Made me laugh at myself a little bit so thought id share if anyone else needs a giggle.

Reversing out my driveway yesterday, I was turning round to see out the back seat windows to check the road was clear, must have leaned on the horn without realising and beeped. Did not realise it was me doing it, assumed someone i hadn't seen was trying to let me know they were there and proceeded to sit there just looking around my (completely empty) street for a good 30 seconds wondering where the sound had come from. My passenger was highly amused!

Super proud of this result.

I'm just hoping when the time comes my practical test goes as well as this did!

i failed three weeks ago with one serious fault and one other fault, but i passed this time with two faults!!!!! i’m soooooo relieved i’ve been so stressed 😭 it was honestly the worst drive ever as well so i have noooo idea how i managed that… it was still dark because it was so early, it started raining, had to change the test route as it was flooded, ended up going alllllll the way around the massive roundabout i failed on last time 😅😅😅 but i did it!!!!!!!!!!

So I’m 21f and I want to learn to drive but I don’t even know where to begin. I know I need to start with the theory test first…

I moved back in with my parents recently after living alone at uni and they are not very enthusiastic about me learning to drive, they are saying it will be expensive and I was never interested as a child…. but when I travel to work in the morning, I have to get a bus or an uber and this takes too much time of my day waiting for the bus or dreading if the uber is going to come, and I don’t want to rely on people for rides. I leave an hour before work to guarantee I can get there when it’s supposed to be a five minute drive. My parents say I won’t be a good driver.

Anyone learning to drive living with unsupportive parents?

Long time lurker first time poster, I was preparing months for this and had my first test today. Let me tell you I was an absolute nervous wreck and on multiple times on said test I thought "oh god that's it, that's the serious" but I passed with 3 driving faults only!

Also why does taking out an insurance policy feel like committing a crime.....

Sorry for the incoherent bit I am just super happy that this is it!

F51yo.

After learning to drive on and off since 17yo, a 20+yr gap since last time and undiagnosed audhd, I finally got back behind the wheel in Feb 2026, at 50yo. Today, at 51yo, I've just passed my test 1st time. With only 4 driving faults! To say I'm over the moon is an understatement. I thought I'd failed several times (no 6 point check twice from moving off and a really shitty reverse parallel park), but I bloody did it!! And if I can do it, so can you!

As a learner, you'd definitely avoid going on the curb when parking while learning. touching the curb is also a no go area when learning.

But in every other street, you'd see multiple cars parked on the curb.

Where did they learn that? Why is it a norm? 🤔

My test is due in a week. I have had 50 hours plus lessons and had been doing practice with my husband too. My instructor has said I am ready. Although I had done two bid mistakes in last two sessions but she said it's because of stress of test.

I have been following this sub and watched some test videos too and honestly I feel that it's so easy to fail test. A very small mistake like someone less being impatient or pedestrian being indecisive can make you fail. Is my perception wrong or is it really that much a matter of luck.

All this is making me so anxious about the test. I already am not a very confident person. Any trips or tricks that can help on test day? Or should I just pray that my examiner turned out to be a kind person. lol

I’d like to know your thoughts on getting a first car using HP. I passed my test a couple of days ago and have been searching for cars. I’m struggling to find anything suitable in my budget. I’ve been considering financing it through HP. I’m looking for a 6-8k car (automatic) and need it for work.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks everyone, honestly so happy I finally got there! 🚗❤️

In a strange situation yesterday, while overtaking a bus that had pulled in (as in I was already halfway around it), the bus decided it wanted to be buddies and tried to move off with me right there next to him. It was a little shocking. I've been working on my nerves so my reaction was to say 'Uh oh!' very loudly, check my mirror, and move a little further away to the right (luckily able to do this due to a lack of oncoming traffic). My instructor, bless him, had a different reaction: roll down the window and ask the bus driver if he was an idiot. Ultimately nothing bad happened, but it did get me thinking: that's surely a case to honk your horn to alert the other driver of your presence (although it was pretty clear in this case he could see me lol)?

