It was the summer of 1998 when I first sat I the driving seat of car for a lesson. Little did I know at the time that it would take me: five different cars, four driving tests, three driving examiners, two instructors and one driving school – the AA. I don’t know whether this is something to be proud of, but eighteen months later the driving license finally arrived in the post! I could come up with the feeble excuse that in the mean time I did graduate from university and get a full time job – but four driving tests (to my credit I did pass the theory with full marks at the first attempt!)?

Why choose the AA?

The starter pack offered 12 hours of lessons and it also contained a few helpful books - one about driving safely and the other was designed to help you pass the theory test. Well OK it contained all the questions and all you had to do was learn by heart the 512 answers…. As mentioned previously the packs also include free AA membership, the level of cover is just roadside assistance, which means if they can’t repair the vehicle at the side of the road you will be towed to the garage or home – whatever is closest. This is really handy if your friends drive rickety old bangers as the cover is for you and not the car so you can still call them out even if you are a passenger! This also proved a major boost for me as the AA were taken over by another company recently and I got a pay out of over 200 pounds through the free membership!!! Finally there was a voucher which offered a half-price motorway-driving lesson for when you had passed your test.

When I learnt to drive the choice of car was the Ford Fiesta. They were fitted with a five-speed gearbox and 1.25 Zetec engine. The cars also came fitted with power steering, ABS and electric mirrors. Depending on whether the driving instructor was lucky or not the car may also have alloy wheels, Air-conditioning and a CD player fitted – none of which will make any difference to you as a learner! The cars are also dual controlled, which means the instructor also has brake and clutch pedals on the passenger’s side. This is for safety as the instructors can brake for you in an emergency (i.e. you failed to notice that cat walking out into the road) etc…

One word of warning though, the AA instructors only keep their car for a maximum of 6 months and towards the end of this period the car starts to get very rough. I found that while having lessons in Sheffield the clutch tended to wear very quickly due to the amount of abuse it got through permanent hill-starts from learners. One good point with choosing the AA if the instructors car is damaged through accident or breaks down they are issued with a replacement car virtually on the spot – so lessons cancelled due to car failure is minimal.

I have noticed that in the last few weeks that the Fiestas are being slowly traded in for the Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec. This will come as a big shock to anyone about to take the test and the instructors change their car. The Focus is a lot bigger and with a more powerful engine which will cause no end of problems for learners struggling to deal with the size (this will soon become apparent during the turn in the road and when you realise the car doesn’t quite fit through that gap…). I guess this will be overcome with practise but if you are a bit short in stature the car’s size will cause problems with reaching the pedals and seeing over the dashboard.

And the Instructors?

Before your first lesson starts the instructors ascertain how much driving experience you have before explaining the basics of the car. The instructors teach the lessons at a pace which suits you (i.e. if you are struggling with steering then they wont introduce you to reverse parking etc.) which helps make you a more confident driver. As I was a complete novice the first few lessons just involved driving around the housing estate before moving onto the busier roads. The lessons then moved onto driving in traffic, main roads, navigating junctions and roundabouts before moving onto the manouveres. If you have any weak points the instructors worked on these first before introducing a new topic. Your instructor will not suggest you apply for your test until they are confident you can pass first time.

I took the option of the motorway lessons which I found invaluable – its very nerve-wracking the first time you join a busy motorway. The lesson involved driving at a higher speed, overtaking, junctions and leaving motorways. I`m quite lucky as Manchester has a fair number of Motorways so the lesson was pretty interesting.

So to conclude: I thoroughly recommend the AA driving school – the instructors are excellent and they got me through it. The only hitch is the use of a Ford Focus which I guess some people will be put off by, and opt for BSM with their smaller Corsa’s.