Appropriate gifts for driving instructor?

Hi All,

I have followed Shinytoy's driving adventures with a mixture of interest and astonishment over the last few weeks and have contributed a few times when I have felt that I have something to offer. I am really not sure about the veracity of everything that has been posted but the trusting part of me hopes that it is all on the level and I try very hard to take what is posted at face value although I don't find it easy sometimes because there are a number of inconsistencies along the way.

I hope that this is not a troll, an activity which I actually find quite distasteful. I prefer to think that it is not. Maybe I am just very naive but I hate the thought that I have spent time and effort answering people's concerns about driving in vain.

If you have indeed passed your test (and I hope you have) I trust that you will take the good advice offered in this thread regarding additional training to bring yourself up to a competent standard at all times.

Best Wishes to you

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 64

In answer to your original question, any gift or expression of thanks is absolutely fantastic, particularly when it is unexpected. Personally, I think your gift is a little OTT but if it fits your personality, what is wrong with it? Your instructor may feel a little uncomfortable though...

Reply 65

OP

Original post by Emma-Ashley

Hi All,

I have followed Shinytoy's driving adventures with a mixture of interest and astonishment over the last few weeks and have contributed a few times when I have felt that I have something to offer. I am really not sure about the veracity of everything that has been posted but the trusting part of me hopes that it is all on the level and I try very hard to take what is posted at face value although I don't find it easy sometimes because there are a number of inconsistencies along the way.

I hope that this is not a troll, an activity which I actually find quite distasteful. I prefer to think that it is not. Maybe I am just very naive but I hate the thought that I have spent time and effort answering people's concerns about driving in vain.

If you have indeed passed your test (and I hope you have) I trust that you will take the good advice offered in this thread regarding additional training to bring yourself up to a competent standard at all times.

Best Wishes to you

why is it inconsistant? i have always said i am a poor driver, and i have recorded all my many fails on tsr. and im not the only person who has taken over 6 tests.
and i HAVE passed my test on Saturday, i dont see why people would find this hard to believe (i had a hard time believing it myself :tongue:

) i mean there must be many drivers who wing the test or get lucky. and i mean, the test is a minimum standard, right? so even bad drivers who pass have already met the minimum required standard. if i was a 17 y/o yob i wold take this as free reign to get a dodgy souped up car and drive recklessly around myneighbourhood.
but i am hoping to pass plus sometime soon when i get a car.

anyhoww my blue certificate is on my wall now to show i have passed. not many people are happy for me, because every week they were like "meh another test. better luck than last week." then "you failed again? meh get another one next week" people are scared i have passed and wont go in a car with me until i pass plus. im worried cos pass plus is only 2 hours log, how can i improve in just 2 hours??

Original post by Emma-Ashley

In answer to your original question, any gift or expression of thanks is absolutely fantastic, particularly when it is unexpected. Personally, I think your gift is a little OTT but if it fits your personality, what is wrong with it? Your instructor may feel a little uncomfortable though...

yeah thats fine, he will like it and anyhow i dont need to see him again unless i do PP with him. :smile:

do people get you gifts? i think he will understand since he went with me to 5 of my tests, and did crazy stuff like giving me a 6 hour long lesson before my ipswich test which i failed, or booking me in for last minute cancellations

Reply 66

n65uk

13

You have the wrong attitude, which unfortunately a lot of people do - that is 'as long as I can pass the test that's all that matters'.

No one is an excellent driver, no one will ever drive flawlessly.

I hope you get extra training, whether that be motorway lessons, pass plus, or some random lessons with your instructor, it sounds like you need it not because others think your unsafe, but YOU have admitted that you passed your test purely based on the fact your examiner couldn't care less it seems.

Every single person is different. Some people never drive, some people drive and learn it very quickly, others take years. Don't feel embarrassed by it, but please do get extra training.

Your keys?

Original post by shinytoy

do you think i will always be a terrible driver? ive had 4 hours a week for one and a half years. i have to drive cos of work. i dont know what to do. it seems no matter how many lessons i have i dont get any better.

im scared of my own driving. on the way to the test centre on the day i passed, the instrucotr had to use the dual controls twice. its my spatial awareness. i just cant judge things very well and it isnt getting any better. i dont know what to do :frown:

im pretty sure i will have an accident.

im gonna do pass plus for sure, but thats only 2 hours long of night driving in a motorway. im not gonna improve in 2 hours. what can you advise? i cant really phone up a driving school and say hey i just passed but i need more lessons, can i ? and what if i secretly have dypraxia or something which is why im so terrible?

