What was your first driving lesson like?
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jabed786
id hate to have an instructer like that - i would just think they are trying to waste time so you buy more lessons.
I once asked him how many lessons do I need one day. He replied the goverment recommends 40-50 lessons. I was thinking no way would I have 5 more lessons let alot alone 30 more with you.
mine was about half an hour of talking, and about an hour and a half of driving, just like stopping and starting, learning how to feed the steering wheel and a few easy junctions too i think. That instructor turned out to be **** though, i remember in that first lesson i stalled and he went 'aaaaand thats the first stall of the evening.' He was really unfriendly and completely knocked my confidence so i changed (after wasting 20 hours of my time on lessons with him).
The instructor basically drove me to a quiet area, doing some explaining on the way. When we got there he talked a bit about how to start the car and stuff, and went through his info (ie grade/pass rate etc). For the rest of the lesson I basically drove around the estate, with junctions and corners, but no control over the brake. Had 3 more lessons with him, going round the same estate, but then switched for several reasons.
Had first lesson with a new instructor last week, having left the last one 2 months ago. The last one had made me feel really unconfident, but this new instructor was great...within the first 50 minutes I was on the main roads, and felt great after the 2 hours. Got another lesson with him tomorrow, and can't wait!
Had first lesson with a new instructor last week, having left the last one 2 months ago. The last one had made me feel really unconfident, but this new instructor was great...within the first 50 minutes I was on the main roads, and felt great after the 2 hours. Got another lesson with him tomorrow, and can't wait!
I was driven to a really small country road that went round in a semi-circle, at one end was a busyish road and the other end was a small village. The instructor drove me a little way down the country road then we swapped sides. Then she told me where the brakes were, the accelerator etc and what gears to use. This didn't take long and then she told me to start the car which I did without stalling 
Then over and over again I had to stop and start the car. This got a little boring and I was allowed to drive down the road but wasn't allowed out of 2nd gear. I can't remember if it was my first, 2nd or 3rd lesson where my instructor told me to go roud a very sharp bend so I did and there was no one on the road and I went over to the other side as I hadn't turned the wheel enough. Instead of telling me what to so she grabbed the wheel and this became quite frequent. I soon changed driving instructors and my new one took me onto bigger, better, faster roads 
My first driving instructor was **** but no way did I drive round in a circle all lesson. WTF, was he taking the piss or something? On my friend's first driving lesson she got up to third gear... however the instructor took some toy cars out of his bag and showed her how you drive the car - with toy cars!
Then over and over again I had to stop and start the car. This got a little boring and I was allowed to drive down the road but wasn't allowed out of 2nd gear. I can't remember if it was my first, 2nd or 3rd lesson where my instructor told me to go roud a very sharp bend so I did and there was no one on the road and I went over to the other side as I hadn't turned the wheel enough. Instead of telling me what to so she grabbed the wheel and this became quite frequent. I soon changed driving instructors and my new one took me onto bigger, better, faster roads My first driving instructor was **** but no way did I drive round in a circle all lesson. WTF, was he taking the piss or something? On my friend's first driving lesson she got up to third gear... however the instructor took some toy cars out of his bag and showed her how you drive the car - with toy cars!
InvoluntarySlacker
I had 11 driving lessons. I took a break now. The old instructer let me drive fully at lesson 3 and back home at lesson 6. And I was awesome, used to do a bit of joyriding on the weekends in my mum's car. 
Oo im sorry! Gosh yeh though that wasnt great! Lesson 6 back home
Well im lucky enough to have driven around my field for a bit before, but had never driven on a road.
For my driving lesson i was expecting alot of talk about driving a car, but instead he took me to a slightly busy road, we swapped seats, i then drove along this road, then had to do a hill start to get on to a busier road, which led to 3 roundabouts (that was fun :/) then went through a busy town. Did a bit of reversing, then drove to into a busy supermarket carpark, where my lesson ended. Only thing is now im dreading my second lesson if that is what i did on my first!!
For my driving lesson i was expecting alot of talk about driving a car, but instead he took me to a slightly busy road, we swapped seats, i then drove along this road, then had to do a hill start to get on to a busier road, which led to 3 roundabouts (that was fun :/) then went through a busy town. Did a bit of reversing, then drove to into a busy supermarket carpark, where my lesson ended. Only thing is now im dreading my second lesson if that is what i did on my first!!
My first..
He just went through the basics like the drill and stuff, like checking mirrors blind spot etc. Showed me what each pedal did and let me drive.
I only went up to 20mph.
I have a new instructor now which is far better than my old one, his way of teaching is a bit better. 20mph feels so slow now haha.
I had to go down from 50mph to 20 on this weird bit of road other day, felt like I was crawling along.
