Driving course info, whinges and questions!!!

[Noggin]

I had to do all this to drive a 4.5t Transit. Basically just a heavy Luton bodied van. As said, 35 hours wasted and IMO less of an attendence course and more of an endurance course. May your instructors be less patronising than some of ones I had.

Good luck and all that.

When I did mine, we had an instructor for the first two days that looked like Paul Newman and sounded lovely too. At least I stayed awake on those days!!

The next three days we had a chauvinistic, patronising, fat bastard - the only reason I stayed awake was cos he pissed me off soooooo much!!

[cheb]

I had the 1 day a year thing. 'Twas great, a fully funded trip to the big island in the van. Including traveling time, about the only time I drove slowly, time on the ferry including check in times and they didn't mind if I extended the trip. No expenses for the non work part but being funded down to the central belt was good.

[Noggin]

This is what we are doing instead of the Driver CPC, it's called FIMO and is 140 hours

[cheb]

I had two ex traffic cops for some of mine. They were dull, dull, dull.

[ChrisW]

They do. I have an answer sheet. Honestly, in english I wouldn’t be so freaked out. It’s not hard. But I am not good at reading so trying to read the questions in French is just seriously challenging!!

Thank goodness for that. Best of luck with it.

[Noggin]

Today was both awesome and annoying!! The annoying bit is probably partly age (although I think I was always lacking in patience! )


Awesome - I did the learning of 80 questions at the weekend. Turns out she only tested us on 60. Awesome bit - I got 57/60 Not quite a simply because they were two stupid errors of memory (numbers, the length of two types of buses, got the metres right both times and the cms opposite way around ) and one of lack of bloody READING THE DAMNED QUESTION!!! I knew the answer to the last one too, but didn't read it properly to give the correct answer

But the instructor was really positive about it. She said she'd only worry about anyone who had more than 5 incorrect answers, and there were a couple of french I talked to who had more wrong than me (probably more, but not many told me!! LOL)


The annoying bit - WTF do people go on a course and then think that what they have to say (to each other) is more important that what the instructor has to say. More difficult for me and one other person as French isn't our first language so having chatter in the background makes it quite hard to hear the information.


But, feeling more confident and can't see me quitting! (Was a very real possibility last week!! )

[Noggin]

They do. I have an answer sheet. Honestly, in english I wouldn’t be so freaked out. It’s not hard. But I am not good at reading so trying to read the questions in French is just seriously challenging!!

Thank goodness for that. Best of luck with it.

TBF, we have to find the answers in some books. But there is a sheet that tells us if we have found the correct answer!!

And, thank you

[Noggin]

Well, I had thought the driving simulator was bad on Friday. Today, I had to get down from it and run outside!!

Luckily I wasn't actually sick, but it was awful close. And the first time anything to do with driving has made me so close to actually being sick!! I often get nauseous, especially if I'm in the back seat, but I haven't thought I was going to actually BE sick in over 7 years (and that was when a guy I employed drove me to the valley and back )

Sooo - been to the supermarket to get dinner and lunch and also stocked up on some ginger beer, mints and some biscuits for after the sim session!! There's one other person who has a similarly strong reaction, so we will probably share the hour time slots and do 30 mins each - hopefully he'll agree !!

Here's hoping driving the actual bus is less horrible - can't feel like this all winter!! LOL

[Bigjawa]

Here's hoping driving the actual bus is less horrible - can't feel like this all winter!! LOL

I get sick on coach journeys. When I was an actual bus driver, I would get queasy taking the staff bus into town.

We didn't have simulator training, they just stuck us in an old coach. If you Google EEZ6740 you'll see the actual bus I did my test in.

[Noggin]

Yours was a bit modern!! I learnt to drive buses on Guernsey in about 1991!! A Bristol LH, in white, manual and the fat controller stuck me with the heaviest clutched ones because he was pissed off that I passed first time - he'd spent a couple of weeks barely teaching me and telling everyone I'd fail!! LOL

Apart from the clutch, I really enjoyed driving them. There was the option to be allowed to drive the LHS version (semi auto, even back then!!) but he was never going to allow that!!



However, a couple of the other drivers did let me have a go in this - a pre-select gearbox too It was awesome



I'm a bit like you in that as a passenger I'm really bad for feeling sick - totally fine driving tho



Nothing I tried today worked for the simulator so I've spent most of the day feeling sick Well, I did wear some weird glasses they have there, but they didn't do much, as soon as I had to turn or do any kind of manouver, spinny head, stomach revolting!!!

But not doing that tomorrow and will go see the doctor on Saturday at home to see if I can get some anti nausea meds (not too fussed if they make me drowsy as we don't drive the actual buses the same day we go in the sim).