Pass Plus would be good experience, but I would also advise that you contact your local IAM or RoADAR who are able to give you less formal training over a much longer period.

http://www.iam.org.uk/iamgroupsdirectory/

http://www.roadar.org/groups/index.htm (more info at http://www.roadar.org/drivers/how/index.htm)

Or of course you could keep having lessons with your instructor. Personally I am astounded at your hit and miss approach to your tests having no lessons in between them. I mean, seriously?? Having no lessons or practise in between multiple driving tests. You just kept taking them in the hope that one day you'd randomly pass one, and you did.

GET SOME EXTRA TRAINING BEFORE YOU HURT SOMEONE

I still maintain that you are a troll however

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 69

Original post by shinytoy

im worried cos pass plus is only 2 hours log, how can i improve in just 2 hours??

This is the 2nd time you have stated this figure - I let it go last time because I thought it was a typo. Passplus is a minimum of 6 hours extra tuition, not 2, and it is down to the instructor whether you pass or not.

Reply 70

OP

Original post by Emma-Ashley

This is the 2nd time you have stated this figure - I let it go last time because I thought it was a typo. Passplus is a minimum of 6 hours extra tuition, not 2, and it is down to the instructor whether you pass or not.

no my instructor told me pass plus covers:
- country roads
- motorways
- night driving
- bad weather if possible

and you need 2 hours of each.

so he said he can do me a single 2 hour lesson @ £50 which is driving at night on motorways and country roads, which would be ok to tick all the boxes of pass plus.

Reply 71

JC.

19

I would have thought the 20 odd quid you hand over at the end of each lesson plenty good enough as a gift without spending more money?

Reply 72

OP

Original post by TheFatController

Pass Plus would be good experience, but I would also advise that you contact your local IAM or RoADAR who are able to give you less formal training over a much longer period.

http://www.iam.org.uk/iamgroupsdirectory/

http://www.roadar.org/groups/index.htm (more info at http://www.roadar.org/drivers/how/index.htm)

Or of course you could keep having lessons with your instructor. Personally I am astounded at your hit and miss approach to your tests having no lessons in between them. I mean, seriously?? Having no lessons or practise in between multiple driving tests. You just kept taking them in the hope that one day you'd randomly pass one, and you did.

GET SOME EXTRA TRAINING BEFORE YOU HURT SOMEONE

I still maintain that you are a troll however

my instructor and also my previous instructor both told me i was at test standard and didnt need any more lessons and that more lesons - waste of cash. i has a couple hours between tests 2 and 3 and 1 and 2, but after that i didnt have any and left about a week between tests. however i had one hour lesson before each test

all this ROADAR and IAMA looks complicated. plus how will i kow when i am a good enough driver? its like pouring money down the pan if i cant measure my improving.

Reply 73

Tba90

4

How on earth did you pass if you went up the kerb twice and nearly crash into a lorry?!!

I thought that if you went up the kerb it was a fail straight away :s-smilie:

Reply 74

Original post by shinytoy

no my instructor told me pass plus covers:
- country roads
- motorways
- night driving
- bad weather if possible

and you need 2 hours of each.

so he said he can do me a single 2 hour lesson @ £50 which is driving at night on motorways and country roads, which would be ok to tick all the boxes of pass plus.

Your instructor is talking rubbish...sorry.

Reply 75

n65uk

13

Original post by shinytoy

no my instructor told me pass plus covers:
- country roads
- motorways
- night driving
- bad weather if possible

and you need 2 hours of each.

so he said he can do me a single 2 hour lesson @ £50 which is driving at night on motorways and country roads, which would be ok to tick all the boxes of pass plus.

Took at look at this and decide for yourself, inside of letting him put words into your mouth:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/LearnerAndNewDrivers/Passplusdrivingcoursefornewdrivers/DG_182844

Reply 76

Scribblet

11

Original post by shinytoy

its ok, i've passed now :smile:

Yeah, so have I, but you don't want to be anywhere near me when I park...

P.S I hated my driving instructor and would never have got him a gift! He used to terrify me whilst I was driving.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 77

Hello Laura!

12

I didn't get mine anything.

£20 a lesson was a good enough gift I think.

Reply 78

OP

Original post by Emma-Ashley

Your instructor is talking rubbish...sorry.

he said he will sign off all the sections of the form after the 2 hour lesson with him since it would simultaneously cover all the sections. :eek:

my previous instructor said something similar - hers is 4 hours in 1 day (2 2 hour lessons) but covers overlapping sections so it doesnt take ages.

Original post by n65uk

Took at look at this and decide for yourself, inside of letting him put words into your mouth:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/LearnerAndNewDrivers/Passplusdrivingcoursefornewdrivers/DG_182844

cheers dude, that actually looks pretty good. i think it weould help me alot if i did one section at a time. i would feel much more confident.

has anyone done pp? how long did it take. did it cost alot? bsm charges £28/hr for PP classes

Reply 79

OP