Learning to drive

quotidian

quotidian

quotidian

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5 Jul 2012
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279
I get on really well with my driving instructor and I've found he's a really good teacher but its starting to annoy me that he's always pointing out small errors I'm making (not even worth a minor fault)

Like I've figured out how to change gears pretty quick but he says thats wrong as I take more time and change gears slower. He also says I should let the revs go up a bit more before I change but because I change quick enough I can get away with not doing it?

There's other things he's pointed out that weren't faults but just more technique than anything else, putting the handbrake on too tight so it does 1 click before it disengages
 
Horse Pop said:
What.
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Sorry that post was really badly written.

My instructor is picking up on really small issues like changing gears a bit too fast (but still controlled and not shuddering or anything) whenever he hasn't taught me everything yet and i personally feel he should be teaching me to pass my driving test not moan about small details that aren't going to get a minor / major fault.
 
quotidian said:
Sorry that post was really badly written.

My instructor is picking up on really small issues like changing gears a bit too fast (but still controlled and not shuddering or anything) whenever he hasn't taught me everything yet and i personally feel he should be teaching me to pass my driving test not moan about small details that aren't going to get a minor / major fault.
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Well, his job is teaching you to drive.

Learning to pass the test is a small subset of learning to drive.

A bad, lazy instructor would only teach you to pass the test.

The more "extra" stuff he's teaching you the better a job he's probably doing.

I expect there's a good reason he doesn't want you to rush gear changes.
 
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Granny shifting not double clutching when you should!...

but as above really...He's helping you in the long run to pass your test...you will be learning to drive the rest of your life.
 
I understand that he's obviously trying to teach me good habits but I'm getting a bit peeved off when I'm obviously so close to being theoretically ready for my test - I only need to learn not to bay park - yet he's making me feel that i'm not good enough or my technique wouldn't be good enough.

And the gear shifting thing is when I'm taking from traffic lights and such, I treat it as a challenge to get up to the speed limit and into the highest gear possible in the least road (well thats how my instructor puts it)
 
You know speed limits aren't targets? You would do much better sitting 5-10mph behind the limit.

I'm assuming your doing all this in a diesel hatchback of some kind.
 
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Aeleys said:
You know speed limits aren't targets? You would do much better sitting 5-10mph behind the limit.
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Well there's another to differ with he's the one that says you'll be failed if consistantly go too slow so you need to be within about 4 mph of the speed limit, conditions dependant obviously.
 
With all due respect, have you actually run the thought process "is he right"? Because you sound quite a lot like I did as a teenager, getting ****ed off that I was being told that my way wasn't the best way. After all, short shifting isn't doing anything beneficial, so all it will do is make the tester think "is this guy confident?".

I would trust the instructors advice until you pass your test. Then go and teach yourself to drive.
 
"Learning to drive" is not learning to pass the required test. Get your game face on and pass that test then you can drive like a plonker if you want
 
Sounds to me like you are changing gear as soon as possible, causing the car to labour almost?

Changing through all the gears to get to 30 and then put it in 5th is silly. He probably wants you to use the accelerator a bit more in 1st and 2nd, to accelerate to 25mph ish then (unsure on taught technique here) you could block shift to 4th or go 3rd then 4th quickly. This would mean you reach the speed limit faster but still without thrashing the car.
 
Maybe I've focused a bit much on the gear issue, but its just his general not picking that's getting to me.

Basically he reckons I'm a bit rough with the gear changes, with the stick, they're fine otherwise. I maybe do spend a bit too little time in second though.

But apart from the gears his general negativity about everything i s really starting to wear down at my confidence levels, and is making me feel that I wouldn't be good enough to pass my test.
 
To be blunt, sounds like you've found a decent instructor who's trying to improve your technique. Like most young drivers you're a better driver "in YOUR head" than you are in reality.

The problem lies with you. Teaching someone to drive (the mechanics of it) is easy. The hard part is imparting the correct attitude and yours is already poor to begin with. You've already made your mind up these errors are "minor" and don't matter. It actuality rushing a gear change and possibly missing a gear could be a disaster in traffic.

And you really are talking nonsense

"when I'm obviously so close to being theoretically ready for my test - I only need to learn not to bay park - yet he's making me feel that i'm not good enough or my technique wouldn't be good enough."

So in the same breath, you're almost good enough for test, yet haven't even learned bay-parking which is part of the driving test syllabus. So in reality you're nowhere near.

No instructor is going to chance you with a bay park until he's feels you have good control and learned some finesse with the controls.
 
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Ok guys, I'm going to admit I'm probably being a bit of an ******** but it seems that its taking so long to make any progress, first 7 lessons I felt each time that I was getting somewhere learning wise. Then I got to about lesson 13 and I had learnt how to reverse around a corner and the instructor said ok right you only need to learn bay parking and do a bit more practice with some of the weirder junctions in the test area.

So the last lesson (no. 14) We went out and started off with a bit of covering over we had done and I just kept on doing small things but my instructor kept on pointing them out and making a big fuss over it. It actually got to the stage that I couldn't wait to be finished with the lesson. Then 15 was much the same with me trying my best and him just picking holes in everything I done.

Its not that I can't do fine control and that but I just lost my temper both times since he kept on nagging almost, about what I doing wrong without actually telling me how to correct it.

Its also annoying me that he won't let me judge myself when to change gears (that was partly why he probably was complaining as I was changing quick to prove a point) and at junctions and stuff he'll always tell me when to go (even if its obviously clear), both of which I need to develop for myself so I can do the same during my test and beyond.
 
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