I read a story recently of a learner driver who failed her test because she drove through a puddle and splashed a pedestrian. Well, I did realise that the test was going to be difficult!
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It is ten months since my last lesson I realised but after an initial groggy start I soon found confidence behind the wheel. I am also driving a brand new Mini Cooper. Not sure why I chose to learn in a Mini because the most I will be able to afford is a second hand Ford KA I reckon. Still, it is nice to be back behind the wheel of such a great car.
]]>It's quite exciting and I will have a two hour session so better be on the ball for that. I feel slightly nostalgic for my previous instructor Steve who was so good at his job and had a cheeky sense of humour which was a bonus. However, this new instructor sounds keen and has even got himself a new Mini Cooper for the job. He might not be so keen to show off his new Mini when I get behind the wheel though, hee, hee!
I'd better start swatting up again on the theory this weekend.
]]>It's not that I have been sitting around doing nothing but with no clear direction ahead, my life has stalled. I have been trying to set up my own business called SEALS - Secretarial, Editorial, Administrative, Literary Service and it is a tough journey.
I have also got involved in a local animal charity called Animals in Mind and am trying to raise funds for them. They take care of animals with behavioural problems usually from neglect or abuse. If anyone would like to take a look at their website for interest or make a donation, it's www.animalsinmind.org.uk.
I am going to create a second blog so that just coz I haven't been driving, it doesn't mean I can't say something else about all manner of different things.
]]>Of course, I would never do such a thing but I was worried I would forget everything I have ever learnt about driving in the last few weeks. Not so! Whenever, I am in the car with the parents I have flashbacks and try my hardest not to pull either of them up on their slack driving habits.
Once, we were joining a motorway from a slip road and following an elderly driver who was driving at around 30mph. I was instantly reminded of what Steve had told me about always going with the flow of traffic and adjusting speed accordingly. The driver was going dangerously slow at this point as he moved onto the motorway lane but did speed up a little after we had passed him by. It was nowhere near the kind of speed he should have been driving at though.
There are so many adverts on TV about speeding and drink driving, perhaps there should be more about the dangers of slow driving as well?
]]>This is situated in the West of the UK and I do feel a sense of loss for where I was living before as I was forced to leave because of financial reasons.
I also miss my driving lessons with Steve who was my brilliant instructor. However, life goes on and I will continue to document my determination to become a driver. 
I was awful, I really sucked as an American might say. I did not look in my centre mirror enough when slowing down or when there was a hazard. I stalled the car four times but, of course, I was very nervous and HUNG OVER as well so some pity for me please. I also did not change from 3rd to 2nd when going round a bend which is a major error. Practice, practice, practice is what I need.
Is there not any kind soul out there who would consider taking me out to practice? I am a good driver really. I promise you.
]]>For more information on the town where I live and drive through go to www.mybrightonandhove.co.uk
I don't have a driving lesson until Saturday week now but I have been told to prepare for a mock driving test where my instructor promises to be ruthless, well, not ruthless but I will have to drive as if I am being examined. The butterflies have already started fluttering in my stomach.
]]>However, my instructor was not so joyous as myself as he had to borrow a colleague's car to let me drive back to Brighton and for him to pick up his next client.
I was again a little rough with the gear stick and my skills on the steering wheel do need improvement but I still put this down to not enough practice. These are things to bear in mind as well as keeping up with the flow of traffic and not to be over cautious at times. I am comforted by the reassuring words of friends who tell me 'everything becomes automatic after a while'. They don't offer to take me out in their own cars though.
]]>A work colleague was advertising her car for £150 and, unfortunately, someone else got in there first. To make matters worse, I took my bicycle to a cycle shop just to have the tyres pumped up a little and ended up spending £26 pounds on a new tyre, inner tube, break pads and cable!
Still, the sensational ride home along the seafront was fabulous and I must congratulate the employees at Baker Street Cycles in Brighton for the attention they gave to my rusty, old clanger of a bike. Maybe I was wise not to go for a rusty, old clanger of a car right now considering I have yet to pass the test.
]]>As far as cycling is concerned, I have found out that the local police have been dishing out fines for errant cyclists who cycle down St James's Street, a one way street. I am extra vigilant not to cycle down there now. However, on Saturday I saw a car make its way down there effortlessly. Luckily, there was no other traffic to cause a disturbance. I am not the only driver confused on the roads.
]]>I decided to ask my friends with cars if they would take me out. I brought a set of L plates from the Post Office for £1.99 eager to slap them on to a willing window. Sadly, no one was jumping at the bit to take me out. I asked my friend Paul as he was driving a few of us round the beautiful Sussex coastline and he kept changing the subject: 'look at that sheep over there!'. The fact that I am not registered on anyone's insurance says a lot about their reluctance.
The L plates are sitting forlorn and neglected now in my bedroom and I cannot wait until Tuesday for my official lesson.
