Bad driving instructors

cyclopopcicle said:
a driving examiner doesn't know you so how can they like/dislike you?
they only see the candidate for 40 mins.
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Actually, it only takes a matter of seconds for someone to form a psychological opinion of you. That can determine whether or not you will pass something as they will make it as difficult or as hard for you to pass as they want.
 
my driving instructor was a boss to be fair!! nice tidy guy, gave good instructions, always went through things to make sure I understood. If I screwed up he would let my know I had done and then go through it with me there and then or when safe to do so, on the rare occasion I would make a bad mistake he'd really let me know!!! did come across as harsh sometimes but hell... it worked! never made those mistakes again hehe :D one example was on a dual carriageway roundabout I was heading straight on and as I was about to come off I left it a bit late so was doing more of a left turn into the exit and this white van driver who was joining from the exit i had passed (one i didn;t want) just floored it behind me and tried to like undertake me because in my own fault I was straddling both lanes :( ... but as I was turning!!!! so we both came to a stop and the white van man started shouting and I was a bit shaken but my instructor wound down the window and gave the guy an earful about how retarded he was being, seeing as i'm clearly a learner driver and he should expect some unpredictability and give more space, also that he was trying to undertake even with us signalling to turn off.. xD

then on massive roundabouts (like 4/5 lanes where there's motorways and A/B roads) I wasn;t great at reading the signs so we spent a lesson or two just doing lots of round abouts from different directions and I soon started to own them :D

then day of test came along and I passed with 1 minor for hesitating at a round about because there was a massive lorry coming and I thought not to try and push it so got marked down for "waiting" hahaha (on the way to the test center we almost got sideswiped by a going all around the round about in the outside lane :( )


one of my friends had a bad instructor... she was learning but he kept doing the same stuff and not progressing onto anything... like she had a fair amount of lessons but hadn't done a single maneuver yet?! and pretty much doing exactly the same route and she said she wanted to do more but he insisted no... she then got a new instructor and passed shortly after :D I also took her out for a few lessons and she even said I was a way better instructor than he was xD woop woop \o/
 
When 17 I did a few lessons with a young guy who just seemed terrified all the time and had no trust at all in me . It put me off doing lessons for ages then one day I got told by work they'd give me a week off to learn to drive so I phoned a big company to try and get a load of lessons within a week

the instructor was as laid back as myself , told me what I needed to know and let me get on with it , perfect. My test was booked for a few weeks after these lessons and passed with one minor .

He would have been a nightmare instructor for some people but was right for me . New learners need to remember there's plenty of instructors out there ! Too many people sticking with one who might not be best for them
 
snowdog said:
They know your instructor though...

My instructor said there was 1 examiner that always made his students fail because he had an argument with him in the past.
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Just reminded me . I couldn't book my test at one of two local test centres because my instructor was well known their for the wrong reasons :p
 
Dis86 said:
Actually, it only takes a matter of seconds for someone to form a psychological opinion of you. That can determine whether or not you will pass something as they will make it as difficult or as hard for you to pass as they want.
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LOL.. Just where do you get this information from?

I've been an instructor for my sins and my experience of examiners is that they are very, very fair. Don't lose sight of what they are there for, they decide whether or not you driving meets the required standard, and they always air on the side of caution, because the ramification of allowing someone loose on the road who isn't up to it, is catastrophic. We all know even those who do pass their test are on shaky ground for the first few months until they gain experience with hours driven on their own.

For those who do get put in for test and fail, it tends to be because the are overly nervous on the day, or someone on the road does something silly and they fall apart because they've not been in that situation before. Some will not be up to the standard but moan so at much the instructor they allow them to go to test. And Hey-ho, when they fail it's the instructors fault.

Plus people just assume because the instructor turns up with 'L' plates on the car and a top-box they are qualified. That is simply not the case, the bigger companies will allow instructors out on a "pink-licence" which means they have the bare minimum of 40 hours under their belt. But are not fully qualified.

The really good instructors will have done loads of CPD and should be a minimum of grade 5-6. If they have been doing it for more than a few years and aren't look elsewhere.
 
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First instructor I did get on with, But due to his lack of communication gave me doubts, so I got rid.

