[Gummy-Bear]

Hello dear friends,

As most of you know, I'm 16 years old. This summer I decided to finally take driver's education, seeing as how I was a year late due to working so much last summer. The class part of it was ok, I had a very strange teacher and the class was at 9 in the morning so that was a bad combination but overall.... the class was fine.

I finally got my permit. Now, I had never really driven a car before, except for a few times out in the country. What a different experience the city was!

I ran through someone's yard while backing out of their driveway, ran over a curb, and was so terrified when I went onto a larger street that I took my hands off of the steering wheel and screamed. My mom screamed louder.

What was it like for you guys when y'all started driving?

[DC Sunshine]

I don't recall having too many dramas, my then BF and now hubby last 22 years (!) took me out and was very good (and patient). We did mainly safe suburban streets to start, and progressed from there. I tried having my father teach me - NO! It just didn't work out.

My daughter is your age -she has had worse luck - lots of lunatics on the roads the first few times she went out -confused the accelerator with the brake pedal - o.m.g. that was scary.... She is taking a break from learning at the moment - will learn when she's recovered.

Sounds like you gave your mum a heart atack - slow down and concentrate hey? And know where the brake pedal is!!!!

[shel]

Y taught myself to drive. The first time was no big deal - I was 9yo and took the keys to my dad's Suburban (it was a 1948 or so model), and just drove up and back in the alley behind our house. I never got out of first gear. One of the neighbors saw me and told my parents, and I got into a bucket of trouble, although I swear that my dad was a little bit proud.

My next experience was several years later when I was about 13yo. I snuck out of the house around midnight and "stole" my mom's car, and spent an houror so driving around a couple of streets in our neighborhood. I started sneaking the car out almost every night, and after a bit I got to be a good driver, and started expanding my horizons. I drove out the tip of Long Island one night, up to Connecticut another, to upstate NY, and so on. We lived in a quiet section of Queens, in NYC, and in those days traffic was pretty light.

By the time I was old enough to get a learner's permit, and take driver's education, I'd been driving for about three or four years.

When I was 16yo I taught my grandfather how to drive. We had a cabin out in the country, and it was legal for me to drive at 16 with a learner's permit during the day. Gramps was a terrible driver, and one day he crashed the car into a fence surrounding a field in which cows were grazing. A couple of them escaped!

I was the only kid in my driver's ed class that drove to the classes <LOL>

shel

[KYHeirloomer]

I'm probably one of the few for whom learning was not traumatic.

Dad was a professional driver. The man had no patience, otherwise, and I expected problems. But not so. He knew what he was doiing, and because he was comfortable so was I. Unless is was something dangerous, he'd let me make a mistake. Then, calmly, say: "next time......."

My sister, who can't do much of anything right, is also an excellent driver, for the same reason. She learned from a pro. Although she has a tendency to ride the foot-feed a little too hard, she's one of the few people I'm comfortable with as a passanger.

I was able to teach my kids to drive with no dramatics. And I owe that to Dad, as I merely emulated his teaching style.

[allie]

I started driving as a child sitting on my mom or dad's lap. By the time I was 12, I was driving my dad's old Ford pick up by myself on the dirt roads we lived on and a little bit on the paved road. We lived way out in the country. So by the time I got a learner's permit at 15, I had a good bit of knowledge. Driving in town for the first time was a nerve wracking experience but not too bad. I've been driving ever since. I had one really bad accident due to an exhaust leak that put me to sleep but other than that, no problems.

[Gummy-Bear]

Thank you allie for not making me at all nervous about one other thing.

Thanks for the stories, I went into an empty Target parking lot this morning and drove around. My mom was a lot less nervous. Which in turn, made me less nervous as well. I'm doing better, wish me luck.

[Headless Chicken]

Nothing dramatic, I live in city and I've been a passenger of city driving and I do sometimes pay attention to what they do behind the wheel. On top of that, I didn't go for my permit till I was 20...I spent much of my summers working and saving up for college.

[elizabethbryce@]

Just relax, mate! At least your mother is with you (lucky me!!) If you are driving down the road with an international airline pilot who swears to the heavens above that he is the best pilot in the whole wide world because he earned his way to the top of the food chain, therefore he is a more than perfect driver on earth, you'd be thankful too that you have your mother beside you and not him.

[Mezzaluna]

I'd been excited about driving since I was 6 or 7 years old. My mom was a good driver so I learned good habits from her. On the day I was to take my driver's license test, it snowed 4 inches. I took it anyway and passed. I share a love of cars with my brothers- although none of us is mechanically inclined.

[charan]

I was jus getting bored in my semester holidays and thought of spending the holidays in a useful way. I've mady up myself to learn car driving and jus joined the institute who teaches car driving.

