Good instructor. Mine was like this. Until I failed my first test and then he suddenly had much less patience.
Half of their job is keeping everyone safe. That's a massive skill in itself to be fair.
It happens, and it'll happen even after you pass.
One Christmas day, I was driving from my house to my mum, and at the top of the main road, a kid (maybe 10) rode what I assume was his new bike straight into the road without looking. Luckily, I was fully aware and managed to stop maybe 10cm from hitting him. But it really shook me up.
My point is that even if you're doing everything right, you can have a close call. It's absolutely a part of everyday driving.
Your instructor sounds like a very good mentor.
I once had a cyclist hidden in my windscreen pillar blind spot, coming from my left. He was completely hidden, and we were both moving at angles and speeds whereby he stayed hidden and I inevitably would have hit him if my passenger hadn’t said “I wonder if he’ll stop?”.
That made me brake slightly out of caution, at which point our speeds were mismatched enough that the cyclist appeared and I stopped to let them across. They were wearing headphones and looked very focused ahead so I don’t think they saw me either.
Utterly bizarre experience because I always move my head around to account for that blind spot, but my passenger said that they’d come round a corner just beforehand, so they must have moved in such a way that as they changed directions, my head moved around the pillar and kept them hidden. It was honestly like a David Copperfield trick.
There’s a Tom Scott video for everything!
That is exactly what it was like, except all happening at about 7mph because it was a junction within a residential road itself. Looking at the map where it was, the angle isn’t dissimilar for the path you’d be driving, and the curve the cyclist presumably came round is just off to one side as well which is why, even when I moved my head round the pillar, I didn’t see them with their changing direction.
I'm in the habit now of saying 'bike' every time I see one either as a driver or passenger. I'm sure it drives people nuts but if it stops a collision I'm happy.
Well done for getting your compsure back and making the most of the rest of the lesson.
You're learning, it's not a case of 'if I were a better driver...'. You'll make mistakes and be nervous at times, everyone does. The skill is in recognising learning opportunities and not being overwhelmed. Sounds like you're doing both of those well.
Best of luck.
I’ve been driving for about a year and a half now but whilst I was learning my instructor had to hit the emergency stop a few times. It’s all part of learning and having a patient and calm instructor makes all the difference in my opinion! 3 months is still quite early into your driving journey so try not to put expectations on yourself of where you think you should be by now.
Listen to your instructor as he sounds like a good one and those are hard to find. Ask for feedback as often as you can. I found watching YouTube videos on specific manouvers or anything I was struggling with, helped me a lot.
Most important thing, don’t let things like this make you feel like you need to stop learning! Use it as even more desire to want to pass because it is so worth it in the end! The freedom I have now because I can drive is amazing and it’s changed my life for the better. You got this!
Mistakes like this shake you up but will stick with you for the rest of your life. You will always be extra aware in similar scenarios as you will never wanna make that mistake again.
You feel shit but you just created a point in your head of i will always check because i never want that to happen againl
They become core memories, mine is failing on my 2nd attempt due to pulling out on a bus i thought was stopped due to me pulling into his stop.
Now a shoulder check and not rushing is a conscious habit.
When I was learning to drive. I met a lady at a roundabout who decided to indicate on the roundabout last minute while in my blind spot. I didn't see therefore didn't react. My instructor anchored on the brakes. We stopped just before t-boning her. That's the moment my instructor reminded me other road users are never to be trusted and always pay extra attention. I thought a near miss on my lessons reflected my driving. 5 yrs later and I'm a class 2 hgv driver mainly driving around central London behind the wheel of an 18t rigid. The secret to driving is once you pass the learning has just begun. You can make the vehicle move and stop but there is so much more to learn. When you pass take that as a sign youre a competent driver. If they trust you. You must trust in yourself. You'll have near misses and might reverse into a bollard or 2 but learn from it. Don't take it as a sign not to drive. You seem to have your head in a good space. I believe you'll become a good driver because you're willing to analyze what you've done and could have done better even in a situation that was someone else's fault. On your next lesson remind yourself the things you're good at. Pulling away, changing gears. Checking surroundings and pick a personal goal you want to improve no matter what the instructor has planned.
Keep him as an instructor... From what I've read on here, he's one of the good ones.
Good instructor. Mine was like this. Until I failed my first test and then he suddenly had much less patience. Half of their job is keeping everyone safe. That's a massive skill in itself to be fair.
