Driving instructor dragging out lessons, advice needed.

The_Dark_Side said:
the sad fact is that a lot of people seem to end up having more lessons than they really needed to pass.
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Hmm, You know this because?

The bottom line is any GOOD instructor will work WITH the pupil and adjust the lessons to suit the individual.

Also any GOOD instructor will teach you to drive anywhere safely. Then the test is a formality. If you just want to pass a test thats easy, just dont expect to live long after......

The DSA say it takes 2 hours of profesional training per year of age with the same amount of private practice. On average.

Some people need more some less. I wish people would get away from this 'learn to pass the test' mentality and start thinking about being safe competant drivers. After all in the wrong hand cars are deadly weapons and should be shown some respect, thay are NOT toys.

If someone is not happy with there instructor then ask them how/why they do things the way they do. If you are not then happy with the answers try a different instuctor.

Oh and just my little pet rant, why is it people will spend THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of pounds on cars over the years but grudge paying to learn to use it properly?
 
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Its just reverse parking behind a parked car I'm struggling with, i just cant seem to judge when to start turning in and end up hitting the curb or being too far away. My instructor said as a reference point start to turn in when the curb disappears from view in the wing mirror but this never seems to work.

I can do reverse round a corner and bay parking fine and turn in the road perfectly.

One of the main things i failed on was i was at a really busy junction and took ages to emerge because i didn't want to stall in busy traffic.
 
Dashik said:
The bottom line is any GOOD instructor will work WITH the pupil and adjust the lessons to suit the individual.
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are ALL instructors good?
no.
there will be a percentage that are not, and when you factor into the equation the total number of instructors in the UK, even this small percentage will amount to more than 1 or 2...and each instructor will handle how many students per year exactly???

i did say a lot of people, not the majority of them.
 
I failed my mock test stupidly like 4 majors and 10 minors or something silly, they are dam harsh on them, anyway passed a few days later with 9 minors.
 
The_Dark_Side said:
are ALL instructors good?
no.
there will be a percentage that are not, and when you factor into the equation the total number of instructors in the UK, even this small percentage will amount to more than 1 or 2...and each instructor will handle how many students per year exactly???

i did say a lot of people, not the majority of them.
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I did not say that you didn't lol. You should hear some of the horror stories I hear :eek:

For instance an ex pupil left as her employer is now paying for her to do an intensive course with a larger school. Fair play I'd have done the same and left to get the lessons for free.

However I laughed when she phoned to complain that her new instructor questioned why I had her driving around the whole of Fife and up and down dual carridgeways etc and not just in the towns (Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes around the test center). These are apparently for 'PassPlus' only :D What a lot of carp!!!

Also he stated that she should have been through her test as she had spent £500 already and he could have got her through it for that money! She tells me shes having no problems with her manouvers and driving and feels I was having a laugh! I pointed out that shes having no problems because I got her driving on all possible roads in the area and as such she is safe and competent for her level of experiance! You just cant win sometimes :)

In the last year I have had only 2 pupils have to go twice as they got nerves and panicked on a manouver in the test, everyone else passed first time:D the national pass rateby the way is 42% for ALL tests. Mines something stupid like 96%.

It gets a bit soul destroying hearing the same whines time and time again, People here will shell out ££££'s for computer parts and cars etc, they expect to get paid mega bucks for designing websites or buidling houses etc based on there education and training but resent paying an ADI a decent amount for driving lessons to learn a Literally LIFE OR DEATH skill.

Think about it, where else does somebody get payed less than £10 per hour effectivily after overheads to teach multiple skills in controling a deadly weapon safely? I have 25 years of experiance and a high degree of training but get little reward from it. I charge on average £20 per hour and I'm lucky to see £10 of that. Hands up anyone here getting that for a wage for sitting in a car with someone who cant drive.... Or getting £10 per hour after 25 years of expericance in a job with similar risks etc.

Just as well I love what i do an find it very satisfying

I've deided that from the First of March My rate is going up to £25 per hour flat with a discount for block booking to £23. Pass rate shows I'm worth it lol.

Also all my pupils can drive anywhere anytime safely and confidently, not just pass the test and stay on the test routes etc.

Hands up all here that want to learn to drive properly or just pass a test.........

Roll on mandatory minimum amount of training hours and the harder practical test. Then you'll all know what expensive is lol.

Oh and to the poster paying £12.50 for an hour of tuition, remember you get what you pay for!!!!
 
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I probably had in the region of 45 hours of lessons with a 2 month gap in between, I had no private lessons however everything i did was in those lessons
 
Dashik said:
...Oh and to the poster paying £12.50 for an hour of tuition, remember you get what you pay for!!!!
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Possibly he just has lower overheads than you? If he's giving lessons 8 hours a day then that translates into about £26,000 a year, minus his costs. But I'm paying a discounted student price - I think he charges more to people not at the uni.
He certainly seems like a very good teacher, but I've no way of proving that to you until I've taken the test in a month or so.
 
