When you were learning to drive...

[whitevanman88]

did your instructor 'teach you to pass the test' or 'teach you to drive'?

I passed in 2006 with an ADI level 6 chappy, and before he booked my test we had covered bits and pieces like 'arrow points' and - what I now realise are - some advanced driving techniques. We had a few very 'spirited' drives through A/B roads and overall, it set me up very well for my IAM test a few months later.

I have no doubt that if I had learned to 'pass the test' I wouldn't be half the driver I am now, mostly because some of the advanced techniques he explained to me sparked a further interest in my own driving. Incidentally I went on to do 'pass plus' with the same instructor - that was fun! Had a great time.

So, do you think that having a more in-depth experience as a learner helped you to (or interested you...) take your driving skills further?

[This Side Down]

whitevanman88 said:

So, do you think that having a more in-depth experience as a learner helped you to (or interested you...) take your driving skills further?

For me, yes.

However the issue here is most people aren't interested in advanced driving techniques or furthering their driving skill/ability. They only want to pass their test and get their licence, then they are free to do whatever they please.

They just don't "get" advanced driving, and as such, they don't really care about it/are not interested in it.

[whitevanman88]

I agree with you completely. I must say I always had the view to 'passing my test' only, and simply went with the instructor that lived just down the road. I will say that it was down to him that I became interested in furthering my driving ability. If I had learned with any other instructor then I probably wouldn't have become interested in it.

I do know other people who learned with the same instructor who were not instructed in the various bits and bobs I was; and simply were instructed how to pass their test. Surprisingly, these chaps also took many more lessons to pass.

Edited by whitevanman88 on Thursday 31st December 18:22

[davepoth]

My instructor was pretty good and realised fairly early on that I was quite interested in learning about how it all worked (proud to say I didn't stall at all on my first lesson) so when we were out and about he was always explaining things like how to overtake properly, which is certainly useful especially when driving a learner car with no power at all.

I went on to do pass-plus with the same instructor which was also very handy since he taught things like parking in car park bays.

[reggie82]

whitevanman88 said:

we had covered bits and pieces like 'arrow points' and - what I now realise are - some advanced driving techniques.

What's an 'arrow point'? Is it just another name for 'limit point' or something totally different?

Or am I just very hungover and being stupid?

[Nigel Worc's]

Its all so very different now, or at least the perception is.

I was "given" a driving licence (car & hgv 3) with very very minimal instruction (round the airfield, quick trip to the naffi etc), whilst serving in the armed forces.

I did pass a civvy bike test before that, by riding "around the block" with the civvy examiner on foot observing me somehow, in Redditch, whilst on leave.

I've just assisted my daughter pass her test, she's undergone far far more training than I did, adi stuff, daddy stuff,& pass plus.

Yet despite all her training, and the absolute lack of training for my age group, we still percieve todays youngsters as poor drivers.

Why is this ?

Do we instantly expect them to have all the experience we have ?

They also seem unable to make mistakes and learn from them, so improving themselves, without being fined and given points, it was endorsements in my day, but they weren't handed out like they are now, very few people had any.

I'm unsure how or even why we have ended up as we have.

[reggie82]

Nigel Worc's said:

They also seem unable to make mistakes and learn from them, so improving themselves, without being fined and given points

That's a good point. About 10 years ago one of my friend had his first accident within a year of passing his test. What happened is that he came around a blind country road bend and there was a cyclist in the middle of the road, with a car coming the opposite direction he couldn't go around the bike so had to brake. In an old car on a damp road covered with leaves the wheels instantly locked up and we skidded across the road head on into the on coming car. He wasn't driving that fast and although the car was written off everyone was ok.

End result was 6 points for driving without due care and attention and he therefore lose his driving licence. Now of course the accident was his fault i'm not defending that. But losing his license seemed a bit harsh to me, as it was his inexperience that caused the crash rather than his attitude.

Especially when a month later some middle aged tosser pulled out in front of me on my moped and could have killed me - he didn't get anything at all!

[Mrs Muttleysnoop]

Passed my test in 1968.

Edit to say I drove the 'Ring October 2008 at the grand old age of 58.

Edited by Mrs Muttleysnoop on Friday 1st January 20:04

[Ten Ninety]

My instructor definitely taught me to 'drive' rather than pass the test. Mind you, in 1989 there wasn't much in the test to be taught for anyway. No parallel parking, no theory test, even reversing round a corner wasn't always tested. My test lasted 10 minutes, as the examiner wanted to get back to the office to watch the cricket. Almost all of my mates passed theirs first time, including one who drove the wrong way up a one-way street (the examiner apparently let him off because he'd said 'take the next left' instead of 'take the next available left').

