The Learner driver progression thread

my instructor always drives when he picks me up so far (had 3 lessons / 4 hrs), to a quiet location then we swap. he explains stuff using diagrams etc from the passenger seat, for 15/20 minutes, then we drive. So on the 1st (1hr) lesson i drove about 30 mins. he just got me to pull over when he wanted to explain anything / make a point. Then swapped and he drove me home. same on my second (1hr) lesson.

On my 3rd lesson (2hr) we went on main roads, but after a 20 odd minute bit of theory of turning/emerging etc first, follwed by some practice on quiet roads. got me to pull over, and on the main roads talked me through everything, even the basics i'd been learning. and i drove home. didnt dump me in anything though like yours did.

sounds really odd how your instructor did it though, if he's ok now then good, but if hes still not great you could always find another once youve used up your prepaid lessons

Yeah I hope so. I really hope I pass, I think I'll give up and sell my car if I don't. My family think my car is cursed lol, I'm starting to believe it is! Have you put in for your test yet?

For my first 4 lessons, my instructor did most of the driving. Is that normal? They were an hour and a half long. First lesson, I did no driving whatsoever other than 5 minutes at the end starting the car and moving about a foot forward. Second and third lessons, I drove for about half an hour, and for the fourth I drove for about 45 mins.

My instructor spent absolutely ages just driving around telling me what he was doing. I mean, fair enough for a little while but it was seriously annoying when he was still doing it on lesson 4. If he'd let me say what I thought should happen, that'd have been more useful. I don't think I got anything out of it. The rest of the time was spent explaining things like traffic lights.

I was also surprised that on lesson 2, he completely threw me in at the deep end and told me to turn straight onto a main road before I'd had a chance to get to grips with the controls.

Had 7 lessons now (or less than 6.5 hours of driving out of 10.5 paid for, all at the full rate) and I'm happy with my instructor now, but those first few lessons feel like a complete rip off. I wasn't expecting to do all the driving at the beginning and obviously some things needed to be explained but was that excessive?

This your first time? Yeah my test is in a couple of weeks. I'm hoping it'll be 2nd time lucky like my great mate () who had the same driving instructor.

Managed to oversteer at a mini rdbout today. Was looking but accidently still steering at the same time lol (while I was waiting to go). Back wheels went right over the kerb. Mother was not impressed! :P

I think part of the problem was lack of a quiet place for me to drive where I live and being stuck in traffic for ages in lesson 3. I drove home on my 4th lesson (I live up a very steep uphill off a main road going downhill) and started driving from the beginning after that.

Another thing I was wondering, he still tells me exactly what I need to do and when all the time. Is that normal, after 7 lessons?

i dunno ive not got to 7 lessons yet. but theres nothing to stop you doing it automatically yourself - dont wait for him to say change to 2nd, just do it, etc. mine will say everything in detail even basics in new situations, and if i havent done it. so if i havent changed gear and i should have by now he'll go "whats the engine telling you" or "we're coming up to a junction what you gonna do about the gears". so not exactly saying do this, but reminding me i should have done it. thats after 3 lessons/4 hrs.

I'm being pushed on to 90 min lessons so I can actually get to the test area and back...
*sigh*
I can just feel my money running away.

Lol. Mine says the exact same thing!

Oh and another one: "Use BOTH feet!" when slowing down or stopping.

Haha! Mine's always on about using both feet too! He's like "two-footed driving"

Well. I've got a lesson tomorrow... 2 hours long! :/ longest I;ve ever had, and it will be my third lesson. I get so nervous behind the wheel, even if I just pass a car , I think it's gonna crash into me, how do I stop being so nervous! ?

I passed my test around an hour ago!!

Yeeeeah Well done!