It might not be uh, peak performance, but I passed my driving test (roughly 1.5 years of lessons, 1 per week, ~£5000 on lessons) (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by Madbrad200@sh.itjust.works to c/casualuk@feddit.uk

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[-] shadowedcross@sh.itjust.works 17 points 3 weeks ago

£5000? Jesus Christ, hope that's atypical since I'm planning on trying to get a license this year.

[-] dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I did it in 25 hours at £30 per hour.

Everybody is different and learns thing at different paces. I also did automatic only so that makes it easier.

The theory was the one for me. Couldn’t bring myself to study, damn ADHD, but I do have general common sense and I pick up things from the environment so I figured I could just hope I got questions I knew. Failed once then passed next one.

[-] SouthEndSunset@lemm.ee 6 points 3 weeks ago

My mate gave me his theory CD that was endorsed by the AA or BSM or something, I just repeatedly did the exam….passed the theory exam second time, cause I failed hazard perception the first time.

[-] dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 3 weeks ago

Hazard perception is hard af at first.

[-] SouthEndSunset@lemm.ee 5 points 3 weeks ago

Yep, I did my test in 2004 and it was quite new at the time…I seem to remember there being complaints about how it wasn’t based in reality.

[-] thisismyname@lemm.ee 5 points 3 weeks ago

I was taught if you see a hazard click as soon as you see it, then click again two more times. The reason being that these things are programmed by humans and when the programmer deems the hazard to be a hazard and when you deem the hazard to be a hazard may be slightly differently timed. Bit of a shit system really but I don't really know how they could test it differently without a similar issue of tester and testee having different reaction times.

[-] dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 3 weeks ago

As a programmer I would have clicks within a given range of frames and these data points should be provided by the people facilitating the tests.

[-] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 1 points 2 weeks ago

I think it made my driving worse. I remember after doing it, my instructor was asking why I was braking when I saw drivers roll into give way junctions ahead of me. Because in the hazard perception, they show you videos where people just go straight out!

[-] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 1 points 2 weeks ago

I used James May videos

[-] GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk 3 points 3 weeks ago

I did...I want to say about 35 hours?

And I also supplemented with a g25 wheel/pedal set and ETS2.
Which helped more than you might expect (gear positions, clutch control, dealing with other traffic, blind spots)

G25 has been lent out to multiple friends to do the same thing too, so definitely paid for itself.

Theory, once you're paying attention to the road in general, isn't too bad at all. I paid about a fiver for month's access to a revision website, which had the material, and almost identical hazard perception clips.

[-] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 0 points 2 weeks ago

It's quite typical iirc

[-] guy@piefed.social 13 points 3 weeks ago

Mate, congratulations!
But after that many lessons, and still passing with those errors, are you sure you should be driving?

[-] vxx@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago

I had a friend that failed 2 times before making it. He's a safe driver, but the pressure got to him, especially after failing once.

[-] guy@piefed.social 4 points 3 weeks ago

Yes I failed my first time as well. I just mean with that amount of time and lessons to pass.. Not everyone is fit to drive. 😀

[-] GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk 4 points 3 weeks ago

You're allowed (iirc) 15 minors and still get a pass.

Minor issues are generally things that are mistakes, but mild enough that so long as you work to improve, the examiner is happy to pass you.

The same categories also have Major versions (1 fault fails the test) and Dangerous (1 fault halts the test entirely).

Control steering might be that OP had slightly sub optimal wheel technique, which meant they had a moment the examiner would have like to have seen both hands on.

Move off control might mean that they dumped the clutch a bit pulling away one time, and it wasn't smooth.

Awareness/Planning/Junction right could all have happened in the same manoeuvre (candidate hesitating at a junction, and pulling out after a car they could have comfortably gone before if they were more aware)

Progress: Appropriate speed can be missing that a speed limit has changed from 20 to 30, then accelerating when you realise.

I've still got the rap sheet from when I passed, and you can be damned sure after passing I was ironing them out.

[-] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 0 points 2 weeks ago

These are really minor. Like that minor mistake for turning right could have been that they weren't hugging the line to the right at a junction or something. The UK driving test is pretty strict. OP probably drives better than my mum.

[-] Vari@lemm.ee 8 points 3 weeks ago

What the fuck am I looking at??

[-] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 13 points 3 weeks ago

It appears to be a list of things they did incorrectly.

[+] baines@lemmy.cafe -16 points 3 weeks ago

when people say Americans can’t drive, this is why

[-] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 11 points 3 weeks ago

What's the connection to someone struggling to learn to drive?

Because that's what I see, and frankly don't understand it. Today's cars are tremendously easier to drive than what I learned on, and you should see what my parents had to do to pass their tests, driving manual transmissions without synchronizers, having to start on a hill - smoothly, etc.

All I see here is someone who finds driving particularly difficult, like I find math particularly difficult, or some people find spelling or grammar particularly difficult.

If anything, I give OP credit for sticking with it and not giving up, despite the cost. It's really hard to keep trying when it feels like you're just always struggling.

