Learning to drive - my story!

Learning to drive is becoming harder and harder, the prices are going up on almost every aspect of it and the pass level is also driving out of control.

When I turned 17, like most people, I started to learn how to drive. I had no previous experience before hand and as a young boy I thought I was the next Lewis Hamilton. The only words coming out of my instructor's (Bruce) mouth was "slow down", "what speed limit is it down here Travelmonkey? (only kidding)" and admittedly, yes, once I nearly collided with an oncoming vehicle because there was a pretty girl at a bus stop but whatever, we were OK, so lets not go into that.

Anyway, after having around 12 lessons or so Bruce and I thought I was ready, I had conquered my manoeuvres and I could drive at a good standard but all I had to do was pass my theory test, how hard could this be?

Well, it took me five times to pass my theory test costing me around £125, but this was down to a string of unlucky tests. Having already spent around £300 on lessons it devestated my driving budget, the worst thing was, I failed three times by one question on the same catagory and another time for forgetting my licence. It had come to the point where I was on first name basis with the receptionist, this got a little embarrassing each time I went and failed, but being persistant paid off as Suzanne looked thankful once she handed me the passed certificate, maybe she was sick of the forced conversation.

By the time i had done my fifth test I had now had well over 20 lessons, Bruce was simply taking my money off me to drive him around for an hour. We finally booked my test which cost me a little over £65 and i went for it, it was the most uncomfortable hour of my life.

Driving with Bruce was relaxed, sometimes we had the radio on and I would go lesson after lesson without making a fault but place an instructor in a high visability jacket and a clipboard next to you and your whole body becomes a nervous wreck. My feet were shaking as if they were resting on a nerve, it sounded like they were playing the drums on the pedals, bam bam bam. The worst part was when I was completing a simple turn in the road, full of fear and trying to find the bite without stalling I nervously looked at the instructor and smiled while he looked at me sweating prohusively with a fast tapping noise coming from the pedal.

This I can imagine, happens to thousands of people all over the UK, some people can handle the pressure but unfortunately I am not one of those. There was little suprise when the instructor failed me for making a silly mistake, driving in the wrong lane approaching a round a bout.

This left me disheartened and it put me off for a while, two and a half years in fact. I never intended of getting behind the learners wheel in anytime soon as I had a job close by and I relied on my friends and family for rides, why should i spend another £500? This changed of course when I applied for a job 20 miles away, I never thought of the transportation when i applied but when I actually got the job it hit me, I need to drive.

I had to start my job in one month and I needed to pass my test. The most efficient way to pass your test quickly is to carry out a crash course, this is where you take however many lessons you need in a short period of time and then take your test, you might know it as intensive driving lessons.

I needed to learn to drive within a month and I had no one to call. I started frantically phoning around leaving numerous messages but again, persistance paid off as I finally found one who could accommodate me in such a short time period, the only problem was that it was in an area I had never driven before but it was the best I could get so I paid for 12 lessons and a test. This cost me in total £400.

Someone mentioned to me that my theory licence runs out after two years, not this drama again I thought. So I booked my theory and turned up with all my documents, said hello to an old friend and took the test, which I passed with flying colours, things were all coming into place for me, well, i thought they were.

It was three days before my crash course and one week before I started my new job when the crash course company called me and informed me that they had double booked the driving instructor and that they had no other instructors available. I went nuts, I had to find an instructor who could spare 12 hours of his time in the next three days, searching around on the internet all afternoon and leaving messages for various instructors. The only response I was getting was that they were too busy or could not give me the full 12 hours, I was down in the dumps, thinking I was going to have to travel on the train for two and a half hours each way to get to my new job.

I phoned one company who had a spare driver called Andy, he instantly phoned me back and we agreed that he would teach me how to drive. He turned up in a maroon coloured vauxhall meriva which is a biggish family car, I was going to learn in a bus. Andy was great though, he knew his stuff and I was ready in no time for my test, he knew all the examiners as his company had a good reputation. One thing he told me was that there is a harsh examiner called Mr Ruffles, "you don't want Ruffles Travelmonkey" he said, he has a ruthless reputation and has the lowest pass rate.

I can imagine it now, I signal half a second too early and he fails me for premature signalling saying I was casuing possible death to others whilst histerically laughs only stopping to drink his bottle of childrens tears.

I had to drown that scenario out as I turned up on the day, I sat down trying not to get as nervous as last time, i had two cups of coffee with Andy and we were called into the reception area. It was so intense, four other students were in there, all nervously looking around or pretending to read the nine month old copy of a tattered car magazine which had been laid out for us, meanwhile our instructors chatted everso casually, it felt like they were family.

In came the examiners and one by one the students were called out until it was me left there on my own, "Travelmonkey, both parts of your licence please" Mr Ruffles said, oh no.

As I walked to the car I tried asking a few questions to calm me down, he didn't reply he just walked to the car and got in the passanger side, I had failed already. I sat down on the seat and he asked me a few questions about the cockpit, he then asked me to drive off carefully.

By this point it felt like I was sitting on a tumble dryer I was shaking that much, my back was drenched with sweat and I could hear the drumming of the pedals once again. I kept my head as much as I could and went through the test to the best of my ability, remembering all what Andy had told me, making hardly any mistakes. At the end of the exam I turned to Mr Ruffles and gave him a hopeful smile for him to inform me that I had failed due to driving too slow through a council estate. I thought this was ridiculous as Andy always told me to keep it slow when I drove through that particular estate.

When I told Andy he appealed to Ruffles who did not respond. I went away thinking Mr Ruffles had made a mistake. Now I do not want to sound like one of those people who feel hard done by and give lame excuses and say " I really should have passed, I was so unlucky" but I really should have passed and I was unlucky!

Andy booked another four lessons along with a test, this time I had to pass, so two weeks later after taking the train to work resulting in 14 hour days I found myself in the driving seat again. I had a different examiner and he made the whole experience a lot easier. He spoke to me throughout and made me feel a lot more relaxed. I turned to him at the end and he informed me that I had passed my test.

I startled the poor guy by shouting "yes" jumped out the car and repeatedly punched the air, it meant so much to me.Three driving tests it took me to pass and six theory tests, i did actuallypass my theory twice so statistically its one in three :)

This entire process of learning to drive cost me in the excess of £800, for some it may be cheaper and others a lot more expensive but the price of the lessons is going up all the time due to the increasing price of petrol and so are the price of the exams. One of the biggest mistakes I made was to stop my lessons, I do not recommend this to anyone, keep at it, if you fail, try again just be persistant.

I'm just happy I got it out the way now.