He just went through the basics like the drill and stuff, like checking mirrors blind spot etc. Showed me what each pedal did and let me drive.
I only went up to 20mph
.I have a new instructor now which is far better than my old one, his way of teaching is a bit better. 20mph feels so slow now haha.
I had to go down from 50mph to 20 on this weird bit of road other day, felt like I was crawling along.
jabed786
40-50?!?! bloody hell. Most of my mates passed after 15 - 20 lessons.
Did they have access to another car, either their own or their parents? Even the most natural of drivers I know who didn't have access to another one took at least 25 hours. Also, 15 - 20 lessons could be lessons of two hours. Therefore that would be 40 hours. I myself passed after around 70 hours, but I failed two tests and had to relearn in a petrol after having around 30 hours in a diesel.
Anyways... I've technically had two first lessons:
Instructor 1:
Drove me to a park. Went through all the controls, practiced steering with a fake wheel lol. This took around 30 mins, I then drove around the park at 30mph for the rest of my lesson. We even did a mini roundabout
One of my later lessons was just doing figure of 8s because I have double jointed elbows which meant I'd turn the wheel in a very strange way. So we did figure of 8s for one hour... however, this has been really useful, as now I have very fast and precise steering. As a result my manoeuvres have never been a problem
My new instructor was very shocked when I turned the wheel for the first time, he said it made him tired just watching me!Instructor 2:
Knew I had quite a lot of previous experience (had completed 3/4 manoeuvres). So he took me to a quiet road and just told me to drive
I think I stalled around 5 times in 2 minutes, it was really difficult to get used to. Then once I got the hang of it we just drove around quiet roads so I could get used to the car (Focus is much much bigger than a Micra!)My first lesson was an hour and a half - my instructor drove me round the corner, then we swapped seats and he talked for about half an hour about some of the controls, how the clutch works, what to do before moving off etc. Then for the next hour we just went round and round some quiet roads. I can't remember if I used 3rd gear in my first lesson or if I didn't do that until my second. He let me drive home at the end.
I could already 'drive' (in the sense of operating a car, clutch control, etc) thanks to some old cars and a field, so my first lessons cut straight to the point and were about applying this to proper driving on the road
So yuh, 30 minutes into my first lesson I was cruising in 6th gear on the outside lane of a busy dual carriageway
Can't pretend that I wasn't a little scared when coming down the slip-road and about being thrown in at the deep end like that and I still had loads to learn, but it was a good start to a good set of lessons. Was quite funny to see the look on my friend's face the next day when she excited told me how she had 'got to 3rd gear' and 'almost 30' in her second lesson, and I announced I had broken the 70 limit in my first (not by much... only up to 75ish... my instructor told me to do it get past a lorry)
So yuh, 30 minutes into my first lesson I was cruising in 6th gear on the outside lane of a busy dual carriageway
Can't pretend that I wasn't a little scared when coming down the slip-road and about being thrown in at the deep end like that and I still had loads to learn, but it was a good start to a good set of lessons. Was quite funny to see the look on my friend's face the next day when she excited told me how she had 'got to 3rd gear' and 'almost 30' in her second lesson, and I announced I had broken the 70 limit in my first (not by much... only up to 75ish... my instructor told me to do it get past a lorry)
Mine wasn't like that at all really.
He drove me to an industrial estate, showed me where everything in the car was, explained how the clutch worked, explained about mirrors and stuff, then let me drive off. I went round the estate once, then went on the main road within the first 10 minutes, and at the end of the lesson he let me 'drive myself' (though I expect he was helping with the brake and stuff a bit even though I didn't notice it) home, including along a 60mph single carrieage way road.
Such a good instructor to trust me like that. Speaking to other people that have learnt with him, he doesn't always do it, but usually he does.
Some of my friends weren't allowed to drive home for 3 or 4 lessons
He drove me to an industrial estate, showed me where everything in the car was, explained how the clutch worked, explained about mirrors and stuff, then let me drive off. I went round the estate once, then went on the main road within the first 10 minutes, and at the end of the lesson he let me 'drive myself' (though I expect he was helping with the brake and stuff a bit even though I didn't notice it) home, including along a 60mph single carrieage way road.
Such a good instructor to trust me like that. Speaking to other people that have learnt with him, he doesn't always do it, but usually he does.
Some of my friends weren't allowed to drive home for 3 or 4 lessons
I did not even get to drive on my first lesson with my old instructor! He turned up 15 minutes early and would text me saying "are you ready now, I dont have all day". Thos obviously puts someone off wanting to go for a driving lesson. Then when I did go out, I just got into the car he introduced himself and drove the car about two minutes away from my house and stopped! He then told me to get into the drivers side of the car. Got into the drivers side of the car, shoved the seat belt on and was expecting to go. However he then explains to me about how the way I got out of the car and into the drivers side was all wrong! There is only one way it can be done lol. So after having a ten minute lecture on this, he goes on about who is he, his army career, how he became a driving instructor and how he has the highest pass rate ever lol! Basically blowing sunshine up his butt!
