Learning to Drive at 36

Walter Concrete

Hi all,

Long time lurker , first time poster etc etc

So at the ripe old age of 36 I've decided that it's time to acquire this particular skill and am looking for some guidance or advice from anyone who's had a similar experience.

I've never been interested in cars , I'm still not , the truth be told. I live and work in Dublin city centre , I cycle everywhere so have no great need of a car but with a baby on the way soon , it's time I bite the bullet and at least learn. The thing is , I have no immediate plans to buy a car. I would happily use a combination of go-car and/or rentals when required but i imagine this throws up immediate problems?

Aside from passing the the theory test , getting my provisional and being duty bound to take a minimum of 12(I think) lessons , what can I expect to encounter.

Needless to say I'm not looking forward to this at all but I've put it off too long now.

Thanks in advance for the help folks..

foreversky

I started at 32 hated it at first.i got my own car a yaris ,12 lessons. I was a nervous beginner,.i had female instructer.the nerves get to u.cud not reverse can now:-).just take ur time.find the right instructer.will test this year.....

Slang_Tang

I learned at 27, which I guess is relatively late (I grew up in a small town, and most people I knew there had their licenses by 18 or 19).

I quite enjoyed the process, and I was a very nervous driver (I still am). The advantage of learning after your mid-twenties is you're much more careful.

Find an instructor you're comfortable with. Do you have access to a car? A friend or family member who can accompany you to give you some driving practice when you get your provisional? I'd really recommend you find someone (they have to have had their license for at least 2 years, if I remember). If not, then budget for more than the 12 assigned driving lessons.

It's a long process (you have to wait 6 months after your provisional is issued before you can take the driving test), so just get the ball rolling right away and apply for the provisional. And use the CD-rom version of the Official Driver Test Theory Questions to help you prepare; it's much easier to learn it that way than in book form.

Walter Concrete

Cheers folks, luckily I do have access to a few friends in town who I could do some driving with outside of lessons

Didn't realise the wait was that long on the provisional, better get on it now so!

Kintarō Hattori

Like yourself OP I left it late. Growing up we were a car-less family and I've always lived/worked in Dublin city centre so it was never a priority as I was saving to buy a home.
Last year the missus (who does drive) kicked me up the arse and bought me the course of lessons from ISM. Critical to this is finding an instructor whom you're comfortable with. Personally I feel I was very lucky as the fellow I had was very calming.

While the 12 lessons were great I only really improved significantly by driving the car with the missus. She relinquished most driving to me when we were off together and that was very tough in the beginning. She was rightfully ruthless and pushed me to drive a lot and in places that were outside of my comfort zone. You possibly will need a lot more driving with someone other than the 12 lessons to become comfortable and reasonably confident.
I've been a little lazy as work as been tremendously busy in that I haven't yet booked a test date. But I feel I can manage it and I'm only holding myself back for no good reason.

Get on with it. Once I had decent experience behind me after the lessons I grew to love it and now enjoy driving. I do regret that I didn't do it sooner but better late than never. I'll bang out the old line that 'If I can do it, then so can you'.

Enjoy the experience and if you have any questions whatsoever feel free to PM me. I don't often check this forum so may miss any questions on the thread.

Walter Concrete

Cheers Kintaro , yeah sounds like I have a similar story to you.

A few people have mentioned getting the right instructor as crucial. What kind of things should I be looking out for? Older, younger? methodical , hard but fair??

My missus has driven for years but doesn't own a car currently for similar reasons ( works near home etc ) , so the option of practicing with her is out. This might actually be a good thing as i reckon we would kill each other doing this. i do however have a few mates I could likely do this with so should be fine.

Silvera

I would agree that finding the right instructor is vital. I took (and passed) the C+E (Truck + Trailer) test this year and I tried three different instructors before I found the right one.

http://www.aclearsteerdriving.com/?page_id=46

kerry4sam

Walter Concrete wrote: »

...

A few people have mentioned getting the right instructor as crucial. What kind of things should I be looking out for? Older, younger? methodical , hard but fair??

