Nervous Driver Tips

Many people who learn to drive have a combination of nerves and excitement. Even if someone says they have no nerves and are perfectly confident when it comes to driving, the first time you get behind the wheel and move the vehicle you are bound to feel nerves, and possibly as mentioned some excitement.

Sometimes people tell themselves that they are nervous and expect to be nervous, and this gets the better of them. The main course of nerves is not feeling in control, or worrying about your own ability.

So it is essential to remember that no-one is able to drive safely from day one - that's the point of lessons, gradually getting better as you build up experience at driving on the roads, getting used to the car, the controls, the space around the car, road conditions, reacting to other drivers, learning to control the vehicle through use of the gears, using the mirrors, signalling, reversing and so on and so forth.

Many nervous drivers also have the character trait of over-analysing how they are doing, and what they are doing. Being aware of your own performance is of course a good thing, but do not analyse to the detriment of yourself by making yourself super nervous.

Assuming you are learning with a driving school, then you will be with a qualified and experienced instructor, and most likely in a dual control car too, so try to put your trust in that person to give you honest feedback on your performance and many instructors are experienced at working with nervous drivers because the fact is many people learning to drive ARE nervous.

There are also driving instructors who specialise in nervous drivers, so if this is you then perhaps you could consider one of those driving schools that specify this in their advertising material. Above all, as you learn to drive and get better at driving, get more used to it, and it becomes more routine and familiar then many drivers report that the nerves do melt away.

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