So, I think most examiners back then were probably teaching 'driving' rather than how to pass. I'm not sure that it helped anyone though. Every single one of my aforementioned mates wrote off their cars within 6 months of passing, escaping injury only through absolute blind luck. I was the only one not to crash, not because I was in any way a better driver, but simply because I didn't have my own car and the consequences of damaging my mother's Renault 5 were sufficient to encourage a very careful approach!

[RobM77]

I was taught to drive. I was ready for the test quite soon, but due to trouble booking a test we went beyond that and rounded things off (I was 17 years and 8 months when I took my test, and I started having lessons pretty much straight after my birthday). To be honest, the greatest benefit to my driving was practise and the application of common sense and thought to what was going on over the following years. I believe that there's a maximum rate one can progress properly by at any skill; some things take time and you need to consolidate skills before moving on. The three or four years after my test is probably when I did the most learning, although of course I'm still learning today!

Edited by RobM77 on Saturday 2nd January 14:56

[vonhosen]

Taught to pass a test.

[james_gt3rs]

Taught to pass the test, passed aged 17 and 2 months. Luckily I did a lot of driving with my dad, and he taught me to drive instead.

[DougBaker]

Twentyish years ago my Instructor taught me to pass my test, I did most of the learning to drive with my parents. Lessons cost a lot and it was far more economic to learn with a passenger who did not need to be paid by the hour.

[p1esk]

Mrs Muttleysnoop said:

Passed my test in 1968.

Edit to say I drove the 'Ring October 2008 at the grand old age of 58.

Edited by Mrs Muttleysnoop on Friday 1st January 20:04

Nay, lass: tha's still a youngster. Don't give your youthfulness away too readily. I wish I hadn't done.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[p1esk]

vonhosen said:

Taught to pass a test.

In truth I suppose we all were; but with some of us it went a bit beyond that and I think we're better for it.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[gdaybruce]

Both. In 1969 I was lucky in that my school ran what was effectively a 6th form optional driving curriculum. In a scheme developed with the RAC those approaching their 17th birthday could sign up for classroom lessons and then, once 17 was reached, we went out for one afternoon per week with three students per instructor. This meant that we learned from watching each other's mistakes (and through criticising/being criticised), as well as by driving ourselves.

And our instructor was excellent. My birthday is at the end of January and on about my second actual driving lesson we had had a dump of snow over the East Yorkshire Wolds. Far from cancelling the lesson, we headed for the hills and I learned all about power slides and how to prevent or control them in the instructor's Mk1 Escort. We caught up with the snow plow and had to reverse a good distance back again - excellent practice for a new driver! On another occasion I recall taking a fairly fast curve somewhat quicker than normal, attracting the sarcastic comment from the front passenger seat "Who think's he's Stirling Moss then?!"

So I passed the test but I also learned a good deal about the finer points of driving. I only wish the scheme was still operating in schools.

[7mike]

The test routes used from my local test centre include only one short stretch of DC with a 50mph limit. There are no NSL roads at all on any of the routes so it's possible that many here will gain their licence having barely touched 50mph. With the few learners I have taught in this area I always spent a few lessons much further afield so that they could gain some experience of higher speeds / overtaking etc.

There are a few aspects of what we percieve as 'advanced driving' that it would be unwise to teach learners, positioning in particular springs to mind & I'm not just refering to cornering. For good reason learners need to get used to using the nearside as their visual reference point for position on the road. However, many drivers (in my experience) seem to think the safest place to be is 'a metre from the curb' regardless of what potential hazards are about (more often than not on the nearside). I have no problem with 'straight lining' empty roundabouts but again, it would give confusing messages to a learner considering this would be an instant fail. Unfortunately, as we all know this very basic test of competance is as far as most drivers will ever go in the formal learning process.

Edited by 7mike on Saturday 2nd January 23:04

[reggie82]

Can anyone enlighten me as to what an "arrow point" is then?

Ta

[whitevanman88]

reggie82 said:

Can anyone enlighten me as to what an "arrow point" is then?

Ta

The arrow point is the point at which you lose visibility of the road. If that point is closing in, ease off / slow down. Once it opens up and you get good visibility of the road, you plant it.

A bit of a simplistic view, but that's it. Basically making sure you can stop in the distance you can see.

[Nigel Worc's]

whitevanman88 said:

reggie82 said:

Can anyone enlighten me as to what an "arrow point" is then?

Ta

The arrow point is the point at which you lose visibility of the road. If that point is closing in, ease off / slow down. Once it opens up and you get good visibility of the road, you plant it.

A bit of a simplistic view, but that's it. Basically making sure you can stop in the distance you can see.

I guess most of us call it a "limit point"