I was millimetres from the kerb on my parallel park in my test, but the examiner passed me. I didn’t pass at 17 and it was only a bit of a windfall (tax rebate from university jobs) that funded me - as a result I learned in Hendon and Barnet. I find driving in London a lot less stressful than anywhere else, oddly, as I’m used to confident and assertive road users, so the hesitancy that’s a little more prevalent outside the M25 spooks me.
This is an interesting thread, with a few themes coming out about the changing nature of cars and indeed society. I don’t really need to drive, and my car has only done 14000 miles in 3 years, but as long as you’re willing to take the cost of it on it’s such a convenience to have a working car you know well at your disposal, so I persist.
I drove in the States a few weeks back and I’d have hated having a manual gearbox to factor in to all of the other ”novel” experiences. It was also my first experience of driving a hybrid (Prius, not your basic Uber model, one of the modern all-in types) and I was so taken with it that I came home with the intention of upgrading my car sooner than I was expecting.