Tips for the practical driver's license test needed

Well, now I'm questioning everything I do when driving! What is hand-over-hand steering? I drive with both hands on the wheel, at 2&10 o'clock positions. After reading this thread, I tried to turn corners without my hands crossing...ain't gonna happen! How do you do that?

And, this obsession with the handbrake is ridiculous! I know when to use one and when not to but to expect one to use it everytime one stops and on flat land, is just stupid!

I have driven for 31 years, in the US, Canada, and Mexico, and have never had an accident (knock wood)! To allow me to drive for one year on my US license tells me that the UK thinks I am qaulified to drive. Why do they then take my driving privileges away, treat me like I'm a teenaged, novice driver with no abilities and make me jump through ridiculous hoops to drive after my first year?!

And, how is one supposed to buy a car and get it insured if one doesn't have a valid license? If I understand it correctly, you must take the test on a car with a current license/registration and current insurance. This will not be possible for me unless I purchase a car which I don't know if I can do without a license. In the States, you may not take your driver's test on a rental. I assume it is the same in the UK.

Am I destined to use public transport forever? I have no patience with idiotic laws and get quite worked up over them, hence the rant! Sorry if I offended anyone! 

And, how is one supposed to buy a car and get it insured if one doesn't have a valid license? If I understand it correctly, you must take the test on a car with a current license/registration and current insurance. This will not be possible for me unless I purchase a car which I don't know if I can do without a license. In the States, you may not take your driver's test on a rental. I assume it is the same in the UK.

You can take the test in your instructor's car.  That's what I'm doing cause I certainly ain't buying a car until I'm SURE I've passed the test! 

Well, now I'm questioning everything I do when driving! What is hand-over-hand steering? I drive with both hands on the wheel, at 2&10 o'clock positions. After reading this thread, I tried to turn corners without my hands crossing...ain't gonna happen! How do you do that?

And, this obsession with the handbrake is ridiculous! I know when to use one and when not to but to expect one to use it everytime one stops and on flat land, is just stupid!

I have driven for 31 years, in the US, Canada, and Mexico, and have never had an accident (knock wood)! To allow me to drive for one year on my US license tells me that the UK thinks I am qaulified to drive. Why do they then take my driving privileges away, treat me like I'm a teenaged, novice driver with no abilities and make me jump through ridiculous hoops to drive after my first year?!
[...]
Am I destined to use public transport forever? I have no patience with idiotic laws and get quite worked up over them, hence the rant! Sorry if I offended anyone! 

I drove for over 39 years in the States and on the Continent without an accident, so I share your frustration.  But I encourage you to get this out of your system, which may take weeks, and then concentrate on doing what you have to do to get a license.

Jim

Am I destined to use public transport forever?

In London (isn't that where you're going?) -- you'll probably want to be using public transport rather than driving.

In London (isn't that where you're going?) -- you'll probably want to be using public transport rather than driving.

Yes, I don't plan to need private transport for awhile but I think, at some point, I will want a car. Using public transport for home visits in some neighborhoods may be a little dicey. I will do it because I have no choice but imagine that, at some point, I will tire of it and want my own car.

I drove for over 39 years in the States and on the Continent without an accident, so I share your frustration.  But I encourage you to get this out of your system, which may take weeks, and then concentrate on doing what you have to do to get a license.

Jim

Thanks, Jim, I will get it out of my system...just needed to rant a little. I'll just get out my voodoo doll, name it "UK DVLA(?)" and work it out that way!

You can take the test in your instructor's car. That's what I'm doing cause I certainly ain't buying a car until I'm SURE I've passed the test!

Thanks, Lola. I appreciate the info.

I drive with both hands on the wheel, at 2&10 o'clock positions. After reading this thread, I tried to turn corners without my hands crossing...ain't gonna happen! How do you do that?

The official method is to push and pull the wheel from each side in turn.  Let's say you have your hands at 10 and 2 and want to make a right turn.  You pull down with your right hand to turn the wheel until your hand reaches somewhere around 4 or 5 o'clock.  While doing this you should have allowed your left hand to slide down to somewhere around the 7 or 8 o'clock position.  

At this point you then tighten your grip with your left hand while relaxing your right hand.  Your left hand then continues the rotation of the wheel by pushing upward until it gets back up to around 10 o'clock.  During this motion, you will have slid your right hand back up to around 2 o'clock, so that you then swap grips again.  The process then repeats for as tight as the turn needs to be.  

Thus for a right turn, you are alternately pulling down with your right hand and pushing up with your left, feeding the wheel through your hands.  For a left turn, you would be pulling down on the wheel with your left hand and pushing upward with your right.  To straighten up after a turn, you are expected to use the reverse process, i.e. to straighten up after a right turn you use the same procedure as for making a left turn.   The idea is that at no time does your left hand cross to the right half of the wheel and vice versa.

