MODERN FAMILY

THERE is a little girl in one of my youngest son’s bedtime books who always says no.

It is a word she loves and the only one she ever uses, but the moral of the story is that if you say it enough it will drive everyone else crazy.

I, however, have the opposite problem and should learn to say it a bit more.

Having a tendency to say yes to too much quite often lands me in difficult situations.

Which is how last week I found myself taking a ‘driving test’ more than two decades after taking the last one.

What could possibly go wrong? Twenty six years ago I passed first time, and in the years since I have considered myself quite a good driver who has never been involved in an accident.

I had always wondered, though, if I would be able to pass my driving test again, or if I had picked up too many bad habits along the way. It turns out I have - a lot. The nerves started to kick in before the instructor even stepped out of the car, and didn’t get any better as I drove off into Cardiff city centre’s busy streets.

My driving went to pieces as I overthought stopping at traffic lights, checked and double checked the speed limit, and the less said about my reversing along the kerb the better.

It was not a big surprise to find out at the end of the ‘test’ that I had failed.

My reversing and failing to look over my left shoulder to check for any cyclists, pedestrians or cars before carrying out the manoeuvre was enough for a big red cross.

Even though I failed, even though the children have been laughing, even though I have had to put up with my colleagues pretending to call a taxi for me at home time, I am still happy I took part in the ‘test’. It was not a professional test and I haven’t been banned from the roads.

What it has done is make me really think about my driving. It has made me realise that I am so familiar with driving I don’t really think about what I am doing and certainly don’t think about it enough.

The instructor said the biggest overall concern had to be safety. Failing to look over your shoulder to make sure nothing is coming; even just the once, is not good enough. That one time could be the time you cause an accident.

It just takes one slip to hit a cyclist, a pedestrian, or another car.

I have always thought it would be a good idea to have a driving refresher every five years, or every time you have to renew your licence, and this challenge has reaffirmed that belief. It wouldn’t have to be a test every time, just a half day driving lesson would be enough to get people to think more about their driving.

In the meantime, I have to learn to think before volunteering next time and to be content that there is at least one form of driving I am good at – and that is driving my husband around the bend.