I’m a man in my 20’s (for a little less than two months more), and I still don’t have my drivers license. I know its unusual, but a variety of circumstances have led me up to this point. I’ve finally gotten around to taking lessons, at no small expense, and I really want to get this over with. A few weeks ago, I took a test and failed. The main reason was that I was driving too slow, both on city streets and faster ones - between 30-40% slower than the limit. I didn’t feel that I was driving particularly slow, and I know that my speed wasn’t a huge problem during my lessons (although I do drive slower than most).
I think me being nervous about the test caused me to slow down more than usual. I have another test in a couple of days. Any tips on how I can teach/trick myself into driving faster?
Seriously, though, every time I had to drive with an instructor (in Driver’s Ed and on my roadtest) I always went 5 MPH below the speedlimit and had no problems with speed, it also gave me a little leeway when I went down hills.
FYI, going a lot slower when you’re driving (30-40%!!!) is a HUGE hazzard. Everyone who is doing the legal speed limit, or faster as is the case almost everywhere will be trying like hell to get around you. And I know in some places going that slow can be a ticketable offense. (Not really for the speed, but a cop can pretty much give you a ticket for any number of things, then after you get pulled over issue another 2-5 if he’s really annoyed. A friend from HS got a 50$ ticket for not having a trash bag in his car, and another 100$ ticket for having trash that could potentially obstruct his use of the breaks.)
Best way to get over your problem, is to get another dozen or so hours in the car driving. My problem was that it always looked like I was going much faster than I really was. You’ll get used to the speed fairly quickly, then you’ll start speeding like the rest of us.
I would have to say practice driving a car is the best way. The more experience you have, the more experience you get and the more comfortable you feel.
I also suggest finding some empty streets or parking lots and taking your car to its acceleration, handling, and braking limits. If you know more about your car’s abilities in various situations, you can be more confident you can stop in time or avoid properly when you’re going faster. Once you’re aware of this, you can go faster and still feel as if you’re driving safely.
