Driving is such a useful skill, but for some reason I found myself getting to the age of thirty five and still not being in possession of a driving license. As my partner and I were trying to start a family and talk of the school run was about to become as much a part of my daily routine as having breakfast, I realised it was time I started looking around for Swindon driving lessons. I felt a bit embarrassed walking into the driving schools and asking about availability, but as my partner reminded me, it was probably less embarrassing than having to explain to your child why you can’t take him to his friend’s house to play.

I decided to opt for the Swindon driving lessons provider who had seemed the most friendly when I had popped in for an initial chat. It was really important to me that I found a teacher who made me feel confident in the driving seat – 35 years of being in cars but never having driven one had given me a bit of a nervous air when I was sat behind the wheel. Luckily, Sarah, my instructor, was very used to people like me who were not the most confident when it came to learning how to navigate the roads. She had a very calm voice and was very good at understanding how I was feeling when the stress all got a bit too much. In general, I don’t think I was a nightmare student, but there were certainly one or two times in the early days of reversing around corners when I was close to tears!

Sarah suggested that it was important to practice driving in my own time, as this was the only way I would improve quickly. It was an entirely different matter driving with Dave, my partner, who never quite managed to keep as calm as Sarah when he was in the car with me! To be fair to him, Sarah had the benefit of the dual controls so she was always safe in the knowledge that I couldn’t do anything too dangerous, but Dave seemed convinced that his life was in danger every time he was a passenger in my car. I didn’t want the situation to create problems in our relationship, and in the end I decided that I would rather take longer to pass the test than endure these tortured minutes of Dave’s backseat driving.

It was a good few months, then, before I finally got round to booking my test. I must have had about 45 Swindon driving lessons by that time, and I did feel fairly well prepared, if a little nervous. I think it was the nerves that got the better of me in the end, as I failed this first test with 15 minors and a major, for not reversing far enough around the corner. I was pretty upset but luckily managed to book another test through a cancellation, and passed that one with only eight minors, which I was pretty happy about. I told Dave that now that I was in possession of my very own licence, he had to trust me to drive him around – but it was a hard habit to break!

If a friend was looking for Swindon driving lessons I would definitely recommend Sarah, my instructor, and the driving school she works for. Even though I didn’t pass first time, I couldn’t have asked for a kinder and more understanding instructor – just what I needed!