Taught to pass the test

[Pints]

The conversation quoted below has me thinking.

Before you took your driving test, did your instructor (the official one, to whom you paid money) just teach you enough to pass your test, or did he/she give you more to actually help you become a better driver than you might otherwise have been?

PH2 said:

PH1 said:

...you were poorly taught.
...my instructor made sure I had plenty of practice on such roads

Not really, I was taught to pass the test.
Which I did first time after 6 lessons...
I already knew how to drive coming from a petrol head family.

Mrs Pints readily admits that her instructor only gave her the very basics to pass her test.

On the other hand, I remember mine covering off much more than what I would have required to simply pass the test.

With the benefit of hindsight, what are the memories of your time under instruction?

[Shaw Tarse]

I guess I have been lucky, driving instructor taught me how to drive,not to pass test.
Bike instructors,the same.

[Codswallop]

My car instructor taught me to pass. I don't think she knew much beyond that herself tbh. My bike instructor on the other hand really knows his stuff, and is happy to share the knowledge

[Pints]

Shaw Tarse said:

I guess I have been lucky, driving instructor taught me how to drive,not to pass test.
Bike instructors,the same.

Good way of putting it.

[DHE]

Mine taught me how to drive. He also taught me about opposite lock, reverse flicks, J turns & handbrake turns. Being a former rally driver we often got talking about rallying & motorsport, if a lesson had gone well the last few minutes of the lesson would be spent learning one of the above.

[escortwagon]

The majority, sadly, just want to pass their test as fast and cheap as possible - and instructors tend to oblige, which is a shame.

My instructor on the other hand, was a thoroughly decent man who taught me to drive a car, not pass the test. there is a reason I chose to take lessons with him for a year and a half before taking my test.
Another side of it is having practice time and parents who are skilled enough to be there with you instead of stare out of the window while you hold up the traffic. I was lucky enough to have that, and hopefully a combination of the two has already and hopefully will lead to many successful years motoring.

It's the kind of thing that should be legislated.

[soda]

My instructor taught me only to pass the test. My Dad and uncle taught me to drive.

[Whitean3]

DHE said:

Mine taught me how to drive. He also taught me about opposite lock, reverse flicks, J turns & handbrake turns. Being a former rally driver we often got talking about rallying & motorsport, if a lesson had gone well the last few minutes of the lesson would be spent learning one of the above.

That sounds awesome fun! I was taught how to drive. My instructor made the distinction between teaching me to pass the test, but then went on to teach more about roadcraft, observation, motorway driving. He would also make me practice manoeuvres that were not a part of the test but would come in handy in every day driving.

I personally think there is too much teaching just to pass the test going on, and the result is some very poor drivers on the roads. There's a big difference between the abilities of people who enjoy driving and those who only do it because they absolutely have to.

[EDLT]

I was taught to pass the test, after unlearning the bullst I was 'taught' by my first instructor. Pass Plus was more useful though, probably because there is no test at the end.

[PumpkinSteve]

I'll probably be run off the forum for admitting this but my instructor didn't teach me very much at all, in particular changing down gears. In lessons we basically stopped at each junction and it was only after I eventually passed and bought my own car that I asked my Dad how to do it and he revealed the dark art of matching revs.

For the first two years after passing myself I was stting myself about driving and had no confidence at all. After two years I bought a Toyota Yaris and it honestly transformed how I felt about driving and IMO made me into a far better driver. The seating position was really high up, visibility was great, and it gave me the confidence and push I needed to actually get involved in the drive and start enjoying it.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that due to not being taught how to change down gear I actually failed my test because I spun the wheels when I let the clutch out too fast.

[FisiP1]

My instructor was incredibly thorough, made it very clear that certain things would be expected while learning and taking the test that should be forgotten immediately afterwards for the interest of safety and sanity, therefore I'm going to have to say both. He also made sure I had plenty of time on twisty B roads learning the fundamentals of car control which none of my cousins' instructors have done since. He was no pedant.