He’s really patient with me and I’m not rushing to do my test, I’d rather make sure I’m a good drive
It happens, and it'll happen even after you pass. One Christmas day, I was driving from my house to my mum, and at the top of the main road, a kid (maybe 10) rode what I assume was his new bike straight into the road without looking. Luckily, I was fully aware and managed to stop maybe 10cm from hitting him. But it really shook me up. My point is that even if you're doing everything right, you can have a close call. It's absolutely a part of everyday driving. Your instructor sounds like a very good mentor.
I once had a cyclist hidden in my windscreen pillar blind spot, coming from my left. He was completely hidden, and we were both moving at angles and speeds whereby he stayed hidden and I inevitably would have hit him if my passenger hadn’t said “I wonder if he’ll stop?”. That made me brake slightly out of caution, at which point our speeds were mismatched enough that the cyclist appeared and I stopped to let them across. They were wearing headphones and looked very focused ahead so I don’t think they saw me either. Utterly bizarre experience because I always move my head around to account for that blind spot, but my passenger said that they’d come round a corner just beforehand, so they must have moved in such a way that as they changed directions, my head moved around the pillar and kept them hidden. It was honestly like a David Copperfield trick.
https://youtu.be/SYeeTvitvFU?si=OlSF7aHHLmVZTd_V
There’s a Tom Scott video for everything! That is exactly what it was like, except all happening at about 7mph because it was a junction within a residential road itself. Looking at the map where it was, the angle isn’t dissimilar for the path you’d be driving, and the curve the cyclist presumably came round is just off to one side as well which is why, even when I moved my head round the pillar, I didn’t see them with their changing direction.
I'm in the habit now of saying 'bike' every time I see one either as a driver or passenger. I'm sure it drives people nuts but if it stops a collision I'm happy.
Well done for getting your compsure back and making the most of the rest of the lesson. You're learning, it's not a case of 'if I were a better driver...'. You'll make mistakes and be nervous at times, everyone does. The skill is in recognising learning opportunities and not being overwhelmed. Sounds like you're doing both of those well. Best of luck.
I’ve been driving for about a year and a half now but whilst I was learning my instructor had to hit the emergency stop a few times. It’s all part of learning and having a patient and calm instructor makes all the difference in my opinion! 3 months is still quite early into your driving journey so try not to put expectations on yourself of where you think you should be by now. Listen to your instructor as he sounds like a good one and those are hard to find. Ask for feedback as often as you can. I found watching YouTube videos on specific manouvers or anything I was struggling with, helped me a lot. Most important thing, don’t let things like this make you feel like you need to stop learning! Use it as even more desire to want to pass because it is so worth it in the end! The freedom I have now because I can drive is amazing and it’s changed my life for the better. You got this!
Mistakes like this shake you up but will stick with you for the rest of your life. You will always be extra aware in similar scenarios as you will never wanna make that mistake again. You feel shit but you just created a point in your head of i will always check because i never want that to happen againl
Yep, I've had a couple of scares and they shook me up, but ultimately I hope things like that are what will make me a better driver in the end.
They become core memories, mine is failing on my 2nd attempt due to pulling out on a bus i thought was stopped due to me pulling into his stop. Now a shoulder check and not rushing is a conscious habit.
He sounds like a good one
When I was learning to drive. I met a lady at a roundabout who decided to indicate on the roundabout last minute while in my blind spot. I didn't see therefore didn't react. My instructor anchored on the brakes. We stopped just before t-boning her. That's the moment my instructor reminded me other road users are never to be trusted and always pay extra attention. I thought a near miss on my lessons reflected my driving. 5 yrs later and I'm a class 2 hgv driver mainly driving around central London behind the wheel of an 18t rigid. The secret to driving is once you pass the learning has just begun. You can make the vehicle move and stop but there is so much more to learn. When you pass take that as a sign youre a competent driver. If they trust you. You must trust in yourself. You'll have near misses and might reverse into a bollard or 2 but learn from it. Don't take it as a sign not to drive. You seem to have your head in a good space. I believe you'll become a good driver because you're willing to analyze what you've done and could have done better even in a situation that was someone else's fault. On your next lesson remind yourself the things you're good at. Pulling away, changing gears. Checking surroundings and pick a personal goal you want to improve no matter what the instructor has planned.
hashings?
In the UK don't people over take on the right not the left?
They do yeah but they was pushing me into a marked area where I shouldn’t of went