First actual driving is either Monday or Tuesday

[Bigjawa]

First buses I actually drove were a 1966 Albion Viking, a pretty old Bristol RE and a 1984 Leyland Tiger. Amazingly if they're over 30 and not for commercial use you can drive them on a plain car licence, although apparently there was a loophole that meant you could drive any bus in a class 2 HGV if it was for "mechanical work and testing"

The Viking had a crash box, the RE and the Tiger were semi-auto

[Noggin]

I was allowed out in an actual bus yesterday! Round the trading estate a few times then the same the other way!! Was a bit nervous and the instructor chatted away, flirted and asked loads of questions - whilst I was trying to drive! Had to tell him at one point that I couldn't respond until I'd finished getting around the current roundabout!!

Anyway, today was a different instructor, much calmer and we went out of the trading estate into various towns/villages in the area!! I was the last to drive and did feel a smidge queasy by the time it was my turn, but it was a much better drive than yesterday



I do still suffer from often being too close to the right (a bit worse than being close to the right over in the uk!!) but was better today and I felt a lot more comfortable

Here's hoping it keeps improving

[Noggin]

Today was a bit mad. Got to school for 5.40am, cos we are supposed to be there for 5.50am to give us ten mins to do the checks before we go driving.

Anyway, the main instructor didn't arrive as she was ill, took a while to get access to the car park and longer to get access to the building and so the buses!!

We got started about 7am - but because there was only one instructor, instead of doing half the day driving and half doing manoeuvres, both groups spent the day driving and reversing buses around poles/cones!! LOL

Was a bit hot and horrid by the end of the day, but this is the basic course we were doing - not me driving on this one but shows the basic thing we have to learn.

We get 5 minutes to do the reversing route apparently - tapping or knocking over any of the poles is an automatic fail . Should be ok, but exam nerves may well make it not so ok!!

The auto bus is 19cm longer than the manual. I'm not sure it makes that much difference - the gear box or the length of the bus, but plenty of others prefer one or the other!!

[Noggin]

Well, if this course doesn't break me it'll be a miracle!!

We had a written mock test yesterday, 200 questions and could only get 5 wrong I got 15 wrong FFS. - two from not 'getting' the question, two from writing Non instead of Faux, two from writing 'm' for minutes instead of 'mn' - the rest I just got wrong So, had to do it again today. I did another mock last night and only got 7 wrong - tried to do one before I left this morning and only got halfway through before I had to leave. Then managed to get 7 wrong on the repeat mock this morning. Better but still not good enough. Stupid thing is that the 200 questions are basically, 20 x 10 questions - we'll only get 2 x 10. But still have to know all the answers as any errors mean we lose points on an exam 'day' where we can't afford to lose any!!

Anyway, after the major fail yesterday I had a mini meltdown. I was talking to two other students as we had whats called a Fiche Oral test today and I was totally panicking - I just cannot remember the words/phrases from the book that I need to remember to be able to talk about the subject and then answer questions

Luckily, there was only time for one person to do that test yesterday and after she did, in conversation with the instructor, I asked if it was ok if we just knew the subject and used other words? YES!! So, I made everything simpler and shorter and today I passed the Fiche Oral test (on one out of 12 topics!! 11 more to learn!). I didn't use all the right words. But I would have got a mark of 3 (best possible) but she threw me a question that made me question myself and I got it wrong, so I lost a point!! (No, you can't overtake a tractor on a solid white line - I know that but we'd just been talking about cyclists and slow mopeds and I lost confidence!)

She did say I'll need more confidence on the exam day, but TBF - reading aloud or standing in front of a group of people and speaking about anything (not a group of mates, but up in front of a class/audience!) are two of my scariest things I've now had to do both - in sodding French!!

Anyway - I'm close to passing the written questions, and I 'only' have 11 more 'subject' to learn by the end of the month


At least my driving is ok and getting better

[Noggin]

Well. Tuesday was good and bad in equal measures! We did town driving proper for the first time. I made a couple of big mistakes - but so did the others, so didn't feel too bad. The worst was being in the wrong position for a tight right turn - mostly cos the instructor had said go ahead and I then realised (well, he made me check) that actually I couldn't go ahead (weight limit) so had to turn right. Not an ideal situation But with a smidge of reversing I made it around. Need to remember that the wheel on the driver side won't hit the kerb until me in the driver seat is well past the edge of the kerb - at certain angles!!

Today - my brain is melting due to First Aid at Work . It wasn't interesting the first couple of times in English. It's just weird in French. And I've had a total language block yesterday and slightly less of a block today, so it's not been ideal

Oh well, finish first aid tomorrow (hopefully she'll pass me depsite my lack of speaking ability at the moment!)

