Unsupportive significant other?

Alanstrainor

wil wrote: »

I dont think there is anything outrageous suggesting that people would be better off learning to drive properly and quickly than what we are lumbered with currently. Isnt it time we learned from people with a little more expertise than us. 45 lessons obviously isnt outrageous in the UK, why should something comparable be here? Same cars, same roads, much the same rules, half the death rates.

Would you feel the same if doctors were self taught and practised in life and death situations daily rather than actually learn from teachers long before they put their theory in to practice.

I am not that familiar with the UK driving test, but seeing that we are in Ireland, with our driving test, 45 hours IS ridiculous. I cannot see how an almost identical test can take that many hour long lessons to prepare for, and i think there are a lot more factors to consider in the road deaths for both countries than just the driving test eg. In 2007 36% of Irish road fatalities were due to driving over the legal alcohol limit, in the uk on the other hand this figure is under 16%. That alone would account for the difference in road deaths. Whether you take 10 lessons or 500, it all ultimately comes down to the difficulty of the test, drastically "over preparing" for a test that only examines the basics of driving makes no sense at all to me.
Also your statistic on the uk having half the road fatality rate of Ireland is not correct. It's more like ~75%.

Permabear

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hippiechickie

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wil

hippiechickie wrote: »

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Hope she turns out good. But remember, because of the complete lack of regulation for so long, the standard of training here isnt very consistent, so if she turns out to be a waste of time, you are not obliged in any way to her, ditch her and move on quickly to one who can teach you properly.
If she is good, happy days ahead.:)

wil

donegalfella wrote: »

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Not said by I.

Nor did I advise anyone here to take 45 lessons.

I had no intention of hogging the OPs thread on a point about numbers of lessons. However my initial pointing out the current situation in our nearest neighbour where exists a worthy system was ridiculed. (And my points misquoted.)
Unfortunately it is our system that is ridiculous and our attitudes somewhat farcical.
Its a little like saying in order to get your leaving cert, aim for a D-.
That sadly is reflected in the situation on our roads.
A huge part of the point of learning to pass your test is not just to pass, but to actually be safe on the road. As for percentages compared to the UK, it really depends which year you consider, but certainly several from the last decade were closer to the 50% mark than the 75%. As a driver, I felt 90% safer on those roads than here. And I certainly never witnessed so many accidents till I came back.

This is not a Latin test where you may or may never use it again, it is a skill you will likely use for most of the rest of your life. Start off with the basics right and that life is likely to continue for longer.

I agree that 40plus lessons seems like a lot, but on the other hand 5 is way too few for the average person. I gave my own example of 20 in a short period with a competent instructer as a more realistic compromise.
Everyone is different, with different requirements, but to make such a low number appear normal is to leave people with unrealsitic expectations and higher fail rates, and ultimately lower the overall driving skills as people scrape through and retain attitudes of indifference.

If given the choice - take a few ad hoc lessons now and again over a couple of years and 50% chance of passing
or
do *20 to 30 lessons with competent instructer over 3 to 6 months and have an 80 to 90% chance of passing
which would you prefer to bank your future on?

Come July, when people are no longer legally allowed to "train" themselves as they ferry themselves around, option 1 might just become an anomaly of the past.

In the words of my instructer
"One point of passing the test is to confirm you are safe enough to be allowed learn on your own"
Thanks Alastair.

J_R

Hi,

Have you ever considered using "pedal Extenders" (Do a "Google"). Or read about them here:- http://www.rsa.ie/SERVICES/upload/File/ADI%20FORMS/RicabilityLoRes.pdf

I obtained a set for one of my pupils who like you was Vertically Challenged (As she used to say)

She found them very good. I purchased them from RCM Marketing. But they may be available in Ireland now.

The fact that you have trouble changing gears could be the result of siting way forward, forcing you to stretch to far backwards and at an awkard angle. - Especially for 2nd and 4th gears.

Trouble with assessing your position on the road could be simply because you can not see due to height restriction. (Tried cushions ??)

Make of car your instructor has could also be an issue. I have a VW golf and short statured people have no problems. But then have none just quite as short as you.

Able to do the corner reverse and especially the turnabout proves you can control the car OK.

Try another instructor/car and consider obtaining the extenders.

Using a footrest might also help. You could buy them from RCM above, who calls it a "Floor Level Raiser Pad", but you could make your own - piece of wood nail or glue a bit of carpet and stick some velcro on the bottom. RCM size is approx. 300mm x 200mm, 50mm thick but you could experiment. But make sure it CAN NOT interfere with the normal operation of the brake and clutch.

You should have changed instructor sooner as he should have pointed out some or all of the above.

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hippiechickie

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hippiechickie

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_feedback_

donegalfella really took that book on board!! Fareplay in spotting that man...

Great to hear the lesson went well hippiechickie. Was surprised someone hadn't mentioned the pedal extensions earlier in the thread, that should help you out big time.

The mention of a lot of female chests kept a few of us interested in that thread but you got some good advice there.

I'm lucky that I wasn't nervous, but made plenty of mistakes. However, everyone is in the same boat when they start, and you just have to believe in yourself and your instructor.

Hopefully everything goes well with the new one after the first good lesson today!

Good Luck

hippiechickie

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sunnyside

That's fantastic. Delighted for you. What did the unsupportive boyfriend say?

hippiechickie

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sunnyside

hippiechickie wrote: »

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Well done again.

hippiechickie

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Heroditas

I'm utterly stunned - particularly after reading your initial post on the thread. It does show, however, that there were many issues preventing you from driving - such as the set-up of the car, "tunnel vision" and also confidence.

Well done! You should be really proud of yourself.
You'll also find that you'll have picked up more confidence since you passed your test. In essence, pasing the test vindicates you're not a bad driver.

hippiechickie

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