Circuit
As a beginner driving student, the
circuit is like a safe environment since the courses (e.g. parking, ramp,
S-course) are fixed and there are only school vehicles (BBDC cars and
motorcycles). The vehicle speed is much lower as compared to that of the road.
This is somewhat a “fixed guide”
which you can adopt to successfully pass the courses – e.g. For vertical
parking, reverse your car to point A, then turn your steering wheel fully to
the right, till you come to a stop at Point B. It takes time and practice to embed
this fixed guide in your mind.
This guide can be found in the
driving manual, and also by verifying and seeking the advice from your
instructor(s). Sometimes, different instructors might give you varying advices.
So the key is to determine the way which suits you best by trial and error.
My instructors said “Don’t be
afraid to make mistakes. It is the best way of learning”.
When you make mistakes during your
lessons, your instructor is there to analyse, teach and work out a solution
with you. I felt embarrassed when I made silly mistakes, but my instructors
reassured me and said it is better to make mistakes here so that I won’t repeat
them during my test.
Road
Unlike the circuit, driving on the
road can be an exciting yet scary experience, especially at the beginning when
you are still figuring out how to control your speed, gauge the road traffic
condition, and so on. You might wonder if your car is indeed staying within the
lane, you might wonder if you need to turn the steering wheel more to complete
a right turn, etc.
A tip from the instructors is to
look ahead so that you can have a better sense of the traffic condition ahead
and scan for any hazards. By doing so, you would be able to stay within your
lane and complete any turns “naturally”, without having to overthink. This
works best when you have more practice.
It is inevitable that some drivers
would overtake you – some do it because your speed is too slow. When this
happens, just let them overtake and don’t take it personally. Then, practice
more to travel at an appropriate speed to suit the road condition, while not
exceeding the speed limit.
Practice makes perfect!
Driving simulator
Progressing through the practical
lessons, you would be asked to book and attend the ‘Driving simulator’ session.
For me, I attended it with two other students who booked the same session. Each
of us took turns to go on the simulator – it is basically driving on an
“animated road” in a wide monitor screen in front of you. It felt weird to be
on the simulator - it was not realistic and was difficult to control the
virtual car. So I went off course and such.
As you go along, the instructor would
input various settings (e.g. rainy weather, dim lights). It is normal to make
mistakes like what I did. The instructor analysed the mistakes with me and explained
what I should have done instead.
After that, the instructor will
input another simulation to see how fast and well you react. For mine, it was
to fully accelerate and then apply emergency brake (a.k.a. E-brake) to avoid
the oncoming lorry on the virtual road. I did not brake hard enough the first
time, thus the instructor input the simulation again for me to try.
Although the simulation and stuff
was not realistic, I still enjoyed the session as it enabled me to understand
the importance of reacting fast and appropriately to avoid any accidents.
