Accompanying him on a lesson through the streets of Randburg, Turpin, with his instructor in the passenger seat beside him, remained calm when a driver behind him hooted, and continued to observe the road rules before he moved his hand to the gear lever and prepared to drive off after stopping at an intersection.
“Some of these traffic lights malfunction and turn green on one side and when you stop a driver behind would be agitated. We did the right thing by stopping and observing,” he said, referring to one of the intersections he passed where the traffic lights were not working.
He intends to practise with an instructor until he feels confident to tackle the roads.
He said he was lucky, considering how he has improved in the past few weeks and would try to improve and, hopefully, do his test and get his licence. He added it was better to learn and know how to navigate the challenges while he was a learner driving with his instructor.
“Imagine I get my driver's licence and face these challenges and panic while my instructor is no longer there?”
He said it would be less dangerous and stressful if the infrastructure was better and drivers more patient with learners.
Brian Ndebele, an instructor, believes the roads in Johannesburg north, where he often conducts his lessons, can be dangerous and intimidating for a learner driver. With impatient drivers, potholes and traffic lights, he says learner drivers easily panic.
“At times these experienced drivers swear and start cutting in front of you just because the car has a learner's sign. I tell my learners to stay calm, even in a situation where people are swearing at them.”
Learners feel they are always wrong when other drivers start to cut in front of them, which is not the case.
He takes his learner drivers to quiet roads until they understand how to control the car, change gears and observe traffic rules. “It is multitasking and it is a lot.”
Ndebele said decaying roads, with potholes and traffic lights that are not working, were a challenge not only for learner drivers, but also for instructors. Impatient drivers worsen the problem. “Drivers are so impatient. They push us to move fast and just drive,” he said.
Louis Goronga, who has been an instructor for more than 10 years, believes some learner drivers are being “schooled” by the drivers they observe on the road, and pick up bad habits.
He believes the state of roads in Johannesburg, with poor signage, often malfunctioning traffic lights, potholes and bad driver attitudes worsen the challenges of instructing learner drivers.
“Often when you tell learners to change lanes on the road they ask 'where should I drive' because some of the roads don't even have visible markings anymore,” he said.
Potholes are a challenge for many learners, who hesitate and come to a stop. “At the same time other drivers are hooting and intimidating our learners on the road.”
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WATCH | Learner drivers must navigate malfunctioning traffic lights, potholes and impatience in Joburg
Image: Phathu Luvhengo/TimesLIVE
Being a learner driver on the roads of Johannesburg is like taking part in an extreme sport, as malfunctioning traffic lights during load-shedding and potholes fuel stress levels.
Samuel Turpin has learnt to blank out the impatience of experienced drivers and their constant hooting.
“I was nervous about it and kept asking 'why am I making other people angry?' I would sometimes switch on emergency lights and slow down.
“But my instructor has told me you don't have to care about them, whether they are angry, as long as you obey the rules of the road and do everything correctly.”
The 27-year-old, who started driving school lessons earlier this year, believes driving is intimidating.
“Drivers get annoyed with learners while we are only following the protocol. They believe we are slowing them and they get angry and start to hoot. Joburg drivers are not patient with learners and there are potholes everywhere and traffic lights that are not working,” he said.
Accompanying him on a lesson through the streets of Randburg, Turpin, with his instructor in the passenger seat beside him, remained calm when a driver behind him hooted, and continued to observe the road rules before he moved his hand to the gear lever and prepared to drive off after stopping at an intersection.
“Some of these traffic lights malfunction and turn green on one side and when you stop a driver behind would be agitated. We did the right thing by stopping and observing,” he said, referring to one of the intersections he passed where the traffic lights were not working.
He intends to practise with an instructor until he feels confident to tackle the roads.
He said he was lucky, considering how he has improved in the past few weeks and would try to improve and, hopefully, do his test and get his licence. He added it was better to learn and know how to navigate the challenges while he was a learner driving with his instructor.
“Imagine I get my driver's licence and face these challenges and panic while my instructor is no longer there?”
He said it would be less dangerous and stressful if the infrastructure was better and drivers more patient with learners.
Brian Ndebele, an instructor, believes the roads in Johannesburg north, where he often conducts his lessons, can be dangerous and intimidating for a learner driver. With impatient drivers, potholes and traffic lights, he says learner drivers easily panic.
“At times these experienced drivers swear and start cutting in front of you just because the car has a learner's sign. I tell my learners to stay calm, even in a situation where people are swearing at them.”
Learners feel they are always wrong when other drivers start to cut in front of them, which is not the case.
He takes his learner drivers to quiet roads until they understand how to control the car, change gears and observe traffic rules. “It is multitasking and it is a lot.”
Ndebele said decaying roads, with potholes and traffic lights that are not working, were a challenge not only for learner drivers, but also for instructors. Impatient drivers worsen the problem. “Drivers are so impatient. They push us to move fast and just drive,” he said.
Louis Goronga, who has been an instructor for more than 10 years, believes some learner drivers are being “schooled” by the drivers they observe on the road, and pick up bad habits.
He believes the state of roads in Johannesburg, with poor signage, often malfunctioning traffic lights, potholes and bad driver attitudes worsen the challenges of instructing learner drivers.
“Often when you tell learners to change lanes on the road they ask 'where should I drive' because some of the roads don't even have visible markings anymore,” he said.
Potholes are a challenge for many learners, who hesitate and come to a stop. “At the same time other drivers are hooting and intimidating our learners on the road.”
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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