If something like that happened in a test and you did a little beep to let them know they were about to hit you with their bus, would you be marked down for that? It feels like you'd be allowed, but there's all kinds of real-world driving (mounting a curb where the sign tells you you're allowed, communicating with pedestrians that you've stopped to let them cross etc) things that don't seem to be allowed in a test scenario and I'm wondering if this is one of them.

EDIT: WOW, thank you for all the help and input here! There's a lot of helpful context and anecdotes about correct horn usage that are really useful to know. I think the bottom line here is that we CAN toot in the right context! Many thanks!

so I am currently doing my lessons in my mums car only have one lesson left, and I can drive very comfortably in the 1 litre petrol. but I recently got my own car which is a 1.6 diesel peugeot and I’m really struggling with it. It’s almost if i never drove before. I’m mainly struggling with stopping and changing gears etc

Does anyone have any tips to start transitioning from a petrol to a bigger engine diesel?

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Link here:

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Thank you.

As the title suggests, my lesson was just horrendous. I'm on around my 22 hour. I have just passed the stage of learning all required roads, manoeuvres etc. basically now just putting everything together into mock tests.

I feel like my driving is usually okay but today I almost accidentally went up a one way road, struggled to see someone at a blind spot country road junction and went slightly off lane on a roundabout going straight ahead.

These aren't mistakes I wouldn't usually make. But because they all happened quite close together my confidence was shot when I still had an hour of my lesson left (my lessons are two hours)

I tried practicing busy roundabout at morning rush hour but I was so demotivated that I stalled several times and my instructor was getting clearly frustrated asking what I was doing and sighing consistently to where I wanted to get and the car and walk home.

He apologised for his frustration at the end but said it was because it was like my progress just regressed. Regardless It's actually made me so demoralised that I actually don't know if I'm cut out for driving and even want to continue. Is this a common feeling with driving?

I have about 20 hours booked ahead for a test in December.

failed my test with no driving faults ☹️ had a really unlucky meeting situation, driver on the right side of the road pulled over behind parked cars to let the two cars ahead through, as i went to go through (as i was only normal following distance from the car ahead), he pulled out and the examiner slammed on the brakes- at the end of the test he told me it was just a really unlucky situation and he hopes he’ll see me again soon, definitely with a different result, which was lovely of him

unfortunate but good lesson that i shouldn’t just trust someone will let me through because they did for others! i’ve rebooked for a different test centre in 6 weeks time- do you think this will be enough time to familiarise myself with the area and get a pass?

I was SO bloody nervous and barely slept, only to pass first time with 2 driving faults!

I have been lurking this sub for a while and I wanna thank everyone that made me feel much better about the test. If I can pass, anyone can! 🚗

Hi All,
I am a learner and I have ended up owning a car for almost two years now. Yesterday I was driving it after 30 h with my instructor’s car. The cars are fairly similar in size and power, both of them 12 plates as well (Corsa and Fiesta). I generally don’t have any issues driving around nowadays; I don’t know when was the last time I stalled in the instructor’s car. In mine yesterday I was constantly stalling; at one point I held up the whole queue behind me, including a TFL bus, because I was unable to take off in a light cycle (red–green–red). Stalled 4 times. I am generally puzzled by this. Any advice?

Is driving test routes app any good?

I am looking to do private practice now with husband in my own car and my instructor wasn't very aware of the tests routes which meant I missed out on some routes in Warwick Wedgenock house test centre.

Thanks

Just passed after 44 hours of lessons about £1763. Amazing instructor. £40 per hour, I was doing two hours a day. Just glad this is over 🙏🏼

Six years of learning, four different instructors, one crash course. No confidence and I passed!

Hi! Those of you who get private practice, where did you get your insurance? And how much did it cost you? How long did you take it for?