Mark A said:
Its just reverse parking behind a parked car I'm struggling with, i just cant seem to judge when to start turning in and end up hitting the curb or being too far away. My instructor said as a reference point start to turn in when the curb disappears from view in the wing mirror but this never seems to work.
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the way i was taught that was to line up the backs of the cars , turn the wheel to full lock then slowly reverse till front of my car was pointing till 3 o clock then straighten the wheel , then reverse untill i could see the curb in the mirror starting to lineup with my rear arch , then lock the wheel to the right and reverse more till the car is straight again

iirc you get atleast 2 car lenghts of space to reverse park into on the test so itl be easy if you get

once youve been driving a bit you can throw the methods out the window and it becomes natural

as for worrying about stalling at junctions just give it plenty of revs and youl be fine
 
Dashik said:
BIG POST
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You sound like my old instructor. He asked me on the first lesson, did I want to learn to drive or did I want to pass my test? I replied the former and he said "That's fine, if it was the latter I'd advise you to look for another instructor and I'd have refunded your first lesson, no hard feelings"

Is your name Tony? :D
 
andy said:
the way i was taught that was to line up the backs of the cars , turn the wheel to full lock then slowly reverse till front of my car was pointing till 3 o clock then straighten the wheel , then reverse untill i could see the curb in the mirror starting to lineup with my rear arch , then lock the wheel to the right and reverse more till the car is straight again

iirc you get atleast 2 car lenghts of space to reverse park into on the test so itl be easy if you get

once youve been driving a bit you can throw the methods out the window and it becomes natural

as for worrying about stalling at junctions just give it plenty of revs and youl be fine
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LOL, more l337 driving tips. Why would you throw perfectly good and safe practices out the window when you pass? The point is the instructor is teaching you how to do it safely. Oh and just for the record theres nothing 'Natural' about driving :D
 
Lopéz said:
You sound like my old instructor. He asked me on the first lesson, did I want to learn to drive or did I want to pass my test? I replied the former and he said "That's fine, if it was the latter I'd advise you to look for another instructor and I'd have refunded your first lesson, no hard feelings"

Is your name Tony? :D
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No lol. but I do believe in giving value for money etc. Why would somebody pay for lessons just to pass a test then not be able to drive properly anywhere else etc, beats me to be sure :D

Oh and just wondering, How did you get on then, you feel like you could drive properly anywhere once you passed, even if you were a little nervous on your own the first few times?
 
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Ive been through a similar situation myself my first instructor was a complete ***hole, he would always try and put me down on every oppourunity possible, (on my first test i failed he then proceeded to say on the way home "I let you take that test as i knew you would fail and to prove a point to you"). I was fuming and soon told him to **** off as soon as i got out the car, I felt too that he was dragging out lessons and his attitude that was stopping me progressing, a right old moody *******. Yes i really didnt get on with him at all, I then changed to a locally recommended instructor, it totally changed things i started to actually enjoy and look forward to lessons rather than being nervous and he was a great laugh, plus he had some quality jokes :D.
 
Tom|Nbk said:
Ive been through a similar situation myself my first instructor was a complete ***hole, he would always try and put me down on every oppourunity possible, (on my first test i failed he then proceeded to say on the way home "I let you take that test as i knew you would fail and to prove a point to you"). I was fuming and soon told him to **** off as soon as i got out the car, I felt too that he was dragging out lessons and his attitude that was stopping me progressing, a right old moody *******. Yes i really didnt get on with him at all, I then changed to a locally recommended instructor, it totally changed things i started to actually enjoy and look forward to lessons rather than being nervous and he was a great laugh, plus he had some quality jokes :D.
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Its a shame really that like most thing in life theres some complete shunts around. Still you got the right guy in the end.

Personally if the pupils not ready I tell them and why and usually they agree. No pupil of mine goes for a test unless we BOTH agree they are ready etc. Its a co-operative thing. Also I try and not be negative in my teaching, although giveing gold stars for everything they get right can be patronising, its all about balance. If they do well tell them, similarly if they **** it up tell them as well.
 
Dashik said:
Oh and just wondering, How did you get on then, you feel like you could drive properly anywhere once you passed, even if you were a little nervous on your own the first few times?
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I was raring to go. :) Never been afraid of driving anywhere.... when I started seeing my girlfriend long distance (South Wales - Manchester) I had girls at work amazed at my "bravery" for driving all that way when I'd only passed my test "a few years ago" :eek:
 
Yea id say if you have any doubts in changing instructor, just do it, do not wait and see if he will get better as he most likely won't if your having problems with him, I waited as i had doubts originally but what he said after my first test put the nail in the coffin. :mad:
 
id had about 40 hours total (no private) when i took my 1st test

failed first time. Rebooked straight away, couldnt get one for another week or two. so continued to take lessons

by the time i'd finished id taken about 50 hours all in all, as booked a double slot for test day, an hour before to get me warmed up.

passed 2nd time

tbh dont see how he's dragging it out if you failed your mock test. and even if you do book now, you wont get one for another couple of weeks anyway.
 
I've got my driving test in just over a week and I'm very happy with my driving instructor. We've gone through a set course (LDC) at my own pace which has worked well as it's left a lot of time for just general driving in order to hone the skills and practise any dodgy routes, of which there are loads around here. He's a great laugh and we get on well which helps I think. Always look forward to driving lessons which is one reason I think I've progressed fairly quickly as a driver :)
 
Just had my first lesson with new instructor and he was great, he acknowledged my driving and was suprised how good i was and said i'll be in for test very soon :D . Felt so much better with this new guy the way he done the lesson.

Bonus is he has a mini sport which was fun to drive, but he's changing to a clio sport just before my test so will be interested to see how it is to drive.
 
it really must be harder to pass now that it was a few years ago. I got mine in 2002 i think it was after 4 hours of lessons - estimating 50 hrs is a joke really. Just trying to screw you big time.
 
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