Learning to Drive

Learning to drive, driving, and using public transport

Moderator: Moderator Team

Shadwell
Moderator
Posts: 932
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:24 am
Location: Bridgend, South Wales

Post by Shadwell »

I have nearly managed to save up enough for a day in the truck (Catagory C), and compared to learning to drive a car then it makes leaning to drive a car, and a cheap holiday look cheap!!

when I taken the 5 day intensive course, which is driving about 3 and a half hours a day, plus the theory test, plus the driving test, then it cost me nearly £800, and that is why I haven't said that much about driving recently, as it is the worst part about learning to drive a truck!!

is the fact that it costs so much money, so I have had to save for the past year, just to get enough money behind me for another 1 day driving, and the driving test.

I know people like Dan! will say I am mad spending that kind of money on it, but hey if I pass then be well worth the money!

so in the next week or two I will be booking the driving lesson and test, but that is after I remember where I put the theory test pass certificate! as I moved last June, and can't remember where I put it last!!
Daniel
Administrator
Posts: 868
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 10:16 pm
Location: London

Post by Daniel »

I wouldn't call you mad at all. Like I said in other post I think it might well be a fun job if you like driving. You want to see expensive you should look at learning to fly, sheesh. Haven't started that yet, but will do when the weather improves. I *am* taking driving lessons again tho, got one tomorrow as it happens.
Shadwell
Moderator
Posts: 932
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:24 am
Location: Bridgend, South Wales

Post by Shadwell »

good luck with your driving lessons, I did find my car driving lessons a lot easier, and sometimes put off by the driving instructor, like I wanted to get on with the more difficult stuff like reversing, 3 point turns, reversing around a corner, etc.

because I knew I could cope with most other parts of driving, like changing gears, turning left, emergency stopping in about 5 miles!!although I did find out that I wasn't emergancy stopping efficiantly, yes I was stopping the car, and no the wheels didn't skid, but my feet were more or less going onto the pedals at the same time.

well with the truck driving lessons, we were taught a lot better, and that is pull off in 3rd, which is equivalent to between 1-2 gear in a car, get the truck up to 20 mph, and then take your foot off the accelerator, and hold it above the brake pedal, then when we get to the cones, to brake as fast as we can without skidding, and get the truck to totally stop, and for a brief second the revs are still high enough to take your foot off the floor, and put it on the clutch before the engine stalls.

and because I still wasn't getting it right, and still putting my foot on the clutch before the truck had stopped, the driving instructor got me to do it a couple more times while he held my leg so I couldn't move my foot, and then let go when the truck had very nearly stopped, and then I got the hang of it! then started practicing it in the car, and found that I was stopping the car even better, like I told the driving instructor about:

like seen a little girl on her bike the one day and so was ready with the brake pedal as slowing the car down, as she disappeared between the parked cars, well by the time my friend went to brace himself and say stop, then I was already stationary with the car!

we might have gone 3 - 4 foot further if I hadn't been taught how to stop like that. and there was 6 foot between us and the girl, so she was lucky that I was paying attention to the road, and to her that day, any other driver would have seen a kid on a bike, and not thought that much about it.

she was lucky though, as she wasn't paying any attention, she was looking the other way while crossing my side of the road first!

so there are reasons to go in for more advanced driving techneques as well, as the car driving instructor only taught me enough to pass the driving test, not for actual real life situations.

ok so the hazard percetion test is good for seeing if you recognise a potential hazard, but still doesn't teach you that well in actual driving.

one thing I have noticed with being dyspraxic though, my body is sensitive all over, and as I have always felt safer wearing a seatbelt, even before the law for wearing one in the front seat of a car,

the main thing I find weird about it is jumping into the truck, and driving off without putting a seatbelt on, it makes me feel naked or something! just because I am not wearing a seatbelt! because there isn't a seatbelt there.

it actually takes me about 20 minutes to get rid of that feeling, especially if in a car before hand! that is about the hardest thing to overcome, I can drive a truck properly in minutes. but getting used to not wearing a seatbelt takes the longest.
Shadwell
Moderator
Posts: 932
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:24 am
Location: Bridgend, South Wales

Post by Shadwell »

relief! just found my papers of my theory test, and it isn't the end of next month, it is the end of April I got to take my driving test by. =P~

so now I can relax a little, but still got to find the certificate #-o
mattie
Regular Poster
Posts: 76
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2006 6:51 pm

Post by mattie »

I can't drive. I've never had lessons, as I think that I could be a bit of a hazard for other road-users. 8-[


Mattie.
Shadwell
Moderator
Posts: 932
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:24 am
Location: Bridgend, South Wales

Post by Shadwell »

well sounds like you don't have much of a life mat! if you say no to everything, then you have lost the battle before you even start!

the only thing holding you back, is yourself, hope you find something you do like, or want to do.

as the only things it takes is effort, and telling yourself you can do something.
mattie
Regular Poster
Posts: 76
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2006 6:51 pm

Post by mattie »

I don't think it's a question of saying no to everything. To be honest, I reallydon't think it would be a good idea to drive. 8-[ When I act impulsively, I can do some pretty irrational and stupid things. Plus, I have very poor spacial awareness, so I do not think I would be suited to driving a car.

