Horns blaring, tail-gating, angry waving arms. We've copped it all.

No, it's not because I'm a particularly bad driver, but rather my partner and I have been teaching his 16-year-old daughter to drive (and no, she's not bad either!).

I went into the experience safe in the knowledge that L Plates were the widely accepted symbol of "give this person space, they are just learning and will make mistakes".

They demanded thoughtfulness for your fellow driver. Care.

A shuffling of the normal road rage onto the backburner.

But boy, oh boy, was I wrong.

There's not a bit of grace for stalling at a red light. For travelling slightly below the speed limit.

Not a care as she tackles head-checks, mirror checks, shifts gear - all with traffic blaring everywhere.

She had to do a hill-start at a set of lights with a car almost directly on her bumper - I say proudly that she nailed it (her dad's hand hovering to apply a hard yank to the handbrake) - but still the pressure!

You'd think the big L plate on the back of the early 90s Corolla would perhaps give the other driver pause for stopping so close - if for no other reason than the safety of their own bumper on their rather new SUV. But alas.

To the 16-year-old's credit, she's handled it all with a state of calm - or maybe it's just that teenage "meh-ness" doesn't get shaken for anything.

But me - I'm raging.

"How dare they!" I seethe inside. "It's only her first (second/third etc) drive. Don't they know!"

As if a few second delay while she tries to find that gear, or waits for a bigger gap to turn, makes that bit of a difference in the grand scheme of things.

But alas, the horns sound on.

So next time you see an L plate take a deep breath. Remember, you were also once a learner after all.

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