Driving Lessons in Peterborough. Driving Lessons in Grantham.
If you are about to start learning to drive, having never
sat in the driver’s seat before, then this blog is for you.
There will very likely be 101 things flying round in your
head, ranging from concerns for your safety (and everyone else’s), to
self-doubt about your ability, to extreme excitement about driving, to anxiety
about speed and how will you stop, and even things like what will your Driving
Instructor be like. I know how it
feels. Let me tell you about something I
did many moons ago.
I went for a horse riding lesson having had no previous experience
at all. Mounting the horse was odd,
sitting on it was odd, when it walked along it felt odd, the sounds, the feel,
even the smell, everything was odd. And
listen to this bit. Initially the horse
was just walking round in very large circles in this big hut. Then the coach encouraged the horse to pick
up the pace a little. As it did so, I
was overwhelmed with a feeling of no control at all, tensed up, and instinctively
clenched my legs into the horse.
Unbeknown to me, that is a signal to actually ask the horse to pick up
the pace even further. Well you should
have seen it! I was extremely close to
literally jumping off the horse such was my fear of falling off anyway, before
eventually the coach grabbed hold of the horse. Whilst it’s funny now to look back on, you
know, I never rode a horse again after that – so these experiences can be life
changing.
There’s a number of points you could make about the above
experience from the ‘Instructors’ point of view, but I want this blog just to
concentrate on what it’s like to experience something new, for the first time.
You’ll be sat in the drivers seat – that looks odd, you’ve
never looked out the car from that angle before, all your awareness of position
in the road will be different to how you’ve normally seen it. When you get the car moving, your senses will
be bombarded with new information going into your brain. It will feel odd, your hands steering, your
feet on the pedals, the sound of the engine will be odd. You wont be used to asking both hands and both feet to do jobs, that will feel strange, and your eyes will be
shocked in seeing literally what it’s like when you are driving round! And all of this is a great feeling, your heart will be ticking faster, breathing faster, it's all very exciting.
But thinking about my horse example above, it’s
a great feeling as long as it’s properly controlled. And that is a key thing. You must be in a safe environment, you must
have the freedom to experience all this in the knowledge you are in good hands,
and it is also very important to be given the freedom to safely experiment;
check out the different pressures on the clutch, brake and gas pedal, see how
steering is affected with just a few miles an hour change, listen to the sound
of the engine in different gears inc reverse gear.
In summary. I know from my own experience on the horse, there is no fun when you are in fear, none at all. Learning
should be fun, exciting and rewarding. It is a great opportunity
to learn to drive in this way. If you have any questions about it, please feel
free to contact me on 07894 262 718.
This blog has identified some of the emotions involved when
learning to drive for the first time, and how any concerns can be controlled. I hope it helps... good luck.
www.BIGTOM.org.uk
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