Crazy Crashes!

It's your worst nightmare...crashing.

I know that every time I head down the A500 at 70MPH the only thing going through my head is 'Good god this man has just put me in charge of his life...is he crazy!' But just to make you feel a bit better you just know you'll never crash like these people did...







And if you have trouble parking...

Speeding - Rant of the week!

Speeding is obviously a very serious issue.

But the Australians have gotten straight to the point with their advertisement campaign.



It is clearly aimed at a very specific audience, but I think it would work over here very well too, especially with all the boy racers.

The adverts we have at the moment for speeding and drink driving etc are very graphic and I'm not even sure that works any more.





I think as a society we have become quite numb to these sort of shock tactics, because they are used so often.

It's a mans world!

In a world where women drivers are still targeted (even though we're clearly safer drivers!) and where most driving instructors are male, it's not easy for women to learn to drive.



Maria McCarthy is the author of The Girls' Guide to Losing your L-plates a guide to every aspect of learning to drive, from choosing an instructor to buying and insuring a car once you've passed.



And if your pockets are empty from paying for all those lessons and tests then her website also has some very helpful advice!

Diary 5: 18 hours down!

Crikey I have just added it up to work out the title of this post...that's worrying! Almost a full day of lessons already! If anything though it's frustrating as I still don't feel like I'm getting any where fast.



A couple of weeks ago I asked my tutors opinion about having lessons with my Aunt over the summer break (as I'm not going to be able to afford lessons!) and he was very dubious. When I asked why, he said he was still fully guiding me and someone who was untrained would struggle to do that.

During the lesson I thought about what he'd said and realised that I knew exactly what I needed to do next, but I was waiting for him to tell me...like I'd become reliant on this.


So, bravely, this week I told this to him and asked if he could guide me a little less fully! To my delight after about 15 minutes of the lesson instead of telling what to do my tutor started to question what I needed to do next! For example as we were approaching a complex round-a-bout he would ask what lane or gear I needed to be in, this made it actually feel like I was driving!

Top Tips!

I've been asking around friends and family for some tips on many different aspects of learning to drive and I thought I'd share some of the best with you!

I have problems with my clutch control....like I expect many learners do! I tend to 'snatch' especially when I'm setting off at traffic lights! Basically, I take my foot off the clutch too quickly and theres not enough gas to keep the car going so I stall! Which is always fun! After speaking to my Nanna about this she suggested wearing a soft soled shoe with a solid heel....so I can rest my heel on the floor and then have more control of how quickly i lift my foot up. Amazingly it seemed to help alot...plus it gives me an excuse to buy new shoes!

My second top tip is when your not driving, but your in a car or on a bus, 'drive' it! In your head work out exactly what you would do, what gear you would be in etc. It is especially useful if, for some reason, you have to stop taking lessons for awhile. Just make sure if your on a bus you don't start saying it out loud or doing the actions!

Candid Camera!

This video made me feel much better about my own driving! The tension between the instructor and learner is shocking! But I thought it was the learner that had been set up until right towards the end!

The cost of learning to drive 2

I have just found a very interesting article from The Independent in January which outlines again just how much learning to drive can cost.