The driver who I got was so friendly in the sense he makes me to drive the car in an easy way and scolds the other drivers for te mistakes committed by me while driving..It was a total fun to drive a car..

Finally got the license and now rocking the roads...

yipeeee...!!!

[jbd]

I drove a lot of different "vehicles" before I ever learned to drive a car on the roads or streets. So of it was by self taught trial and error. Some of it was under the watchful eyes of either my father or my grandfather. Both showed remarkable patience especially my grandfather when I "wrapped" his tractor around a tree while bush hogging.

One day my Dad decides its time for me to learn to drive out on the roads and streets. We get in the car with me at the wheel and he says, "Put the car in reverse and drive us to the mailbox." The mailbox was 3/4 of a mile away on a narrow gravel road with steep hills and sharp curves. When I could comfortably and smoothly, at speeds up to 30 miles per hour on what straight stretches there were, make that drive he let me put the car in drive and go forward.

When I did take the drivers ed course the instructor, who was a friend of my Dad, made me back up down a boat ramp with the specification that I was to stop the car with the bottom of the bumper just touching the water surface. That was the only time I was made to back up in that course, compliments of having learned to drive backwards in the beginning.

While I consider myself quite competent at handling a variety of vehicles I will share that it only takes a split second of inattention to end up in a bad situation.

I thought a guy in front of me had made his turn off of an exit ramp so I started to make my turn and too late realized he had stopped. BANG!!! Fortunately the speed involved was too slow to do damage.

A few years later I rolled a car seven times when I fell asleep at the wheel driving through Nevada at night. The car landed on its top and was mostly crushed. How I didn't end up dead or injured is a mystery to me.

Many years later drunk driver rear ended me at high speed. I had only minor soft tissue injuries from that.

Where I live now there are all kind of cars with writing on them saying something like, " In loving memory of...
1990-2007" If you do some checking they are young people killed in car wrecks. One of my daughters was nearly one of them.

Things can wrong really quickly in a car. Drive with care and pay attention to what you and others are doing on the road. We would all like for Gummy Bear to live to the ripe old age of 85 or so

[allie]

I just wanted to share with you that at 34 years old and having driven cars and trucks alone since I was 12, I had a new experience yesterday, actually make that two. I went to work with my significant other yesterday. He works construction with his brother and has to haul a 12 foot trailer behind the crew cab 4 wheel drive pick up. Yesterday, I drove the truck and trailer back from the job site! It was my first time but no problem......just had to learn how to judge the distance when passing someone on the interstate.

Then, I drove a scooter for the first time. This is one of the larger scooters that goes up to 65 mph (have to have motorcycle endorsement to legally drive it). I had been on a very small moped once but never went over about 10 mph. lol I drove the scooter a couple of miles, took my kids for short rides, and even got up to 50 mph. I know, I know for those who ride bikes, not a big deal but for me this was huge. lol It was fun and now I want one!

[KYHeirloomer]

JBD, your tale reminds me of that great scene in ET, where the kid could only drive backwards, cuz that's all he'd ever done---back the car down to the mailbox.

Your one point cannot be stressed enough. Driving is a full-time job, and if you let your concentration waiver for any reason, shame on you. And, in today's world especially, you should drive defensively---which means if you expect the other guy to do the wrong thing, you'll never be disappointed.

[abefroman]

Originally Posted by Gummy-Bear

Hello dear friends,

As most of you know, I'm 16 years old. This summer I decided to finally take driver's education, seeing as how I was a year late due to working so much last summer. The class part of it was ok, I had a very strange teacher and the class was at 9 in the morning so that was a bad combination but overall.... the class was fine.

I finally got my permit. Now, I had never really driven a car before, except for a few times out in the country. What a different experience the city was!

I ran through someone's yard while backing out of their driveway, ran over a curb, and was so terrified when I went onto a larger street that I took my hands off of the steering wheel and screamed. My mom screamed louder.

What was it like for you guys when y'all started driving?

As with anything you get better with practice.

Anyone can get their license with enough practice, take this lady for instance:
Grandmother finally passes driving test after 27 years and 450 hours of tuition | Mail Online

During the 27 years since her first lesson her two young daughters have grown up and she has become a grandmother.

The 62-year-old also spent more than £15,000 on 450 hours of tuition with 20 driving instructors, had 50 mock tests and 12 failed tests.

[abefroman]

Originally Posted by jbd

When I did take the drivers ed course the instructor, who was a friend of my Dad, made me back up down a boat ramp with the specification that I was to stop the car with the bottom of the bumper just touching the water surface. That was the only time I was made to back up in that course, compliments of having learned to drive backwards in the beginning.

Did you have to use your own car? I hope it wasn't a stick shift.