More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A woman who has been trying to learn to drive for almost 15 years and has been dubbed Britain’s worst motorist is now hoping to pass after several instructors offered to get her through the test.
Janine Mars, 31, who lives in Chatham, has spent thousands on lessons over the past 14 years, and even thought she’d been blacklisted from some Medway driving schools due to her failure to pass her test.
However, since Ms Mars, was featured in national newspapers this week, several driving instructors have contacted her offering to help.
Ms Mars, who works as a personal assistant on a construction site, has failed her practical test four times and despite intensive instruction, admits she still can’t pull away from a junction without stalling.
During her time learning, she says she’s had five different instructors, but none of them have managed to teach her how to drive properly.
She had tried to contact several she previously used to start lessons again recently, but when they never returned her calls she presumed she was blacklisted.
Over the years she has spent more than £5,000 on 260 lessons and puts her epic failure record down to lack of confidence.
Ms Mars said even the incentive of her mother, Radha, offering to help her pay for a new car if she passes, has not given her the push to achieve her goal.
She said: "I’ve had to take my theory test twice as it only lasts for two years if you’ve not passed your driving test.
"I passed that with flying colours as I downloaded the app to study it and I am theoretically minded by nature, so can do things like that easily."
However, when it comes to driving, she’s not so confident.
She added: "It’s nerves all the time and I lack confidence.
"People say to me driving is like being on auto-pilot, but it's not for me.
“I try and work out each manoeuvre and thing I’ve got to do in my head, but can’t seem to put it into practice very well.
“I stalled the car at the Bowaters roundabout in Gillingham once and had a complete meltdown.
"After a few years I stopped counting how much money I had spent, but its certainly more than £5,000, which is crazy.
"I can’t give up now though, I’ve invested too much to stop, but at the moment I am taking a break as I have just appeared on dating show Take Me Out and that is filmed over several weeks so I couldn’t commit to driving lessons at the time.
"But since I’ve been in the papers and on the television I now have been approached by some Medway driving instructors who have offered to get me through my test.
“I will take them up on the offer when I am ready to get back behind the wheel.”
Ms Mars wasn’t lucky enough to bag herself a date on the TV show either as she was not picked by the single man featured on the hit ITV programme.
However, she’s not downhearted about that either.
She said: "It has been fun ever since I was on the show. It’s like I’ve been on whirlwind.
"I keep getting stopped by people who saw it and it’s weird, I get stopped about three or four times a week.
"This morning on the way to Chatham Railway Station as I was doing my power walking on the way to work a group of school children started shouting out to me.
“I think I made a complete tit of myself on the show but others seemed to like me, so that’s nice.”
Stories you might have missed
Man 'stabbed in chest and stomach' airlifted to hospital
Will Kent be Clarkson's last stand?
Mystery over 'spine-tingling' pier discovery
