Learning to drive

[Shinryu]

I had an odd path to getting my license. Like most high schoolers I sat through Driver's Ed class, but being that my family was poor during that time, it's not like we had another car lying around and I rode the bus to HS anyways, so I just honestly never bothered doing the road portion (even though we had paid for the road portion), the school oddly never made an effort in contacting me about it so we ended up getting it refunded anyways).

Even when going to college I would just hitch a ride to campus when needed with my dad since it was in the general direction of his work. Only when that stopped did I have to get a license, so I ended up finally getting a lerner's permit and sat through one of the adult (I guess?) driving schools and passed it within the span of a few months, so I graduated to a full license directly without having to take the traditional road tests and other stuff at the dmv. Unconventional I guess, but hell to this day I still really hate driving as much as I did back in HS, hate commuting to work, wouldn't do it but I don't trust any of our lousy public transportation to not get shanked on a bus or die of heat stroke in the summer.

 

[Reisen]

Driving with parents is the best way to learn effectively, you are more confident in yourself, more confortable and you aren't scared of making mistakes because you are actually driving with someone close to you. I personally had that feeling when I was driving with my father, I prefered driving with him rather than a monitor. However if you take this option, you will have to be careful during the exam because they are waiting of you that you adopt the monitor's driving which is the "best" for the exam. When you always drive with your parents you can eventually take bad habits like having one hand on the steering wheel and another on the gearbox (that's what I used to do with a manual car).

 

[nekoramen]

I've had my license for just about a year now (so I've been driving for a year and a half). My state has required behind-the-wheel training for those under 18, so I had to do six hours of driving with an instructor. It felt a bit more comfortable doing that than with my parents, because the instructor has this brake that overrides the driver (instructor sits shotgun). I find parking and merging onto highways difficult—it's hard to judge distances while parking (especially the 90 degree backup that is part of my state's driving test) and I still get nervous when traffic is involved. I've been told that the safest speed to merge at is the speed of oncoming traffic, so I try to follow that. Generally if you signal, oncoming traffic will either slow down or speed up to let you in (usually and hopefully they slow down or change into another lane).

I also agree with Tiksi that distracted driving is bad driving. I find it hard to stay awake at times (especially while driving alone), so when I find myself falling asleep I roll down the windows and blast pop music.

 

[Coronis]

Driving is pretty easy once you get used to it, though to be fair, I've never driven a manual - my parents only ever had automatics. Fortunately my dad was the one who mainly taught me (former taxi driver), rather than my mum, who will never drive at night or out of our home town. I also had a few lessons with an instructor (a requirement in Australia). The only problems I ever really had were in the very beginning, I was young and quite overconfident. Now I'm driving as a job and my only worry is other drivers that can't seem to follow simple road rules.

In essence, take it slowly at first, have a few lessons with an instructor (or just learn completely from one if you have no suitable friends/family) then within a few months you shouldn't really have many worries. I've also been without my license for periods of time due to a medical condition and having to rely on other people or public transport is incredibly frustrating. Main reason I love driving is the independence and freedom it gives me!