My First Driving Instructor
Four years ago, I finally decided to take the plunge and get my driver’s license. My husband was already taking lessons through BSM and highly recommended it. In those days, learner driving lessons were on £22 an hour but BSM recommended taking two lessons back to back, so each week I paid £44 for a two hour lesson. The current price now is £27 an hour which would now cost me £54 a week to learn how to drive. At first I was a little skeptical as to why it was recommended to have two hour lessons instead of an hour a week but I soon realized why. It takes at least 45 minutes to become accustomed to being behind the wheel.
My first instructor was an Asian man about 45 years old; he was friendly and patient and was a really good teacher. As the lessons went on, he kept getting phone calls from family members whilst he was supposed to teach me. I was just left sitting there trying to figure out where I had to go next. After 3 lessons, he changed his car from petrol to diesel and I hated it. I decided enough was enough and he was wasting my time and money. Personally I hate diesel cars as they make so much noise – it’s unbelievable. People used to love diesel because it was so cheap but now the price of diesel is more than petrol, they should be banned!
I decided to call my husband’s instructor as he had by then passed; he managed to find a suitable time for me to take lessons on Sunday mornings between 10am – 12pm. He was a lovely man and very patient and made me laugh. His mobile phone was always switched off for the lessons and he was always 10 minutes early preparing in my driveway. Within two months, I was ready for my practical test!
As you know before I could take my practical driving test, I had sit and pass my theory test so off I practiced. I knew many friends who would study for months to take their theory test and I thought it was weird how could you sit a test you knew nothing about. Since I was a driving for a couple of months practicing questions for the theory test was easy. I now advise everyone to learn for the theory test after they have started driving as it makes answering the questions so much easier. On the day of the test, I was like two minutes late but the security man let me in and told me to run – I can’t believe I was so stupid to get there so late; I could’ve been turned away and lost the money that I paid. After settling in and becoming familiar with the layout of the screen, I calmed down and tried to answer the questions. The theory test wasn’t very hard and I passed with flying colours. The hazard perception test is what scared me the most. If you clicked too many times, you could score zero and that could cause me to fail and not pass as I had to pass both for me to take my practical exam.
After I passed my theory I booked my practical test for a week later and chose an 11am slot. I took my test in Salford, Manchester and it was the quietest time of the day. I had an hour’s lesson before the practical test and it was a disaster – my instructor just pretended he was the examiner and tested me on what I would be asked and if it was the actual test I would’ve failed. I calmed down and then it was time for my actual practical exam. I was asked two questions in tell me show me about the car; one was about how to check that the lights are working and the other was how to check wiper fluid. The examiner then asked me to read a licence plate 20.5 metres away (this is to check that I have the minimum sight requirements for driving). The exam was easy – I had to do a turn in the road and reverse around a corner; it was all simple and I only had one minor that was stalling the car at the traffic lights and apart from that I passed. I went home to gloat to my husband as he failed his first time!