In my experience, confidence grows in layers, not all at once. The second layer is reading traffic. On busy Birmingham roads, the traffic-reading layer is what most people underestimate. When I started, I felt like everyone was moving faster than me. What helped was realising I didn’t need to be fast, I needed to be predictable and well-positioned.
A step-by-step approach that worked for me was “busy road in small doses.” I’d do 10 minutes on a main road, then pull into a calmer area to reset and review what happened. Then I’d go back out again. That repeated exposure builds calm faster than doing one huge intimidating route. Another great trick is to practise one specific skill on busy roads, like lane changes or merging, rather than trying to perfect everything at once.
For additional insights, you might consider reading more on Imperial Driving Academy.
Just to add, I’d aim to drive at different times of day, because if you can handle one busy lunch-time run and one evening run, your brain stops treating traffic like a surprise.
