Dreaded driving lessons with Dad | BBC Radio Solent's Lou Hannan

Like many youngsters, when I hit 17 I was desperate to get on to the road.

I was lucky in that my mum and dad said I could either have a (very) cheap car with d ad teaching me to drive, or they would pay for lessons for me.

What a choice to be given as a teen!

It only took me seconds to realise that if d ad taught me to drive, I’d get a car at the end of it.

Easy decision! But possibly the wrong one…

What I’ve failed to mention is my d ad was a traffic police officer, and a brilliant one at that.

He also taught many friends’ kids to drive.

Given these two facts, surely I couldn’t wish for a better tutor?

What I’d not taken into account though is the relationship I had with my dad which revolved around the fact that we were both always right.

It was a battle of wills and a stubbornness we’d both adopted over the years and made up 90 per cent of how we interacted – much to the annoyance of my poor suffering mum who would be tearing her hair out as we bickered about the most trivial of things.

And so the lessons began.

Even recalling the memory of those first few brings me out in a cold sweat.

We argued. I didn’t listen. We argued. I forgot things. We argued. We’d call it a day today. Absolute stress!

After a few months it became apparent that perhaps I should have a few professional lessons, which I did.

A lovely man called Neville who took me out in his Nissan Micra and suddenly everything fell into place.

It was only when I got back into the car with d ad that it suddenly dawned on me what a superb driver he was and how, if I’d just listened, the whole process would have been a lot less painful.

I’ll never forget the day he took me for my test and I passed.

He shook the hand of the examiner, said ‘thank God for that’ but I also remember the pride in his eyes.

Fast forward 25 years and he must have done something right as I still hear his voice in my head when I’m behind the wheel!

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