A female legal secretary learning to drive a car in the UK with a DSA approved instructor (ADI), and this is my driving lessons blog, hopefully I will pass my practical driving test. Call my instructor on 07956233032 (tell him Ann sent you) if you need lessons, he is very good.
Having survived last week's driving lesson where my driving instructor sprung a surprised on me unexpectedly and made me deal with traffic, today I learnt a new procedure, dealing with T Junctions also called emerging.
Open Junctions
The first thing we did as always on our driving lessons was to recap on last week's skills by practising junctions turning left and right, dealing with some busy roads, including those controlled by traffic lights, making sure I could move off under pressure of cars behind me without stalling the vehicle. I wasn't perfect, but my ADI said I was making steading progress learning to drive and that it was time to introduce a new topic.
As usual out came the lesson briefing manual, and I was told how to identify a T Junction by either seeing houses at the end of the road, the upside down triangle road marking, the give way sign or the double short lines painted at the end of the road. I would still need to use the MSPSL routine on this junction, and initially will be stopping, then using LADA to judge if it is safe to proceed.
Look to the right, left and then right again. Asses the situation, noting if there is a safe gap in the traffic and other conditions around. My instructor stressed the importantance of giving way to traffic on the main road, including those coming from the left if neccessary (buses, lorries or HGVs that might need the extra space). Decide on what you are going to do. Act on your decision, emerging into the T junction only when you can see it is safe.
We then started to practise, beginning with open junctions where we had some visibility into the road before we got to the give way line, even though we still stopped for the first 3 or 4 attempts.
Closed Junctions
With almost half of the driving lesson gone, my driving instructor pulled me over on the left, and said we would now drive to a place where we would be able to deal with closed T junctions, having to emerge where there is very limited visibility, using peep and creep routine and later on if there was time, also go to a junction with a stop line. My instructor told me that it is very easy to fail the DSA practical test at closed T junctions if I approached too fast, did not use LADA properly, or got pressurised by other road users.
Today's driving lesson which was my 4th, was mainly practising what we did last week, approaching junctions turning left and right, moving off and stopping and a bit of straight reversing. I was now getting up to 3rd gear, and making good progress when my driving instructor sprung a surprise on me!
I was concentrating on doing the best with my driving skills, and was following my ADI's instructions, so when he said 'at the give way we are going to turn left, I'll talk you through it', I didn't think much of it until I got to the end of the road and noticed it was a little busier than the roads we had been dealing with. Traffic I thought, Oh no!
I stopped in 2nd gear, put my handbrake on, selected first gear as my instructor talked me through checking the traffic to the right, left, then right again. When it was safe, he asked to go, and I turned left into the busier willesden lane in NW London, for the first time I had faster traffic coming towards me, and checking the rear view mirror also revealed cars were approaching from behind me. 'Take the next road on the left' I heard my driving instructor say, I breathed a sigh of relief as I used MSPSL to deal with the junction, as the traffic wizzed past me on the main road.
My instructor stopped me on the left, asked how I was doing, said okay and we continued with the driving lesson by doing some more practising on the junctions, more traffic and even got to deal with one road that had traffic lights on it. Before I knew it, the driving lesson was over and it was time to go home. Hopefully very soon I'll be able to drive through the NW2 and NW6 traffic to get home from a lesson.
On arriving at the training area, my driving instructor said that on this driving lesson we will be dealing with approaching junctions to turn left first, and later right. However before we started that, we would have a quick recap of the last lesson using some Q&A and try moving off and stopping for a couple of times to make sure that I had not forgotten these essential driving skills.
I forgot to mention in my last driving lesson that I changed gears, going up to 3rd gear, I mentioned this because I had some problems with gears while dealing with junctions.
MSPSL
Having successfully completed moving off and stopping a couple of times, my ADI pulled me over on the left of the road so that he could give me a briefing on approaching junctions to turn left (he always takes out this book with pictures and abbrevations when introducing a new subject), but I partly blocked someone's driveway, so he told me to move forward, and reminded me of SCALP.
In order to sucessfully deal with junctions according to the DSA standard, I will have to use a new system (not another one!) called MSPSL, this is an expansion of MSM which I was introduced to during my last driving lesson.
Mirrors. Since I was going to be turning left, it will be interior and left exterior. Signal left. Position. I was told to use the normal driving position, a door's width from the side of the road or parked vehicles. Speed. I should keep the car at a brisk walk pace when about to turn left, and should usually be in 2nd gear. Look. As I approach, I need to be looking at the junction for pedestrians about to cross or already in the road (I must give way to people that are already on the tarmac), obstructions in the road I'm about to turn into, as well as other cars.
