My driving diary
After passing my traffic code exam, I decided to book my driving hours via Ornikar. It is not a driving school, in a proper sense, it is a French “online driving school”. You choose your instructor, book an evaluation hour and buy at least 20 hours if you have never had a driving licence. So did I.
Just before the second lockdown, I had already 20 hours on 30 expected… Driving schools were supposed to continue working, but on Saturday, 31 our government decided to maintain only driving exams. Practical lessons were postponed till December 1st, 2020.
Let's go back to the past...
0 hour (September 10) This day I had my evaluation hour. I knew nothing about driving, but we went directly to the road! I was only turning a wheel, nothing else. And I was stressed…very stressed…
1st hour (September 28) I managed to book my officially first driving lesson for a date only two weeks after my evaluation hour. There were any earlier free slots. I did the same thing: turned a wheel, but I was more relaxed at that time.
2nd-3d hours (October 1) I asked my instructor if it's a usual thing in France when you start driving lessons directly on the road. Usually, in Ukraine, you learn how to change gears and how to use pedals on the parking areas, and only after this, you start driving on the street. He responded that it depends, but he prefers to start directly on the road.
During my first hour, I was turning a wheel. For the last hour, I was finally authorised to use the gas pedal. Driving in Versailles and Viroflay is not easy because of plenty of ‘priority to the right’ and 30km/h speed limitations. It was a real pleasure to turn left near Louis XIV in front of the Versailles palace and go up to 70 km/h behind the palace.
4th hour (October 4) I started using breaks, finally! Firstly, I went through the forest road with plenty of “STOP” signs to practice. After this, we returned to Versailles.
5th hour (October 6) I had the usual driving in Versailles using only gas pedal and breaks.
To be continued….