Just started learning to drive - finding steering difficult. Anyone able to relate?

little miss sunshine1

Ok guys, just have started my official E.D.T. lessons (had first registered E.D.T. lesson today, with 2 lessons before this with the same instructor).

I'm finding steering the trickiest. I tend to over steer the car a bit too much, steering too much when I don't need to, especially on roads with bends.

Anyone else able to relate, when they first learned to drive?

beechwood55

Totally normal. Are you doing lots of practice between lessons?

little miss sunshine1

I'm trying to get in as much practice as I can, I don't have a car of my own at present to practise in, but try practising on a tractor at home on the farm. :P

Pretzill

little miss sunshine1 wrote: »

I'm trying to get in as much practice as I can, I don't have a car of my own at present to practise in, but try practising on a tractor at home on the farm. :P

Good idea! But would the steering on the tractor be heavier - and the car lighter perhaps adding to the over steering.

Either way I'm sure you'll get used to it with more practice - I'm new too and have been practicing on quite bendy, rural roads which help but still slowing down into the bigger bends to get the control and feel of the wheel.

For me it's getting that overall feeling of being in control I'm struggling with but seemingly that too comes with practice. Wishing you all the best with it!!

cantdecide

little miss sunshine1 wrote: »

I'm trying to get in as much practice as I can, I don't have a car of my own at present to practise in, but try practising on a tractor at home on the farm. :P

Don't you have access to a car to practice off-road like down your farm lanes or flat concrete areas for practicing slow maneuvers?? Rules of the road don't apply when you're driving off-road.

little miss sunshine1

I don't have a car of my own at present, and don't feel confident enough to drive a car without the dual controls, as of yet.

cantdecide

It's not about just doing mile after winding mile of the same thing. There are lots of subskills you can work on in fairly tight quarters with virtually no risk. I just get the impression you're making this more complicated than it isn't.

If you have access to a car (that doesn't need to be yours, road-legal or even insured by you etc) and to farm lanes, there's no reason why you can't start doing things like starting and stopping exercises. As I said, at this early stage, just having an open area to get used to operating the clutch, gears and throttle. If you don't have someone willing to hand over their keys to you than forget what I'm saying but if you do have access to a car at this stage, then this is the most valuable thing you can be doing at this stage.

Don't underestimate how quickly you will come to terms with everything once you're giving them the effort. You should be feeling challenged at all times in the beginning, that's how you know you're learning.

Pretzill

Can I just say from the advice above "farm lanes" sounds misleading to me. I live rural too and I can tell you the farm lanes are well worn by drivers, farmers etc going to and fro and are very public meaning you should be accompanied and insured. If you're referring to private land I disagree that it will challenge too much - great for parking, reversing manoeuvres but no much use with actual driving on the road with oncoming/following traffic. As I said I'm new too but OP if you won't have a car for a while you will probably have to do a lot more lessons for practice -

I toyed with the idea of an intensive driving course (though haven't gone that route) I liked the idea of doing an intensive lot of driving in a secure environment at first - it might be worth considering?

cantdecide

Pretzill wrote: »

Can I just say from the advice above "farm lanes" sounds misleading to me.

Who and why would I misleading? I clearly mean off-road private farm access lanes, not public country lanes. I live in the country myself. One of my earliest driving experiences was driving on private off-road areas of my friends family farm. The OP is struggling with steering and just needs to get used to the controls at this stage. Sheesh like.

Pretzill

cantdecide wrote: »

Who and why would I misleading? I clearly mean off-road private farm access lanes, not public country lanes. I live in the country myself. One of my earliest driving experiences was driving on private off-road areas of my friends family farm. The OP is struggling with steering and just needs to get used to the controls at this stage. Sheesh like.

Fair enough.