driving on the road questions...?

[joko]

my dad is teaching me to drive, but he is old and keeps telling me things that i am sure are not true or wrong, can someone confirm or deny these for me.

firstly he says, when following a single road round a sharp bend, you should indicate, even though you are on one road and not crossing any white lines or going into a new road. he says just to make sure other know where you're going.

i think this is wrong, others will expect you to continue on the road you are on untl you indicate you come off off it and cross an white line.

secondly, when you are on a road that has 2 or 3 lanes and you come to traffic lights, if the arrow on the road of your lane points only left - you cannot go straight on, same if it only points ahead or right.
if they point in more than one direction then you can choose.
but you can only go in the direction the arrows allow.
my dad says you can go any way you like, you just go - or indicate and move over
(I know you can change lanes, if you are far enough back, but not if you are at the front)
I know if the roads are empty you could probably do it and there'd be no problem but in a test or in busy traffic it would be dangerous and a fail.
he indignantly said "you'd have to go miles out of your way if you got in the wrong lane, why should you have to?"
I said inconvenience doesn't entitle you to just do what you want.

thirdly, he said that you should go diagonally onto a roundabout if you are on the right.
i say it depends on the angle of the roads leading onto the roundabout, because if you just veer left you may be cutting across the car on your left.
i would be going a little bit forward, then turning, which my instructor never had a problem with

am i right or wrong?

thanks

[NORMANTHEDOG]

you should learn with a proper instructor,its great your dad takes you out in the car,but its only confusing you.

[joko]

I have already learnt with an instructor and am at test standard. ( already had 3 tests)

my dad is not teaching me, he merely sits in the car with me while i practice because its the law that i have a driver with me - its a new, completely different car to what i am used to though so i need to get used to it.
however, he finds it difficult to just sit there and let me drive, he keeps interfering and saying stuff like the above, and also ranting on about other drivers and car jackers and cyclists and people ramming me for compo etc etc etc, so i wanted someone to either back me up or prove me wrong so i can show him and hopefully shut him up - thats if i am right, however, i know i may not be.

thanks anyway

[maviscoull]

regarding your points above, i would say that YOU are right .

[Rock'n'Roll]

Just what has your fathers age got to do with it?
Apart from gathering road experience behind a wheel,your better off without amateur instructors no matter how good their intentions. Driving instructors are professinal because they usually know the correct way to get you through a test. Listen to them,and them alone.

[andybaird68]

Just let us know when you are out and about just incase - I am a nervous driver.

[BenDToy]

I think I must have been behind your dad on the road the other day. Numerous close things and a string of irate motorists! Do not listen to him. He is a menace on the road, and it would be better for everyone concerned if he took the lessons instead of you. The only good thing he says is to make sure that other people know where you are going - that is a good policy, especially for him at junctions and roundabouts!! Good luck with your next test - you are more likely to pass than he is. And you don't need to show him our answers, just the highway code.

[bazmoore]

whatever you do dont overtake lorries and pull back over into the lane in front of them on the approach to junctions and roundabouts loads of people do it to me every day.
ist eats up stopping distances and a fully freighted 44 tonne truck takes some stopping

[ianess]

BenDToy is spot-on. Your Dad sounds like a menace who should be avoided at all costs on the public highway.
Stick with a proper instructor and read your Highway Code.
Get an extra copy for Dad too.

[hedgehog661]

Hi
I am a driving instructor and I can confirm your Dad is a menace.

Private practice can be great if it is good but all to often I have seen the good intentions of a parent destroy all the good work of an instructor. Trust your instinct as so far it sounds spot on. Mind you what a laugh thinking of your old dad signaling round the bend. But what a worry that his lane discliplin is so poor.

My honest advice would be stop going out with him and either find someone else or just stick with your instructor.

[joko]

my fathers age has a lot to do with it rock nroll - he is 80, and he learnt to drive when the roads were very different - 60 years ago.

he would undoubtedly fail a test now.
he also thinks every other driver, cyclist and pedestrian is a b'stard and everything they do is wrong - because he is old, forgetful, cantankerous and stuck in his ways

fortunately i just ignore what he says, but he just starts going on and on about the same things all the time

i am going to wear headphones in future - pretend its a driving cd or something, not playing anything though, but if he thinks i am he will be less likely to talk to me.

[JillP]

No wonder you call yourself joko, mate! I'm sorry if your old dad bothers you, but I had to laugh at his antics and your solution of wearing headphones. By the way, keep them, you may need them if and when you get married.

[trevHCS]

Just be careful doing that as the police could think you're really listening to the stereo and have you for driving without due care & attention.

Another thing I would highly recommend is taking your driving test with your instructor. It seems to give them more confidence at the test centre and they totally change attitude when you take the test.

As for your dads instructions - it sounds like he's more likely to cause you to have an accident to be honest by distracting you. As for his comments about driving miles if you go wrong....erm yeah, but at least you get there alive.

[joko]

baz moore - that has happened to me already, more or less, except i was a passenger in a taxi, and they rammed into us.
one of them gave abuse to the driver while the other came to me saying 'you are a neutral witness, go on our side and we'll get you 2 grand "this is what we do" - they even had clipboards!!

I was furious and I went on the taxi drivers side, and they did indeed get me 2 grand - but not quite in the way they had intended - Ha ha!! utter scumbags.

it is stories like the above that my dad goes on about - everyone is out to get me because I am learner and will always be to blame no matter what the circumstances (!?)
why he seems to want to put the fear of god into me while i am trying to become a confident driver i don't know - i doubt he even realises he's doing it - fortunately i have become very skilled and adept over the years in switching off when he starts - but that was when i could just walk away and do something else - its not so easy in the car unfortunately.

he knows he's got me surrounded and theres no escape you see, so everything he has ever wanted to say and everything he can think of to say, he tries to get it in in the couple of hours he has 'my undivided attention'

it would be funny if it just wasn't


lol (*sigh*)