Finally passed my driving test!

Readers,

I am pleased to finally be able to say that i have passed my driving test at the 5th time of asking.

It was a stressful, painful and expensive three years but the elation i feel right now means that it was thoroughly worth it and I would like to share some of the wisdom that I have learnt from my three years as a learner driver per chance that it may save you time, money and the embarassment of not passing the driving test first time or at least within the first three goes (it starts getting ridiculous after three).

My first piece of advice is to start learning as soon as you turn 17 or can afford it. Do not delay it for any reason if you can afford to learn financially and actually want a license rather than believe in not driving to save the planet or for other personal reasons. The simple reason being that your mind is a lot sharper to being able to learn new skills when you are younger and by delaying it will only mean you have to take more lessons to reach the same level of skill required to pass the test.

My second piece of advice is to book your theory test within a few weeks of starting your driving lessons. Do not get ready for your practical before booking your theory! There are two reasons for this:

i) I am not fully convinced you can even really be ready for your practical unless you know your theory because while 90% of theory is a load of common sense anyway - the 10% relating to road signs and road markings is impossible to live without.

ii) there can be a waiting list to do the theory and so you might end up doing your practical 3 months after you feel ready because you wanted to wait to feel ready for it before even doing your theory!

This would mean you continue three months of lessons while ready for the test wasting money on lessons you dont need or going into the test not having had regular lessons leading into it for the prvious three months. Neither of these is ideal.

(For anyone who has booked a theory test and would like any help preparing for it, feel free to email me on moostee90@hotmail.com and i will be happy to assist as much as possible - i spent 90 quid in a month on three tests to get the job done and hate the dsa fleecing money of learner motorists so happy to try to help our battle against the common enemy!)

iii) Be pro-active! Do not think that your one hour lesson a week for 6 months will get you where you need to be on its own. When walking the streets or sitting on busses or sitting in cars being driven, be observant! Pay attention to road signs, road markings and road layouts. Make it so that seeing speed limit signs, one way steeet signs, no entry signs, bend in the road signs etc etc are alllll second nature for you. Learn to look out for road markings and road signs telling you which lane goes straight ahead and which bend to the right or left. Chances are your instructor will not spoon feed this part to you and will kind of expect you to 'get it' yourself.

iv) Know the syllabus - there are only set things you have to do on the driving test and you should know all of them so there are no surprises. Be completely confident on performing ALL the things on the syllabus so nothing is left to chance. Driving for 40 minutes when you have nothing to concentrate on except for the road ahead should mean you do your best drive because after you pass your test - the road ahead will be mixed in with your thoughts about what you will eat for dinner, what your favorite football team might do in the match tonight etc etc. Also, the manner in which you drive during lessons and the test is the safest way. If you cannot go 40 minutes without producing one major error when driving in this prescribed manner, how do you expect to cope when you are left to your own devices?

v) Be confident. If you are not confident, then why do you want to take the test? If you fail, you have wasted time and money and if you pass - then you are allowed to drive on your own. If you are not a good driver, then why do you want to drive on your own putting yourself and others at risk? I felt like a good driver for around 6 months now and feel the biggest blessing was failing my first test 2 years ago - i did not know how to drive well back then and didnt know how bad i was till near my second test.

finally, if anyone would like any further thoughts or advice on their driving test, feel free to drop me a line. It is something that proved the cause of great distress for me for a long time and it would be an honour for me if i could help relieve the distress of not knowing how to drive from others.

That is all for today

Peace