My work is forcing me to learn to drive!

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And officially I have a month to do it. Shit! Anyone had any experience with intensive driving courses? How the heck am I gonna do this when I'm in a full time job anyway?

― the next grozart, Thursday, 19 April 2007 12:13 (eighteen years ago)

I am not sure this is legal.

― Grandpont Genie, Thursday, 19 April 2007 12:25 (eighteen years ago)

It is if he works as a bus driver.

― C J, Thursday, 19 April 2007 12:26 (eighteen years ago)

i hope you are less of a duffer than i was.

― estela, Thursday, 19 April 2007 12:39 (eighteen years ago)

um, maybe you should learn to drive after you get out of work? it's really not that hard. have a friend drive you to an abandoned parking lot and just start practicing. i learned to drive in school lots after hours and on weekends.

― modestmickey, Thursday, 19 April 2007 12:41 (eighteen years ago)

seriously, it's not difficult, if 15 year old boys can learn how to do it it's not exactly rocket science. practice a lot is the best advice i can give.

― chicago kevin, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:17 (eighteen years ago)

i have no car or access to one. plus i guess i'd have to take some lessons but the guys i've rang say they don't work in the evenings.

― the next grozart, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:21 (eighteen years ago)

you don't have a single friend with a car?

― modestmickey, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:22 (eighteen years ago)

Why do they need to be single?

― StanM, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:22 (eighteen years ago)

weigh the options and prices: renting a car and having a friend teach you to drive it, vs. paying for some class

― modestmickey, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:22 (eighteen years ago)

if you're in England this is tough. if America - piece o' piss.

― Uptoeleven, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:22 (eighteen years ago)

xpost ha, ha, ha

― modestmickey, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:22 (eighteen years ago)

Get a driving simulator computer game to play on for practise.

― C J, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:25 (eighteen years ago)

yeah - UK. It's not so easy really.

― the next grozart, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:26 (eighteen years ago)

maybe i could go to the states and learn?

― the next grozart, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:26 (eighteen years ago)

How about driving lessons in your lunch hours? I'm sure you could book a regular lunchtime slot with a driving instructor.

― C J, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:31 (eighteen years ago)

maybe i could go to the states and learn?

remember they drive on the other side!

― Grandpont Genie, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:32 (eighteen years ago)

maybe i could go to the states and learn?

sure then get back to the uk and scare the hell out of the test instructor by driving on the wrong side of the road.

― chicago kevin, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:33 (eighteen years ago)

exactly.

― chicago kevin, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:33 (eighteen years ago)

Some useful links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heel-and-toe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handbrake_turn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-turn

― ledge, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:33 (eighteen years ago)

I assume that they are paying for it. ?If not they should and give you the time from your other duties to complete the course, or pay you for out of hours time spent on it, otherwise no dice.

― Ed, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:46 (eighteen years ago)

How about driving lessons in your lunch hours? I'm sure you could book a regular lunchtime slot with a driving instructor.

30 minute lunch break :-(

They did say I may be able to get unpaid leave for doing it.

Anyway, that's beside the point. Anyone here done a crash course?

― the next grozart, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:48 (eighteen years ago)

That's a rather unfortunate thing to call them, IMHO.

― StanM, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:50 (eighteen years ago)

pun?

xpost.

― Jesse, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:52 (eighteen years ago)

Wow. Expensive.

http://www.crashcourses.net/home.htm

Do they really do it all in ten hours? (and £335) ? (see "click here for prices" next to the intensive courses section)

― StanM, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:56 (eighteen years ago)

£334 for 10 hours intensive is actually not too expensive as far as these things go.

― the next grozart, Thursday, 19 April 2007 13:58 (eighteen years ago)

fuck that, this is for them, they should pay and for your time.

― Ed, Thursday, 19 April 2007 14:02 (eighteen years ago)

Why is this suddenly an issue? You didn't talk your way into your present job by fibbing about being able to drive already, did you?

― C J, Thursday, 19 April 2007 14:07 (eighteen years ago)

ed is correct, and also there are several states in the us that require you to take lessons to get a license so please don't think that it's all a piece of cake over here either. lesson-taking requirement is a major reason why i don't have a driver's license because i refused to pay that kind of money on something i'd use maybe once a year.