To allow me to drive for one year on my US license tells me that the UK thinks I am qaulified to drive. Why do they then take my driving privileges away, treat me like I'm a teenaged, novice driver with no abilities and make me jump through ridiculous hoops to drive after my first year?!

Crazy, isn't it?  You'd think that after driving here for months on your U.S. license they could just waive the practical test.  Some (most?) jurisdictions in the U.S. operate a system where the practical test for new residents who already hold an out-of-state license is at the DMV's discretion (Nebraska did that).    Why can't that be done here as well?    That way somebody who has been driving for years, has a good record, and has not clocked up any major violations since arriving here could just get a U.K. license issued with much less trouble.

If I understand it correctly, you must take the test on a car with a current license/registration and current insurance. This will not be possible for me unless I purchase a car which I don't know if I can do without a license.

Yes, the car used for the test must be fully road-legal for you to drive it, but there's nothing to stop you buying a car here without a U.K. license.  In fact, there's nothing legally to prevent a 13-year-old from buying a car here; it would just be illegal for him to drive it on a public road (though perfectly legal on private land).

Just about every standard private policy here has an "Other vehicles" clause which covers the policyholder to drive somebody else's vehicle.  So if you wanted to, you could buy a car here before you arranged insurance and just get a friend or associate to drive it home for you, perfectly legally.  Then you'd have time to sort out the insurance at your leisure.

In the States, you may not take your driver's test on a rental. I assume it is the same in the UK.

I'm not sure there's any actual rules against that.  So far as I'm aware, the requirement is just to turn up in a vehicle of the appropriate class for the test being taken (and that it's licensed, roadworthy, etc. of course).

The restriction on using a rental car for the average British learner would be that he would not be insured to drive it (it is the driver who must be insured for his use of the vehicle, not the vehicle itself which has to be insured).    

Standard policies for private cars specifically exclude driving vehicles which are rented, so the learner's policy (or more likely his parents' policy with him as a named driver) would not cover him.    The rental insurance wouldn't cover him, as of course the car rental company isn't going to allow a non-licensed (yet) driver to drive one of their cars anyway.

As you'll have a legally recognized license (for 1 year anyway) and could quite legitimately rent a car and be covered by insurance, then you'd be in a rather different position.    It might be interesting to check up on this.  

I'll just get out my voodoo doll, name it "UK DVLA(?)" and work it out that way!

Ooh, can I stick the first pin please?  Can I?  Can I?  Please?  Pretty please?    

Paul, thanks for the explanation on the "crossing hands" issue. I'll start practicing the technique right away. What a pain in the a** this is...driving is so automatic for me that I don't think about the way I do things...I just do them. It'll be interesting...

Ooh, can I stick the first pin please?  Can I?  Can I?  Please?  Pretty please?   

No, I'm afraid that I must deny you this pleasure...but maybe the second or third! 

When I spoke to the agency which gives the practical test, they told me that no cars are available for us to use for the test, and he further cautioned me that most rental agencies would not technically allow me to use their rental cars for taking a driver's test.

I've gotten around the problem by arranging to have my own car serviced that day so that I have a very innocent-looking "loaner car" (VW Polo). 

Then again, I've already lost my UK license before even getting it apparently, due to being photographed doing 36 in a 30 mile per hour zone (which wouldn't even get you pulled over in the States), but that's another story. How I adore this country.

Some (most?) jurisdictions in the U.S. operate a system where the practical test for new residents who already hold an out-of-state license is at the DMV's discretion (Nebraska did that). 

But they do not allow you to drive with a license from another country indefinately.

In GA for example you can only drive up to 6 months.

Honestly,  yes it's frustrating and annoying, but the road rules are very different, the roads themselves are different so why shouild you not be expected to get a license if you plan on taking up residence?

Sorry, but if you are used to driving in some of the perfectly square and straight roads in the Midwest (even for 40 years) I don't want you anywhere near me in London traffic or driving through narrow head rows or trying to parallel park near me.

Coming from a state where the drivign test was given in a parking lot to my husband (and no tests allowed in the rain) I don't think that reciprocity is necesarily a good idea.

Yes I was cussing the DVLA myself the first time I failed.  Yes it's annoying and you have to pay more.

As for breaking any kind of speeding or other traffic law.  Sorry, but that's entirely your fault.  Not the UK's fault.  In the USA anything over 5 can usually get you pulled.  Driving anything over the speed limit in a school zone will get you pulled over.  Traffic cameras are also becoming more normal. 

driving is so automatic for me that I don't think about the way I do things...I just do them.

I think that's the problem when being forced to take a test and suddenly be expected to do everything a certain way.  Experienced drivers no longer have to think about when to change gear, whether they're approaching a curve at the right speed, and so on.  We've been doing it so long that it becomes automatic, and we've all developed our own preferences for the exact way we hold the steering wheel, use the gears, etc.

No, I'm afraid that I must deny you this pleasure...but maybe the second or third!

