Are you behind the wheels after a long break? You may have gotten your driver’s licence at the age of 18, but never returned to driving since then. May be, you migrated to another city where driving a car wasn’t possible, or you wanted to wait and buy your own car before you hit the road behind the wheels. The reason may be many, but the crux is – you stayed away from the steering for long.
In such kind of situations, coming back to driving a car with confidence can be a daunting experience. You may even get a panic attack looking at those vast roads with speeding lines of vehicles, or your hands may shake a little while holding the clutch. To get over this nervousness, it is important for you to get acquainted with the four wheelers once again.
Follow these guidelines when returning to driving after a break!
It’s entirely natural to feel a slight nervousness when you are behind the wheels after a really long time. Having said that, you shouldn’t let this nervousness control you, and deprive you of the pleasures of driving at any cost. It’s therefore important to warm up before taking your first independent ride after years!
- Go for a short driving course — Though you already know driving, but a long break can sometimes evaporate almost everything from our brains. A couple of lessons in a driving school would help you immensely. It’s therefore wise to reapply for driving lessons in Coventry from Just Pass Driving academy. They teach you the best tricks of driving thoroughly regardless of whether you’re a beginner or have resumed driving after long. Their teachers are experts know how to make you feel confident and safe behind the wheels. After this short course, you will be confident enough to hop in any car and start driving.
- Calm your nerves — There may be a kaleidoscope of thoughts and fears going on in your brain while hitting the road after a long time. To keep that in control, better calm your nerves, give yourself some time. A little bit of self lecture is important to gain confidence about the same. When you think you no longer feel those butterflies in your tummy while thinking about the proposition of driving, get in the car and move on!
- Recognise the gears and brakes — See if you can recognise the actions needed for driving a car. You should also remember the basic function of each part of the car. If you think you have missed out on something and don’t recognise it well, better wait and get the knowledge of it from another good driver or read about it in a book.
- Try acting — You can always act like you are driving to see if you can still perform the entire paraphernalia well, and that too together. It’s better to give some time in adjusting the gears and pressing the accelerators properly when the engine is off rather than trying it practically and panic! That way you can avoid any mishap stemming out of nervousness or lack of confidence.
- Drive on an isolated road — For a start, just like when you are taking driving lessons, begin with driving on an isolated road with someone comfortable in driving to keep an eye on you, in case you need some help. You can go around driving in this way before hitting busy roads.
- Go for slower rides— When you hit the roads, it is always recommended to go slow (than get that excited rush of a racer!). When you are slow on a busy road, you can sharpen your judgement skills as to how much of a gap you should be keeping from other vehicles, and how can you drive parallel to traffic in other lanes. It’s always better to be slow and precautious on these types of roads, because you are still out of practise and perhaps confidence too.
With these steps, you would be more than confident about driving in all kinds of roads and highways. But it’s still best to keep on practising more – it never hurts. Also, for some time, avoid overtaking and speeding.