Looking for a sponsor..

privilegue

Hey guys,

I am currently in Dublin and am looking for a sponsor to go driving with me. I have my own car and have insurance / tax / nct etc. All my friends are super busy with life and family and just don't have the time to go driving with me.

All the schools are crazy busy and have no open slots at all. I am supposed to do at least 3h of practice with my sponsor before any EDT course but that is impossible as I have no one here and I am alone.

What should I be doing if I can't find any free instructors or Sponsor??

zepman

privilegue wrote: »

I am supposed to do at least 3h of practice with my sponsor before any EDT course

I don't think this is strictly true (unless the rules have changed), although it is indeed recommended. I completed my EDT in 2012, but didn't get any practice between the EDT lessons since I didn't own a car or have access to anyone else's.

I did take additional lessons but that was only after completing the EDT.

privilegue

zepman wrote: »

I don't think this is strictly true (unless the rules have changed), although it is indeed recommended. I completed my EDT in 2012, but didn't get any practice between the EDT lessons since I didn't own a car or have access to anyone else's.

I did take additional lessons but that was only after completing the EDT.

Ok, I just did my second lesson and we went straight for Dublin city traffic... Was a little scary since I have little to no experience... I would love to get me a sponsor, once I am confident enough this person literally would just have to sit there and slap me every once in a while if I am making stupid mistakes..

Alanstrainor

privilegue wrote: »

Ok, I just did my second lesson and we went straight for Dublin city traffic... Was a little scary since I have little to no experience... I would love to get me a sponsor, once I am confident enough this person literally would just have to sit there and slap me every once in a while if I am making stupid mistakes..

Given you have only done 2 lessons, I would think it would be wise to just stay with your instructor for now. After you've built up some confidence with your instructor you should then ask (plead!) with your friends/family for some time out on the road.

privilegue

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Given you have only done 2 lessons, I would think it would be wise to just stay with your instructor for now. After you've built up some confidence with your instructor you should then ask (plead!) with your friends/family for some time out on the road.

I have my next lesson in June, due to all schools being way too busy and in between then and now I simply won't have any chance of practicing anything, unless I do what 43% of people do, which is to drive themselves (which is what I exactly DO NOT want to do..).

So again, I would totally pay for someones time to just sit next to me and allow me to get practice in.

zepman

Just thinking out loud. Do you have any colleagues who might be willing to give you about 30-40 minutes every week to get you some practice? I took up driving again earlier this year after having given up over 5 years ago. Only because a workmate offered to help me get my full licence by bringing me out for practice which I knew I needed in addition to lessons.

Even if you do find someone to help you practice, keep in mind that since you are just starting out, you might easily pick up bad habits during the practice drives, especially with your lessons being infrequent. I had taken about 30 lessons in the past, including the EDT. So, while I was far from being able to drive competently, I knew when not to take my sponsor's advice (nothing dangerous, just some things that conflicted with the rules of the road).

privilegue

Yes absolutely agreed, same thing my EDT instructor told me. I don't want to pick up anything bad, hence I would love some sessions with qualified instructors but they are all so crazy busy -- unbelievable

zepman

privilegue wrote: »

Yes absolutely agreed, same thing my EDT instructor told me. I don't want to pick up anything bad, hence I would love some sessions with qualified instructors but they are all so crazy busy -- unbelievable

Yeah, there's not much that can be done apart from taking it slow. The 30 lessons that I had taken in the past (6-7 years ago) were spread out over a period of 2 years, with the EDT lessons taking over 7 months to complete. Because of the lack of additional practice, my progress was really slow and I never reached the level of competency I hoped to. On the plus side though, I had no bad habits to unlearn when I started driving again this year.

Anyway, I took 10 lessons this year between the end of January and the end of March. It would have been done over a shorter period, but my instructor was off sick for a week or so. I don't know if they have suddenly become busier?

Just curious - who helped you buy your car? When I bought my car back in January, my workmate helped me buy it. I had started my lessons about a week before, but was not ready to be behind the wheel without my instructor yet. So, my mate did the test drive, drove it to my place after I completed the purchase. A week later when the battery died, he also helped jump start it and drove it to the dealer to get the battery replaced.