Recently I've joined a driving school in Bangalore. Below is my experience so far:
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99% of the car driving schools charge around Rs. 3000. This includes learning the driving + LL (Learner’s License) + DL (Driver’s License). You will be taught a total of 10 hours. Usually 1 hour a day for 10 days or if your time doesn’t permit everyday, 2 hrs each on Sat and Sun.
Which driving school to choose?
I enquired at Ganesh Driving School in Basavanagar, close to my home and he quoted Rs. 2800. They had a Santro and M800 to learn on. This is set up very recently and these guys looked ok. The lessons here will be on weekdays only. The problem with going w/ Ganesh is that I didn’t want to go late to my office and on my 2-wheeler (Honda Activa).
Then I enquired at Dhanush Driving School in Vignan Nagar. The ‘office’ (if you can call it that) didn’t look professional at all and he asked for Rs. 3000. I asked him to reduce the price to Rs. 2900. He agreed. I then told him that it’s 100 rupees cheaper at Ganesh and he agreed for Rs. 2700. I was not at all impressed by the way it went and left that place. One of my colleagues later told me that I did a wise thing by not going w/ them as apparently they will make you wait for hours before the learning car would turn up.
I also enquired at
Maruti Driving School, Indiranagar and was told that a new batch would start on April 1st. But the timings here (morning to 6 PM) don’t suit my personal/work lifestyle. So I had to drop these guys. But otherwise, seems like this is the best option to learn driving going by the details mentioned on their site. The price is also higher (and seems justified).
I enquired for a school close to my office in Whitefield and many recommended
Manasa Motor Driving School. These guys charge Rs. 3000. During the first phone enquiry, I told them that I would like to learn on a Wagon R (since that’s what I planned to buy then, now I have decided to buy an
i10). They said they don’t have it and I need to settle for Santro. Upon further insisting, they agreed for 5 hrs on Santro and 5 hrs on Wagon R. Here are their contact numbers: 28518443, 32901686, 9341225047, 9341149098.
We agreed upon a time (11 AM to 12 PM). Below are my day-to-day car driving learning experiences:
Day 1: Steering Control. The car was promptly outside my place of work at 11 AM. The instructor asked me to hop into the driver’s seat and I told him that this is the very first time I will be driving a car. He assured me that there’s nothing to worry. The car has a extra set of clutch and brake pedals near his feet. All I did on the first day was to control the steering and the car was going real slow, in the first gear. It’s not easy to judge where the left side of the car is and how far/close it is to the kerb. Perhaps I felt so because of lack of a left rear view mirror. The instructor adjusted the steering and in the other times asked me to steer left/right when necessary. I didn’t place my foot on any of the pedals. I was told to ‘drive’ the car to their office. Here I filled my name and address details and paid Rs. 1000. I was told to bring the needed documents for learner’s license the next day. They also gave me a progress card and a sheet containing traffic symbols. These are 1) Address Proof - A photocopy of BSNL telephone bill along w/ the original 2) ID Proof - A photocopy of SSC certificate along w/ the original 3) 5 passport photos. I controlled the steering for an hour and finally we stopped in front of my work place. The instructor entered the start time, end time, the kilometers run and took my signature.
Day 2: Steering Control + Accelerator. The instructor made me push the accelerator a little bit now and then. I felt that compared to clutch and brake pedals, putting the foot on accelerator is less taxing. I furnished the documents needed for LL.
Next Day: Learner’s License. I arrived at 9 AM to Madhu Manasa Driving School’s office near Kundanahalli with the traffic symbols sheet. I went through it few times and memorized all the signs. The sheet also mentions the steps one needs to take after an accident and the list of documents to be carried all the time w/ you while driving:
T - Tax card,
R - R. C. Book,
I - Insurance Certificate,
E - Emission Certificate,
D - Driving License.
Another instructor told us the 6 hand signs:
- Moving - right arm stretched completely with palm down)
- Stopping - right arm half stretch, hand up
- Turning Right - right arm stretched completely with the front of palm facing ahead
- Turning left - right arm stretched completely and drawing a counter clockwise circle (right to left)
- Slowing down - right arm stretched and waving up and down
- Giving way (letting pass) - right arms stretched and waving back to front.
The ‘moving’ and ‘turning right’ signs were tricky and the instructor made me practice these multiple times. I was given a neatly prepared file containing the filled application form. Then we (there were 3 others like me) headed to KR Puram RTO. I thought that the driving school guys will take us there in a car. But that was not the case to be. I went there on my Honda Activa along w/ a helper guy from the driving school as my pillion rider. It was quite far away (perhaps 20 KM). After reaching the RTO, I stood in the queue for half an hour. One officer verified the photocopies (against the originals). Then I took them to another officer for entry into their system. I was told to sit and wait for my turn to appear for a verbal test by a police officer. I noticed that there were few who were waiting in another room for a written test. My theory is that if you go via a driving school, there won’t be any written test. The officer asked me to show the hand signs for turning right, stopping and asked me to identify 4 to 5 symbols. I did w/o any problem. He told me that I am good to go.
There was no driving session today.
Day 3: I learned how to move the vehicle from stationary position. It involves releasing the clutch up to half point and keeping it pressed there. The car will move slowly forward
without the having to press the accelerator. I think is called the ‘half clutch’ method. When on a up-slope, the break has to be held down and when the clutch is released up to half point, the car will start to vibrate slowly…at that time, the break has to be released and the car will neither go down nor up. Then release the clutch a little further and it will go forward. Now acceleration can be given. I practiced stopping and moving forward many times. 3 out of 10 times, the car stopped abruptly and the engine got switched off because I was leaving the clutch too fast.
Day 4: The instructor showed me the usage of gears. He told me to ensure that I pass the gear stick through the neutral when shifting gears. For example, when changing from 1st to 2nd, don’t just pull the gear back. But, move it in L shape to hit the neutral, then move it to left and down to engage the 2nd gear. The clutch can be released fairly quickly when shifting from 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd, 3rd to 4th (I was also told not to press the accelerator until the clutch is fully released in these cases).
Day 5: Instead of Santro, it was Esteem today. Even though the car is bigger, I didn’t find any difference. In fact, I found that gear changing is smoother in Esteem. I drove the car 90% of the time myself today w/o the instructor’s intervention. Practiced stopping and moving many times. I engaged the reverse gear for the first time and did a 3-point turn on an empty road. One question that’s lingering in my mind is: I am taking some time to move the car from stopped position when using the half clutch method. But in the Bangalore stop-and-go traffic, if I take this much time, people in the vehicles behind will get impatient and start honking. I need to ask the instructor if it’s ok for me to move the car using accelerator when the road is plain (and not having an up-slope).
I received my LL today. The instructor told me to make several photocopies of it and return the original to him the next day. Apparently, the LL will be converted into DL.