I passed!! I passed!! I passed!! I passed!!

So excited to hear so many are passing - I have my test scheduled for Dec 2nd and find the practicing with the instructor difficult.  The push pull steering thing really throws me.

Congratulations to everyone here who has passed their driving test. And thanks, too, for the tidbits of information you have shared.

I'm just beginning this journey to getting a UK license.

I'm American, been driving for 40 years.   In America.  

 

My husband (Brit) and I just moved back to the UK about a month ago. We lived here before for 18 mos. but I did not drive during that time.

We bought a Renault Megane automatic (I've never driven a manual) and I've now been on 3 short "lessons" with my husband.

Need I say more?  

I honestly can say at this point - I am so discouraged. My belief is that it's just going to take me some time to get used to the spatial awareness of a right-hand drive (not to mention "learning" the "feel" of this car - I had an SUV in the States). My husband's take on it is that he can't understand why I'm not "getting it" considering that I've been driving for as long as I have been. And now he says I better get over it because we can't afford to pay for lessons.

I'm in a quandry. I definitely am up for the challenge of cracking this, but he's not the world's most patient man and for some crazy reason I break out in tears when he points out my mistakes.

I think I just need someone here to encourage me and tell me that I CAN DO THIS.

Thanks, everyone.

Denise
Greater London

To get over the spatial awareness (it was a problem for me too), you just have to drive more.  I hated it when people told me this as I didnt WANT to drive because I didnt feel comfortable doing it, but honestly, its the only way to crack it.

I also would HIGHLY recommend professional lessons even if it means taking the money from another pot to afford it.   "Lessons" with my husband were pointless and always made me feel discouraged also (not to mention usually ended with me screaming at him and crossing my arms and refusing to drive any furtner).   I think its the WORST way to learn to drive.  I was a VERY nervous learner driver here and only took four two-hour lessons (at £50 each) and passed my test first time.  The lessons were invaluable, IMO.
Others have done it with no professional lessons, but I know I'd still be taking the bus *shudder* if I hadn't been taught by someone other than my husband.

You definetly CAN DO THIS!   (seriously, if I can do it, you can do it!)

Congratulations to findingaway! 

TeaLoverDenise, I agree with mirrajay about getting lessons.  I'd been driving in the US for over 20 years and planned to take my test in an automatic, so my husband thought I could pick it up quickly without expensive professional lessons.  Wrong!  Driving with my husband "teaching me" was just frustrating not helpful.  When I got a real instructor it made all the difference.  Good luck!

Another vote for taking lessons with an instructor!  After two or three times in the car with my husband, it was just far too fraught trying to learn with him.  He was freaked out, I was freaked out, and he didn't have the skills (that a professional driving instructor did) to help me learn driving 'the UK way'.

too true.  People think it's just about learning to drive the manual and being on the "wrong" side of the road, but it isn't.  I drove a manual for years before coming to the UK, but still needed lessons to pass the test. My professional instructor was so good at helping me learn little tricks that helped me feel better about my awareness of space (which felt so off when I was doing things like backing up and parallel parking--especially if it was on a different side of the car).  It also helped a lot with getting used to how much more compact the roads felt, and my confidence was boosted.  He helped me see things the way the examiners would.  It was totally worth the lessons I took. 

The funny thing is, my husband now asks me for tips when we're trying to do manoeuvres in the car because I'm much better at them than he is.

Congrats to all that have passed and to those getting ready to take the test.

I was slightly opposite - DH went out with me once to make sure I wouldn't crash the car in the back roads before he went off shore for 2 weeks (work). Once the insurance kicked in I just went out and drove and drove and drove. On your American license you can drive without anyone since you are not an "L" driver so for me it was about getting my bearings.  I didn't want someone there as I wanted to get to used to it and have no pressure and our car is an automatic.  I didn't drive during high peak times but I felt confident pretty quickly. I am lucky one of my good friends here is a driving instructor and I got a few hints from her on how to play the game aka take the test.

