Being driven round the bend in my quest to get a UK license!

With age......if I failed.....I'd just do it another time.....my life wouldn't end.

Mr. Fred, that kind of grace under pressure is ok for a driver's test......but you don't really want too much of it in your surgeon or airline pilot...

"Hey, you know...if your number's up....your number's up..."

Congratulations Fred, great news.

Mr. Fred, that kind of grace under pressure is ok for a driver's test......but you don't really want too much of it in your surgeon or airline pilot...

"Hey, you know...if your number's up....your number's up..."

It was a driving test......it was not life or death (unless you are a teenager).

It was a driving test......it was not life or death (unless you are a teenager).

You're being modest.   It's a really hard test to pass, especially first time.

Take the praise, you deserve it!

You're being modest.   It's a really hard test to pass, especially first time.

Take the praise, you deserve it!

Oh.....make no mistake.....I sure feel better getting it out of the way. I did not take it as seriously as I probably should have. Other than getting to the golf course a few times a week....I don't really need the car. Although.....if I had failed I would have had to wait 10 weeks to take another one.....which would have been a bit of a pain.

I had an instructor that my step-daughter used about 8 years ago sit with me on a drive for an hour about a month ago. He nailed me on not checking my mirrors enough and not looking out the back window enough when backing up. So about 3 days before the test every time I hopped in the car I just talked to myself....."Check your mirrors.......check your mirrors......check your mirrors". I had my wife in the car yesterday......her job was to stare at me and point out any/all screw ups. I have a real issue with day-dreaming with little effort.

I don't get nervous ahead of time......I am always fine on these things until those last few minutes before show-time......then I start twitching (as my shirt/arm pits can testify......eeewwww). But I have been driving in the UK for quite a while (this is year 15....1980-87, 2004-2011, and since mid April of last year).....and another 5 years in Japan (they drive on the left as well). And yearly trips going back and forth from right to left hand drives......it's easy for me.

I still think after the first couple of minutes she relaxed and we ended up talking the whole way through the drive. At one point we were on some of those really little narrow back roads/one way/scrape your knuckles on the walls routes "somewhere" in Knaresborough......I said "I have NO idea where I am". She just smiled and said "That's ok......you don't need to know where you are going, I know where we are going". Just gets back to as long as I was doing it safely......just keep driving.

She had me pull alongside the road 3 more times other than the parallel park......twice on busy roads. Both times I glanced at her and said "Here???" As in "You gotta be kidding me". I did notice that after I checked my blind spot to pull out she was staring very intently at me when I looked forward again......if I hadn't done the check I would have been toast. She was being nice......but I think she would have hung me if a made a serious mistake.

Now I just need to get off my butt and start doing something about my taxes.....poop.

A pass this morning for me as well. If I hadn't wimped out and played it safe on the parallel parking (I moved forward to straighten out) I wouldn't have had any faults. Maybe they were just being nice to me in my advanced years (58).

Congratulations!  Well done you!   

Ummmmm, I just turned 60 and none of the examiners were particularly nice to me.... 

You're being modest.   It's a really hard test to pass, especially first time.

Take the praise, you deserve it!

I agree!  It is an incredibly hard test to pass! 

I had the advantage of age.....as I was leaving the parking lot afterwards.....several cars with young girls getting ready for the test. LARGE cat like eyes staring nervously into space.....I could smell the fear. With age......if I failed.....I'd just do it another time.....my life wouldn't end.

Oddly, I agree with you.... which is why I was so blindsided by an awful case of nerves straight out  of my long ago adolescence.  My brain said to cut out the silly nerves, my nervous system told it to shut up and stop giving me such a hard time! 

... No wonder it took me three tries to pass, I was paying more attention to my internal battle for supremacy between me, myself, and I, rather than my driving!    

I told you all this was driving me round the bend - I'll bet you thought that was just a play on words, hmmmmm?   

As an addition......I was asking her a few questions as we were driving.....one of the things I mentioned is I really didn't use my hand brake as much as they seem to prefer here. She just said that it really didn't matter as long as I proved I had control of the car. I put the hand brake on a couple of times at lights where I knew I was going to be waiting for a while.....she didn't care. So......I just went with the foot brake for almost all of it. No steep hills, although our car has hill assist. When this car gets worn out in 8-10 years.....I'm likely to go to an automatic. Driving in busy stop and go traffic gets to be a pain with manuals.

 Congratulations to new licensees!  Wonder if anyone knows if there is an age restriction on first-time provisional licenses.  Thought I saw somewhere that they wouldn't issue them to anyone over 70 but can't find anything on official site.

Thank you BostonDiner! 

The only thing I've seen about being over 70, is that your driver's license has to be renewed every 3 years instead of every 10.  I think this may include something written from a doctor, but I'm not sure about that part.

Once I discovered that "renewal" didn't include retaking the practical test, I stopped hyperventilating, my panic attack receded, and all was well in my world again.....   

I just took a look at something that said you have to go 3 years at a time after 70, but it looks like all you have to do is go in and sign something that states you "declare" you are still able to drive. Can't see that working very much.....maybe if you get in really really bad shape it might allow them to question your abilities as you wobble in   Maybe a few people it will put enough pressure on that they will honestly give the license up.

I just took a look at something that said you have to go 3 years at a time after 70, but it looks like all you have to do is go in and sign something that states you "declare" you are still able to drive. Can't see that working very much.....maybe if you get in really really bad shape it might allow them to question your abilities as you wobble in   Maybe a few people it will put enough pressure on that they will honestly give the license up.

That's what happened with my Dad at age 70.  Was not interested in driving, and didn't need to drive, what with good bus services, cheap taxis in the town and my sister living next door. Plus no more car costs and aggravation.

He told me that he never even took a driving test, got his licence during WWII when they weren't quite so stringent.

Would this be a good place to start a conversation about cars and climate change? 

Would this be a good place to start a conversation about cars and climate change?

Nope. It's the only way I can get to the golf course.....