Driving Lessons Help

[directhex]

If your new to driving i wouldn't reccomend an intensive course, your brain wont have the time it needs to process information that it's learnt, there's so much to take in, in those early lessons, your better off with a couple of 2 hour lessons a week i'd say, why the rush in learning to drive? it's such an important skill

seconded. so many of the skills required to become a safe driver are down to moving things from short term memory into muscle memory - e.g. if you ever think about changing gear, then you're not ready for your test (you should occasionally move your hand to the gear stick and say "oh, i already changed it, yay for me, wonder when i did that")

you can't rush that part - and it's part of why driving with parents is so vital. you can learn new things with an instructor, then hammer them home over & over & over with parents, until you can do them in your sleep. or with your eyes shut. not that you should be driving whilst asleep or with your eyes shut. you might even pick up on better technique for some manouvers (e.g. the turning points for reverse parking manouvers) with a parent, and it's good to get experience of at least two different cars

[dave87]

slightly off subject but wat driving school do you guys think is best im gonna start driving within a month or 2 and would like a decent school to go to. would preferably like to do intensive course or like 4 2 hour lessons a week because i would like to pass quickly

The best thing is to go on friends recommendations, as that's what I did and got a really good instructor. I've done 20 hours of lessons with him, no outside driving (don't have a car, parents cars too expensive/powerful for me to get insured on) and I've got my test booked for the 28th. (He works for the AA, so if he's anything to go on, then they seem pretty good)

The thing it comes down to is whether you trust your instructor to be a good judge of your driving abilities, and whether you trust him not to rip you off. If you have both of the above, then let him teach you. If not, it might be worth either voicing your concerns or trying a different instructor. As shelley said it takes a lot of practice & instruction to pass a driving test, my time is only so short as I already ride a motorbike with a good 9 months of experience on the road.

Apart from that, best of luck learning to drive, and hopefully, passing your test in the not too distant future.

you can't rush that part - and it's part of why driving with parents is so vital. you can learn new things with an instructor, then hammer them home over & over & over with parents, until you can do them in your sleep. or with your eyes shut. not that you should be driving whilst asleep or with your eyes shut. you might even pick up on better technique for some manouvers (e.g. the turning points for reverse parking manouvers) with a parent, and it's good to get experience of at least two different cars

I agree with you on the first part, however having never driven with my parents I can safely say it is not essential. Indeed since starting to learn to drive, I have noticed how many bad habits they have picked up in the 20+ years they have been driving. I would say save the money required to insure you on a car and spend it on some extra driving lessons, they will be a lot more beneficial.

Dave

[hitharder]

get rid of him mate. if possible when asking new instructors ask what grade they are and proof. grade 6 is the best. but that guy is taking you for a ride literally

[frumpet]

BSM only have two kinds of instructors though - unqualified trainees, or qualified people in the process of finding a better job elsewhere

i wasted a LOT of time with inadequate lessons from assorted BSM instructors - and I was doing parallel parking far before I was driving at more than about 20mph

Whilst i agree that overall the BSM is not exactly the best driving school, there are occasionally a few decent instructors. In my opinion, choosing an instructor should definitely be based on recommendations of others. I only went with the BSM based on a friend's recommendation of a particular instructor who, contrary to whats obviously the BSM stereotype, was an excellent teacher who boasted a very high 1st time passrate.

He ended up teaching most of my group of friends. One who lived outside of the instructors normal catchment area even went as far as travelling 20mins by bus to get picked up in a supermarket car park just so he could be taught by him.

So there are occasionally a few decent instructors in the BSM.

[directhex]

Whilst i agree that overall the BSM is not exactly the best driving school, there are occasionally a few decent instructors. In my opinion, choosing an instructor should definitely be based on recommendations of others. I only went with the BSM based on a friend's recommendation of a particular instructor who, contrary to whats obviously the BSM stereotype, was an excellent teacher who boasted a very high 1st time passrate.

He ended up teaching most of my group of friends. One who lived outside of the instructors normal catchment area even went as far as travelling 20mins by bus to get picked up in a supermarket car park just so he could be taught by him.

So there are occasionally a few decent instructors in the BSM.

i had some reasonable instructors briefly - they quit to form their own private schools, fairly soon after I started with them.

[ExceededGoku]

I'm on my 3rd lesson on monday and starting manuevers... But the instructor said that he was surprised how good I was and that I was his best student on his second lesson . All those hours on Toca on the MOMO was worth it by the looks of it

[Kumagoro]

Sounds like you're in there.

haha.

[Ramedge]

I think it depends on the person, intensive courses work for some people but not for others, it depends on how good you are at multitasking with your body and confidence i would say also people i know who have done intensive courses have also had some prior experience in driving.

just depends on how good you think you are.

[midzt]

Manouveurs dont reall take long to do tho. I mean the difference between an hour lesson and a two hour one wouldn't be that great. Saying that, I had two one hour lessons one week, then one two hour lesson the other.
I basically always started my lessons with a turn in the road. Manourveurs arent too bad but they do need practice, so I would've thought he would want you to start as soon as possible so that you can be confident at them.

I don't really think you can choose your instructor by the company they work for. As other people have said, try to get a recomendation from someone.
I was with BSM and my instructor was pretty good, couple of my mates had him and a plus side was the the car was pretty good as (Astra 2.0 TDi i think..... dunno about the 2l bit but def an astra and def turbo diesel injeciton thingy)

[webbyman]

get rid of them....

i was doing manooovers on my 8th hour?

and my instructor has been longing it out