Then back to driving next week. New group which is mostly good cos a couple of the guys in the original group were just total dicks - except I seem to be in the group of people with difficulties; I thought I was doing ok Possibly different instructor too so could be interesting!!

Exams ont he week commencing 30th Sept - am a bit scared

[Bigjawa]

The auto bus is 19cm longer than the manual. I'm not sure it makes that much difference - the gear box or the length of the bus, but plenty of others prefer one or the other!!

Is it an MAN?

MAN stuff usually has a "manouvering" setting on the autos, if it's the rotary selector, it'll day D and Dm and R and Rm, it it's the wee DNR rocker on the column, it'll have a wee turny thing next to the rocker. It keeps it in bottom gear and engages the clutch a bit slower, basically makes it less jerky and easier at low speeds.

Then back to driving next week. New group which is mostly good cos a couple of the guys in the original group were just total dicks - except I seem to be in the group of people with difficulties; I thought I was doing ok Possibly different instructor too so could be interesting!!

Just drive your own drive, forget about the rest of them. If I can drive a bus, any fucker can.

[Noggin]

Our MAN doesn’t seem to have the other settings LOL

Turns out the group is actually pretty good. Much more fun and communicative than the last


Haven’t posted much this week as I’ve been stressing myself out then trying to get decent sleep around the course and the stress!!

Yesterday’s drive was probably the most positive. First time on tiny (for a bus!) mountain hairpins and I did ok

Today in town. Not so much


Basically my inability to ride a moto down the straight at full speed cos, “ there’s a corner at the end and I go round those faster than most “, mindset is set for town too. As in, I’ll happily pootle at 40km/h instead of 50 cos, lots of hidden places for pedestrians to go stand near crossings, lots of cycles, lots of traffic lights etc etc etc. Apparently it’s too slow!!

But to me, if you try to hit the 50km/h limit, then breaking will be more often and harder. As a passenger that nearly threw up this morning due to driver heavy footedness in small lanes this morning, I really don’t want to drive in a way that causes travel sickness

But hey ho

Think I’ve got the written tests cracked. Still struggling to learn all the oral test stuff tho

Lots of crossing of fingers for the mock exams next week

[Horse]

Did you know there's a video [in English] about your course?

[Noggin]

Did you know there's a video [in English] about your course?

I remember that sketch from when I was a kid!!


Well I think it's from when I was a kid, might have been played to me when I learnt to drive buses in Guernsey!!


Now I'm wondering how many of my fellow students would understand this sketch - he doesn't speak too fast and most learnt English from American programs!!



Edit - found this

Bob Newhart's 'Bus Driver Training' skit from his Button Down Comedy stand-up show. This video was recorded in 1995, but I believe it was originally found on 'The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back', which was released in 1960 as an audio recording.

I reckon someone in the family found and played me the recording as I learnt to drive buses originally back in about 1991!

[Noggin]

I'm half starting to think that these guys are setting us up to fail next week!! I mean, there will still be a month of the course to go once the exams are done, so if there are some retakes, they can justify the 10 grand cost of the course!!!!

Mocks this week then next week - Monday highway code; Wednesday, driving test and Friday, the maneouvres and other stuff!!

We've all done 15hrs driving on the road. Well, I doubt it's actually 15 hours, but that's what they've noted!! And today was the first time someone talked through stuff as a drive was going on so that we actually learned stuff - and that was the last drive before the mock and actual exam. The rest of the time we learn by them telling us we're doing it wrong!! (Well, the first two sessions were actually learning roundabouts, so that was proper learning!)

Mind you, school is apparently a bit similar - if you can't keep up you go in the stupid corner


I just seriously hope I'm capable of passing as I so do not want to have to retake as that will delay actually getting the licence and so starting work.


Lots of prep work to do over the weekend for the highway code. Tomorrow lots of practice with a couple of fellow students to try and get a grip on the verbal stuff.

This Thursday, mock driving test. Friday mock everything else.

I'm pretty much stressed to fck!!!


Basically, the guy today said I don't anticipate enough - which I'm a bit shocked about as I have to on a bike and I think in general I'm not bad at it in a car/minibus.

Other fail I have is that I don't retain info on signs that I've seen, noted, dealt with and then forget - so when he asked me stuff, I couldn't tell him cos I didn't retain the info cos, well, done & dusted and onto the next thing!!


Oh well. Going to try and sleep a lot tonight. I turned up at school this morning knackered and then my fellow students kinda stepped back when the instructor asked "who's going first?" so I ended up driving first, way too tired, in rain and dark!! Bastards!! LOL


Hey ho - at least I'll pass the actual maneouvre bit even if I fail the verbal stuff!!