My missus has driven for years but doesn't own a car currently for similar reasons ( works near home etc ) , so the option of practicing with her is out. This might actually be a good thing as i reckon we would kill each other doing this. i do however have a few mates I could likely do this with so should be fine.

I think this is Wonderful! Hope this will all go okay for you

re: Driving Instructor - trial & error for me so it was.
~ My 1st paid instuctor was just a complete and utter ignorant, negative person. Almost every person we would pass she would comment on them in a negative way, always unpleasant being in her company tbh.
Somedays I watch her now and as some people pass them (with a learner driver) you would see the learner driver in stitches laughing. Now, maybe that's her way of getting the learner to relax somewhat, but it's just pure horid in my eyes.

~ My 2nd paid instructor was Awesome! So relaxed; easy-going; no pressures. She observed my driving first & then when we stopped she had a few notes taken and we worked on those few over & over. The most down-to-earth honest person you'd find and I felt it easier learning and improving with her as my instructor than the first nasty miss negative.

Trial & Error with your instructor,
Like to Wish you Safe & Happy Driving though,
Well Done on Learning to Drive - a Wonderful Skill!
kerry4sam

Kintarō Hattori

In terms of the right instructor you'll hopefully know them when you get them. There's nothing to look out for other than someone who has the right personality. I was incredibly lucky in that the fellow I got was calm and just a decent fellow in general. Like Kerry's second instructor he wouldn't point out your mistakes to you straight after making them. When you'd pulled over he'd ask what you thought you had done wrong and then let you know if you didn't realise. His reasoning was that he wanted you to learn your own mistakes and correct them yourself.
Driving with him was great as I was calm and able to focus. When I made a mistake I realised what it was and never felt under pressure. That brings me on neatly to the other part of your post.

It's often said that driving with your nearest and dearest is one of the worst things you can do and it absolutely is. While I appreciate the kick up the backside, driving with my partner was anything but calm. I was able to recognise the mistakes my made with my instructor but I felt it was a battle with the missus as she wasn't as understanding. She had her way of driving and often tried to pass on her bad habits to me- stating that I could just do it right on the day of the exam. That and other reasons are why it's not a good idea. We have a great relationship, we love each other dearly but generally speaking the only time we argue............... is when I'm driving and she's in the passenger seat. So avoid it if you can

Walter Concrete

Cheers Kerry & Kintaro

That's exactly what I reckon I would respond best to - do my thing , acknowledge the mistakes afterwards and address them , so i'll keep an eye out for that in any potential instructor. I can get nervous in pressure situations , so if someone was critiquing everything i was doing it , as I was doing it , I wouldn't respond to it. I'm quite methodical by nature , so I'd much rather analyse things as I go and correct them.

Regarding driving with my wife or anyone else , I've often heard that there's a world of difference between the way you'll drive in order to pass a test and what happens in the day to day of driving once you've done so.

I'd much rather just nail the ' checklist' to pass first rather than getting bullied into someone's bad habits whilst learning.

Again , this has been really helpful , so kudos for that :-)

ProudDUB

A lot of driving schools/instructors offer cheaper lessons if you pre pay for a block of lessons. Twelve lessons would be the most common, as that is the minimum number of EDT lessons that you are required to do. However, this forum is littered with posts from people who are unhappy with how things are going after just a few lessons, but they feel trapped into staying with their instructor, as they have already paid for their lessons. So even if it costs you more in the long run, I think it is worth it to only pay for a few lessons at first. It gives you the freedom to move on to someone else, if you feel that you and your instructor just aren't clicking.

scrumqueen

Hi OP

Like a couple of other posters have a similar enough situation myself! Got my first batch of driving lessons as a present when I was 19, and started the whole process but didn't buy a car as I didn't need one when I moved to Dublin for my post grad!

So almost ten years later I'm now in a position where I need to bite the bullet and get on the road. Need to book my test to get my third provisional now and find a good instructor and of course, buy a car! In a bizarre twist it turns out I'm not required to get the 12 lessons but I could very well end up getting them anyway! Very nervous about driving around Dublin as I initially started learning down the West, quiet roads and no roundabouts!