Tell me: Your Early Driving Experiences.

[Dizko]

So yea got my first drving lesson yesterday. Scared the crap outa me because the only time i've drven a car was a year ago in an empty car park for about 2 minutes. The instructor pulled over at the side of a busy 4-lane road and started explaining the basics. Then we swapped seats and he told me to 'Go'. X_X I was really scared but i had no choice. I dont know what american cars are like...they don't have gears right, so no clutch? Well i managed to operate it...with an average amount of skill... After a not-to-juttery start, i was driving along, struggling with the gears at traffic lights and crapping myself at roundabouts. And to make matters worse, for 20 minutes there was a 20ft lorry right behind me taking up the whole rear view mirror! It was all very scary but very fun aswell, and the instructor said i did well for my first go =P ------------- So what are you're early driving experiences?

[CoLd BlooDed]

Standard transmission exists everywhere, kid. I learned off a standard about a year ago and have flourished ever since, no lessons or anything. I go for my license in a couple weeks. (I have some good stories, but that'll come later).

[Dizko]

Looking forward to them ^^

[Adam]

I learnt to drive in a Mondeo, so when it came to my test in a Corsa it was easy! I loved driving, and before they used to ride motorbikes!

[panta-rei]

I am very observant, at least I like to think so... So when it was near the time that I was going to start driving... I watched other people closely... The first time I drove, I did great... I only sucked at changing lanes... I changed lanes to quickly.

[Patrick]

I've been learning to drive for over six months. I panic so easily. Who invented roundabouts? They should be shot.

[Adam]

You should be glad you don't live in India, because over there the person driving onto the roundabout has right of way

[Soldier]

its insane in Chile, when I was on a visit there I took a cab and it was insane! the traffic lines on the road are hardly guide lines for them. you pass cars by a inch or two. I looked out the window and the sides of cars were passing by by 2-3 inches are cab driver was at perfect ease the whole ride. if you want to learn how to drive in extreme conditions go to Chile.

[Spartiate]

Who invented roundabouts? They should be shot. I love those things, stop signs create huge bottlenecks.

[lagunagirl]

aww drivers ed... pretty much sucked. it was actually kind of okay, because one of my best friends was my driving partner and she was in the same class as me. we were pretty much opposites though. She would always get good grades on the written/ in class stuff and I would do better on the actual drives. She didn't like to go fast and the only drive I actually got a solid A on was my highway drive because I actually didn't speed.

[Mes Tarrant]

People don't give a crap about traffic laws in India, so yes, be glad you don't live there! I had a lot of near collisions when I was first learning to drive, but somehow I survived without any kind of accident.

[vivedream]

My early driving experience, um, not so good. I also thought I was invincible and had the need for speed. I also got out of a lot of tickets by crying, good to be a girl sometimes. My guy friends could not believe it, I would be like watch this, then turn on the waterworks and get off every time. I consider myself lucky I made it past the I am invincible stage.

[C911]

Lol this wasnt my first driving experience, but about 3 months after i got my license i got into a huge wreck. I was pulling out of wendys and turning left on a two lane road. I looked left and saw a semi-truck about a quarter mile down. I looked right and two cars had to pass before an opening. When that opening came, my buddy thought it would be funny to yell "go" and see if i would. I figured the semi was still a distance away (it was in town, so it was a 30 mph limit), so i hit the gas. Right when i did i looked left and the semi was right in my front windshield. It threw my truck into a 360, and totaled out the semi. I was sent to the hospital, and a friend of mine who was riding in the back bed of my truck was also sent to the hospital. He was fine, just a cut on his arm from the side of the truck, but i was in a coma for 5 days. (if you can call that a coma). So yeah, not the best experience, but the semi driver got half the blame because he was going 75 in a 30 (so said the camera above the light he blew). But i still got in a lot of trouble.. oi.

[psychology student]

I have a driving test this week!

[AmazeO XD]

I don't know what bozo decided that he should tell you the basics of driving and then give it to you at a 4 lane. There's two ways of teaching driving, the careful way, and the quick way. I'm learning the careful way. Sure, I drove my buddy's car around parking lots/side streets two years before I got my temporary liscense, but that was a little bucket car. When I started learning with my father, I'm driving his Lincoln. It's a boat of a car. I started with basics (getting used to the touchyness of the gas and brakes, steering, turning signals) in the local community college parking lot. Then he drove home 95% of the way, and let me drive the rest of the way home (through some side streets). Also, just the other day, some little kid shot out from behind some bushes on his bike, and almost ran into the car. Too bad my ninja reflexes avoided him. The next day, we went to some small side streets, the next time some bigger ones, and then just recently, some more populated streets with some difficult turns. Better safe than sorry. And OP, one thing to always remember when driving... drive defensively. American drivers can be completely stupid, so always watch your own ass on the road.

[Dizko]

Oh right. Now i see how badly worded my orginal post was. I was tired. Anyway im not american nor do i live in america. Nevertheless, the drivers over hear are mostly idiots aswell from what i can see. Thanks for the advice all, thanks AmazeO.

[Emerald Wolf]

This seems to be the right sort of thread for such things so I'm going to confess that I have a phobia of driving. I've legally been allowed to drive for four years by now but due to living in walking distance from the unviersity I'm attending, have only driven a car the few times my mother has insisted I do so (so as not to forget how to drive). Why? because I'm terrified being in a crowd of random people and thats basically what being on a road is like. Except of course that everyone is sitting behind a fast moving machine that may result in some sort of either dangerous or simply embarrassing accident which I have no confidence of being able to avoid. Not that I don't realize being able to drive is an important factor in modern life... but then again I'm terrified of (modern) life in general.

[Dizko]

Have you tried using lucid dreaming to overcome this phobia? Im not sure how you would go about it but im sure its possible.

[Holiace]

I learned to drive with my mom in a Industrial area were there is very little traffic. I have only driven for 10 months and I started out with a car with manual transmission and I have only driven cars with a stick. "Failomatic" (or Failmatic if you prefer, it means automatic... Internet term) is only good for beginners and very heavy cars, you should learn how to drive manual since it's better and more fun. Anyways, I've never had any real mishaps such as driving off the road or bumping into someone (Lucky me) but I can only guess what some people have done...

[Ardent Lost]

I'm a learner at the moment. Was going to go for my test a few years ago, but got sick so i had to put it off (that's another story entirely). Back then i was learning in a manual transmission, which rattled the hell out of me. It was great fun when you got a bit of straight road and could just run up the gears, but man i had a lot of trouble keeping control of the car and changing gears and keeping my eyes on the road and my speed and my mirrors, all while listening to my instructor. I mean i actually wasn't that bad. I was a safe driver, it just took a while for me to pick things up. And so i've just started learning again, this time sticking to auto transmission, and it's so much easier! My instructor says i'm doing real well and i'll be going for my test in about three months. My only nerves are the same as many a learner: changing lanes, parking, and i suck at judging gaps when i'm turning off of/on to a busy road. The only real mistake i have ever made was when i couldn't get the car into gear when i was first learning to drive, and ended up burning half the clutch out. That and when i pulled out next to a car on a main road, which in itself was alright, except i must have been momentarily blind because i didn't see the guy at all, after looking down the road and everything. I didn't hit him, but i think i came close (i really didn't see him until after the "incident" was over). So yeah, it's a highly nerve-wracking time at the moment. That space where you know you need to learn how to drive, but you really don't feel comfortable doing it. Terrible.