Learning to drive

[SteelEdges]

First Cong thread. Woo.

So I'd like to hear stories about how Smogoners learned to drive. Any interesting anecdotes or tips would be great. I have to admit there's a bit of a selfish motivation here - due to mental illness and other reasons, I don't drive at all, and I'm a bit tired of that! I have friends in nearby towns and cities that I don't get to see very often, and I think reading about how people learn to drive, deal with driving, conquer their fears if they had them, and so on would be great (and possibly help me). I keep telling my family that self-driving cars are coming soon but I don't know if I can wait...

Also, if you're a younger user who can't drive, you're still welcome to post in the thread and give your opinions.

 

[Sweep]

The good old fashion way, with my mom in the passenger's seat giving instructions and having a couple of panic attacks along the way.

 

[Holiday]

^^^^ pretty much echoing Sweep. My dad would just let me drive around our neighborhood and progressively move to roads, back roads, highway etc. My school also has a Driver's Ed. class which isn't mandatory after you have your license, but it helps with insurance so I figured I'd take it. Helped me out even more. Driving really isn't that scary once you have more experience with it, just gotta keep doing it haha.

 

[Kink]

First Cong thread. Woo.

So I'd like to hear stories about how Smogoners learned to drive. Any interesting anecdotes or tips would be great. I have to admit there's a bit of a selfish motivation here - due to mental illness and other reasons, I don't drive at all, and I'm a bit tired of that! I have friends in nearby towns and cities that I don't get to see very often, and I think reading about how people learn to drive, deal with driving, conquer their fears if they had them, and so on would be great (and possibly help me). I keep telling my family that self-driving cars are coming soon but I don't know if I can wait...

Also, if you're a younger user who can't drive, you're still welcome to post in the thread and give your opinions.

Practise makes adequate. Good luck dude, you'll figure it out :)

 

[Ununhexium]

Trial and error

 

[Ajwf]

Start in a parking lot. Also learn one car at a time. Each car has a slightly different acceleration/turn radius/breaking pattern to get used to. And don't be afraid to drive a bit slower.... turning at mild speeds is far more difficult than it first seems.

 

[Dubby]

My dad is a pretty big car enthusiast and has only driven one automatic in his life (his current car), so I learned how to drive a car on a manual. Needless to say my dad was pretty excited when I told him I wanted to buy a manual car. Took me a couple of months before I really had the clutch movement just right, and while it sucks absolute balls during that time you're learning, once you master stick shift, it's so so much fun.

 

[ant]

Learned on a manual... Automatic cars aren't common in my country and I despise that. I'm terrible with manuals. But just driving around is pretty easy. You just gotta get used to the speed and adrenaline. I never got my license because I hate manuals. Idk how to back in either because I never finished my classes. It's a pretty cool thing to have though, but if you live in the big city like me, you can just get away with public transport!

 

[trace]

I learnt driving after a motorcycle crash which leave me unable to ride it for a while,
I had my cousins to teach me how to drive, parking lot is a good place to learn on.

 

[Ampharos]

Parking lots are definitely the best place to start learning. Also idk if you have any control over this but preferably the one who teaches you should be someone who isn't going to freak out over every slight misstep because that's going to cause YOU to freak out and make said missteps even worse. source: personal experience

Also, you're going to naturally want to drive slowly at first, and that's OK. Don't feel pressured to go any faster than you're comfortable with - that'll come with time.

 

[Danmire]

Learning to drive with my mom and dad was a bit...odd. In Cuban households, there are two types of parents (at least, from where I was raised). The ones who throw you IN the pool to teach you, or the ones who will swim tied next to you to teach you. It was a bit of a combination for my sake. My mom would let me drive around the neighborhood but if I start speeding just a tiny bit, she'd start freaking out. My dad however would get irritated and say I'd go ridiculously slow. Still, it was fun learning the fundamentals of speed, even if it was all mixed up like that. I feel like, at least for me, driving comes naturally and becomes such a staple in life that you know what to do as soon as you get behind a wheel. Sort of like brushing your teeth, it just comes naturally. You'll get there as long as you have patience.

Also, driving in Miami REALLY sucks so it also depends where you're driving too I guess haha. Driving becomes really fun though, so hopefully you'll have a great time doing so :)

 

[Fluke]

Surprisingly everyone here learns driving with their parents as an instructor. I never did that, and my parents wouldn't have supported me driving a car without a license. I took driving lessons about 3 years ago, and got my license in a year or so. Failed my exams twice because of short tempered examiners, which almost made me lose faith. Passed the third time though, and I like driving ever since. Because I don't have an own car I barely drive, so whenever I see my parents I borrow my dads car for a day. The only thing I'm still having troubles with sometimes is inclining in parking garages. Need to practice that some more.

 

[Billy the Uncle]

I'll start this saying I am an enthusiast motorist. I'd drive around all day if I could.

I first learned to ride on my old Piaggio Vespa when I was 14, around the courtyard and in deserted roads (i live in a small country town). Then I switched to a small motorbike, and I'm still a proud motorbike owner. (This gives me the idea for another thread... but I digress).

I learned to drive at 18 under the tutelage of my parents, especially my dad, who is a car and motorbike lover himself. When I first got "official" driving lessons the teacher was surprised at how good I already was.