]]>The lesson focused on pedestrian crossings. I never realised before that cyclists should only cross at a Toucan crossing which my instructor tells me an easy way of remembering is to say 'two can' be crossing. There's also a Pelican crossing, a Puffin Crossing and then the Zebra which is the most easily identifiable pedestrian crossing in my view.
]]>If he had been charged with 'dangerous' driving then he would have faced a prison charge of 10-14 years for the death of his passenger. The parents of the dead young girl are outraged.
I am not sure whether I think he should pay a higher penalty for what he has done because the girl was not wearing a seat belt which is, of course, illegal these days even for back seat passengers. Stories like this frighten but do not deter me from driving as part of the skill of driving is anticipating idiots on the road.
]]>I am going to make a conscious effort to revise chapters of the book I have already studied because there are little things that are easy to forget, like checking in the main mirror every time I slow down.
]]>I saw a car advertised on a website for £100 and was tempted to buy it until a very down to earth friend brought up issues such as insurance, road tax, MOT and how would I go and fetch the car considering I have not yet passed my test. It's probably best not to tempt fate.
I also keep seeing adverts around Brighton to coax car owners into ditching their cars and getting back on their bikes for the sake of the environment.
Now they tell me. The thrill of driving outways the thrill of cycling but I have to say nothing can beat the feeling of free wheeling on a hot summer's day down one of Brighton's monstrous hills. Pity there ain't too many hot days here.
Why do I pay so much attention to learning to drive but cycle as if I am on a death wish? I regularly cycle down a one way street called 'St James's Street' in Brighton. Drivers shake their heads in horror but I carry on regardless. Yesterday, I almost got run over by a car coming out of a side street. The guy was, of course, not looking to his right because he was assuming it was one way and a dumb cyclist would not be free wheeling down the road. I had to swerve quickly. He had to do an emergency stop.
Should the driver have looked to his left even entering a one way street? Hmmm, there should be a cycling license issued.
]]>Reverse parking went well. The trick is to reverse your car parallel to the car you wish to park behind so that you can see the rear of their car about half way along the rear left side window of your car. Stop. Then let the clutch up slowly and steer to the left until the car is at 45 degrees, or, as Steve had to explain to me, at about 2 o’clock on an imaginary clock face if the car I was parking behind represents 12 o’clock. Steer to the right and not try to hit the curb allowing room to be able to ease forward to exit your parking space. I did well, even remembering to look all around for hazards when I was supposed to.
Here’s a good resource I found to practice mock theory tests for free:
]]>I live minutes away from the beach in Kemptown, Brighton so it's like having access to a huge pond and a garden; even if that garden is covered in shingle.
My instructor advised me to study the lesson in advance and so I do it the night before, not exactly the model student.
Tonight I will be doing reverse parking. My task in a nutshell:
1. Pull up along side vehicle I wish to park behind
2. Check it is safe to proceed
3. Put gear in reverse, move back until front wheels of my car are level with the back of other car and steer left until wheel locks and car is at 45degree angle to the curb, steer right until wheel locks
4. Move forward to make sure enough room between your car and the other car.
Piece of cake?
]]>My parents insisted though and signed me up for a couple of lessons with one of the larger companies. A big mistake! The instructor was more nervous than I was at that age and kept grabbing the wheel at every opportunity to keep me in the right lane. I assured him I had not been drinking. I was only 17 for God's sake.
My father was just as nervous and I had regular tantrums by getting out of the driver's seat, slamming the car door and walking home from the local Sainbury's car park in floods of tears.
Then after 10 lessons I stopped. It made me sick to even contemplate the test. I moved to London years later to study Russian. London is a place where a car is a hindrance rather than a help and there were other forms of transport to become interested in like helicopters, boats and trains all of which I have had some experience of driving.
I'm a bit of a speed freak too and a right menace on a bicycle. I laughed at Hot Fuzz and Officer Nick Angel's 'Advanced Cycling' qualification but I should be banned from cycling as I spend so much time cutting corners by cycling on the pavements when approaching junctions.
That's why I am very serious about learning to drive well and safe.
]]>I have already had a few lessons and I love it. Each week I cannot wait to get back behind the wheel. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone who is brave enough to take me out between lessons so I have to wait impatiently each week for my hour lesson on a Tuesday.
This week I had a few problems with gear changes. Steve told me not to drive like a Formula One Driver and not to crunch the gears. He said to me 'think of the gear stick as if it were a husky's nose. Would you force a husky's nose away from you like that?' Ever so sheepish, I thought of a husky's nose and moved from 2nd to 3rd gear with a gentle push. Steve told me it was a text book gear change.
Steve's got the patience of a saint with me and my tendency to panic at the sight of a red light, pedestrian crossing the road or a white van driver. He's also an inventive and enthusiastic instructor who has more faith in my abilities than I do so I will keep you posted.
