Driving is...

[Sparx]

Oh, I have to adjust the seat either way, I can't reach the pedals! My parents are 5'11 and 5'10 respectively, and I am never going to be that tall!

i'm 5'5'' and i'm the only person (besides matt occasionally) who drives my car. once you have your own car, it will get A LOT easier, because everything stays adjusted right where you left it

 

[Babyjustrun]

I drive with one foot. My parents would murder me if I drove with both.
I don't know anybody who drives with both.
It also makes more sense to me, because when I was doing emergency braking, I had to have my left foot pressed against the front of the car to keep myself from flying all over the place.

And I have the hardest time reaching the brake. I have to have my seat up so I can see over the dash, and it's hard for me to reach the brake. You should have the balls of your feet on the brake, and I tend to only have my toes there.

 

[imabrat]

It's normal for parents to yell, lol. They're very nervous, feeling very out of control, and kind of sad to see you growing up all at one time. Heck, my dad yelled at me once for not starting to slow down for a red light, when I swear, I was over a block from the darn thing.

DE teachers are trained for that kind of stuff, I think they'd be more calm...but not have that personal touch that your parents would have. I think it was kind of fun to have my dad teach me; we bonded.

Yeah, I know my mom is having a hard time with it, but she knows I'm someone who doesn't work well under any kind of pressure. I don't think she really expected this, like going from almost a year of being totally dependent and not, by any means a normal teenager, and then becoming a normal teen again and independent.
I think I would feel more confident with my tutor as a DE instructor because she's much more calm and laid-back. I think she said it was $100-300 (I really can't remember the number, all I know it was hundreds and rounded, I think it was 2) for 6 1-2 hour lessons. I don't think that's bad, but it would definitely be worth it for my confidence and safety.

Oh, first let me tell you that I was absolutely petrified over driving!! It took me a long time to get used to making left turns and driving at night. Those were the 2 things that scared me the most. Now I'm fine.

But, for me the best thing I did was to face my fears. You can't get good at driving if you don't practice. And I think you have a whole year from when you get your permit to your license if you so choose (you can do that here).

But like I said practice practice practice! Drive to school, the grocery store, the mall, ect. If your mom or dad has to run errands you do the driving! Its a great way to learn to back out, park, turn, ect.

Hang in there! KUP on how your doing!

Yeah, we have up to 1 year. I'm eligible to take my road test on January 31st, but I really can't picture myself driving in snow.
Driving at night terrifies me. I can't drive between the hours of 11pm and 5 am though, not sure if it's like that in all states.
And, the thing that really freaks me out, I live by Interstate 80 which goes through the country. If I have to get on 80 in one town, it enters on the left, not the right! And on that stretch of road, if you're not doing 70 or higher you'll be run over.

i'm 5'5'' and i'm the only person (besides matt occasionally) who drives my car. once you have your own car, it will get A LOT easier, because everything stays adjusted right where you left it

Hahah I hope so. My biggest complaint is that I'm learning on a mini van, which is waaaay too big. And, it doesn't go high enough, as in vertically.

 

[Sparx]

Yeah, I know my mom is having a hard time with it, but she knows I'm someone who doesn't work well under any kind of pressure. I don't think she really expected this, like going from almost a year of being totally dependent and not, by any means a normal teenager, and then becoming a normal teen again and independent.
I think I would feel more confident with my tutor as a DE instructor because she's much more calm and laid-back. I think she said it was $100-300 (I really can't remember the number, all I know it was hundreds and rounded, I think it was 2) for 6 1-2 hour lessons. I don't think that's bad, but it would definitely be worth it for my confidence and safety.



Yeah, we have up to 1 year. I'm eligible to take my road test on January 31st, but I really can't picture myself driving in snow.
Driving at night terrifies me. I can't drive between the hours of 11pm and 5 am though, not sure if it's like that in all states.
And, the thing that really freaks me out, I live by Interstate 80 which goes through the country. If I have to get on 80 in one town, it enters on the left, not the right! And on that stretch of road, if you're not doing 70 or higher you'll be run over.



Hahah I hope so. My biggest complaint is that I'm learning on a mini van, which is waaaay too big. And, it doesn't go high enough, as in vertically.

try sitting on a pillow. i learned to drive in a pick up truck (hello tennessee. ) but being up off the ground so much is actually VERY helpful. my car now is very low to the ground (i drive a mom car) and i kind of miss being able to see as well as i could up in the truck.

