Confessions of a learner driver

Read about the highs and lows of one man's quest for driving glory.

First lesson

The Renault Clio revved angrily. My instructor stared at me and finally pointed to the handbrake.

I‘d left it on.

It wasn't the most auspicious start to a driving career, but a lesson learnt.

The rest of the lesson, thankfully, was less eventful, and involved driving round the back roads of Essex in relative quiet.

The highs…

The highlight of my driving experience so far has been learning to complete manoeuvres perfectly - after a lot of practice.

I once almost hit a tree while reversing towards a pavement, once didn’t check the blind spot when turning into the road, and once just missed a man who ran in front of the car.

My strong point is general driving - control, speed and turning. It’s the details I have trouble with.

…and the lows

I’ve lost count how many times I've failed manoeuvres because I've been looking at the steering wheel when turning, instead of focusing on the road or the back window. It's been frustrating, but I've come a long way.

On one occasion I got lost driving through country lanes, and ended up on a farmer's drive.

But I have progressed to a confident and sensible level over the past four months - high enough to take the test.

Fingers crossed.

The theory test

If I have one piece of advice for learner drivers taking their theory test, it’s this - get plenty of sleep the night before.

I thought I knew the Highway Code after reading it religiously for two weeks, but my tiredness did me no favours.

On top of this, I’d completely forgotten about the hazard perception test when I got to the test centre, and had to focus as hard as possible on each video clip - not easy when you’re tired.

It was a great relief to find out I’d passed.

Mock test

The mock driving test, on the other hand, was a disaster.

I’d started the practice run feeling confident. Here's another lesson learned - never be too sure of yourself.

I drove far too casually, stalled on roundabouts, took wrong exits, forgot how to switch the windscreen wipers on, and ended up with six major faults.

It was a painful blow to my driving confidence, but a valuable learning experience.

The final countdown

Since the shameful mock test, it took a couple more lessons to claw my confidence back.

Deep down I’m dreading it - but I'm feeling positive!

Check back this Thursday - 6 December - for the result of my test.

Do you have an interesting story of from when you learnt to drive? Let us know at the Auto Trader blog.