor as I will need to go with another one to do intensive but it's probably a good idea just to hear from a fresh perspective.

 

Will definitely try the kalms as I'm not usually anxious in the slightest but driving lessons seem to have that affect on me which in turn affects my memory & performance when driving. That's mad when I think about it as it's affected me more than having major surgery, maintaining a relationship with my then girlfriend when she was living in Ukraine, been through becoming a father with a testing labour and my dad having a stroke and kidney failure and coped with all situations far better than something as innocuous as learning to drive. The ironic thing is the more relaxed I am the better I drive as a rule, but then miss sign posts or speed or something with less focus.

 

Why aren't their driving simulators (or if their are, why are they not more commonplace), surely they'd be cheaper than lessons and would supplement the real experience?

[Juniper]

2 hours ago, Remmie said:

 

Cheers mate, I have had shit loads of mock tests and still not passed one. Got close a couple times, one of my most recent ones in fact and it was driving home I made a really bad serious fault that knocked my confidence despite the rest of the mock test being good. I just seem to go through cycles of making different recurring faults, correcting them and then fucking something else up, a few weeks later repeat fault number one. Manouvres are so frustrating, they should be easy and are if I take my time and remember everything but still fuck it up consistently. Also hate big roundabouts with the lane changing at the right time, that is so confusing in Milton Keynes at least. I reckon they are fine in normal driving conditions because if you make a mistake you can just exit on the right hand lane, but they have to be just so in test conditions.

 

Haven't had a lesson in a month as I cancelled them all and my test due to being made redundant and I've absolutely loved not having lessons every week. When everything is settled and I get a new job, I'll do an intensive course with a test booked. I feel bad for my instructor as I will need to go with another one to do intensive but it's probably a good idea just to hear from a fresh perspective.

 

Will definitely try the kalms as I'm not usually anxious in the slightest but driving lessons seem to have that affect on me which in turn affects my memory & performance when driving. That's mad when I think about it as it's affected me more than having major surgery, maintaining a relationship with my then girlfriend when she was living in Ukraine, been through becoming a father with a testing labour and my dad having a stroke and kidney failure and coped with all situations far better than something as innocuous as learning to drive. The ironic thing is the more relaxed I am the better I drive as a rule, but then miss sign posts or speed or something with less focus.

 

Why aren't their driving simulators (or if their are, why are they not more commonplace), surely they'd be cheaper than lessons and would supplement the real experience?

Sorry to hear about your redundancy, I hope you get something sorted ASAP.

 

Honestly, most of what you typed there was true for me until the last mock. 

 

Everything would be going great and then I’d forget one basic thing to fuck it all up. For example in a past Mock I was about 500 yards from the end, for some reason I thought I was in second gear approaching a junction but I was actually in 4th. Of course I stalled it and failed. 

 

Like you said about the anxiety, I’d agree. I’m a really calm person but driving is like nothing else I’ve ever done, probably the only thing I can remember that’s caused me anxiety in my life. I can normally deal with pressure very well. Which is why I’ve struggled I think as I’m not used to that feeling. Now that I’ve passed that’s given me a major boost that I can and have done it and to no longer doubt myself too much.

 

The kalms helped me settle down a lot though. Have never used anything like that before but they did work. 

 

Same with roundabouts, we have an unsually high number of them in Basingstoke and the whole procedure of navigating rounabouts is something I’ve struggled with as I’ve second doubted myself a lot. For example on Monday I was getting mixed up about exiting on the left lane after turning right on a major roundabout (even though I’ve covered it for nearly a couple of years!!) had to go through it and nearly learn it again in terms of memorising the steps as I felt like I knew it but couldn’t visualise it anymore.

 

Also, navigating the lanes on major roundabouts only came together fully and consistently after I booked in the test as I had a focus to try and finally nail it. I’d start to slightly panic in the past as soon as I knew I was coming up to one for the fear of fucking it up/causing an accident. 

 

Nailed the hardest one we have here earlier so it just goes to show. Didn’t panic also as I was just determined as hell to pass. 

 

Until recently each time I made a mistake I knew it before my instructor said anything which made it even more frustrating!!

 

Again, all that stuff I’d put it down to a pressurised situation where even the most practiced or simple things seem harder work - which is sounds like a similar thing for you. 

 

Often thought that if there was some sort of VR with fully feeling actions (ie you could feel the hands and feet in action with someone else driving) that would help learners ‘feel’ what they need to do but I guess it doesn’t cover every eventuality of being safe on the roads with the unexpected and planning ahead. 

 

 

When you’re able to get straight back on it, it’s annoying as hell when you’re in that Period of progress not going how you’d like it but it’s really all worth it when it finally all comes together. 

 

For me it all changed when the end was in sight.

 

Fingers crossed for you and if you need any advice when you get back on it just send me a message mate. Will be happy to help if I can.