Then a mate tipped me off about another instructor, He had an Fabia VRS as a learner car, and he was cracking, we was always chatting so it was rarely quiet in the car, he knew what he was doing, he had little laminated diagrams to show you, When we got on a dually he would always say go on give it a bootful.

He was awesome, after about 8-10 lessons with him I passed.
 
My instructor was good, but a little scary.

Before becoming an instructor, he worked as a police pursuit instructor, and before that he was in the special forces. :eek: I passed first time with 2 minors though. :)
 
Mine was brilliant. Very friendly and cheap. He would never get mad if I made a mistake. He'd sit there and smile and just ask me if I knew what I did wrong. He also didn't want to fleece me, it wasn't that one until I was ready for my test and he told me to book it ASAP as I'd be wasting my money with more lessons.
 
Reading this has made me remember my driving test. I turned up for the day in the instructors 1.5 Saxo Diesel - 3 door. I remember it being a hot day, dry thankfully. I was feeling very nervous for my first driving test. I waited in the waiting room until the driving examiner arrived back, chatting with my very confident instructor. The door opened and I was called out onto the carpark. I was greeted by three men. The examiner and two other gentlemen who were assessing the examiner. I was asked if it was okay for the assessors to join, to which I said yes.

That poor car felt so different with all that extra weight, and by eck, was it warm in that car!

I passed, thankfully.
 
My instructor was awesome, however he dropped a bit of a bomb shell on me as we parked up the car just before going to the test centre ready for my test "My current practical driving test record is 100% pass rate, don't fail me!" ... really didn't help, but I did pass.. :D
 
Well Splattered said:
Reading this has made me remember my driving test. I turned up for the day in the instructors 1.5 Saxo Diesel - 3 door. I remember it being a hot day, dry thankfully. I was feeling very nervous for my first driving test. I waited in the waiting room until the driving examiner arrived back, chatting with my very confident instructor. The door opened and I was called out onto the carpark. I was greeted by three men. The examiner and two other gentlemen who were assessing the examiner. I was asked if it was okay for the assessors to join, to which I said yes.

That poor car felt so different with all that extra weight, and by eck, was it warm in that car!

I passed, thankfully.
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Wonder what happens if you say no to the extra gentlemen.
 
MooMoo444 said:
Wonder what happens if you say no to the extra gentlemen.
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One of two things I would guess. Either the test proceeds as planned with that examiner, without the men, if it's a routine appraisal, or you get a different instructor ± a different day/time if it's e.g. a learner instructor or for some other reason they're being supervised.

Pretty much like any other profession with clients :p
 
My instructor was awesome, he was into his classic cars and as i'd bought a Capri 2.8i as my first car we used to spend all the time talking old cars.

There is a section of Sheffield parkway that you can pull onto without joining the main carriageway and he always used to tell me I had to floor it and be doing 70 in time to be in with the flow of traffic, he'd have told me off for dawdling otherwise.

He drilled into me how to use the motorways properly too even though we couldn't go on them.
 
Did most of my learning with my Dad who started off with me in a car park learning car control, first instructor was a massive goon, on my first lesson I got overtaken in a stupid place with poor visibility and cars parked both sides, no doubt I was going slow but even now I cant imagine why anyone would overtake there. The guy told me I deserved to be overtaken.

Canned that guy and went with another - absolute legend, great instructor. Passed in 10 lessons, no minors :)

Hawker
 
My instructor was a heavier mum of two. Usually just chatted away whilst I drove about.

She explained things clearly and would tell me off if I was bad. Apparently going 60 down to 30 for a right hand corner wasn't good practice when it involved using second gear, blipping the throttle and higher revs.

Passed first time with 3 minors for observations so I think she was good.
 
Taking my lessons at the moment. Got a fantastic instructor. The bloke is a real laugh and knows his stuff. If I got landed with a 'weirdo' or someone who I think isnt very good at what they do, I would have jacked it in after the first lesson and tried another instructor.
 
Mine had the deliberate and slightly inappropriate 'touching' thing going on. Nothing serious and it's not like I give a damn, but lets just say I wouldn't consider letting a daughter learn with him.

Bit of a weirdo.

Also convinced me pass + was a good idea. What a load of crap that turned out to be...
 
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