― the schef (adam schefter ha ha), Thursday, 19 April 2007 14:09 (eighteen years ago)

they only employed me on probationary period. the grounds are that i learn to drive within three months.

― the next grozart, Thursday, 19 April 2007 14:11 (eighteen years ago)

re: they only employed me on probationary period. the grounds are that i learn to drive within three months.

was this decided when you accepted the job offer?

― djmartian, Thursday, 19 April 2007 14:13 (eighteen years ago)

yes

― the next grozart, Thursday, 19 April 2007 14:15 (eighteen years ago)

but i was too busy/poor to learn/ i still am sort of.

― the next grozart, Thursday, 19 April 2007 14:16 (eighteen years ago)

"Get a driving simulator computer game to play on for practise.

-- C J, Thursday, April 19, 2007 4:25 PM (54 minutes ago)"

GTA, ideally

― That one guy that quit, Thursday, 19 April 2007 14:21 (eighteen years ago)

Did they specify in the job advert that the person needed to have a full driver's licence? And tell you when they offered you the job that you would need to pay for all of this yourself?

If so, they've covered their bases.

You can absolutely learn to drive in ten intensive hours.

― accentmonkey, Thursday, 19 April 2007 14:44 (eighteen years ago)

My brother paid for twn driving lessons with BSM for my 17th birthday present (many years ago!). I had my first lesson on the morning of my birthday - never having even sat in the driver's seat of a car before - and had the remainder of the lessons spread over the next three weeks. I applied for a test date - at that time there was a six month waiting list to get one - but then I phoned the test centre to ask if they had any cancellations they could offer me, and was told I could come in for a test that very same day.

I passed, after only 10 hours tuition and an occasional bit of practise (which mostly involved careering around a disused airfield being shouted at by my father), but passing a test and actually being a good driver are two completely different things.

― C J, Thursday, 19 April 2007 14:50 (eighteen years ago)

Also, don't forget you need to pass the driving theory test now before you can take the road test!

I had a go at an theory test (you can practise online), and it's not as easy as you might think!

Try it!

― C J, Thursday, 19 April 2007 14:53 (eighteen years ago)

I passed afte rseven lessons (because I hated driving so much and didn't want to waste parents money on them paying for lessons in the dumb idea that I might be financially rewarded for saving them money. In this life). The big problem you might have is getting a test, waiting list in my day was three months!

― Pete, Thursday, 19 April 2007 14:55 (eighteen years ago)

do you live in london grozart?

― ken c, Thursday, 19 April 2007 16:11 (eighteen years ago)

What the hell, your driving tests sound so easy. YOu have to take at least 20hrs of driving lessons (usually more like 25-30hrs) and i'm pretty sure most people fail the test on their first try which means you end up taking around 30-35 hours before actually getting your driving license. And there's also the theory test which isn't that easy.

― Jibe, Thursday, 19 April 2007 16:38 (eighteen years ago)

Is grozart dog latin?

― Mark C, Thursday, 19 April 2007 17:14 (eighteen years ago)

seven years pass...

lol, i didn't realise i'd started this thread.

i have my theory test tomorrow - second attempt as i failed my first attempt way back in '07, then gave up on trying to learn.

― Hello, my name is Dark Chocolate Cookie (dog latin), Friday, 5 December 2014 14:49 (ten years ago)

what bugs me is half the theory questions when i do mock tests seem to be more about 'catch-you-out' reading comprehension things with loads of trick questions which don't really assess your ability to act safely on the road at all.

― Hello, my name is Dark Chocolate Cookie (dog latin), Friday, 5 December 2014 14:53 (ten years ago)

Those reading comprehension questions are pertinent because the greatest skill in driving is the ability to think over every driving decision for several minutes before acting, thus ensuring that you never once transgress the rules of the road, no matter how opaque their application may be to the circumstances at hand.

― oh no! must be the season of the rich (Aimless), Friday, 5 December 2014 18:38 (ten years ago)

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