He is one of the few advanced instructors in the area too, so the above is perhaps surprising given they can be a dry bunch!

[falkster]

Mine definately taught me to drive. I do think there is an element of teaching you how to pass or you wouldn't complete mock tests on actual test routes.
I do think, unless you were learning for a couple of years, you still wouldn't know how to drive properly and be 100% aware of everyone and everything around you if you ever are.

[New POD]

My parents and sister, taught me to drive, and my instructor taught me to pass the test.

Dad's idea of driving practise was to get me to drive to the lakedistrict, up the A6 (about 70 miles) on my 17th Birthday.

[petrolsniffer]

Mine taught me how to drive.

Sunny days were great as we usually ended up touring the local a and b roads.

I think teaching me overtaking was very benifcial on these lessons for confidence.

[PumpkinSteve]

Mine took me to the petrol station to fill up the car during my lessons

[AlexRS2782]

When i had my lessons back in '97 my instructor went out of his way to ensure i knew how to drive properly before he'd even agree to send me for my test. At the time i was a bit annoyed at this as i just wanted to get in a car like my mates and pass my test asap. In honesty it was probably for the best as when i did take my test i passed first time with no mistakes and then did all the PassPlus before even getting a car to ensure i knew how to drive on motorways, etc.

A couple of my friends at the time were taught by parents and then sat their test quickly but somehow passed. From memory one crashed his mums car 2 weeks after passing his test, another got his license revoked for speeding offences after 2 months of passing his test when he was caught doing 85+ 3 times in the space of a week.

[Chris71]

I was never taught to reverse park, because there wasn't a car park at Dorchester test centre at the time. Similarly, we didn't do an awful lot of parallel parking either, because it was known that they tended to give you reversing round a corner instead.

As you can imagine, I was snookered when I moved to London and practically had to teach myself to park.

[EDLT]

PumpkinSteve said:

I'll probably be run off the forum for admitting this but my instructor didn't teach me very much at all, in particular changing down gears. In lessons we basically stopped at each junction and it was only after I eventually passed and bought my own car that I asked my Dad how to do it and he revealed the dark art of matching revs.

For the first two years after passing myself I was stting myself about driving and had no confidence at all. After two years I bought a Toyota Yaris and it honestly transformed how I felt about driving and IMO made me into a far better driver. The seating position was really high up, visibility was great, and it gave me the confidence and push I needed to actually get involved in the drive and start enjoying it.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that due to not being taught how to change down gear I actually failed my test because I spun the wheels when I let the clutch out too fast.

What did you drive before you had the Yaris?

I started to enjoy driving more once I'd got my RAC membership, knowing I wouldn't be stranded if the car broke down appeased my inner pessimist.


EDIT:

Chris71 said:

I was never taught to reverse park, because there wasn't a car park at Dorchester test centre at the time. Similarly, we didn't do an awful lot of parallel parking either, because it was known that they tended to give you reversing round a corner instead.

As you can imagine, I was snookered when I moved to London and practically had to teach myself to park.

I was never taught to reverse park for the same reason. My first instructor's reversing around a corner technique was monumentally stupid too, I still wouldn't be able do it the way he wanted. .

Edited by EDLT on Sunday 3rd June 16:19

[DHE]

PumpkinSteve said:

Mine took me to the petrol station to fill up the car during my lessons

You may be surprised how many people don't know how to do this, your instructor probably helped you. As long as it wasn't on every lesson, that would be taking the piss.

[PumpkinSteve]

EDLT said:

What did you drive before you had the Yaris?

I started to enjoy driving more once I'd got my RAC membership, knowing I wouldn't be stranded if the car broke down appeased my inner pessimist.

A Clio, it didn't help that it kept breaking down due to electrical faults. Like you said, I think having the knowledge that I wasn't going to be stranded was something else that helped, and that was why I bought it in the first place.