[Closed] Teaching someone to drive!

D'oh
Wrong forum!

You could try finding a gentle uphill and get her to move the car a couple of feet forward using clutch control, then when its moved a couple of feet dip the clutch to let it roll back, then raise it again to stop it rolling back. As she gets better at this reduce the couple of feet to a few inches. This will help her with confidence in her ability to move away quickly.

Everything on the test is assessed on the following routine:
Mirrors,
Signal,
Position,
Speed,
Look,
Assess,
Decide,
Act.

She will know this if she has been taught well enough.

Also, people never ever look far enough ahead so things surprise them and this effects their confidence severely.

You and her can play a game where you identify all the hazards as and when you see them - first person to see a hazard says it. Can split it into near hazards, far hazards and moving hazards.

It's worth clarifying what the problem is so you can focus on it. If it is general nerves (as it was with my daughter) then driving round an empty industrial estate on a Sunday morning may not help - she may need to be more comfortable driving in traffic.

If she's already taken her test then she is probably fairly competent with the basics; but it's certainly worth checking her emergency stops as a first port of call!

Beyond any specific emphasis the important thing is to try and remain calm and be patient - not always easy, but essential if you're going to make any progress.

Calm and patient yes! thats why i've got the job as my sister screams at the slightest thing!! not helpful 🙂

Good point re emergency stop ta! i will test that then venture onto quiet roads

Like the hazard idea too

Ta muchly guys

dubbbble post

I think confidence improves with time behind the wheel. I drove for an hour with my Mom or Dad every day from my 17th birthday to the day I took my test. Because of this I was confident in traffic, I knew how to deal with hazards, I could react to things on the road. In comparison, I have a friend who only drove when he was on a lesson, he was nervous on the roads and didn't really like driving.

So unless there is something specific you need to focus on then I would just go for a drive, take her to some interesting places, let her drive you so she has to make decisons. Her confidence will increase just from driving.

Linge yes i agree time behind the wheel is the thing to do as much as poss which is why i'm doing it, just that lessons are so blooming dear these days, just don't want to set her back at all

Trust me. Do that control thing by rocking the car back and forth on the hill and she'll be away.

If she has already taken her test a few times she must have basic car control sorted. what is she failing on?

I failed my test a couple of times, after the second faill I bought a car and drove round in the car with my Dad at the weekends. Just going places like to the shops or into town, as if I already had passed my test and my Dad was just a passenger.

Sailed through the third test, all i needed was time in the car. Unless your niece keeps failing on a specific area this might be the best idea, empty industrial estate will be a bit pointless, she won't be taking her test in one of them!

I did this with my now wife.

Brought her a cheap car to run round in and just made her drive everywhere. Worked a treat, nothing improves confidence like actually doing it.

I left the basics of monovers to the instructor, when she bothered to have lessons every couple of weeks.

But by just driving she was doing most of those (well except reversing around a corner, who actually uses that anyway!!!)

Practice, practice, practice

Cheers guys i dont know what she's failing on but will ask!
we have a cheap small car for her to use so thats not a problem

I guess i've just got to see how it goes and get her slowly into more driving situations

Zulu - i will try that thanks

Hours behind the wheel count, as does "unfamiliarity" driving, too many driving schools stick to distinct areas and that means a student can get more nervous on roads they don't know.

When I was learning to drive (many years ago) my dad used to take me out for long drives, we'd end up anywhere in the north west. Great way to get rid of nerves on unfamiliar roads. Specific manouvre training came from the driving instructor on the local test routes. That worked, on test day I didn't drive a single road that I had not already been on.

Clearly she's ok on the basics if she's been considered up to test standard. As you've already said you need to establish the specific reasons she failed and work on them.

Be aware though, how you might have been taught might not pass the test.

Come back and ask some advice here, or even better try here:

There's lots of ADIs who will offer advice

www.advanced-driving.co.uk/forum

Another tip, rather than giving her specific 'left, right, straight on' instructions get her to drive to places she's familiar with and then less familiar with and finally not familiar with, ie. "follow the signs to"

My daughter passed her test in April.
We had a highly recommended local instructor (not a franchise) give lessons.
I sat by her while she practised what she had learnt, the miles put in between lessons is really important IMO.
The only bit of "teaching" I did was very early on in the process. We went on a Sunday morning to a quiet industrial estate and I got her to accelerate hard, brake hard, circle mini roundabouts etc. so she could get a "feel" for the car. She experienced locking up under braking, under-steer, wheel-spin, we even did handbrake turns. She maintains it helped a lot with her confidence and car control.
I appreciate this may not work with all learners, my daughter is a bit of a petrol head (she did a young drivers session as a Christmas pressie when she was 16) so was up for it.
Its also stood he in good stead when she has to evade the coppers and is forced to dump the Subaru she's just TWOCKed.

Used to take any pupils that really struggled on test days up to Birkenhead/Liverpool and get them to drive unfamiliar busy roads for a few hours for a couple of weeks. They were still nervous on test days back in Chester/Wrexham but the driving was now well in their comfort zone rather than on the edge of it.

The other thing I sometimes did was to get self critical perfectionists to take me on a driving test. I'd throw in plenty of minor faults but nothing that would fail a test to show them just how much of a bad day they could have. Most of them then flew through their next test as they wstopped driving on eggshells.

Good replys guys- thanks!

Handbrake turns thats an idea!, my sister would kill me!