Driving a car

[Pamela]

This summer I am willing to sign up for driving courses and get a driving license. Once I drove a car, but this short-term experience happened a thousand years ago, so my skills have faded away. Now I am a neophyte and anticipate my first lessons. I know that many of you (Amy, Conchita, Jamie and others) have cars. Did you feel scared or slightly excited during your first driving experience?

P.S. I've made some typos in the post (hope, nothing is missed now)

[NinaZara]

Hi Pamela!

I'm thinking of the same thing too!I want to buy a car next year so I need to get the Japan's driving license and fast!But the driving class is so expensive(compared to Malaysia's price) so I'm thinking of just having the test, I've already got Malaysia's driving license.

And don't worry so much about the driving. Once you're on the wheel, your body will remember it. Almost the same thing as riding a bicycle, you can't forget that!

Nina
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Okotteru Papa mo suki dakedo, nikoniko yasashii Papa ha mo~tto suki!

[Pamela]

Hi Nina,

My father owns a car, but I don't drive it now being afraid of bumping into anything. So it would be better to attend lessons first. Thanks for advice!

[Yankee]

Hi Pamela

When you wrote "once I drove a car", did you mean that you have literally only driven a car one time? If so, then you're basically going to be starting from scratch this summer. Right?

In the US, I'd say most people are taught how to drive by their parents. The high schools also often offer (elective) driver education classes, but the amount of actual on-the-road practice you get during those classes is minimal.

My father taught me how to drive. My mother was probably just too scared to teach a 16-year-old how to drive. She was probably far more nervous about being in a car with me at the wheel than I was.

I learned how to drive in an old VW Microbus.

I do remember that I was a little bit nervous the first couple of times I was out with my father -- but only a tiny little bit nervous. The first few times, he took me to very isolated spots to practice the basics: how to use the clutch and shift gears, back up, do K-turns, parallel park, etc. When there are no other cars around you, it's hard to be nervous about driving.

I also did the driver ed course at my high school. I think I learned way more from my dad than I learned in that course, though. The main advantage of doing such a course is that car insurance is then a little cheaper.

Probably the time I was most nervous during my driving lessons happened after I'd already been practicing with my dad for a while. We were in the middle of town and I had stopped at a stop sign. This stop sign was at the top of a rather steep hill, and when I tried to begin moving again after I'd stopped, I stalled the car. Now, our VW microbus was already fairly old at the time and it had an odd problem. Sometimes when you turned the key in the ignition to start the car, nothing at all happened. This didn't happen all the time -- only occasionally. And when I stalled the car at the top of that hill that day, the car would not start again. The only way to get the car going when this happened was to "pop the clutch". Usually this involved having someone push the car and when the car was rolling fast enough, the driver could let out the clutch pedal quickly and the car would start (in first gear). Of course, you would normally do this with the car being pushed forward. But, when the car stalled at the top of that hill and wouldn't start again, the only option was to let the car roll backward and then pop the clutch in reverse. Now THAT I was nervous about.

[NinaZara]

Amy,

The "hill" test was one of the scariest test in my life because it was the easiest test to fail.My sister didn't fail it so it was sort of a pressure for me not to mess it up too (she was being mean and promised to laugh if I fail that part).

My father refused to teach me to drive. He said he preferred me in the hands of a professional. And after driving with him oh so many times, I prefer to be in the passenger seat!And my Mom, she covered her eyes with her hands and sat at the back seat when I drove her to the market the first time. The closest relative who was willing to help me was my cool aunty

Nina
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Okotteru Papa mo suki dakedo, nikoniko yasashii Papa ha mo~tto suki!

[Conchita]

I don’t remember feeling scared, but I certainly looked forward to each and every single driving lesson. Whether the driving instructor’s great personality and looks accounted for it is a bit unclear, but I suspect it helped a lot – it couldn’t have been for the car make, a Seat 127, sometimes a 133, or for the perspective of being thrown into the jungle of merciless traffic right in the centre of Madrid.

Anyway, the fact remains that I’ve always enjoyed driving, ever since those first exciting experiences behind the wheel.

[Pamela]

[Dark magician]

Hello guys

Hi Pamela!

I was know you going to register in driving school this summer.

Dear Pamela

I did this experience in this winter, and it was very interesting.
really, I enjoy it so much . in my country there there tests for you get a driving license.

first : traffic's signs.

second :cars's mechanic.( this my favorite subject)

the last test :drive car.
thanks my God, I passed all these tests and I get a driving license.

but unfortunately the first test to me lonely in the city I crashed into another car.
any way I still drive car but more carefuly.( I learned from my mistake -no speed in city -)

best wishes for you Pamela
you may drive me by your car if I visit your city.....

P.S. I drive now my father's car because I don't have car yet.

Mba
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Right is always stronger than iniquity.

[Yankee]

[diverhank]

Wow driving a car...I got my license at 16 and that was more than a generation ago...I learned to drive in high school in a specialized car that had two steering wheels...one for me and one for the instructor. Perhaps because the instructor could take over when he needed to, the teaching was very aggressive...we drove around in the school parking lot for a few minutes then straight to the freeway...Mind you this was my very first time handling a car and within a half an hour I was driving at almost 100 km per hour...I was young and brave and loved every minute of it.

[Pamela]

Hi Mba and thanks!
Like Amy, I am also curious about the subject you mentioned. I have to do everything Amy listed in her last post and nothing beyond this stuff.

[*Delta*]

hey i actually felt so scared when i drove for the first time
but with traning i guess that you'll get used to it
and even enjoy it

best wishes..
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A Life Unfolds .. No One Knows

[prezbucky]

Pamela

I would imagine that it'll be like getting back on a bike -- you'll be a bit rusty, but it should come back to you fairly easily.

At least... let's hope so! hehe
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Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Pamela]

Hi, my friends

My three-month courses are over. Four days ago I passed my exams. I should note I adore driving and it brings me a feeling of profound satisfaction. It's just champion!
But do you know my first lesson started on a busy street .Do you know how it feels to be ordered to drive for a neophyte in a town. My instructor dumbfounded me by exacting to drive straight along the thoroughfare. I was about to balk at by referring to my scanty experience and explaining that my poor skills required pulling up first but suddenly was cut short. I obeyed, thinking: 'Come what may...'

I must admit that was not a duck soup to me but I tried my damnedest not to bump into any car Then (luckily) my second lesson proved to be good and I became more confident in my driving!

Now I am obsessed by the idea of buying a car!

[prezbucky]

Did you learn in a car with a manual transmission or an automatic transmission?
_________________
Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.