The Girls' Guide To Losing Your L-Plates

How to Pass Your Driving Test

Maria McCarthy

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN: 9781416526605
• eBook ISBN: 9781847394927
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Automotive Transportation & Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Stylish and fun, THE GIRLS' GUIDE TO LOSING YOUR L-PLATES is a deeply practical aid for every girl learning to drive. The initial chapters will help you sift out a good instructor, budget for and get the most from your lessons. There are hints too for the hapless parent/boyfriend who is prepared to take you out practising, and suggestions for keeping your relationship from cracking under the strain. Driving instructors add off-the-record information about the easiest places to pass and the best ways to win over your examiner. Author Maria McCarthy guides you through exactly what to expect in both the theory and the practical test, giving sage advice about managing your nerves and staying calm. There is help with driving once you've passed too, including how to get the best car insurance, and dealing with driving alone or at night. An uplifting chapter is on hand just in case you don't, at first, succeed. THE GIRLS' GUIDE TO LOSING YOUR L-PLATES is essential reading for every wannabe on wheels.

Chapter 1

Getting into Gear

Being able to drive is a wonderful thing, bringing fun, freedom and independence. Actually passing your driving test on the other hand can be a daunting business. A talented few breeze through after a handful of lessons with an instructor and a bit of practice with their partner or parents. But most of us aren’t that lucky. For most of us, it costs money we’d rather be spending on clothes and time we’d rather be spending with mates or having a lie-in. And that’s even before you get to the humiliation of feeling that you’ll never be able to manage a successful parallel park or the sweaty-palmed, stomach-churning horrors of driving-test nerves.

This is where The Girls’ Guide to Losing Your L-Plates comes in. It will provide information, support and encouragement and, among other things:

• Help you find the right driving instructor (and get rid of the wrong one such as the Gossip, the Short-Changer or the Lech!).
• Show you how to get the most out of your lessons–how finding out the local test centre routes, using visualization techniques and wearing the right shoes can all help your progress.
• Tell you how to survive the humiliation of crying in front of your driving instructor.
• Offer advice on how to have driving practice with your partner and remain on speaking terms.
• Provide vital tips for overcoming driving-test nerves.
• Help you believe that you can get there, even after a disastrous lesson or when you’ve just failed your test for the fifth time.
• Discover if there’s any truth behind those driving-test myths such as ‘You’ve got to set your rear-view mirror slightly off so it’s really obvious that you’re looking into it’, ‘Driving examiners have a quota to pass every week, so it’s down to luck, really’, or ‘If you wear a short skirt a male examiner will be too busy drooling to notice if you make a mistake.’

The book also provides useful facts and figures on learning to drive and entertaining snippets of driving trivia. There are ex-learners’ accounts of the agony and ecstasy of gaining their licence–and how it’s all been worth it for the freedom and independence that driving brings. It isn’t intended to cover the technical side of learning to drive, that’s for a qualified driving instructor. And it isn’t about encouraging you to have the minimum number of lessons to scrape through your test at the earliest opportunity. Your aim should be to become a safe and confident driver for life and so it’s vital that you can consistently drive to a high standard before taking your test.

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History of the driving test

1893–France was the first country in the world to introduce a driving test, along with vehicle registration plates and parking restrictions.

1900–Vera Hedges Butler was the first British woman to pass a driving test. As they hadn’t yet started in Britain the keen-as-mustard Miss Hedges Butler went all the way to Paris to take the French test.

June 1935–Driving tests began in the UK. They cost 37½p (7s/6d) and the pass rate was 63 per cent. The first person to pass was called Mr Beene (yes, really). There weren’t any test centres and examiners would meet candidates at a pre-arranged spot like a park or railway station.

September 1939–Driving tests were suspended for the duration of World War II and resumed on 1 November 1946.

November 1956–April 1957–Testing was suspended again during the Suez Crisis.

May 1975–Demonstrating arm signals is no longer required.

April 1991–A bleak date for those of us who struggle with going backwards as a reverse parking manoeuvre becomes a compulsory part of the test.

July 1996–A separate theory test is introduced. Before this the driving examiner would ask some Highway Code questions at the end of the test.

November 2002–The theory test is expanded to include the hazard perception test.

September 2003–The Show me/Tell me vehicle safety questions are added to the beginning of the practical test.

Present day–The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) now conducts 1.5 million car tests and 1.5 million theory tests a year. Thirty-two million people in the UK currently hold driving licences–70 per cent of the adult population (National Travel Survey, Department for Transport (DfT) 2004).

Despite the time, expense and emotional trauma they cause, driving tests are undeniably a Very Good Thing because they make our roads safer. In 1934 there were only 2.5 million vehicles on Britain’s roads but 7,343 people were killed in road accidents. However, by 2004 there were over 30 million vehicles on the road and the Department of Transport report on road casualties (2004) quoted 3,221 fatalities.

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Your road to success

Your first step to becoming a driver is to get your provisional driving licence. The minimum age for holding one is seventeen, unless you are in receipt of the higher rate of Disability Living Allowance, in which case the age is sixteen. You can apply for your provisional licence two months in advance of your seventeenth birthday. You’ll need to get the relevant form from a post office, complete all relevant sections and send it off to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) Swansea. The full address is shown on the application form. When you’re signing it, make sure your signature fits inside the box, rather than scrawled all over the place. This signature is transferred to your licence, so all of it needs to be within the assigned space. You also need to include a passport-sized photo, which then ends up on your full licence–so make sure it’s a decent one! The licence can take several weeks to arrive, longer if your medical history needs to be checked by the DVLA. Your driving instructor will need to inspect both the photocard and paper parts of your provisional licence at the start of your first lesson. If you don’t have your licence then it’s illegal for them to take you out.