I agree with mirra you just have to do it but I suggest a drive alone if you know how to drive and understand the road do a trip to the grocery store and back.  Everywhere I parked I reversed in as well b/c the daunting part of pulling straight in was backing out in those tiny little aisles ;-)

Good Luck all!

Congratulations, findingaway!!!! That's terrific news. 

I also didn't get very far on my own or with hubs. First time I drove alone, I broke the wing mirror. I also had total lack of spatial awareness as to where the car was on the road, etc. I drove for 15 years in the states and was a very confident driver, so I was really discouraged that I couldn't drive here without going into the hedges on the left hand side every time a bus passed me by.  The lessons were SOOOO worth it in my opinion. As others said, hubs was nervous, I was nervous, he was yelling at me sometimes and freaking me out. It just didn't work. But the instructor was very patient and really helped me overcome my nerves and get on with it. I passed the first time, though I took 19 hours of lessons over a few months to get used to it before taking the test. I still need to go out alone and just learn how to drive on my own and find my way around, etc., as to be honest, I haven't really done that yet since petrol costs an arm and a leg! But my confidence is growing little by little and I know one day I will be able to go anywhere I want to go. 

Lessons are definitely, without hesitation, the best thing you can do. The instructor is there to help you and guide you and inform you about what the test is going to be like and what you will need to know to pass the test. The best thing you can do is just drive as much as possible. I actually didn't have a choice because I have to drive to work... in North London! I've been driving here for about 9 months already and it just gets easier and easier. Learn the roundabouts and start to feel a bit more comfortable on the road and then take lessons. I think I only took about 5 lessons in all.

Y'all don't know how helpful you are. I am (was?) so frustrated with myself (and angry with my husband!) over this driving thing, but I'm beginning to think that it's not necessarily me.

One thing that also just popped into my mind is this: my husband is 6' 5" and I am about 5' 7". One of the first things he did with the driver's seat after we bought the car was to lower it as low as it would go to give him as much head space as possible. This afternoon (after another crying-binge lesson with him) I started thinking that I wonder if *part* of my problem is that I'm sitting WAY too low in the car. I mean, I can - obviously - see over the dashboard but I'm not getting a view of the sides of the car. Well, it's just a thought and I have a feeling that perhaps that might help a little.

But not as much as professional lessons would. 

My mother-in-law's hairdresser apparently knows an instructor (local) who specialises in teaching American drivers. I think this sounds like the perfect person for me.

Thanks again everyone and honestly, if anyone has more personal experiences please share because it's been so helpful.

{{hugs}}

Denise
Greater London (Staines)

Moving the seat up will likely help, but don't beat yourself up if you still struggle.  I also felt like my spatial awareness was all over the place at first.  I kept scraping against the kerb on the left side (especially if there were cars coming on the right).  Backing up terrified me because I just couldn't keep the car straight.  It made no sense to me why it would feel so different, but it did.  I can now drive comfortably on either side, but it just takes time to figure it out.  I've driven with enough American drivers to notice that so many of them swerve too far over like I did while it was new.  Learning to drive the manual at the same time would feel overwhelming.  I'm glad I had that down already at least.  Sorry you have to do both.

I think a lot of Brits think they understand because they've driven on the right in the continent, but I maintain it just isn't the same.  They are accustomed already to the narrow roads, to people driving over the median lines while they are coming at you, to parking facing either direction, etc, and they grow up travelling and seeing roads that are different to ours.  There is so much that just feels different as an American besides changing sides of the road, and that in and of itself brings a whole change of perspective that made me feel awfully silly when I struggled to do things that were so simple before, like backing up (not to mention things like parallel parking).

You'll get there, it takes practice and time, but it will come, just stick to it!

My husband passed his test yesterday - first time with 6 minors. He took the new version of the test with the independent driving which he said wasn't bad at all, there was no handing out of a map, the examiner just told him to follow signs to central london on the A41 until he told him to stop!

I'm so proud of him 

Well done! I am super glad I got mine out of the way before they changed it!

Congratulations to your husband emmylou!   

Congrats to your husband Em!