The most nerve-racking 45 minutes of my life came 11 years ago when I took my driving test.
I was therefore not very happy when the editor of the Chronicle asked me to take it again.
"It's a stupid test anyway," I told colleagues and friends. "It doesn't really test your driving ability, it's just a tick-box exercise, you have to jump through their hoops."
I said these things in pre-emptive damage limitation. I was convinced I would fail due to 11 years of bad driving habits. I mean, who in the real world drives with their hands at 'ten and two'?
Who doesn't allow the wheel to spin back by itself when straightening up after a turn? Who really checks their mirrors, or uses their indicators? Who doesn't drive with their knees while eating a bacon sandwich?
OK, I exaggerate, but statistically, Barnsley doesn't do that well when it comes to the driving test.
The national pass rate is about 47 per cent. In Barnsley, it's only 40 per cent - the lowest pass rate in South Yorkshire. Although Barnsley men do better than women - 44 per cent for men compared to 37 for women, so that was reassuring.
But with these figures in mind, I was determined to pass. So I gave it my all. Malcolm Bailey, of the Pelican driving school, was my examiner.
He didn't do me any favours at all. "I can't remember whether you're supposed to indicate when passing parked cars," I said, early on in the test as I went past a long line of them in Hoyland. "I'll tell you at the end," said Malcolm.
The sweat began to pour. I decided to indicate only when there was someone up my backside, as there frequently was. 'Ten and two' resonated around my head with every turn, so much that at one point, I forgot what gear I was in. Driving becomes such an intuitive ability that when you start trying to think about it, it gets really tricky.
'Mirrors, mirrors, mirrors,' I told myself. I started to get dizzy, flicking my head from left to right every three seconds just to make sure.
And then as I turned left off the Dearne Valley Parkway, along Sheffield Road into Hoyland, I thought I'd blown it. I was doing 34mph (at least).
It looked like a 40 zone at first, but the streetlights were a dead give-away. I tried to remain calm as I eased it back down to 30 but I knew he'd noticed.
As it happened, because I checked my mirrors before changing my speed, it only went down as a minor fault. One of 11 in total - I passed.
What a relief. I've driven cars worth about £1m in total so far this year in my role as motoring correspondent, including a £103,000 Jaguar. Hopefully the editor will be a little more comfortable about that from now on.
Oh, and if you wondered about the parked cars, you generally don't need to indicate, as your road positioning will be 'signal enough' to other drivers. Provided you check your mirrors first, of course.