With the driving theory dealt with, it was time to practice the real thing as required on the DSA test.
I was fully concentrating on previous skills I'd learnt, so did POM when moving off, checked my mirrors as I got into the road and accelerated, changing into the 2nd gear. 'We are going to be taking the next road on the left' my instructor says, and then proceeds to give me a full talk through (it's hard listening to him and doing at the same time), but I had problems steering, and was wide going round so my instructor had to help me get the car back in control.
We spent considerable time practicing this, with my instructor reducing the amount of instructions as we dealt with a few junctions to the left, after a while I got the jest of it, and was able to independently approach a junction in the car turn left without any assistance from my driving instructor.
Approaching a junction to turn right
Time for another look at that book of my ADI as we now want to tackle junctions to the right. From the diagram, we still need to use MSPSL, but the only changes are the position of the car is now just to the left of the lane divider, and I have to be more cautious as oncoming cars have priority which means I might have to stop the car, something that I didn't have to do for the left handed junctions.
The first two attempts when well, probably because I now could steer the car, was well into the hand of things as the driving lessons was almost an hour in, but more importantly I hadn't dealt with any oncoming vehicles.
During my third attempt of turning right, there were 2 oncoming cars as I approached the junction, and I was still in 2nd gear, trying to not have to stop, when the car shook and stalled! I panicked and didn't apply the handbrake and the car started to roll forward as I had put the gears into neutral position. My instructor used his brake to stop the car, asked me to apply the handbrake and then restart the engine. By the time this was done, the junction was clear so I continued.
It was a very interesting but hard driving lesson, but I learnt a lot and hope that I'm able to remember it all for my next session. Looks like it's going to be ages before I will be ready for the DSA driving test, but a least I'm in a better position than I was before my first lesson.
My first driving lesson had not gone as I had expected because I did not drive the car, but I had now booked my second session which was 2hrs and was told by my driving instructor that we would definately be covering moving off and stopping and if I made good progress might even get to do junctions turning left during this lesson.
The first thing I had to do once I got into the driver's seat was my cockpit drill, once I had completed this, my driving instructor then gave me a lesson briefing on moving off and stopping. The first thing he talked about was POM.
POM system
My ADI explained the POM stood for Prepare, Oberserve and Move, and that I should use this routine everytime I was moving off or beginning a manouver.
I prepare the car by find the biting point, this involves putting the clutch down (you don't have this pedal if you are driving an automatic car, only manual transmission) and keeping it down, selecting first gear, then using the right foot to set the gas, next comes lifting the left foot up slowly until I hear a reduction in the engine noise (I had to do this 3 times because I kept stalling the car).
Observations
I was taught the importance of looking all around the car before moving off when parked on the side of the road and everytime I stopped while performing a maneuver.
I was told to do a 6 point check, starting by looking over my left shoulder, then left exterior mirror, interior mirror, the road ahead, right mirror and finally over my right shoulder. My driving instructor emphasied the importance of make sure I had checked my blind spots as it is very easy when on the driving test to miss another road user, and this could cause me to fail, so I should develop the habit right from now!
Moving Off in the car
Once I've made sure it is safe, my left hand should go on the handbrake, I should do a final check the right side of the car, put the handbrake down, bring the left foot up slowly (clutch), steer into the road, continue bring the clutch up, and once in the road, check my mirrors and give it a little gas!
It sounds simple, but I had problems doing all that together, and kept stalling the car. Once I finally got it, I started panicking as I was driving the car, but couln't steer straight! My ADI instructor had to keep helping me, as I couldn't press the gas with the right amount of pressure, look down the road even though it was wide I was still drifting towards the parked vehicles. It is hard learning to drive a car, I didn't expect to find it this tough!
Mirrors Signal Move
Soon it was time to stop on the left, and I had to use MSM for the first time, checking the interior then left external mirrors, there was nobody around on the quiet road we were driving on, so I didn't need to use the indicators to signal, so I came off the gas, steering a bit to the left. When he said cover the brake, I slammed my foot down, and the car jerked to a stop! Oops. OMG, I had just driven a car, I was exicted and wanted to try harder to get this thing right. Now I was enjoying my driving lessons as this was what I signed up for.
