Motoring Discussion > Learners - standards on the road Miscellaneous
Thread Author: BobbyG Replies: 17
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New Mon 25 Oct 10 19:49 
 Learners - standards on the road - BobbyG
At what stage are learner drivers taken on the road nowadays?

In my day the first few lessons were in industrial estates etc off the beaten track but every evening I am out doing the kids taxiing for them, I seem to come across learners that are crawling along at speeds of 15 and 20mph as if its their first lesson?
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New Mon 25 Oct 10 19:53 
 Learners - standards on the road - Zero
Zero Junior was on the road, minute two of lesson 1. It was a side road, but road none the less.
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New Mon 25 Oct 10 19:58 
 Learners - standards on the road - FotheringtonTomas
>> I seem to come across learners that are crawling along at speeds of 15
>> and 20mph as if its their first lesson?

Perhaps there's a 20MPH limit that you're unaware of.
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New Mon 25 Oct 10 20:25 
 Learners - standards on the road - RattleandSmoke
My ADI said he would often get people giving hand gestures to his students when they used the bus lanes, or daring to do 20mph in a 20mph.

I still more less stick to the 20 zones and do 20 and I still get beeped at etc for going to slow.
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New Mon 25 Oct 10 20:29 
 Learners - standards on the road - Skoda
20's in green circles are advisories, if it's clear and you can see - as is so often the case, crack on, 30's the limit.

You know yourself when it's not suitable, don't need a £120-a-pop green circle to tell you.
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New Mon 25 Oct 10 20:44 
 Learners - standards on the road - RattleandSmoke
All the 20's here are in red circles and are the legal limit. I actually think some of them make sense and its hard to more than 20 anyway, others are really pointless.

I can think of one long wide road, no hazzards just a wide open road and a 20 limit because there is a school near by. Everybody still does 30-45mph down there and if you drive at 20 you get beeped at, over taken, stuck to fingered at etc.

Its Axandra Road South in Whalley Range in case anybody was wondering. There are far too many random 20 roads in this part of Manchester.
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New Mon 25 Oct 10 20:55 
 Learners - standards on the road - BobbyG
No these roads are not 20's
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New Mon 25 Oct 10 20:56 
 Learners - standards on the road - Bromptonaut
Done this recently.

Daughter was under the instruction of an ADI with a Micra but also practised in my Xantia; first task was to acclimatise to the much larger vehicle.

We're lucky in that there are a couple of nearby warehousing estates nearby complete with roundabouts, T-junctions etc. So we ran round those for a few lessons, gradually ranging from figure 8 patterns to using the access roads etc where the speed limits were up to 50.


Probably a couple of hours in my car before I took her out onto main roads but it was still pretty hairy. Not many hills on industrial estates and getting bite points together with an actually very quiet Sunday morning roundabout was the only time I nearly had to relieve her (after the 4th stall/secure etc routine).

There's alsways going to be that point I'm afraid where for a while at least they hold up other road users. I'm not a violent man but if I could have caught the guy in the Nissan Navarra who leaned on his horn during that event I'd have killed him.
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New Mon 25 Oct 10 21:01 
 Learners - standards on the road - RattleandSmoke
If anybody beeps at me for holidng them up I just ignore it and think what a ***** **** *** ** *** ***** ***** ****** now.

When I first started driving it did bother me though,. If there is no safe gaps there is no safe gaps, I am not going to risk pulling out into some old 80 year old pensioner who is on his phone with failing eye sight and arguing with his Mrs at the same time.

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New Mon 25 Oct 10 21:09 
 Learners - standards on the road - Old Navy
I'm not 80 yet, Ratts!
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New Mon 25 Oct 10 21:11 
 Learners - standards on the road - RattleandSmoke
But you are not in the habbit of using the phone when driving and you still have your eye sight - probably better than mine.

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New Mon 25 Oct 10 21:15 
 Learners - standards on the road - Old Navy
I don't think the learners have changed, just more pressurised impatient supposedly qualified drivers on the roads.
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New Mon 25 Oct 10 21:18 
 Learners - standards on the road - RattleandSmoke
They should all try running a business on the buses and legs as I did for many years. They will soon realise just how much quicker cars are there even when stuck in traffic!.
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New Tue 26 Oct 10 08:46 
 Learners - standards on the road - Redviper
>> If anybody beeps at me for holidng them up I just ignore it and think
>> what a ***** **** *** ** *** ***** ***** ****** now.


Agreed, I do the same thing i stick to the limit and if the idiot behind me does not like it, they can chuff off

My now sadly departed driving instructor once said to me "you do your correct speed and they will do theirs, dont be bullied into breaking the law" wise words that I still hear him saying to this day.
Last edited by: Redviper on Tue 26 Oct 10 at 08:47
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New Tue 26 Oct 10 07:34 
 Learners - standards on the road - L'escargot
>> In my day the first few lessons were in industrial estates etc off the beaten
>> track but every evening I am out doing the kids taxiing for them, I seem
>> to come across learners that are crawling along at speeds of 15 and 20mph as
>> if its their first lesson?
>>

All of my lessons were on public roads. During my first lesson I reached 40 mph (in a 60 mph limit) and my instructor told me to slow down.
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New Tue 26 Oct 10 08:47 
 Learners - standards on the road - Redviper
my 1st lesson was a couple of circuits round a car park, to learn how to stop and then he took me out on the roads - quite nerve racking to be honest.
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New Tue 26 Oct 10 09:54 
 Learners - standards on the road - L'escargot
>> ............. - quite nerve racking
>> to be honest.
>>

My main problem was that it took a couple lessons for me to learn not to grip the steering wheel too tightly. Until I'd got the hang of that I went down the road weaving (slightly) from side to side.
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New Tue 26 Oct 10 12:05 
 Learners - standards on the road - Redviper
I know just what you mean, it was "white knuckles" for a long time for me, and I was constantly reminded to keep a good position on the road.
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