Thank you all for your comments. Not cutting down your posts in my quotes because they're not interestting, but only doing it to shorten the space it takes in the post.
TripleS wrote:Is it possible that you are being exposed to potentially difficult traffic situations a little too early? We can't tell from here, but while both you and your instructor will want to advance the learning processes as quickly as can be done safely, any scares you may have along the way could set you back a bit in confidence terms, so it's a matter of finding the right balance.
I'm actually not sure because I've driven home twice now and perhaps because it was a Saturday it was like that, but I think the main thing that scared me was a) collding with the police car because we kept on driving instead of stopping but then b) the car to the right of us which I thought we were drving towards rather than away. I did think you stop on the left normally but it was all a muddle at the time. I wouldn't have minded dealing with the stuation myself but maybe I wouldn't have been fast enough.
I'm going to try and reconstruct the incident. I'm not sure if this will work.
We joined the roundabout from here. Since I join from there, I don't really have to go round the roundabout apart from a small portion of it, but the instructor has so far kept one hand on the wheel.
About this point I could see the polce car. What I mean is, you know where the bus is right ahead (not the one on the left side of the screen), then there's another car behind it then no cars behind that car for a bit, well it was a little behind that car. The police car at the time had cars behind it and cars in front and I could see the lights flashing and hear the sirens.
There weren't really cars behind us, or if they were they weren't driving as fast as we had slowed down, but I stillt hought we would stop here in case the police car got way and moved forward onto the roundabout. It seemed safe to because none of the cars which join the roundabout from the left (where you can see the bus more clearly) were moving forward. However, we carried on driving.
We got about here but there were no buses there and t was clear, although there was a little car a bt to the right of us and a little infront. It seemed as if we were driving into the car rather than away, and stopping at the left. Eventually that car had moved (which seemed like forever) and the police car had space to go (it was right behind us I think).
fungus wrote:You are correct Gareth, it is an extremely usefull exercise, and one I use myself.
Instructors should plan routes to suit the pupils ability. However, it does occasionally go wrong, and the instructor then has to use plenty of talk through and reassurance. One thing that does cause problems is when using the left hand lane at a two lane approach roundabout. Drivers using the right hand lane often go beyond the give way line blocking the veiw to the right for those in the left hand lane. This can result in drivers behind getting impatient. This puts pressure on some learners, even those at test standard.
I think from the place we go to drive the car, this route is the main route home. Otherwise it would take a long time to get home. I guess next lesson I will ask her about it and mention about stopping on the left nstead of being in a somewhat confused and scary situation.
crr003 wrote:Sorry you had a scare! Lots of experienced drivers also react to the approach of emergency vehicles.
Did the police car have its blue lights/sirens on?
I can imagine. Yes, the police car did have the blue lghts and sirens on. I only wonder why we didn't stop on the left soon enough.
As you all mentioned, it is a lesson to learn from, but it was the confusion about not really stopping on the left and feeling like the wrong actons were being taken that left me uneasy. As always, the instructor knew what she was doing and I was probably scaring myself.