SCALP
I must always use SCALP to select where I stop the car. I must stop the car in a Safe, Convinient And Legal Position. So much to memorise and remember.
I had another go at moving off, stalling only once, started getting better at steering the car on a straight course and worked harder on using MSM when it was time to stop on the left. There is so much to learning to drive a car especially the way that the DSA examiners want it here in the UK, and I'm finding it hard to remember everything.
I got to do some reversing on the driving lesson, learning that I should look back, not using the mirrors, and was explained clutch control to keep the car slow when perfoming a manouver.
Before I knew it, time was up, and my driving instructor was driving me back to my NW3 Hampstead flat via the busy Finchley road dual carriageway. One day I'll be able to drive myself home from my lessons.
Don't forget the highway code is the standard expected, so master it as it could save you from make a simple error that would result in failure, revise it when not taking practical lessons!
Having put off learning to drive a car, I finally had my first driving lessons today, it wasn't as I had expected it to go, and to some extent I was kind of disappointed.
Having decided I wanted to start the learner driver process, I did a search on the internet and chose my driving instructor based on the information on his website and the fact that he was an EX AA instructor and his price wasn't too expensive. We agreed on today and I booked 1hrs even though he said I should book 2hrs (I think he just wanted my money), had my full driving license with me (including the counterpart) as he said I won't be able to drive without it.
Controls Lesson
I got picked up at the appointed time, and after a brief eye test and examination of my provisional licence photo ID, I got into the passenger seat, as my driving instructor said he was going to drive me to a quiet area before we swapped seats as obviously I lived on a busy road in Hampstead and there was no way I would be able to drive the car from home on my first lesson.
It took us over 15 minutes to get to this long wide road somewhere near Wilesden, where my ADI pulled up, got out and I got into the driver's seat of a car for the very first time. I was very nervous, as I wasn't sure I'd be able to drive without crashing the car. I was not looking forward to this part of the driving lesson.
Cockpit Drill DSSSM
My driving instructor told me to relax, as it wasn't time to drive yet as he need to teach me a few things about getting ready to drive and the car controls. The first thing he said I had to learn as a complete beginner driver was the cockpit drill, and he explained that I should use the acronym DSSSM to remember it.
D triple S M Doors. I as the driver in control of the car had the full responsibility of making sure all the doors of my vehicle are fully secured and closed. Seat. Adjust your seat so your feet can operate the foot controls comfortably. Steering. Adjust your seat reach and steering wheel column so can reach all hand controls easily. Seatbelt. I was taught how to safely put on and take off the seatbelt and learnt about tensioner? M I was taught how to adjust my mirrors, how to check them when driving and told the meaning of blind spots and why I needed to check them before moving off.
After he finished this, I thought this was now the time in the driving lesson when I finally was going to drive, but my ADI said it was now time to learn the car controls.
Car Controls
It looked like I would not be actually moving the car during my first driving lesson, as time was going and I was not being taught the ABC pedals. Accelerator or Gas pedal as my instructor said he would be calling it. He told me I need to apply gentle pressur on this control with my right foot as it control how fast the engine went. I started the car, and tried setting the gas, the car made a loud noise and I quickly too my feet off! I tried again, this time I was able to do it properly. Brake. The foot brake is also operated with the right foot, and therefore I can't use both the gas and brake pedals together. I was told how the car was slowed down using this pedal, and what instructions my driving instructor would use when refering to this foot control. Clutch. The third foot control was the clutch and I was told what it did to the engine, and how it aws used to select gears. I breathed a sigh of relief when he finished, hoping that all this boring theory was over, I wanted to drive a car, not be a mechanic!
'I'm now going to talk about the gears, handbrake and indicators which you will need for moving off and stopping' m driving instructor said!
So some more theory on where the gears where, how each one worked, using the handbrake and the direction indicators.
Before I knew it, he said my first driving lesson was over, as we needed 15 minutes to drive home through the North London traffic, and that I should consider booking 2hrs for the next session so that we could have more time for learning moving off and stopping.
As I got out of the car and walked to my door, I was exicted that I was finally learning to drive a car, even though today I hadn't actually moved the vehicle during the lesson, the process had begun, and hopefully I will continue on the long path that will eventually lead me to passing the driving test.
If you search the internet, you should be able to find full driving lessons videos of an approved DSA instructor doing the full cockpit drill. Watching any of these learner videos before my lesson would have saved me some money, since I could have driven the car on my first driving lesson.
