You're never too old to learn!

A few years ago I when I was just starting off in the driving school industry I was approached to assist an elderly lady with driving lessons. Little did I know what I was letting myself in for.

Being the person that I am, I struggle to say no, I agreed to take on the challenge. Back then I had a Fiat Uno which I was using for teaching. This particular dear lady’s husband had one of these huge Mazda 626 vehicles which even an experienced driver would shudder at when it came to reverse parking. Her husband insisted that she learn to drive this Mazda. We only discovered later that there was method in his madness.

Over eighty lessons later we were still stuck on the reverse parking. My black hair by that time had started changing to silver grey. The learners licence was about to expire. There were probably more things going against her getting her licence than going in her favour. One ingredient this lady had though was perseverance.

We managed to get an appointment just prior to expiry of the learners and she went for it. The big challenge for her was getting past the yard test. That she did and went on to passing her drivers licence first time. A very proud moment for both of us!

Not too long after her obtaining her drivers licence her husband passed away. Herein lay the method to her husband’s madness.

Maybe you have had a bad experience. An accident. Maybe you have already failed five times. Possibly you suck at reversing. You have no idea which is left and which is right. To all of you out there who have gotten to the point of wanting to give up learning to drive. Take courage from a 65 year old granny.