‘At 47, I finally passed my driving test’
Flic Everett, a writer, 51, lives in the West Highlands with her husband Andy, also 51, and their two dogs.
I turned to the examiner in the passenger seat and braced myself. It was my fifth driving test, and the signs so far weren’t good. I’d stalled, driven over a kerb, and had been so obviously anxious during the first half that he’d asked me to pull over and take a deep breath before continuing. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I have to tell you… you’ve passed!’
After four failures, countless lessons and even a hypnotherapy session, I couldn’t quite process that I’d finally succeeded at the age of 47.
That was in 2018, and as I now drive, alone, up and down the winding rural roads where I live in the West Highlands, it seems that
I really am legally permitted to take charge of a car.
GIVING UP
I first had lessons when I was 17. The instructor was old school and sexist – he liked to tell me I ‘needed a firework in my knickers’ when I was slow at pulling away at junctions, and I soon gave up in disgust. I tried again in my 30s. I was living in the suburbs of Manchester with my family, and my then-husband was getting tired of being the taxi service for our children. I found a lovely woman instructor, and we pootled round the city every week. In fact, we got on too well and I’d spend lessons advising her on her relationship instead of checking my mirror. I failed three times and gave up again.
I ended up having no choice but to learn when I moved to Scotland in 2016, as we lived 15 miles from the nearest shop.
YEAR OF LESSONS
I found kindly, gentle Neil and, after almost a year of lessons, which mostly involved tootling round local lanes while he murmured, ‘Watch that squirrel!’ I took my test, terrified – and failed again.
But this time I wasn’t quitting. ‘You can drive fine, but you have to manage your nerves,’ Neil said.
The first time I drove to the shops alone after passing my test, I felt like Tom Cruise in Top Gun, a master of machinery, free and powerful. I just couldn’t believe that other people had been casually doing this for decades.
Now, I genuinely enjoy driving. I feel happy and relaxed behind the wheel.
Most importantly,
I have freedom. Knowing that
I can drive myself to see my family, or pop to a friend’s house, is a revelation to me. Do I wish I’d done it years ago? No, because now I’m older, I’m a much better – and a calmer – driver.
‘I FELT LIKE TOM CRUISE’