Next, to get a full driving licence, you’ll need to pass the theory and practical tests, which are covered in detail in later chapters. All you have to do to get the provisional licence is take a trip to the post office, which shouldn’t be too difficult. However, passing the theory and, in particular, the practical test will take hard work and probably involve some ups and downs, which is why it’s vital to have both the confidence to know that you’re capable of getting your driving licence and the commitment to keep going through any difficult patches.

Believe in yourself

When you’re driving round a housing estate at 20 m.p.h. but still managing to stall the car and reverse into bollards, it’s difficult to believe that you’ll ever make that magical transformation into the confident, breezy sort of girl who can deal capably with heavy city traffic, or bomb along a busy motorway. However, what you need to remember is that everyone was a beginner once and many people will have shared the doubts and fears that you’re having now, but most have gone on to become safe and confident drivers–and so can you.

Keeping your motivation strong

‘To achieve a challenging goal you’ve got to be willing to break it down into a number of parts and tackle each stage in turn,’ says Gladeana McMahon, psychologist and spokesperson for the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. ‘Don’t give yourself a hard time about not being able to do everything perfectly straight away. Motivation is vital so keep yours strong by making a list of why you really want to learn to drive and of the things you’ll enjoy doing once you’ve passed your test–then if you hit a bad patch you can refer to it and it’ll keep you focused.’ For example:

• I can get to work without the journey taking one and a half hours and two changes of train.
• I can visit my boyfriend in Sheffield without being crammed on to a horrible crowded coach for four hours.
• Late at night I’ll feel safer in my car than using public transport.
• I won’t have to haul the supermarket shopping around on the bus.
• It’ll be much easier to take my baby out and about.
• I’ll be able to follow my chosen career.
• I’ll be able to get into the car on impulse and go anywhere
• I like–to the sea, to visit friends, to festivals.
• I won’t have to sit on the bus being driven insane by other people’s novelty ringtones.

Another helpful motivational tip is to cut out a picture of your dream car and stick it on your noticeboard or fridge–every time you look at it, imagine yourself sitting confidently behind that wheel.

Overcoming your doubts and fears

If there’s anything about the prospect of learning to drive that’s bothering you, it’s far better to admit it to yourself than sweep it under the carpet. Facing up to your anxieties then allows you to come up with practical strategies to overcome them. Gladeana McMahon suggests a useful technique for dealing with any worries. ‘On one side of a piece of paper, write down all your fears–no matter how trivial or silly they may seem. Then on the other side write down positive statements to counter them. That’ll help you see that with commitment and a positive attitude you will be able to achieve your goal.’ For example:

Clutch, gears, getting into lane, watching out for other traffic–it’s all too much to take in!

I don’t have to learn everything at once. My instructor will break down every step into manageable stages and then putting it all together will be a breeze.

I go to pieces in exams and the thought of someone watching my every move freaks me out!

There are loads of good techniques for handling nerves–using them will help me stay calm and show how well I can drive.

My sister and friends have all learnt really quickly. What if I take ages and they make fun of me?

So what? People learn different things at different rates and there are plenty of things I’m better at than them.

I’m too old.

Learning new things is possible at any age–and tackling new challenges will help keep my mind sharp.

Remind yourself of your past achievements

Another useful strategy is to make a list of your past achievements. Some of them will be things that you thought you’d find really difficult, or could never manage–but you did them anyway. For example:

• I passed my GCSE Chemistry despite failing it in my mocks.
• I got over splitting up with Tom/Dick/Harry.
• I made new friends after moving schools.
• I’ve given birth!
• I dropped a dress size last summer.
• I’m a good cook.

Now all you’ve got to do is add ‘I passed my driving test’ to that list!

Giving yourself a head start

Here are some ways you could get started on learning to drive even before you get your provisional licence.

• When you’re a passenger in a car or bus start watching the way the traffic flows into different lanes, the judgements that are made about when to pull out at roundabouts or junctions.
• Ask family and friends to explain different manoeuvres to you, ideally when they’re carrying them out in the car–though miming them at home can work quite well too.
• Start revising for your theory test by checking out road signs as you travel.
• If you have any doubts at all about your eyesight, get it checked out before your first lesson. Your instructor will probably test you on reading a number plate at a distance of twenty metres before you set off and if you fail he’ll refuse to take you out.
• Some driving schools offer off-road tuition for 16-year-olds so if you’re eager...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• 1. Getting into Gear
• 2. Decisions, Decisions
• 3. Making the Most of Your Lessons
• 4. You’re Driving Me Crazy!
• 5. The Theory Test
• 6. The Final Stretch
• 7. Your Practical Test Triumph
• 8. If at First You Don’t Succeed
• 9. You’ve Passed: Losing Your L-Plates
• 10. Car Insurance Without Tears
• Reference Section
• Appendices
• 1: Percentage pass rates by age and gender
• 2: Female pass rates by driving test centre