First driving lesson checklist: what to bring and what to expect

In short: on your first lesson you will not drive in the city. You will learn to sit correctly, set up the car, move off and stop on a closed site. Bring comfortable shoes and ID, arrive rested and ask questions. Below is the checklist many instructors give their learners before lesson one.

What the first lesson looks like

Under the Uzbek traffic rules, initial driver training takes place on closed sites or test tracks (point 146), and learners go on public roads only with an instructor and once they have basic skills (point 147). A normal first lesson therefore goes like this:

1. Introductions and a short chat about your experience.
2. A walk round the car and getting in.
3. Seat, steering wheel and mirror adjustment.
4. Controls with the engine off.
5. Starting the engine, moving off and stopping.
6. A few laps of the site in first gear, and second gear if things go well.
7. A debrief: what worked and what comes next.

If on day one you are put straight into rush-hour traffic on Bunyodkor or Mukimiy street, think again about the instructor.

The day before

• Confirm the time and meeting point: school yard, test track or a nearby bus stop.
• Ask which car you will drive, including model and gearbox.
• Sleep properly. Tired learners mix up pedals more often, and it shows on the first lap.
• Keep the rest of the day light. The first lesson is more tiring than it looks.

What to bring

Item	Why
ID document	The school may ask for it for its records
Thin-soled shoes with no heel	To feel the pedals, especially the clutch
Glasses or lenses if you wear them	If your medical certificate has a vision restriction, you may not drive without correction
Water	In Tashkent summers a car on an open site heats up fast
Notebook or phone notes	To write down what you were told
Comfortable clothes	Nothing tight at the shoulders or knees

The 083 medical certificate is needed when you enrol. See our guide to the 083 certificate.

The training car: what to check

Under the traffic rules, a training car must carry a "training vehicle" sign and have dual clutch and brake pedals for the instructor, a separate instructor mirror and a GPS unit (point 150). Before you get in, check:

• The training sign on the roof or windscreen.
• Pedals on the passenger side. Learning without a dual brake is unsafe.
• Working seat belts.

Getting in: a routine to learn from day one

A good habit is to memorise "door, seat, mirrors, belt" on the first lesson and repeat it every lesson and on the exam.

1. Door shut until it clicks.
2. Seat distance. Push the clutch to the floor; your knee should stay slightly bent.
3. Backrest. Rest your wrist on the top of the wheel without lifting your shoulder blades. If you cannot reach, bring the backrest forward.
4. Height. Eyes about halfway up the windscreen, bonnet visible.
5. Head restraint. Centre level with the tops of your ears.
6. Steering wheel, if adjustable, so you can see the gauges through the rim.
7. Mirrors. Rear-view shows the whole rear window. Door mirrors show a thin strip of your car at the inner edge, with the horizon halfway up.
8. Belt. Lap section across your hips, not your stomach; diagonal across the shoulder, not the neck.

Controls with the engine off

The instructor demonstrates, and you repeat without looking:

• Pedals from right to left: throttle, brake, clutch. Throttle and brake with the right foot only.
• The gear pattern. Select each gear with the clutch down.
• Neutral: the lever rocks freely left and right.
• Handbrake: up, and down with the button.
• Indicators: up for right, down for left.
• Hazard lights, headlights, wipers.
• Hands on the wheel at "9 and 3" or "10 and 2", thumbs on the rim, not hooked inside.

The first metres

A typical sequence:

1. Start the engine: clutch down, neutral, key or button.
2. Move off: first gear, clutch slowly to the biting point, handbrake down, the car creeps.
3. Stop: clutch, gentle brake, neutral.
4. Repeat 10 to 15 times.
5. Laps of the site with slow turns.

Do not be embarrassed about stalling. Everyone stalls on lesson one; it is part of finding the biting point, explained in our article on hill starts.

Questions to ask your instructor

• How many practical hours are in the course, and how are they split between the site and the city?
• When is the first drive in traffic, and on which route?
• Which car and which test track will the exam use?
• Can I book extra hours, and at what price?
• How do I reschedule if I am ill?

For how much practice you really need, see how many driving hours a beginner needs.

Warning signs

• The instructor is on the phone while you are driving.
• Shouting, or comments about your looks instead of your driving.
• No dual pedals.
• Busy streets on day one.
• Refusing to explain and just saying "do what I do".

One bad lesson is no reason to give up, but it is a reason to change instructor. Many women learners feel calmer with a female instructor, and our catalogue lists them.

How to tell the lesson went fine

After lesson one, a good result looks modest, and that is how it should be:

• You set the seat, mirrors and belt yourself.
• You find any gear without looking.
• At least half your move-offs happen without a stall.
• You stop smoothly, without the nose dipping.
• You know what the next lesson will cover.

Two out of five is also fine. Things usually click by the third or fourth lesson. What matters is that the instructor explains why each mistake happened instead of just saying "again".

Handling nerves in the first five minutes

Almost everyone's hands shake. A few things that help:

• Sit in the car with the engine off for a couple of minutes while the instructor explains the controls.
• Breathe slowly: in for four counts, out for six.
• Say what you are doing out loud: "clutch, first, releasing". It keeps your head busy.
• Agree a "stop" word: you say it, and the instructor stops the car with their own brake, no questions asked.

After the lesson: five lines in your notes

1. What went well.
2. What did not.
3. What the instructor told you to fix.
4. How many times you stalled. You will laugh at this number in a week.
5. A question for next time.

If nerves stop you even getting into the car, read our guide to overcoming fear of driving.

Still choosing a school? Browse driving schools in Tashkent or leave a request on our school matching form and we will suggest options by district, schedule and gearbox type.