 

[Babyjustrun]

Ahah I used to drive with a pillow when my mom drove a 2002 Cavalier. Those seats are awful low.

I find the driving instructor helped me. He had control of the vehicle (he had his own set of brakes) and he was very experienced so he was much nicer about my mistakes and less afraid. He had helpful tips. My parents tend to get scared, which causes them to get mad and then yell. Once you start yelling at me, I'm useless, and make more mistakes.

 

[imabrat]

try sitting on a pillow. i learned to drive in a pick up truck (hello tennessee. ) but being up off the ground so much is actually VERY helpful. my car now is very low to the ground (i drive a mom car) and i kind of miss being able to see as well as i could up in the truck.

Hahaha. I keep telling myself if the country bumpkins who like to drive around shirtless and can't pass the 8th grade can learn to drive, so can I.

Ahah I used to drive with a pillow when my mom drove a 2002 Cavalier. Those seats are awful low.

I find the driving instructor helped me. He had control of the vehicle (he had his own set of brakes) and he was very experienced so he was much nicer about my mistakes and less afraid. He had helpful tips. My parents tend to get scared, which causes them to get mad and then yell. Once you start yelling at me, I'm useless, and make more mistakes.

Uhoh. My dad's is a 2002 Cavalier. Guess I'll need that pillow, haha.

 

[xApril]

My mom has been teaching me. My dad wants no part in it and my Mom feels better that she's teaching me as opposed to him. For weeks, we did nothing but drive around our neighborhood and my uncle's old neighborhood. I just had no confidence with driving and it just was a fear of mine. It's not bad anymore and I don't get nerves when I have to drive us some place.

I think you guys are lucky if you got DE at school. I wasted an entire semester on DE at school. They don't have cars. It was just a bunch of book work where we learned the rules. Most of them were pretty self-explanatory or they just didn't stick with me so it was a waste of time. We had the chance to take the permit test 4 times. I passed the signs with a 100% the first time. The rules, I kept missing and having difficulty with. I failed it 4 times and I eventually just went to the DMV and the test was so easy. We only had practice on simulators for driving. It was, of course, nothing like driving at all.

My mom just had me practice in parking lots/neighborhoods until I was comfortable. With due time, you'll be fine. I feel sorry for you since you have to deal with snow. A downside for me is that I live in Florida, basically in "tourist" town so there's always a lot of traffic, a lot of people who don't know where they're going, and there's always someone who just can't drive right.

You're a strong girl and I'm sure within no time, you'll get through this and it'll be easy.

 

[Babyjustrun]

Hahaha. I keep telling myself if the country bumpkins who like to drive around shirtless and can't pass the 8th grade can learn to drive, so can I.


Uhoh. My dad's is a 2002 Cavalier. Guess I'll need that pillow, haha.

Ahah you might want one. I find the seat is so low, and the steering wheel doesn't adjust, so it's kind of hard to see out of for me. Also, I hated adjusting the mirrors, because it wasn't power adjustments.

 

[imabrat]

I think you guys are lucky if you got DE at school. I wasted an entire semester on DE at school. /QUOTE]

We don't. They got rid of it a few years ago so you either need to go to an independent DS or get your parents to teach you. /:

Ahah you might want one. I find the seat is so low, and the steering wheel doesn't adjust, so it's kind of hard to see out of for me. Also, I hated adjusting the mirrors, because it wasn't power adjustments.

It doesn't? My mom has a Chevy Venture and the wheel adjusts downwards, but it just feels too low.

 

[TinkerTracy]

i waited a really long time to get my permint i'm almost 19 and i got my permit this past march.
then i took about a month and a half of private driving lessons. i was so nervous but my mom took me out in an empty parking lot to get a feel for driving. then my instructor took me out of real roads and everything. i was so nervous but having a professional really helped me.
it took me a while to get comfortable driving, but once you get over the intial fear its really a lot of fun.
i just took my dirvers license test 2 weeks ago and i passed of my first try!
i know i waited longer than most people, but i really wanted to be ready for the responsibility
good luck and be safe everyone.

