Driving test

[Love_elmo77]

I have had my learners for a few years now and have my hazards test booked at VIC roads sometime in February this year,i have mostly driven with my mum but i didnt enjoy it much,made me fell bad about my driving & lots of anxiety.I also had some driving lessons but I’m not sure what to do now as i dont want to practice driving with my mum because she freaks out really easily in the car & sometimes we are driving and she is asking me about the road rules when she is the supervising driver.

im not really sure what to do like should i book more driving lessons when i asked my driving instructor if i need more lessons and she said she doesn’t think i need more lessons and i can drive with my parents now or tell my driving instructor why I’m booking more driving lessons with her.Any ideas what i could do?

[Sophia-RO]

That does sounds really tough @Love_elmo77. It can be really helpful to go on driving lessons with our parents (as it is free!) however I can definitely understand your concern about your mum freaking out. It can be quite stressful when the other person is freaking out and distracting us. Would you feel comfortable talking to your mum about how you feel when you go on a drive with her? You might find talking to her about how you feel stressed and anxious and how it can be distracting at times (which is not ideal) to be helpful as she might not realise that you have been feeling that way. You might also find booking in some more lessons with your driving instructor to be helpful as it might help you build up driving confidence or skills so that you feel more confident when driving with your mum. Does that sound like it would be a good option?

[Love_elmo77]

@Sophia-RO i think i would most likely book more lessons in the future with my driving instructor as I haven’t been getting the much needed practice i need because of covid 19 & spending too much time in lockdown last year & hopefully when I’m feeling more confident i might start driving with my mum again maybe...

[Sophia-RO]

That sounds like a good option @Love_elmo77. I can imagine how hard it must have been to get your hours up during the lockdown.I hope that you find that the driving lessons help you build up your confidence for when you want to start driving with your mum again

[StormySeas17]

Hi @Love_elmo77 I had the same thing driving with my dad, I really didn't enjoy driving with my dad and he made it a chore to be able to do a lesson with him. I ended up driving with my partner more because he was a much more chilled supervisor. Do you think you could swap out your mum for someone else particularly at the end of your hours? Then you'll have your P's soon and never have to have her police your driving again 

[Love_elmo77]

@StormySeas17i had a driving lesson last week with my driving instructor and she told me my driving is very good & that i should book my driving test so i’ve now booked my driving test this year for sometime in March & would also book more driving lessons soon.(when i started having driving lessons with my current driving instructor i already had more than 120hrs of driving but wasnt really feeling confident)

Does anyone have any tips on passing hazards test?

[StormySeas17]

@Love_elmo77 the fact your new instructor thinks you're capable is a really good sign! They wouldn't say that if they didn't think you could do it.

For the hazard perception, have a look online for simulators that you can do on your computer, even ones from other states are good. For example, the South Australian HPT is decent for practice. I'll also say that the actual test video goes slower than real life. I found after doing the practice test and driving around I didn't find it difficult at all because I knew what to expect!

[Tay100]

@Love_elmo77  if I may chime in about passing the hazards test, I advise you make full use of the time they give you (which is actually way more than you need). Do every practise question/scenario they give you even if you feel you are ready to move onto the real test after a few questions. Read the instructions/prompts aloud to yourself quietly. Most questions people get wrong is because they don't look at the detail of the question. For example, there's a big difference between " click when it is safe to move off the curb" and "click when it is time put on your indicators to move off the curb from a parked position." Hope that makes sense! 

[Love_elmo77]

@StormySeas17 Seems like the link is something i will practise more on