After this, he then proceeds to tell me what individual part of the car is about. He explained how windscreen wipers work! and just other stuff which to be honest most people know. He then got onto the pedals, gears ect. So after all this, I just got to a point where I was to bored to drive! and then he says I will not have to drive you home now as your two hours is up! So did not really learn that much on that lesson! The next lesson I had was how to steer the wheel! Stupid or what! This went on for the full hour! After 4 lessons I changed instructors. He was a horrible instructor, he would make you feel small and useless at driving which is not good for a learner. On my 6th lesson we drove onto a very very busy roundabout, bearing in mind I had not done roundabouts before, just small junctions, and all he did was had a go at me for example get in the right lane, stay in the lane, I've never been more scared in my life lol!. I've now have about 40 hours of lessons and failed two tests, but dont let having one bad instuctor put you off, I'm with a brillent instructor now.
After this, he then proceeds to tell me what individual part of the car is about. He explained how windscreen wipers work! and just other stuff which to be honest most people know. He then got onto the pedals, gears ect. So after all this, I just got to a point where I was to bored to drive! and then he says I will not have to drive you home now as your two hours is up! So did not really learn that much on that lesson! The next lesson I had was how to steer the wheel! Stupid or what! This went on for the full hour! After 4 lessons I changed instructors. He was a horrible instructor, he would make you feel small and useless at driving which is not good for a learner. On my 6th lesson we drove onto a very very busy roundabout, bearing in mind I had not done roundabouts before, just small junctions, and all he did was had a go at me for example get in the right lane, stay in the lane, I've never been more scared in my life lol!. I've now have about 40 hours of lessons and failed two tests, but dont let having one bad instuctor put you off, I'm with a brillent instructor now.
Instructors have guidelines to follow issued by the DSA aimed at steering you towards a pass come test day. If you think you know better than them then why don't you just learn the basics from your Mum or Dad and book a test once you can move off without stalling ?
Simple stuff like approaching the car have health and safety guidelines on checking up/down the road before stepping off the pavement, and over your shoulder before emerging around the rear of your car or opening the door. Hell, the fact that you're supposed to approach your car from the rear can be marked as a minor fault on test day. As for seatbelts, yeah, we've all used them a thousand times, but checking for twists in the belt and doing a quick tug to ensure it has securely clasped and the mechanism is properly attached to the car were never mentioned by my Dad.
Those who have driven a little can easily fly through the tuition on the controls, but many have never sat in the drivers seat before, and even those who have do not have a full understanding on how everything works and thus how to use it properly to best effect. A TV or MP3 player (OP comment) is hardly going to steer you off a cliff or into a crowd of people at a bus stop, whereas controlling over a tonne of metal and plastic at high speed can have a few inherent dangers attached.
My first hour was about 1/2 on controls and then we looked at moving off and stopping, whereas my sister whom had never driven and was much less interested spent the full hour trying to grasp what everything did. I have to say, the operation of the clutch made more sense to me once properly explained.
Some instructors are just crap, and some do delay learning to cream more money, and as a complete novice it can be difficult to know whether they're trying to adequately cover a simple subject thoroughly enough to help your learning and control, or stringing it out to waste time.
Simple stuff like approaching the car have health and safety guidelines on checking up/down the road before stepping off the pavement, and over your shoulder before emerging around the rear of your car or opening the door. Hell, the fact that you're supposed to approach your car from the rear can be marked as a minor fault on test day. As for seatbelts, yeah, we've all used them a thousand times, but checking for twists in the belt and doing a quick tug to ensure it has securely clasped and the mechanism is properly attached to the car were never mentioned by my Dad.
Those who have driven a little can easily fly through the tuition on the controls, but many have never sat in the drivers seat before, and even those who have do not have a full understanding on how everything works and thus how to use it properly to best effect. A TV or MP3 player (OP comment) is hardly going to steer you off a cliff or into a crowd of people at a bus stop, whereas controlling over a tonne of metal and plastic at high speed can have a few inherent dangers attached.
My first hour was about 1/2 on controls and then we looked at moving off and stopping, whereas my sister whom had never driven and was much less interested spent the full hour trying to grasp what everything did. I have to say, the operation of the clutch made more sense to me once properly explained.
Some instructors are just crap, and some do delay learning to cream more money, and as a complete novice it can be difficult to know whether they're trying to adequately cover a simple subject thoroughly enough to help your learning and control, or stringing it out to waste time.
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