Hi there
I passed my test 6 weeks ago in a small town in Lancashire. I'm 32 so was a mature learner. I've just moved to Leeds to live with my boyfriend who doesn't drive. I've bough try first car, a Peugeot 107 and I'm struggling with so many things, I've lost so much confidence, I'm scared to even go to the petrol station down the road.
Firstly I learned in a big diesel (aren't most of us?!) and now have this little 1 litre petrol that i'm over revving and stalling when not over revving! It's a nightmare. Hill starts are a nightmare, rolling backwards, stalling, and I'm struggling in slow moving traffic approaching a junction, I've gone from never stalling in the diesel to doing it all the time in this car.
Secondly I'm feeling like I don't know how to turn right at junctions/traffic lights. Bare with me here! How do I know if I should position myself slightly over to the right while waiting for a gap, or wait completely on my side but edge forwards? How will I know if the traffic in the right hand lane approaching me wants to go straight ahead?
Also, if a car in front is turning right with me behind wanting to do the same, am I also allowed to creep behind him over the stop line or stay behind it even when light is green?
Thirdly, I cannot park to save my life and this is another reason for not wanting to drive. I was taught 3 point turn and left reverse but only did a little bit of parallel park in quiet areas - try parallel parking in a busy student suburb in leeds! I have no idea how to do it.
Im sure I went over these things with my instructor over time, but now I'm in a new city and a bag of nerves, and forgetting things. Ive already had 2 lessons in Leeds to help me start get used to the roads here, but when it comes to driving on my own I just can't do it. My boyfriend doesn't drive and is very unsupportive and doesn't trust me to drive, so that doesn't help. We live near a huge, and i mean huge ring road that requires navigation for almost every journey, and the other direction is towards the city centre which I'm definitely not ready for. The huge roundabouts are another issue, i'll be positing about those at some point!
I'm starting to think I should either A, give up completely and sell this bl00dy car, or B, buy an automatic if I can afford one that isn't too old to at least give me one less thing to worry about (gears/clutch). Or C. Persevere with lessons despite having a license. The problem with lessons so far is that it is in an instructors car which requires getting used to again, and them telling me how to to certain things differently compared to my old instructor. So it's a little frustrating and as if I'm learning from scratch which I don't want?
I've already done the pass plus course in my home town.
Any advice (please don't be too harsh) will be much welcomed! Thanks
I passed my test 6 weeks ago in a small town in Lancashire. I'm 32 so was a mature learner. I've just moved to Leeds to live with my boyfriend who doesn't drive. I've bough try first car, a Peugeot 107 and I'm struggling with so many things, I've lost so much confidence, I'm scared to even go to the petrol station down the road.
Firstly I learned in a big diesel (aren't most of us?!) and now have this little 1 litre petrol that i'm over revving and stalling when not over revving! It's a nightmare. Hill starts are a nightmare, rolling backwards, stalling, and I'm struggling in slow moving traffic approaching a junction, I've gone from never stalling in the diesel to doing it all the time in this car.
Secondly I'm feeling like I don't know how to turn right at junctions/traffic lights. Bare with me here! How do I know if I should position myself slightly over to the right while waiting for a gap, or wait completely on my side but edge forwards? How will I know if the traffic in the right hand lane approaching me wants to go straight ahead?
Also, if a car in front is turning right with me behind wanting to do the same, am I also allowed to creep behind him over the stop line or stay behind it even when light is green?
Thirdly, I cannot park to save my life and this is another reason for not wanting to drive. I was taught 3 point turn and left reverse but only did a little bit of parallel park in quiet areas - try parallel parking in a busy student suburb in leeds! I have no idea how to do it.
Im sure I went over these things with my instructor over time, but now I'm in a new city and a bag of nerves, and forgetting things. Ive already had 2 lessons in Leeds to help me start get used to the roads here, but when it comes to driving on my own I just can't do it. My boyfriend doesn't drive and is very unsupportive and doesn't trust me to drive, so that doesn't help. We live near a huge, and i mean huge ring road that requires navigation for almost every journey, and the other direction is towards the city centre which I'm definitely not ready for. The huge roundabouts are another issue, i'll be positing about those at some point!
I'm starting to think I should either A, give up completely and sell this bl00dy car, or B, buy an automatic if I can afford one that isn't too old to at least give me one less thing to worry about (gears/clutch). Or C. Persevere with lessons despite having a license. The problem with lessons so far is that it is in an instructors car which requires getting used to again, and them telling me how to to certain things differently compared to my old instructor. So it's a little frustrating and as if I'm learning from scratch which I don't want?
I've already done the pass plus course in my home town.
Any advice (please don't be too harsh) will be much welcomed! Thanks