It doesn't really bother me though. O:)


Mattie.
Daniel
Administrator
Posts: 868
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 10:16 pm
Location: London

Post by Daniel »

Many of us have a reasonable idea of our abilities. Some things we can accomplish, if rather cack-handedly, some things with really struggle with and others we will simply never be able to be proficient at regardless of how much we practice.

Not being able to drive seems like one of the last great taboos and it affects many on this forum. Our problem as dyspraxics is that we appear normal to those around us and so we can be on the receiving end of undue pressure to try things we know we will fail in doing.

Now I'm not advocating not trying things just because it's difficult. I've taken up driving again recently and I think I've a good chance of passing, which has really surprised me. Last year I walked miles on tumble-down stretches of the Great Wall of China and I snorkelled, neither of which I had any faith in being able to do previously, but I tried them and it worked out well. However, I also know that regardless of how much I practice, I will never be proficient at cycling, tying my shoelaces (I can tie them but much slower than everyone else), skipping stones, bowling, and many more mundane and "simple" tasks besides.

To Mattie I'd say this: If you *know* your co-ordination or spatial awareness to be severely impaired then you may well be right to say he wouldn't be safe driving and I would defend anyone in this situation from being pressured to the contrary. However if you're put off primarily by anxieties and through bad experiences of dealing with traffic as a pedestrian, driving might be worth giving a shot at some stage. There's little harm in trying many things and you may surprise yourself.
donnaf
Power poster
Posts: 272
Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:48 am
Location: Dudley, West Midlands

Post by donnaf »

Dan u speak a lot of sense =D>
I would hate to be in a wheelchair, and I am in no way suggesting that I am worse off than someone who was in one, but you wouldn't find someone putting pressure on someone who was in a wheelchair to try something that they really can't do. This isn't a dig at your comment Shadwell....it is an observation I have made of an attitude that comes from some NT people.
I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never ever gonna keep me down :D

Image
Shadwell
Moderator
Posts: 932
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:24 am
Location: Bridgend, South Wales

Post by Shadwell »

(Mat) sorry if it looks like I am putting pressure on, and that wasn't the intention, if driving isn't your thing then at the end of the day it is up to you, as I dunno how bad your co-ordination etc. is.

(Dan) nice to see your finding your driving lessons going better this time around, is it you are finding you are more relaxed with the instructor? learning in an automatic instead of manual? or was it just the break from driving?
Liz944
Super poster
Posts: 829
Joined: Tue Apr 11, 2006 9:59 pm
Location: UK

Post by Liz944 »

I learn't to drive when I did not know I had dyspraxia...

I have always had problems with my spatial awareness I drive to close to cars and have problems judging the gap when there are cars parked on both sides of the road.... if my father is in the car as a passenger his hand is normally hovering over the hand brake... which is very disconcerting...

I have to admit because of themedication I am taking, I have made the decission for the time being it is not safe for me to drive.... :-({|= I miss not having my car and the independence it brings....
Daniel
Administrator
Posts: 868
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 10:16 pm
Location: London

Post by Daniel »

Thanks Shadwell. I think things are going better this time because I've got a much better instructor than the first time. I had a friend who used the same instructor and he also failed a few times, gave it up and only passed recently, so I thought it was time I followed suit! I think it does help being older and feeling less pressure from peers - or more or less no pressure now as I don't care what people think. I've learnt just to take it calmly and it's working well so far.

If I'm going to stick around here for any length of time or if I want to think about going into certain professions then I have to try to get my driving license, so there's plenty of motivation to give it a go. Whether I'll ever enjoy driving per se I can't say at the moment, but it will be a means to various ends if I pass.
jme
Regular Poster
Posts: 96
Joined: Fri Apr 28, 2006 5:52 am

Post by jme »

I can't parallel park :lol:
"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."

"Normal refers to someone who hasn’t had enough tests!"
Shadwell
Moderator
Posts: 932
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:24 am
Location: Bridgend, South Wales

Post by Shadwell »

jme, it wouldn't make too much difference, the standard of driving most people seem to get away with on roads after passing their driving test!!

after people pass their driving test the whole of the highway code goes out the drivers window! as so does their driving skills!!

look at the grand-dad that written my car off, he tried a parallel park in a 50 foot gap! which he could easily just have driven into, and then maybe reversed slightly. instead of hitting my parked car on the opposite side of the road!
Crofty
Getting settled in
Posts: 45
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2007 9:09 am
Location: darlington, uk
Contact:

Post by Crofty »

hey funny i come in here, im learning to drive soon too

anyone want good cheap lessons with a national company try these out

every 5 lessons for 56 quid

http://www.billplant.co.uk i think

crofty
Post Reply