Driving....

matherto

matherto

20 times 20 times Man United
13 October 2004
St. Helens, Merseyside.
Manchester United
well, it's time for me to learn, my first lesson is in fifteen minutes, and I'm not really sure how to feel

nervous? excited? not arsed?

this might not be a big deal to anyone, especially those who have driven for a while, but still....
 
Tried three tests and gave up; I was way, way too nervous. It was never because I was worried about my ability - it's other people. Some of the things you get taught are new things that older drivers just don't do, and if you've both got different rulebooks then it's going to lead to an accident.

There's too many maniacs on the road; and with all of the car tax, petrol tax, £1-per-mile tax (or whatever it is)... I'll be sticking to a bike.

It's a great feeling to drive though, don't get me wrong. If I won the lottery and could just drive on racetracks, then I'd take lessons again in a second.
 
Jack Bauer said:
Tried three tests and gave up; I was way, way too nervous. It was never because I was worried about my ability - it's other people. Some of the things you get taught are new things that older drivers just don't do, and if you've both got different rulebooks then it's going to lead to an accident.

There's too many maniacs on the road; and with all of the car tax, petrol tax, £1-per-mile tax (or whatever it is)... I'll be sticking to a bike.

It's a great feeling to drive though, don't get me wrong. If I won the lottery and could just drive on racetracks, then I'd take lessons again in a second.
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man, thats great you dont need a car where you live, here in america not driving is almost unthinkable(unfortunatley), i dont think i know anyone who doesnt know how to drive, much less not own a car.
 
csaunders said:
man, thats great you dont need a car where you live, here in america not driving is almost unthinkable(unfortunatley), i dont think i know anyone who doesnt know how to drive, much less not own a car.
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true, i noticed it too, and i can say that the same goes for italy.
but i noticed also that gettin the driving license in usa is much easier than in europe for many reasons (automatic transmission is the most important probably).

moreover gettin a car in usa is easier too coz u guys have an excellent used cars market. buying used cars in italy (don't know about the rest of europe) is quite hard coz the "market" is not so big and prices are not so affordable..... especially if compared with usa used cars prices. :(

matherto, will this be your first drive? how old are u?
still remember mi first time driving my father's car... great moment. i'm sure u'll enjoy it :D
 
I have one advice, never drive while tripping on drugs.

Oh and another one, never fall asleep while driving in your car.
 
I was so eager to drive I had my first lesson on my 17th birthday, got so confident behind the wheel that after a few months I put in for my test and passed first time.

JB has got a few valid points about other drivers, there's a lot of arseholes on the road these days, just beware of them!!
 
lo zio said:
matherto, will this be your first drive? how old are u?
still remember mi first time driving my father's car... great moment. i'm sure u'll enjoy it :D
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indeed it was, I turned 17 yesterday, this was my present

it was weird at first, because I wasn't feeling the nerves up until I got behind the wheel. It was harder than I thought it mightve been, but once I got going (at least, without dickhead bikers with a deathwish, JB you're right), I was alright, got a bit of a confidence boost when he said I was better than the last few he had lessons with, though whether that was just exactly that, a confidence booster, I dunno).

It does feel very good when you're driving down the road at a fair speed though, can't wait to go again
 
matherto said:
indeed it was, I turned 17 yesterday, this was my present

it was weird at first, because I wasn't feeling the nerves up until I got behind the wheel. It was harder than I thought it mightve been, but once I got going (at least, without dickhead bikers with a deathwish, JB you're right), I was alright, got a bit of a confidence boost when he said I was better than the last few he had lessons with, though whether that was just exactly that, a confidence booster, I dunno).

It does feel very good when you're driving down the road at a fair speed though, can't wait to go again
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:D
it's normal to feel a little nervous at the beginning. i can guarrantee u will enjoy it each time more than the previous, as u will be more confident.
are u allowed to drive with an expert driver?
coz here in italy, when u'r 17 u can get a "pink license" that allows u to drive (even if u still haven't any driving license) as long as u have a person wich has (at least) a 10 years driving experience. this is much important as u can get a lot of driving experience (and coolness) in a very little while (as long as u can find a parent, relativ or friend wich has a driving license since 10 years.... and a lot of spare time).
is there anything similar in england?
 
