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£5000? Jesus Christ, hope that's atypical since I'm planning on trying to get a license this year.
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.
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.
Hazard perception is hard af at first.
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.
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.
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.
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!
I used James May videos
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.
It's quite typical iirc
Mate, congratulations!
But after that many lessons, and still passing with those errors, are you sure you should be driving?
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.
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. 😀
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.
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.
What the fuck am I looking at??
Congrats for sticking with it.
Yikes, maybe you should stay off the road.
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
Congratulations mate, you persevered
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!
holy shite. when i got mine it was 4 week course (2 days/week) at a 500$ flat fee
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.
I'm older, but I took a paper test and got my learner's. Then later, I took the driver's test
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
My grandfather straight up lied about his age and got it at 16
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.
If I knew it was gonna cost me 5 grand I might've felt a little different about it lol
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.
Learning from parents is not really allowed, you have to prove you went to a driving school before you do the test.
Only the English and Swiss have the luxury of turning up on the day sans proof of training. Explains why we're such excellent drivers haha
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.
If you are learning to drive in 2025 you are ngmi, bet on ai /s