Its driving me crazy!

10:40am Friday 29th December 2000

Taking a driving test is one rite of passage which can cause endless distress. After many failed attempts, EMMA COUTTS-WOOD decided drastic measures were needed ...

FOR some people, driving comes naturally and they take it to it like a duck to water.

But for people like me, driving is not second nature and I have spent huge amounts of time not to mention money on lessons.

After failing my test a few times, colleagues at work told me about a driving school in Bromley which had got them through their test.

When I phoned Lanes School of Driving, it was suggested I do a two-day intensive course with one of the experienced instructors.

At first I didnt really like the idea of driving a car for several hours each day. I had visions of having to do 1,000 turns in the road, getting seriously bored and not getting many breaks during the day.

But finally I decided, whatever it took, I had to get my licence so booked myself on a course.

My two main problems have always been reversing and roundabouts and, having not driven for 18 months, I was really apprehensive on the morning of the course, wondering what damage I was going to cause in the streets of south-east London.

I was relieved when instructor John Sowden picked me up and the first thing he said to me in the car was: Dont worry, I wont let you do anything dangerous and I dont shout.

After doing several left and right turns, he went over the manoeuvres with me.

Ive always found the turn in the road easy but the other two, parallel parking and reversing around a corner are in a different league altogether. I hate them.

In a one-hour lesson you can only spend a limited time on any particular manoeuvre or aspect of your driving. But the intensive course meant I felt more relaxed because it didnt matter how many times I messed up, I could always have another go.

Luckily, my instructor also had lots of useful tips on reversing and I soon learnt to look for signs at the back of the car to help me with the manoeuvres.

After what seemed like thousands of attempts at reverse parking and parallel parking, it just seemed to click and I now feel more confident about getting them right on the day of the test.

At lunchtime we went to a caf and it was good to have a break from driving for an hour.