well I think it's 3/4 years of experience here and you can take someone out whos learning, so I'm gonna go out in my mums car with her, or my dad after a few more lessons
 
matherto said:
well I think it's 3/4 years of experience here and you can take someone out whos learning, so I'm gonna go out in my mums car with her, or my dad after a few more lessons
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3\4 years? good! this makes it easier. this way u can go out also with a friend a little older than u. if i may, i suggest u to avoid going out with your parents. usually they're awful when it's about teaching their sons how to drive :mrgreen:

my father teached me when i was 12. now i'm 27 and when we are together in my car, he still bothers me with his "advices" :lol:
 
Practice is key

I know of people who only took like 10 lessons and passed because they practiced endlessly on their parents' car.

I hadn't and ended up paying shiteloads on driving lessons. To make matters worse, I had a break of approx 3 years after failing first time as I was in uni :(

Another piece of advice, take a break from playing driving games as it isn't looked upon too nicely in transferring those skills in real life ;)
 
lo zio said:
3\4 years? good! this makes it easier. this way u can go out also with a friend a little older than u. if i may, i suggest u to avoid going out with your parents. usually they're awful when it's about teaching their sons how to drive :mrgreen:

my father teached me when i was 12. now i'm 27 and when we are together in my car, he still bothers me with his "advices" :lol:
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it is a good rule that, cause my sisters 3.5 years older, and I know all her mates, only problem is every single one of them is a danger to the public once behind the wheel of a car :lol:

and yeah, taking advice from my parents could be interesting, cause I usually either don't listen to them, or have a very
short temper, so who knows what might happen :shock:

rockyabir said:
Practice is key

I know of people who only took like 10 lessons and passed because they practiced endlessly on their parents' car.
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definately is the plan, I had heard that BSM is the best if you want to pass quickly anyway, my next lesson is next Monday, and I'll soon be practising apart from that anyway,

Another piece of advice, take a break from playing driving games as it isn't looked upon too nicely in transferring those skills in real life
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I know what you mean, I can't see the guy being pleased if I try and drift an Astra like an F1 LM or F50 GT from PGR3 :lmao:
 
In the UK you have to have held a full, valid driver's licence for at least 3 years and be over the age of 21 to supervise a learner driver.

The only problem with learning from your parents is that you might be very tentative as its their car you're driving, and if you bump it....... ohhhh dear!! :lol:
 
The biggest piece of advice I can give you is get an instructor who you're comfortable with. That may sound stupid, but I was too nervous to ditch the instructor I had, and spent £30 a week for a year on his lessons (PLEASE NOBODY TELL ME HOW MUCH THIS TOTALS, I DON'T WANT TO FUCKING KNOW). He was an utter wanker, recommended by one of my sister's mates (who'd had lessons with him 15 years before me).

You'd be driving along and then all of a sudden, even if you were in the middle of nowhere with nobody on the road, he would GRAB the steering wheel and shout "NO NO FACKING HELL LAD!!" - he put the fear of God up you. This was for things like forgetting to look in a mirror every ten seconds (you think I'm joking). In the end, it got to the point that every time he moved his hand suddenly (usually for a fag or a sweet), I would put my foot on the brake and freeze in-case he was getting ready to scream at me.

If I'd had somebody else then I probably would have passed and not been shaking like a leaf during every driving test. But (being an idiot) I wouldn't get rid of him, because A) my sister's friend wouldn't have been too pleased and B) because I could just see the guy turning up one day and murdering me (there was just something about him)...
 
Spot on JB, I was stuck for which instructor to learn with when I considered taking up driving lessons, and it is a bit difficult to figure out instructors' reputations because you can only learn by word of mouth. I ended up learning from the same instructor that my mam and two of my aunties took their lessons with, and they all passed first time. He was a great instructor, used to tell you right from wrong straight away, unlike some instructors who wouldn't say much until your lesson had finished and read the riot act out. If you made a mistake he wouldn't go beserk, like this one time he told me to turn right and I missed and went straight on.... "aannnnnnd we're going to keep to this road", used to make me laugh more than anything.

My cousin took EIGHT attempts to pass his test, he flunked 7 under the same instructor (who was a dick), so I told him to go with my old instructor and after a few lessons he put in for his test again and passed.

