Any half decent driving instructor would / should never put a novice in a situation that they can't cope with - just as any half decent driving instructor would / should never present a learner for the driving test if for any reason that person is not ready to take said test

I agree, stretch them but don't drop them in the crap.

The days of an Uncle or Mummy or Daddy teaching their kids how to drive should be reviewed, only a qualified driving instructor should be legally allowed to teach, bearing in mind that a relatives vehicle is highly unlikely to have dual controls, which, believe me, are lifesavers

I think sometimes my wife wishes my car had a He-Man system fitted.

She certainly utilises the phantom brake pedal with me (which is extremely annoying).

Dropping a novice in the mooturd is highly unprofessional & destroys confidence, which , coincidentally is one of the main reasons novices fail their driving tests - they are too nervous & a nervous driver is potentially a lethal driver & therefore unsafe & will fail a driving test

The days of an Uncle or Mummy or Daddy teaching their kids how to drive should be reviewed, only a qualified driving instructor should be legally allowed to teach, bearing in mind that a relatives vehicle is highly unlikely to have dual controls, which, believe me, are lifesavers

Except in my case.

My dad taught me to drive, he had stopped working as a driving instructor only about 2 years before.

We also still had his driving instruction car, so was just a case of clipping the dual controls back in :D

I take it your wife doesn't drive Clive ?

I take it your wife doesn't drive Clive ?

Only me up the wall ;)

She forgets she got nailed in Belfast twice for drink driving without a licence (way before we met and while she was much younger).

It was my old man that taught me to drive in a large SUV (even though we hardly get along anymore) - I took 5 more lessons from a professional driving instructor (who was harsh, but good) to iron out bad habits, and to prepare for the test, which I passed the first time.

I was never much of a nuisance to other people when I was a learner (at least I don't think so!), except for the fact that I always stuck to the speed limit, and people who wanted to do 5 or 10 over the limit would always tailgate me.

I only ask as non drivers or nervous drivers as front seat passengers are generally more inclined to use the phantom stop pedal !

My missus gets twitchy at anything over 20mph ;)

I haven't had an at-fault bump in 25 years and also an advanced response driver but she still doesn't like my driving.

I tell her that there are things called buses and she's more than welcome to use one.

Hahaha, I agree with the last bunch of posts, it ruins learner drivers confidence if they are thrown in too deep too soon. But as Clive said, unless they are stretched, so taken in heavy traffic, light traffic etc then they'll never learn. As someone said about parents teaching kids, I don't have a problem with it so much, however I believe the kid should have to have a few lessons first, therefore they are practicing what they learnt in 'class' with their parents, rather than their parent who drives like a pleb telling them how to also drive like a pleb...

As for the phantom pedal, my soon to be wife comes from Jersey (Channel Islands) where it's a 40mph max limit haha!

What gets me is the people who beep their horn at a learner driver who is struggling to pull out.

Because that is really going to help them gather themselves and pull out quicker...

There was a car a few years ago (can't remember which one) that had a sloppy left to right hand drive conversion for the UK market.

The pedal linkage was still in the left hand footwell and any phantom pedal action actually caused unexpected braking and acceleration.

Sadly very few '' qualified '' drivers know the meaning of, & the reason for, sounding the vehicle horn

There was a car a few years ago (can't remember which one) that had a sloppy left to right hand drive conversion for the UK market.

The pedal linkage was still in the left hand footwell and any phantom pedal action actually caused unexpected braking and acceleration.

This:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13566999

More than one, lol.

Another misconstrued bad habit is the flashing of headlamps - too many drivers have no idea of the real meaning

I only really flash my lights at people who either haven't put their headlights on when they should, or haven't turned their full beam off.

Not strictly in the highway code, but I don't see any other way of letting them know...

If I remember my Highway code correctly, use of the horn means "I'm here". I rarely use mine...I think the last time was in traffic as I watched the car in front start reversing towards me to let someone out of their driveway. Sadly they ignored it and reversed into my front bumper.

If you want a laugh - go to India. There the use of the horn seems to mean "I'm coming through" on any junctions :P

If I remember my Highway code correctly, use of the horn means "I'm here". I rarely use mine...I think the last time was in traffic as I watched the car in front start reversing towards me to let someone out of their driveway. Sadly they ignored it and reversed into my front bumper.

If you want a laugh - go to India. There the use of the horn seems to mean "I'm coming through" on any junctions :P

Yeah I only use my horn if someone pulls out in front of me, or I have been sat at some lights on a hill before as the car in front starts rolling backwards :o

The use of a vehicle horn is simply to warn others of your presence, as is a headlamp flash, but I do agree that is sometimes hard / difficult to communicate with other road users without speech :)

I never flash people out of a junction, I only ever wave people out.

Even then, I only wave people out when they are not needing to cross the other side of the road. I'm always bothered that they will take my waving out as read then could hit or be hit by something I haven't noticed coming the other way.

I never take a headlight flash or use of indicator from another car as a signal to pull out either, I was taught to always wait for wheels to turn or the car to visibly slow/stop and still do. Even if it frustrates the one behind, they can wait a few more seconds, lol.

There was a recent spate of 'flash for cash' collisions whereby someone would flash you out on a junction then promptly drive into you denying all knowledge followed by the usual neck pains.

No matter how much they flash you only pull out when you feel it is safe and legal to do so.

There was a recent spate of 'flash for cash' collisions whereby someone would flash you out on a junction then promptly drive into you denying all knowledge followed by the usual neck pains.

No matter how much they flash you only pull out when you feel it is safe and legal to do so.

Yet another reason to have a dash-cam.

Yet another reason to have a dash-cam.

Unless it faces your offside/nearside it won't do much for you.