Learner drivers are still learning

I have been driving by myself for a little over a month and believe I have come a long way since the first Tuesday morning I drove to work and my car decided to stall on a corner that just happened to be near a school.

I suddenly felt like I was in a sauna as bullets of sweat escaped from every pore of my body, while high schoolers stared at my vehicle starting up and switching right off almost instantly, their transport drivers and parents hooting at a very frustrated me to move.

While incidents of that nature are a thing of the past for me, the frustration of learner drivers is not.

They are are still trying to find their mojo on the road and the constant hooting from other road users, who might understandably be irritated by the driver failing to take off at the green traffic light, is not helping because the more frustrated the driver, the harder it might be for them to move their car.

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Another issue is the almost non-existent following distance that some road users leave between them and the car before them.

I run out of fingers and toes trying to count the number of times I have had to take a deep breath before taking off, paralysed by the thought of my car rolling into the car behind me.

I highly doubt any driver started off as the perfect driver.

The learner sign means exactly that: the driver is still learning and needs just a little more patience than more experienced drivers.

The next time you feel like hooting at the driver in front of you with a big “L” on their car, be nice.

We all have to start somewhere.