Things have changed on the road since I passed my test, like..... we never had GATSO's or fucking speed humps back then :mrgreen:
 
My dad was a driving instructor years and years ago...so he taught me how to drive.

I passed on my 2nd attempt, first time round I had an emergency ambulance coming straight at me at a traffic lights junction and I didnt know wtf to do!

Whatever you do....do NOT start learning to drive if you think your gonna pack it in after a few months, or when youve failed a few times, because it really is a waste of money, as JB as already said.
 
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csaunders said:
i dont think i know anyone who doesnt know how to drive, much less not own a car.
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lol, that's because yanks can only drive automatics!

that's like someone in the uk saying, 'i don't think i know anyone who doesn't know how to ride a bike' - cos riding a bike is probably about as difficult as driving an automatic! :lmao:

seriously though, how many yanks can drive a manual car (i think you call it a stick-shift) - not many do i bet...
 
Spunk_of_MJ said:
lol, that's because yanks can only drive automatics!

that's like someone in the uk saying, 'i don't think i know anyone who doesn't know how to ride a bike' - cos riding a bike is probably about as difficult as driving an automatic! :lmao:

seriously though, how many yanks can drive a manual car (i think you call it a stick-shift) - not many do i bet...
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man your ignorant, no offense, i learnend on a stick shift, so did pretty much everyone i know. They stopped making manual shifters on alot of cars years ago, because its better on gas mileage and its less parts to break. Now you can get manual shifters on sports cars and optional on other cars, but some cars dont even have the option. If you had to drive in some of the traffic we had, you wouldnt want manual. And driving a manual shift isnt hard unless your an uncoordinated DOLT.

its absolutley nothing like this statement

'i don't think i know anyone who doesn't know how to ride a bike'
 
Driving an automatic in America is great, actually found it a lot easier than using a manual gearbox in cars here. The only problem I had was getting used to "sit in the passenger seat on the wrong side of the road".
 
:: JJ :: said:
Driving an automatic in America is great, actually found it a lot easier than using a manual gearbox in cars here. The only problem I had was getting used to "sit in the passenger seat on the wrong side of the road".
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or sit in the drivers seat on the right side of the road :), imagine using your right hand for shifting instead of your left, i would suck at shifting with my left hand
 
I've never really thought about which hand I change gear with before, but it's much more logical to use your right hand. I'll have to have a driving test in the US... :mryellow:
 
:: JJ :: said:
Driving an automatic in America is great, actually found it a lot easier than using a manual gearbox in cars here. The only problem I had was getting used to "sit in the passenger seat on the wrong side of the road".
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how did you find it with the clutch and accelerator pedals being on the opposite side of the brake?
 
Spunk_of_MJ said:
lol, that's because yanks can only drive automatics!

that's like someone in the uk saying, 'i don't think i know anyone who doesn't know how to ride a bike' - cos riding a bike is probably about as difficult as driving an automatic! :lmao:

seriously though, how many yanks can drive a manual car (i think you call it a stick-shift) - not many do i bet...
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we europeans can be tediously snob sometimes :(
 
i started my driving lesson in november(my 17th birthday) and i'm still doing them now, put in for my theory this week, just one thing matherto, you will get driving lesson days where it's shite and nothing goes for you:D and there are deffinately some ignorant people on the roads. i enjoy my lesson's, can't wait till i get ma license:D
 
The best advice I can give to new and learner drivers is don't take anything for granted, just because you've seen the car waiting to pull onto the road you're on does not mean they have seen you and wont pull out into you, It's amazing how invisible a 1 ton car can get!!
The only thing that stuck from my instructor was...
If I drive like everybody else does not know what they are doing I'll be OK!
They should have motorway driving and night driving as part of the test too but just be confident behind the wheel, keep your brain in gear and your eyes open and you'll be fine.
Driving can be fun but I put in a hell of a lot of miles for my job and it's hard to enjoy four hours of crawling in traffic jams ;)
 
just a little bumpety bump, had the best lesson yet this week, just practising corners, after having done roundabouts and junctions etc for the past two, we didn't have to stop and talk about much apart from a tiny spot of reversing, so he just let me get on with the driving, and my confidence has grown vastly
 
I ran some old woman over on my driving test and then killed her going back to see if she was ok. I went straight over her head, still passed though.
 
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