 

[Lemonade]

probably going to have to drive manual from wherever I buy the car back to my apartment soon pls help

I can't focus when driving automatic; there's nothing going on but I should probably pay attention to the road. My friend was in a similar situation until he bought a manual so I'm gonna go with his recommendation

 

[Ojo46]

I'm also in the process of learning how to drive too. I've been in driver's Ed for a few months and I'm starting to get used to the feel of it, but the biggest thing for me is that I'm still trying to understand the concept of "right of way", I'm in the process of realizing who should go first on a turn and all that.

 

[MattL]

Drive predictably. If you do what the other drivers on the road expect you to do, it's not unlikely you'll never get into a crash in your life. That means don't make quick, erratic, unexpected movements during heavier traffic, etc. Have your turn signal on for at least a second before you even begin to change lanes. Don't suddenly speed up or slow down a lot (unless you have to in order to avoid a crash). Things like that.

Work your way up slowly and incrementally. Start in a deserted parking lot until you don't feel uncomfortable at all. Then move to a quiet neighborhood until you're not uncomfortable. Then to small suburban streets (like 30 MPH streets) until you're not uncomfortable. Then to larger suburban streets until...you know. Then, you don't have to go straight to the freeway. You can go onto the onramp and then immediately exit if there's a freeway section like that, just so you can get used to going 50 MPH or so without it completely scaring you. Again, gradual and incremental.

 

[Twisted Kneebar]

you can't learn to drive on Smogon. I can give you all sorts of tips but I have to be right next to you so it can make sense and so I can correct you. I would strongly recommend hiring a driving instructor if you can. That's where I really learned.

You can get a friend or family member to teach you but most likely they suck at driving. My mom was a panic attack instructor, and my brother was a maniac idiot driver. When I finally got some lessons I learned that my mom and brother suck. People who think they are good drivers are that way usually because they think that because they can speed in traffic and quickly change lanes that they are good but that is exactly how people should NOT behave on the road. Then they teach other people to drive like this and then you got the city of Miami. Thats how I wouldve ended up if I learned from my bro.

 

[Twisted Kneebar]

But you said to post about how people overcame fears of driving, SteelEdges? I can tell you about that, if you have fear driving. My thing was that I learned to drive but never had a car, so I had no experience. Then my brother got into a serious car accident that made me so scared of driving that I had to relearn and got lessons from an instructor. Took a loooong time to get over it and the only way to knock out the fear was by driving a lot... Baby steps first, obviously.

If you have fear and anxiety driving, an instructor helps because you're getting your skills rated by a professional. Prior to lessons, I thought I was a pretty good driver as I was going 30+ in residential neighborhoods. I'm fine driving now for the most part.

 

[toshimelonhead]

I learned the same way I learned how to eat elephants...one bite at a time.

 

[Aladyyn]

Took me 4 tries to get my license and I barely drive anymore after 2,5 years. Worth.

 

[Nova]

Forza

 

[DHR-107]

Took my test 4 times (UK Examination is pretty hard).

3 before I left for uni (4 years) and then passed first time after I came back after riding a 125cc scooter for ~18 months. Was easy after that. Learnt on a manual, will probably only ever drive manual from now on... It's really rare to have an automatic in the UK (imo they are slightly more dangerous).

Just take it super easy to start with. I spent most of my first lesson learning gears etc, getting my head around the gates and stuff (it was pretty easy cause I've been driving on racing sims for years). Worst part with a manual is learning the clutch bite point and hill starts imo. Over here, you have to do two reversing maneuvers during your test out of 3. May be different now, I had to do a 3 point turn and reverse bay park and the other is a parallel park (which I still hate so I am glad I didn't get that one). Failed my first test due to someone cutting me up, not my fault, but "You should have been more aware of traffic"; Cause I can mind read someone who isn't indicating... 2nd and 3rd were hesitancy (which is apparently super bad on your test, but irl, ALWAYS TAKE YOUR TIME).

Oh, always look in your mirrors like every minute or so during the test, signal early (a lot of people on the road don't signal at all) and make sure you make a decision about what you are doing, don't half ass it.

 

[aVocado]

I learned to drive with a proper trainer in a car designed to be used for training purposes, where both seats would have pedals/driving wheel, and I'd be in the main seat with the driver on the other seat. If I do anything wrong he'd tell me and if I do something stupid (like forget watching the other way when taking a turn or whatever) he'd brake etc. It helped a lot.

Then after that I got my license and just started driving on my own. Took me a good bit to get down going backwards/reverse, it still confuses me a bit but I can do it fine with trial and error lol, just usually not sure where exactly I should turn my wheel.

Driving itself I find is /incredibly/ easy if you actually pay attention, and by pay attention i mean nothing more than not playing with ur phone etc.

 

[Adeleine]

I'm just learning to drive now (almost my permit today but rip in a logistics fail). If you are learning to drive now or will be soon, you won't be the only one!

The fears you and I both have are, well, real. People do get really messed up and die in car accidents, as the news makes sure we know very well. But from my observations and predictions, doing two things makes the fears a lot more manageable: expecting other drivers to screw up (yay pessimism! lol) and making sure you are in optimal condition to drive (no texting, alcohol within 12 hours, calling, etc.). After that, it seems like getting your feet wet and gaining confidence make it more "normal".

 

[MANNAT]

I started driving in parking lots and I'm taking my driving test in a couple days, but it'll be kinda weird to not have to worry about hearing my mom yell, "SLOW DOWN" every time we get to a stop light even though I'm already slowing down lol