[-] baines@lemmy.cafe 6 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

if only automatic transmissions made people know and obey traffic laws, not run red lights or drive drunk

but my point was about the weakly enforced education component and how relatively easy it is to get a license in the US

so even if he struggled the fact he was required to show minimum competence instead of simply processed through is my point

[-] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 1 points 2 weeks ago

In the UK, you need to show quite a bit of competence to pass. One of the hardest tests in the world.

[-] baines@lemmy.cafe 1 points 2 weeks ago

yep but we Americans get mad when told we are not exceptional and our drivers are under trained

[-] SouthEndSunset@lemm.ee 10 points 3 weeks ago

But this is a UK sub, with a U.K. driving school, presumably posted by a Brit.

[-] baines@lemmy.cafe -5 points 3 weeks ago

which was the point?

uk driving school takes itself seriously

I can understand maybe being confused by my comment but my other 2 in this thread right below would have cleared it up

[-] SouthEndSunset@lemm.ee 4 points 3 weeks ago

I don’t mean to sound like a cock, but why should I search through all the comments to find a comment making your original comment clearer, which may or may not be there? No, it didn’t make it clearer.

[-] Vari@lemm.ee 7 points 3 weeks ago

You make it sound free lol. I definitely would love to make it harder to get a license In the USA, but you have to learn, get a permit, drive with an adult for six months, pass at least one written and one driven test. Spending 5200£ is fucking ludicrous. No test should be that hard

[-] baines@lemmy.cafe 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

i watched a guy have his mom basically do his eye exam for him when i was waiting for a renewal once my belief on the dmv sticking to the rules is low

no test should be that expensive but it for sure should be that hard as driving kills so many people

it’s pretty common to have part of the requirement be drivers ed in schools around here and the stories i hear from extended family are crazy

that also ignores issues like the elderly as well, 72 year old lady ran a red light t boned my mom, totaled my mazda truck to where the wheel came off 40+ through a red light no breaks, shed had her lawyer on speed dial he beat the ambulance there, this was her second one that month (no charges)

the us is so car dependent and so lacking in mass transportation that we let almost anyone drive

how many dui repeats on the road? hint its real bad

[-] B0NK3RS@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago

Congrats for sticking with it.

[-] Trilobyte@feddit.uk 4 points 3 weeks ago

Congratulations mate, you persevered

[-] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 weeks ago

Yikes, maybe you should stay off the road.

[-] 1rre@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 3 weeks ago

It's worth saying the number of minors is absolute, so they could've been in a single period (eg if they knew they made a mistake on the reverse park, so were nervous and drove slower for a bit and stalled a couple of times)

I had the same thing where I racked up around 10 minors during/after my emergency stop was partly botched but still safe. I was explicitly told I passed because they were all still safe, within a short interval and I recovered quickly from it.

That said, 1.5 years of learning is a long time to still be shaky after

[-] ns1@feddit.uk 2 points 3 weeks ago

Congratulations!

12 minors out of a maximum of 15, apparently the average is about 7 (for all tests, pass or fail). The examiner can fail you for 3 of the same minor but doesn't have to. So it might feel like you got slightly lucky, but the good news is you passed. I'd say most new drivers continue to improve for a while after passing so you have a chance to take on feedback from the test.

Enjoy your newfound freedom and happy driving!

[-] originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 2 points 3 weeks ago

holy shite. when i got mine it was 4 week course (2 days/week) at a 500$ flat fee

[-] Madbrad200@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 weeks ago

If I knew it was gonna cost me 5 grand I might've felt a little different about it lol

[-] tetris11@feddit.uk 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

That's about what you pay in Germany. You have to X hours driving at night, Y hours daytime, Z hours on the motorway.

Something like 60+ hours in total, for 45€ a lesson. 3000€ minimum.

Plus you have to attend something like 20 mandatory theory lessons, and they're usually scattered all around the place due to availability, and there's a fine if you miss a single one.

[-] ikidd@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago

I showed up for mine as soon as I was 16, drove around for 30 minutes and paid $30.

A few years later I drove a tractor trailer for about the same amount of time, showed I could back it around a corner, got my CDL.

Things were different 30 years ago.

[-] CheeryLBottom@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I'm older, but I took a paper test and got my learner's. Then later, I took the driver's test

[-] tetris11@feddit.uk 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

My dad got his mate to do the test for him. Handed him his ID, the guy pretended to be him, and boom free pass.

You could probably still do that now, if you have a cousin that looks like you

[-] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 1 points 2 weeks ago

My grandfather straight up lied about his age and got it at 16

[-] ikidd@lemmy.world 0 points 3 weeks ago

Yah, learners was a paper test, but I think it still is. My 14yo nephew took his recently and that's all it was. I have that kid float shifting an 18 speed Western Star already. Picked it up faster than most adults I've taught.

[-] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 1 points 2 weeks ago

Congrats! You say it isn't "peak performance", but the British driving test is one of the hardest in the world- you have to be a pretty good driver to actually pass it.