I'll settle for that! 

I've gotten around the problem by arranging to have my own car serviced that day so that I have a very innocent-looking "loaner car" (VW Polo).

If you're already driving your own car (presumably all insured anf legal), then why not just take the test in that?   

But they do not allow you to drive with a license from another country indefinately.

I didn't mean you could drive indefinitely on an out-of-state license.  I meant that they'll look at your driving record and if there's no reason to question your ability they won't make you take the practical test before issuing a license.  That's what NE did -- Just the eye test and written test, no actual driving.

Honestly, yes it's frustrating and annoying, but the road rules are very different, the roads themselves are different so why shouild you not be expected to get a license if you plan on taking up residence?

Sorry, but if you are used to driving in some of the perfectly square and straight roads in the Midwest (even for 40 years) I don't want you anywhere near me in London traffic or driving through narrow head rows or trying to parallel park near me.

Yes, road rules are different here than in the U.S., but  that really highlights the inconsistencies in some ways.    The road rules in France, Greece, and many other European countries are different, yet anyone with a license from those countries can swap it for a U.K. license with no test (and vice versa).     

You could have somebody who has driven all his life in the Midwest, as you say, then goes on a trip down twisty little mountain roads in the Appalachians.   Or somebody who has grown up on the quiet backlanes of the Scottish Highlands and then moves to London.  Is that any different, from a practical aspect? 

As for breaking any kind of speeding or other traffic law. Sorry, but that's entirely your fault. Not the UK's fault.

I do agree there on the whole.  I have sympathy for somebody who accidentally strays a few MPH over the limit, realizes, and slows down but has been snapped in that brief time.  I think that's happened to everybody at some time. 

If you deliberately ignore the speed limits though, that's your fault.

Yep just like it's my fault for not spell checking before posting! 

I never said the rules made 100% sense. 

QUOTE:
If you're already driving your own car (presumably all insured anf legal), then why not just take the test in that?   

Hi mate, it's because I drive a red Porsche and I've found that doing so can cause you to be unfairly penalized by petty, obnoxious bureaucrats (Even though the car is 18 years old and not expensive by any means!). In theory they're supposed to be totally unbiased, but in reality it doesn't always work that way (There is zero sympathy for anyone who drives a sports car, especially a red one; if anything, they tend to LOOK for ways to prosecute you), and I need all the help I can get in passing this bloody test. Anyway I've arranged it so that I'm servicing my car today and will have an innocuous-looking little Volkswagen Polo loaner car.

Hi mate, it's because I drive a red Porsche and I've found that doing so can cause you to be unfairly penalized by petty, obnoxious bureaucrats

Fair point.  And I'm afraid we have our fair share of petty, obnoxious bureaucrats in just about all departments.   

I never said the rules made 100% sense.

Ain't that the truth?!   

The official method is to push and pull the wheel from each side in turn.  Let's say you have your hands at 10 and 2 and want to make a right turn.  You pull down with your right hand to turn the wheel until your hand reaches somewhere around 4 or 5 o'clock.  While doing this you should have allowed your left hand to slide down to somewhere around the 7 or 8 o'clock position. 

At this point you then tighten your grip with your left hand while relaxing your right hand.  Your left hand then continues the rotation of the wheel by pushing upward until it gets back up to around 10 o'clock.  During this motion, you will have slid your right hand back up to around 2 o'clock, so that you then swap grips again.  The process then repeats for as tight as the turn needs to be. 

Thus for a right turn, you are alternately pulling down with your right hand and pushing up with your left, feeding the wheel through your hands.  For a left turn, you would be pulling down on the wheel with your left hand and pushing upward with your right.  To straighten up after a turn, you are expected to use the reverse process, i.e. to straighten up after a right turn you use the same procedure as for making a left turn.   The idea is that at no time does your left hand cross to the right half of the wheel and vice versa.

Been paying attention to the way that I turn and I DO follow the above method...most of the time. So, I am paying special attention to this so that, hopefully, by the time I take the driving test over there, it'll be as automatic as my other driving habits. I'm already obsessive about using all three of my mirros so I don't think that'll be a problem. Can't practice the handbrake habit as I have a Chevy with a foot pedal emergency brake but I did drive a stick for most of my life and used the hand brake in the mentioned fashion whenever I was in hilly areas (I grew up in flatland so hills were intimidating for me for a few years). So, I'll just take lessons and hopefully, not take TOO many tries to pass the damn thing.

Thanks for all of the tips, everyone.

Can't practice the handbrake habit as I have a Chevy with a foot pedal emergency brake

It would be interesting to know what the examiner would do if you took the test in such a vehicle.    It would seem rather ridiculous to expect you to keep applying the brake and then reaching down under the dash to release it every few seconds in traffic.   

So, I'll just take lessons and hopefully, not take TOO many tries to pass the damn thing.

Thanks for all of the tips, everyone.

Good luck!