So many dials!

I am now well into my driving lessons and with just over 4 weeks before my test, I'm confident that if all goes well on the day I should be getting a nice pink licence! One thing I do find hard to adjust to is just how many dials and buttons these new cars have. My motorcycle has two, a horn button and the lights! This car is like something out of Independence Day, buttons for traction control, for heating, for softer suspension, I'm surprised there's not a button to find all the buttons! But one thing I will say is this Ford Fiesta is a dream to drive and the diesel engine doesn't sound anything like I thought it would.

Into the swing of things...

Enough of the top gear talk, now it’s time to discuss how I'm progressing as a driver. Firstly it doesn't seem like I can find a suitable position for my chair, as every so often throughout a lesson I seem to be adjusting it. I either sometimes feel I'm too close to the wheel, or others I feel like I need a ladder to reach the pedals, but there never seems to be a happy medium - any advice would be greatly appreciated guys! Chair aside I feel like my driving instructor is really giving me the tools needed to become a great driver. Reversing round a corner was never an issue to begin with, but with his guidance it seems even easier now by using his methods. One area I still seem to sometimes rush over is the reversing into a parking bay. This manoeuvre is tricky at the best of times for me as reversing is not something I'm used to on a motorcycle, but using a busy car park and parking between two cars adds to the fun and nervousness I already feel about trying it and I just can’t seem to nail it first time! My driving instructor and I did have a debate at one point whilst trying it, as I thought where I had stopped the car to start the reversing was fine (lining up the wing mirror to the line of a parking bay 3 bays along), whereas he didn't think I was in the right spot- turns out I was right - but I won’t gloat! But I still can’t seem to get it perfectly (I’m a perfectionist and I am by far my worst judge) so it’s a task that I’ll be heavily practising in the run up to my driving test.

Mirrors, mirrors, mirrors!

If there's anything about driving that I don't need any prompting on its checking my mirrors. As a biker for the last two years I have seen endless car drivers pull into my lane whilst not checking their mirrors, or turning into roads without seeing a car pull out of a parking space. So mirrors for me is always on my mind and something my driving instructor says he's quite surprised at that most learners seem to forget them from time to time and I'm looking more than he is! The one thing that lets me down at the moment is I seem to approach roundabouts still thinking I'm on a motorcycle, so I take it very wide then cut through which of course in a car isn't the right way of manoeuvring a roundabout at all, my driving instructor always says as I exit "You’re not on a bike remember, you won’t fall off in car if you take a corner nice and tight!" This is of course something I need to stamp out fairly soon before my test arrives!

Not long to go now!

Well another few lessons done and I can safely say I am thoroughly enjoying learning to drive! One thing I think that I would like to see is possibly having lessons available on a Sunday, now this may just be my instructor but for me it would make things a lot easier as at the minute I have to change my working shift in work to accommodate the instructor and feel that driving at 5:30pm at night in the winter isn't helping matters as its PITCH BLACK! But that's a small price I'm willing to pay to hopefully be on the road by February 2016 and enjoy the luxury of having a roof and heaters!! I hope you enjoyed reading and come back soon for the penultimate instalment of my blog series before the dreaded test!

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