driving

[paulpablo]

I'm new to driving and I feel like I can't stop making mistakes.

Most of them are minor mistakes, and actually some of what I thought were mistakes actually weren't I was just being paranoid.

The mediocre mistakes I made which definitely were mistakes but caused no harm were based on wrong lane choices.

Only 2 of the mistakes I made are mistakes I'm worried about catching up to me.

I was paranoid for a while that I ran a red light but I can't be sure of this it could be paranoia.
The only reason I wasn't completely sure is because my dashboard was giving me a strange warning light which was distracting me. I sort of looked up at the last moment and wasn't sure what light I'd just passed, I looked in my mirror behind me and remembered seeing green but it was quite frosty and blurry through the windows.

The other mistake I DEFINITELY made was today, I turned right, down a road just after a "no turning right" (Except for buses and bicycles) sign

If a camera caught me then I still won't get points on my license for this, just a fine, I hope.

I really am a cautious driver, I know almost for a fact I've never gone over the speed limit, I still indicate and check my mirrors religiously like I'm still on my driving test. I only really make errors driving in places I've never been before.

Anyway, just lookin for some opinions and other peoples personal experience with this type of thing.

It's so fucking frustrating it can take up to two weeks, if the cameras catch you, for the police to send a fine in the post. I'll be spending the next two weeks in total dread.

[zebo-the-fat]

I have been driving since I was 19 years old, I'm now 60 (an official old fart!) I average around 5000 miles per month for work plus my own private driving. So I consider myself to be fairly experienced, I still make stupid mistakes, and so does every other driver. The actual process of driving becomes automatic but in a strange town, where you don't know the roads... things can happen, like you want to drive straight on at traffic lights, then find you are in a left turn only lane but didn't realise because road markings were covered by the vehicles in front, if traffic is heavy you may not be able to change lanes, so just turn left and try to work your way back to the road you should be on. There are the occasional idiot on the road, like "white van man" yesterday, I was driving at the legal limit in the middle lane of the motorway, overtaking slower traffic in the inside lane, this nutter came racing up behind me flashing his lights. When he realised I was not going to break the speed limit for him, he pulled out, raced past me and cut in front of me, missing me by what felt like inches, then he sat in front of me for a couple of miles. All that effort and he gained one car length. Why??
The best advice I got when I started was "Treat every road user like an idiot, including yourself!"