First night of defensive driving course

[Horse]

I'm an impatient prick, so I'm doing the AA Defensive Driving Course to cut my time on the restricted from 6 months to 3 (obviously, I'm over 25.... just a tad).

Tonight was session 1. As I feared, I'm the only grownup there, apart from the instructor. Me, and 11 spotty yoofs. At least the gender mix is 50/50, but OMG they're so young. And I think one of the girls must be Richie McCaw's little sister or something. It's eerie.

The course is 99% aimed at spotty yoof learning to drive - it's all about cars, and assumes you have virtually no actual driving experience. In saying that, it wasn't the complete bore I was expecting, so I think it'll be survivable. And if you've got at least half a clue it's not exactly taxing.

I did get one positive biker moment when we were identifying hazards in some photos. "Wire Rope Barriers" I said with a grin. Even better, the instructor was aware of their popularity with bikers, and didn't attempt to defend them.

A bit of homework to do, 1 session down, 3 more to go.

[stevewederell]

Hiya Horse,

I know just what you're going through. I did the same to get my 6R.

It's quite drawn out but all in all it's painless. Make sure when you go for the license that the tester takes your certificate. Mine forgot to check it and it cost me another $15 to get a new one.

The drive around is waste of time for anyone with less than 37 zits or those that don't squeal when someone mentions Dan Carter.:beer:

Try to stay awake and don't stress

[Rych]

Do you have to do a different defensive driving course to shorten bike licence than the car one or can you use same cert?

[Gremlin]

Do you have to do a different defensive driving course to shorten bike licence than the car one or can you use same cert?
More info on the DD course in this thread I created a while ago: http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=30266

in short, currently, there is only one course for cars and bikes (I believe a bike specific one is planned/proposed). However, on completion, you are given the certificate, and this can be applied to one class of license (ie, if you need to shorten car and bike, do the same course back to back, and have one for each... stupid huh?)

Be aware of who is offering the course, some want to send you out for the assessment in a car (I didn't have a car license back then, and still only have a learners).

I do believe the course is good, the material is applicable to controlling any vehicle on the road really, as long as you keep an open mind. Its about being defensive, and identifying hazards in the environment.

[Rych]

Oh, thats just stupid, I still have the certificate couldn't I just go in after 12 months on restricted and try apply for full?

I did the defensive about 4 years ago and back then found it really helpfull to my driving as I had only been on the road for about 18months. Mainly being aware of whats around, it put into me the good habbit of looking eveywhere, driveways side streets, miles ahead etc.

[Gremlin]

If you have used the previous certificate you gained for another class (ie, 1, the cage class) then no, you cannot re-use the certificate. Its been applied already, and can only be used once.