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Had about 120 hours of lessons and just failed 3rd test- Should I keep going?

Okay so I originally started learning back when I was 17 in April 2012.. I was with Bill Plant and took around maybe 50 hours before sitting for my test in Nov 2012.. In the test got 2 dangerous, 2 majors, and 18 minors. A horrible score I know and after this I just lost all confidence for driving.. I still kept taking some lessons in to 2013 but it was very stop and start.. i'd say I had maybe 20 more which takes the total up to 70hours, then decided it wasn't for me and stopped.

I've just picked it up again last June at the age of 24 as I met a girl and felt like been in a relationship was the motivation I needed to start learning again. Went with a local instructor with good reviews rather than a big company and got to say he's a lot better than my other one. He sat me in for my 2nd test at my most local centre in November 2019.. I failed this one with 1 dangerous and 6 minors- Eventhough I felt bad at the same time I was more motivated as it was 1 stupid thing I failed on and was at least better than the 1st test back in 2012 when I thought I was nowhere near ready.

My instructor asked me to book the test again but sit in at a different local centre, one where he said his students have a high pass rate. I've been going on a few lessons round that area and today sat my test but got 2 serious and 13 minors.. feel really back to square one because thats a horrible score! What was worst about today is I actually wasn't that nervous & went back in the test centre at the end thinking I'd done okay and there was a chance I'd passed.. to think I'd done okay despite getting that bad of score shows I don't even realise how bad I am. On my lessons I'm 'okay' some go better than others but I still make silly mistakes that my instructor picks up on

So I've had 2 instructors, gone through 3 tests (at 3 different test centres) and had at a guess 120 hours of lessons (70 when I was 17/18 & another 50 since last summer).

I really don't know where to go from here because all 3 tests its been different things I've failed on, it's not 1 or 2 continuing issues I can work on. I've always been someone that struggles to multitask like at work they can give me a task and I can do it great but if someone starts talking to me I just can't concentrate and switch off. And I've always been quite sporty and love football but have always been rubbish at it because it's again quite a multitasking thing (looking where you are, where opponents are, where to pass the ball etc).. I'm not sure if this is the reason behind my poor driving or not.

I don't know what to do because everyone is giving different advice.. My parents say not to be a quitter and keep going.. my girlfriend says take a break and see how I feel in a few months- and a couple of my mates have said driving isn't for me and pack it in. I desperately want a car and want to keep trying but don't want to keep wasting my money.

The usual advice is 'switch instructor' but I've had 2 now and certainly the current one is good.. teacher can only be as good as the student etc. Should I keep going at it or does it sound like I'm wasting money? I just feel so stupid at the moment like I grasp something that pretty much everyone else can.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 1

kmonte01

Don’t book your test until you feel ready. Don’t listen to instructors. The way your current instructor pushed for you to book it makes them seem shifty. It’s a way of getting money out of you.
I know you don’t want to hear this but CHANGE INSTRUCTORS!
Where abouts in the country are you? I can look into decent instructors in your area if you’d like

Reply 2

TheMcSame

So... Why are you failing the tests?

I mean, something is going wrong somewhere, it's either your instructors or you're just not fixing the problems you have. 120 is a hell of a lot of hours to sink into driving and not have picked it up by now. Especially since like 80% of the test is just exaggerating your observations (had 4 vehicle tests (Car, PPT, PPT refresher, Scissor lift), it's all the same, just drive like a sane person and make your observations clear and you'll pass easily enough).

One thing stands out to me though, your point about multitasking. The fact of the matter is that humans, in general, are terrible at multitasking. That right there may well be the key to your issue. You're trying to focus on too many things at once. You need to learn to disconnect your conscious mind from certain actions and let your unconscious mind take over while you use your conscious mind to do something else. That is to say, while driving, don't keep telling yourself you need to do this that and the other. Just observe and let your unconscious mind do most of the driving.

It sounds odd but let me throw a few scenarios around.

Your tongue, it just sits there in your mouth, you're not particularly aware of it, you just know it's there, almost as if it's floating in your mouth. But wait, you're now consciously thinking about your tongue because of this, now it feels weird, almost like it isn't sat in your mouth right.

When you're driving, you notice you're a bit too far over to the right so you adjust. You then continue to focus on your road positioning, as a result, you keep correcting for slight movements and you end up slowly weaving from one side of the road to the other. When before, you were keeping to a relatively straight line without much thought.

When I back into my garage, I notice that if I focus on needing to be a bit more over to whatever side, I end up parked at an angle. When I just look to make sure I'm not going to hit anything and let my unconscious mind take over the actual manoeuvring, it's usually bang on, maybe ever so slightly skewed.

It's the same idea here, the more tasks you focus on, the less attention you can divert to other tasks, as a result, it all goes topsy-turvy. Just look around to make sure it's safe to do whatever it is you need to do and go. Don't think about the finer details of each action like having to steer a bit more to the left. Let your unconscious mind deal with the finer details, use your conscious mind on the more important parts of driving.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 3

_AlwaysAstudent_

I agree! I have still not passed but I will by the grace of God.

At the beginning I was nervous, then I wasn't as much. My minors decreased and increased again as the tests progressed. But what remained was the self-consciousness that just got in the way and it just ruins what you should naturally be doing. Those insecurities about minor decisions just get in the way and make you insecure.

I think I have to change my attitude as well, I always assume the worst, so during the exam I'm waiting for something wrong to happen, constantly.

I need to be more positive and trust my performance because I too have been practising for a LONG time. And not focus on those little details because it will distract me from the whole test.

I wish SamL94 all the best, God bless!