First driving refresher since 2009

SilentAndShy

Well-known member
Hi,

I had a refresher lesson today after a long spell (2013) not driving for various reasons (anxiety, lacking confidence) and one of my areas to improve on is bigger roundabouts.

I get a tad nervous and find waiting, going for the right gap, then changing gears, turning the wheel to go round is when the car stutters and it's not fluent.

I've realised maybe I should slow down slowly, in the hope it helps but I just find it tricky.

Secondly, is it just in a learner car that doing 30mph seems slow?! I felt I was slowing others even though the limit is to be adhered by all.

We did a few manuveres: turn in road was fairly simple, reverse round a corner I misjudged the turning, reverse park I did well but I still feel I'm not trusting my mirrors. If my instructor wasn't there I felt I'd have struggled more.. maybe I'd not set them up clearly for me.

Appreciate any pointers

Thanks!
 
You don't have to worry about feeling like you are going too slow and holding up other cars behind you, SilentAndShy.

If you are in a clearly marked Learner Driver Car then other drivers will not get angry or beep their horn at you because they understand the possibility that there could be someone in that Learner Car that is having their very first lesson.

Other drivers behind you have no idea if it's your first lesson or not, and there are not many people who will get angry at someone in the process of learning how to drive with an instructor.

Good luck. :thumbup:
 
Hello SilentAndShy,

One thing my instructors and father always told me was : 'Drive for yourself, not for the others' , as far as the road code is concerned you are not breaking any laws, so they can either change the lane or go take a hike if they are still unhappy with the way you drive.

Think about your safety first, not their comfort.
 

SilentAndShy

Well-known member
I had a second lesson this week that I feel didn't go well (I'm a perfectionist so I have this sense of being comfortable with what I'm doing) and I told my instructor to book a lesson in two weeks. He says I'm OK to drive but I don't feel the same way. My maneuvers aren't perfect and I must be the only learner who seems incapable of trusting my mirrors when reversing and I can't seem to judge angles correctly so I struggle reversing a car in or out..

But after speaking to my wife, I think I'm going to book a third lesson this week and try to give it another go, expressing to my instructor of the areas I want to focus on. His style is conversational, so not as instructive but that maybe as I'm a refresher, not a learner driver.
 
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