Am I Ready For My Driving Test?
Am I ready for my driving test?We understand that many learners (maybe all?) just want to pass their driving test as quickly – and cheaply – as possible. Sometimes this can lead to a learner going for test before they are completely ready, leading to higher levels of anxiety and stress than can naturally be expected for anyone taking such an important step.
Being competent and confident should reduce the anxiety and stress levels. Experience too – but how much experience is needed? How many driving lessons are needed to get to the stage you feel confident about passing your driving test? Being confident should, in theory, mean no nerves. How many people though still feel anxious about their performance no matter how confident or experienced they are?
You hear of actors, musicians and sports stars experiencing stage fright. In these troubled times with the Covid-19 pandemic having brought yet another lengthy lockdown, mental health has become a big issue. 15 years ago just under 8% of females aged 17-19 were diagnosed with anxiety disorders, now it is over 23%. And what is one of their biggest causes of stress? The driving test! Many learners are anxious about their driving test because they are not at test standard. If you are stressed about the driving test then we can thoroughly recommend Diane Hall and her courses – they can be found here: http://lofaway2pass.com. She doesn’t claim to be able to get you to test standard but the techniques she describes have been proven to reduce test nerves.
Well before getting close to your driving test it is worth considering the situation with actors and stage fright. They will have spent a lot of time learning their lines – and will be confident they know them following many rehearsals and preparing for the ‘opening night’. It is an ‘adrenaline rush’ that prepares them. Once the curtain goes up everything should go smoothly and the performance will be over before they know it. This is very similar to preparing fro a driving test. So would you risk an awful driving test performance by poor preparation or would you take it very seriously and prepare as fully as possible?
Adrenaline is good – in moderation! Adrenaline and cortisol are the stress hormones. Too much adrenaline can create an effect called ‘auditory exclusion’. In this anything being said goes in one ear and out the other! Your driving instructor could be calling out for you to ‘BRAKE BRAKE BRAKE’ but you will not hear. Cortisol and adrenaline also cause the brain to shut down your peripheral vision. One of the major causes of test failure is poor observations – a likely scenario is pulling out in front of another driver and just not realising they were there!
If the stage fright is so overwhelming, no matter how much preparation you have done, it still won’t help you. That’s why we recommend Diane’s courses. Also there is a new app being prepared http://testbuddy.app which is going to contain lots of great ideas.
At Training Wheelz we work hard to reduce your anxiety and we have many reviews from learners confirming how stress-free we make our lessons. There is no substitute for experience – which leads to competence and confidence. Just how much experience you need depends on how quickly you learn and assimilate new ideas. Every person is different and we treat every learner as an individual. We will work with you to determine how long this will take. We won’t spin you along for longer than is necessary, neither will we take you to test with an unrealistic low chance of passing.
