Driving lessons

[Psymonkee]

Originally Posted by Olibubble

Thanks for replies everyone.
I was thinking of going to a local one as they did a student discount so it actually ended up quite a lot cheaper, but was worried it wouldnt be as good

Is it possible to have enough lessons to pass before may do you think?

I would have thought so

I started learning to drive in December of 1999 and was unleashed by myself mid May 2000

Quite handy as it's very easy to work out how long I've been driving when the grey matter can't do simple calculations

[Nutcase]

Ask around, any of your friends learn't recently?

I'd go for a local independent - his name is on the line, not some big company. The bloke who taught me also did my mum and brother.

A bit of a wierdo (kept going on about Marconi employees killing themselves?!?!?!), but could certainly teach driving

[Del Lardo]

Originally Posted by Olibubble

Is it possible to have enough lessons to pass before may do you think?

I'd certainly hope so. Assuming start of May then that is 7 months or ~30 weeks. Even people who really struggled to learn (like my sister) were able to pass after ~35 lessons.

[mejinks]

I was taught by a cool a heck guy called Wayne (waynes world of motoring lol) and he suggested putting in for my test after 8 lessons.

My advice is to go with a female instructor as there are some real horror stories about dirty old perv driving instructors. I taught a few people to drive believe it or not and was at one point considering becoming a driving instructor to get out of IT.

BTW, first one to say "female driving instructor, blind leading the blind" or any disparaging remarks will be tutted at

[Blighter]

Go local

[Dee]

I was paying £16 an hour back in 2000, and it took me 10 months to pass I think, if I had passed first time, and the DVLA didnt **** up a booking, it would have been six months.

Another vote for local though

[Blighter]

Family friend is a driving instructor so when I get round to doing my lessons it'll be £10/hr

[Flibster]

Originally Posted by mejinks

I
My advice is to go with a female instructor as there are some real horror stories about dirty old perv driving instructors.

It's true. I had a female driving instructor for a few lessons. She wasn't a perv.


Sadly.

[Garp]

I used a local guy who had a great reputation. Main thing to do is ask around, find out who people local to you have used and found to be good. The guy I had was fine to push me as fast as I wanted to go with learning, didn't rush me to the test as fast as some did, but was emphasising real-world driving skills, so more than just learning to pass the test.

[Darryn]

As others have said ask local friends who they learnt with... also ask the instructor about there pass-rate.

I started learning October 07 with a local instructor (mate from school as it happens) and even before the first lesson he recommended i apply and if possible take my theory test, which i did, it gets it out of the way and also gets you reading the highway code and learning the theory side of it before you actually get in the car. I also got as much car time as possible in my own car with parents, friends, random strangers and the odd dwarf.

Passed both the theory and main test first time (14th Jan) with 12 lessons and 2000+miles clocked up in my Mini... I had 3 cancelled tests due to bad weather.