I have actually learned to drive in two different places in England and I have also learned to drive in the United States of America. (I have lived in four countries in total but that is a different story!)

What a difference in the way the whole procedure occurs. On my first attempt, in London, England, I was in my late teens, early twenties and was trying to drive a manual car (stick shift). Looking back now, I can appraise the whole situation and admit that it was a total disaster. I think I possibly selected the most difficult process to follow (for me that is) and then wondered why I failed.

First of all, learning to drive in London does not mean that you will actually learn how to drive. What it really means is that you will learn how to dart from one lane to the other very quickly and then never go faster than 30 mph.

Most cars in England are manual (stick shift) so basically most of my time was spent learning how to use the gears, while it should have been on learning how to drive.

As far as the driving instructor was concerned, he spent most of his time chatting about anything and everything instead of allowing me to actually concentrate on the driving. He also took me to Trafalgar Square on my ninth lesson and had me drive around there. Looking back, I can now see that it was a totally stupid decision on his part.

The actual driving test was out on the streets of London with a 3 point turn, an emergency stop, a left hand reverse turn and who knows what else and unfortunately I was not familiar with the route and that hindered my ability to make decisions. Needless to say, I failed the test.

All in all, I can honestly say, there are much easier ways to learn to drive than this.