 

[Babyjustrun]

I think you guys are lucky if you got DE at school. I wasted an entire semester on DE at school. /QUOTE]

We don't. They got rid of it a few years ago so you either need to go to an independent DS or get your parents to teach you. /:



It doesn't? My mom has a Chevy Venture and the wheel adjusts downwards, but it just feels too low.

No, it didn't.
My mom has a corolla now, so it adjusts up and down, in and out.
I find adjusting it down is bad for me, because when I pump my seat up, and I slide forwards in my dad's impala, I'm practically on the steering wheel.

 

[imabrat]

UPDATE!

I learnt how to turn today. Today was the first chance I could go out driving, and I went after physical therapy to this little backroads thing. Two lanes with a turn lane, nice and wide, and barely any people. The way I find it easiest is NOT to make an x, but to keep my elbows bent and pull one by one. Does that make sense?

 

[::Snow_White::]

Agh. Driving makes me paranoid. I stop at every yield, even when the yield is on the other street becuase there's a certain place where people just don't seem to know that you're suppose to yield and I don't want to be hit.

When I'm turning I turn my hands over sometimes and grab the bottom of the top of the wheel and move both hands but don't cross.

A tend to forget things or zone out and that's what you hope never happens. I forgot that at a stoplight the person going straight goes first, me and this woman ended both up in the middle of the road so I just went. It shook me up for a good few hours.

Glad you're getting better! It gets easier with time.

 

[Babyjustrun]

Agh. Driving makes me paranoid. I stop at every yield, even when the yield is on the other street becuase there's a certain place where people just don't seem to know that you're suppose to yield and I don't want to be hit.

When I'm turning I turn my hands over sometimes and grab the bottom of the top of the wheel and move both hands but don't cross.

A tend to forget things or zone out and that's what you hope never happens. I forgot that at a stoplight the person going straight goes first, me and this woman ended both up in the middle of the road so I just went. It shook me up for a good few hours.

Glad you're getting better! It gets easier with time.

I hate yield signs. Most of the time they end up meaning stop for me. And my parents seem to think I don't know what a yield sign is. Whenever we're turning right and I'm yielding to the traffic that's already in the lane, they ALWAYS say 'you have to yield here Hilary'.
Like, how many times have I driven it? I know I have to yield. I can also see the sign. Cause you know, if you don't know what a yield sign is on your permit test, you automatically fail...

 

[imabrat]

So I went out again for a little over an hour with my dad after he got home from work. We went around the same area again, and then we went all around my fairly small development. I went in my mom's van first, and then I took my dad's Cavalier out afterwards. The van is higher up and it's definitely better for out on the main roads, while the Cavalier is better for residential, less busy roads.

While I was driving around, some lady cut me off and I think my stomach rose all the way up to my throat. I was stopped at a 3 point stop sign. Check left, no one there. Check right, no one there. Check left again, no one there. I get ready to accelerate and turn to the right, when all of a sudden a black Jeep speeds past me from the left. She was NOT there when I looked, and when she sped past me she gave me the evil glare. /:

 

[imabrat]

Oh, and the fact that my dad was egging me on -"go faster!" didn't help! Speed limit was 30, I was going 25, and that was fast enough for me. I was like "Dad just shut up! This is only my 2nd day driving!"

 

[Sparx]

Oh, and the fact that my dad was egging me on -"go faster!" didn't help! Speed limit was 30, I was going 25, and that was fast enough for me. I was like "Dad just shut up! This is only my 2nd day driving!"

i remember feeling like that. now, anything slower than 45 is CRAWLING.

 

[crazytp93]

I got my permit (finally) today!

I'm pretty good a driving. Here its mostly suburban so there's really no backroads I can practice on.

I practiced in a parking lot though. I'm pretty good at parking.

 

[imabrat]

i remember feeling like that. now, anything slower than 45 is CRAWLING.

Yeah, I hit 40 today and I thought I was gonna die. On a relatively empty road where the limit was 30. In my development it's 15 but it's really hard to do 15 because it's mostly downhill.

 

[Babyjustrun]

My dad always wants me to go exactly the speed limit. He always says 'What's the speed limit?' repeatedly, and it's annoying. It's the question you think you aren't supposed to answer, and then he repeats it until I answer. I hate it. I am allowed to go beneath the speed limit, come on. I need to work on not speeding, because otherwise, I'm never gonna pass my test.
I'm comfortable going any speed. 120 km/h is the fastest I've done, which was technically speeding, as the limit was 110.