Our Cars: Charlotte Cobbs
9 February 2012: About town
This lesson focused on town driving. As much as this is a little bit boring now, I wasn’t that bothered as it would mean roads I know like the back of my hand, resulting in little tension in my shoulders and a relaxing drive. How wrong was I?
The drive began relaxed as we drove through the usual places towards the main shopping town. When we got there Vaughan sent me round a loop, which started off in a one way street with a ‘STOP’ sign at the end of it. I stopped at the solid white line, pulled the handbrake up and looked around, keeping an eye on what was in front of me as there were plenty of pedestrians milling around.
Creeping forward to turn left once it was clear, we were met by a road full of parked cars. So I crawled through it, moving over where it was possible when cars came down the other side of the road. Turning left here and taking the next left after that took us through more packed and bendy roads, not to mention the pedestrians and my old favorite(!) - cyclists.
We did the same route three times. During one of them, Vaughan got me to pull over in a parking bay, which had a car parked in half of it already, and let’s just say it wasn’t the most elegant stop ever. It was one of those times I was glad to have huge learner sign on the roof of the car - at least I had an excuse in other drivers’ eyes.
Anyway, after what seemed like ages creeping around this route, with not the relaxation I was expecting, I was glad to get out of there. We drove along a 40mph road, turning left at a set of traffic lights, going along a bumpy road, coupled with mini roundabouts and yet another cyclist on a bend, heading back towards the usual route. They weren’t much better, though. I had buses, even more cyclists (as much as I tried, I couldn’t get away from them - they were all out today), pedestrians and traffic lights to deal with.
Back in the safety of a regular “pulling over” road, Vaughan got me to do a parallel park. This went well and allowed me to finish on a positive note. We spoke about how the lesson had gone, before Vaughan wanted me to do a bit of ‘independent driving’ to get us back home.
It lasted all of about 3 seconds when I turned right out of the road. Approaching the roundabout at the end of the road, I could hear my independent drive turning dependant as Vaughan couldn’t help himself and gave me directions. I wasn’t bothered, though, as I knew where I was and where I was going without Vaughan’s instruction and it gave us both something to smile about.
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