I learned to drive in the UK on the M27 and the M3 during both rush hours between Southampton and Winchester, in the winter (so, yay, not only in the dark, but getting pelted with rain and sleet most days).*
In serious answer to the OP – in the States as a learner, I drove around shopping center and school car parks on Sunday mornings, but also went out on the routes around my house at quiet times of day, as well.
*Bearing in mind I’d been driving for about 30 years on the other side of the road prior to this. I miss both I-95 and my left hooker Mini. But I did pass my UK practical driving test on the first shot.
Without a learner’s permit, will insurance cover you? Even on private property, you could still bump into something and do damage.
Insurance usually only covers a legal, licensed driver.
In America, everybody passes the driving test on the first shot.
You Brits are famous for making people suffer through the test ten times before they pass.
I suspect you are wrong about that. The only way your insurance will cover your car if an unlicensed driver is driving it is if you’ve reported it stolen.
Weird timing on this… we have a neighbor that was letting his son drive a BMW 535i by himself on our quiet neighborhood streets Saturday morning, presumably to teach him how. There’s other kids playing, people walking, other traffic, etc. The boy is 13.
I practiced in a cemetery. It was great because it has roads, but virtually no (live) people. So I could practice making turns and such and driving on hills and steering, but still go at like two mph and not be in anyone’s way. My very first time was in a parking lot, but the majority of my practice before hitting real, populated roads was in the cemetery.
Neither of your two posts in this thread are very clear; were you challenged by the security department at the mall or whatever location you were using for teaching driving?
I have taught a dozen or so kids how to drive back when I used to work with foster kids. We would first get their learner’s permit and then we would practice accelerating, turning, and stopping in a big church parking lot. Once they got good at that I drove them out to a new subdivision with streets but no houses and practiced some more. After they got good at that we started going to small neighborhoods with wide streets. After they got good at that we went for some suburban drives with traffic lights. After that we hit the highways on the outskirts of town. After that we did highways in the big city. After all that driving practice, they could handle any dry weather driving in the US. Never had a problem with anyone anywhere other than one neighborhood where a guy came out and asked us why we kept driving around the block. I explained and he was cool.
The local DMV has a ‘parking’ lot set up with cones and painted lanes to give the driver exams and many times when I’ve driven by late at night there’s been someone there practicing parallel parking, etc.
Local driving schools have a couple places they take people to, that are set up the same way the testing centres are - parallel and alley-dock bays, a small hill for hill starts. They bring their own cones and flags, though. I think these places were set up by the Metro, since they don’t seem to have any access control.
I am American; my original ‘driving test’ was taken in Delaware in 1982 (ie, I literally did not take one; all I had to do was pass a 25 question written test! :eek:) I had driver’s ed in the 10th grade, but being a September baby, and having a large sophomore class, the school year ended before I was ever taken out for practice driving. So I passed the written test at school, and the driver’s ed guy gave me my learner’s permit.
So, yeah, the DVLA will NOT let an American simply trade in their US driver’s license for a UK/EU driving licence.
Hence the – I have British colleagues who’ve had anywhere from 2 to 11 attempts to pass the practical test here (and that’s after passing the written test, which includes 50 questions ranging from the common sense to ‘we pulled this one out of the footnotes to the appendix to the index of the Highway Code,’ and a video thing where you watch 30 second videos and have to click the mouse when you see a hazard developing – but don’t click too many times, lest the computer think you’re cheating and you fail that portion of the test! I had 50/50 on the written and I think it worked out to 85% on the video.
My British-born spouse took his practical at least twice; the same week or so I passed mine, his nephew also passed after three attempts.
But God knows I must have taken close to 100 practice written and video tests in the weeks running up to the damned thing. I also took driving lessons for about two months prior to the practical test because even though I can drive just fine on the motorway (where learner drivers are not permitted), I needed to brush up on city driving and roundabouts. My instructor thought it was hilarious that I can parallel park like a pro and maneuver around dual carriageways, merge, and handle white van drivers with ease (not to mention knowing appropriate hand gestures to express my opinions about Audi drivers), but was close kin with Chevy Chase when it came to tackling multi-lane, multi-exit roundabouts. Hey kids! Parliament! Big Ben!
It takes a long time and costs a heck of a lot of money. You have two years to pass after you pass the written test, and if you fail to do so in that time, you have to re-apply for the provisional (learner’s) licence and take the written portion again. As a Learner Driver (with your car plastered in bright red L plates, which, on my American license, I didn’t need), you can still drive as long as you meet certain requirements, but it is still possible to rack up penalty points – so yeah, you can pass your tests, get your licence, and have it immediately withdrawn because you have too many points before you even get the damned thing.
And now despite a clean driving record for the past 3 decades in the States, I’m now reclassified as a new driver along with the 18 year olds, which means I’m on probation for two years, and my insurance is obscene. Huzzah! And fuel at $11/gallon. But it’s worth it because otherwise I’m looking at a 2 1/2 hour commute and crap, expensive rail service to go 15 miles (a combination of walking to the nearest railway station, multi-railway connections, and trains that don’t run very often to my neck of the woods).
My reaction to all of the requirements, tests, and regulations was about the same as Steve Martin’s in the Man With Two Brains when he has to take the Austrian drunk test.
Sorry about the wall of text! I know way too much about the Highway Code &c at the moment.
I would guess that mall cops are used to seeing people practice driving. Most won’t care and the worst that can happen is they ask you to leave. You might also check and see if any universities in your area have large parking lots.
Fun fact… public lots for schools and government offices are technically only “public” when the connected buildings are in use. Once the school or the office closes, they become private lots and you can be cited for trespassing. It’s unlikely, as few cops rise to that level of assholishness, but it’s possible.
I took my daughter to a cemetery. Paved roads and no traffic. It had lots of curves so she could practice turns. Once she got her permit, then it was on the roads.
My parents didn’t take me out at all before I took driver’s ed, and I was petrified in my third or fourth class when we got on the Edens, so I didn’t want her to feel the way I did. Also, all the farm kids down here have been driving since they were ten.
