Driving is scary!

[Urthdigger]

Well, I just drove for the first time since getting my permit. I've never been more scared in my life. First off, the gas and brake were MUCH more sensitive than I ever anticipated (I push a fraction of an inch and the car leaps forward!). The steering on the other hand was insensitive. I never knew you had to turn the wheel that much just to turn a corner. Aside from those, the only other problem I had was forgetting I was on the left side of the car. I kept thinking I had another half of a car to my left, and forgetting about the right side of the car. I almost swerved into a ditch to avoid a car I thought would have crashed into us! I'll try again later, but I'm a bit razzled now.

[Medusa]

Driving for the first few times was scary for me too but you eventually get used to it and it gradually gets less scary as you get more used to the car. I often found I had the same issues with the steering wheel too, not know how much to turn in and such. No worries, keep up the good work

[mazil]

The sensitivity of the accelerator/brakes/steering/clutch vary quite a bit from car to car... but yeah, it definately takes some getting used to!

Do you have any big empty carparks near where you live? I found those were great when I first started driving. I was way too uncoordinated to drive on proper roads for a long time, so they were a nice safe place to drive. They're great for the parking practice too!

[spacecase33]

The sensitivity of the accelerator/brakes/steering/clutch vary quite a bit from car to car... but yeah, it definately takes some getting used to!

Do you have any big empty carparks near where you live? I found those were great when I first started driving. I was way too uncoordinated to drive on proper roads for a long time, so they were a nice safe place to drive. They're great for the parking practice too!

Yeah, parking lots are great places to start learning to drive . You have to make sure you don't stay in parking lots for too long though. I practiced in one off and on for quite a while until the summer between my junior and senior years in high school when I decided that I WAS going to drive to school senior year and needed to seriously learn to drive. I started taking driving lessons with AAA and the first thing the instructor did was take me out on a pretty major highway. I was scared out of my mind! After doing some parking lot work, he had me go to yet another highway where there was construction going on. I accidentally hit the mirror of the car on a construction barrel...not a fun first real driving experience at all! It does get easier with practice, though. Once you start feeling more comfortable on the roads, you should drive whenever your family is going somewhere...it's great practice!

[SpiraLethe]

I learned to drive on a manual shift car. And you think automatic is scary! I spent the first day just trying to get the car moving.

[ahoteinrun]

The first time I drove... was at my farm in an empty field. Nothing I could hurt right?
Wrong.
We've got a bit of unbroken land and my mom made me drive close around that. Some stupid deer popped out and SMACK!
First words out of my mouth?
"OMG! BAMBIS MOM!"
Yeah, that sucked. That sucked a lot.
But after that it got better. Like the second time I drove, on a gravel road, and we didn't realise a sink hole had devloped along the edge and CRUNCH. Yeah. That was a fun one trying to get out of.

But honestly. It does get better. I used to be terrified of driving, and now I quite enjoy it. I love driving on highways, going 130 on a 110 road... with not a care in the world. Gotta love the Calgary - Edmonton Highway 2 in which cops won't stop you until you hit 140.
I mean...

speeding is wrong. Never never speed.
(i've done it once, shhh. Big rush... not my fault)

[Kuri]

Driving can be scary the first few times. I started out in large parking lot for the first "lesson" in order to get used to turning, signaling, how sensitive the pedals were, etc. After awhile you get used to it though. Although left turns still freak me out. I'm getting much better about them though...

[Smart Duck]

Driving is pretty scary at first, but it gets easier. If you can find some quiet streets to practice on, that helps a lot. I live in a small town with a lot of farms around, so I went out with my mom and drove around on the dirt roads. And if you know that the car you're going to be driving most of the time is a manual, I would suggest learning just the driving on an automatic. It makes the stick so much easier.

[Urthdigger]

Thanks guys. I was driving on a relatively empty street, but there was still some traffic. I've thought of using a local parking lot, but my mom isn't inclined to wake up at 6 in the morning on a weekend, as the lot would only be empty until 8.

[Sapphire Faerie]

Drive in a graveyard. The little.. lane-street-things are kind of narrow, but you can practice without having to worry about many (if any) other cars or people being around.

[Medusa]

Thanks guys. I was driving on a relatively empty street, but there was still some traffic. I've thought of using a local parking lot, but my mom isn't inclined to wake up at 6 in the morning on a weekend, as the lot would only be empty until 8.

Sometimes school carparks over the weekends and holidays are relatively empty. A school carpark was where I had my first ever drive

[shimmer]

I hate driving. The first time I drove in drivers training I ran 2 stopsigns. And now I'm 16 and I still don't have my lisence but I'm planning on getting it by the end of the school year... which gives me about a month and a half. I'll probably end up barely passing my drivers test if I pass it at all. But that doesn't matter cuz even if I barely pass I'll still be happy.

[spacecase33]

Drive in a graveyard. The little.. lane-street-things are kind of narrow, but you can practice without having to worry about many (if any) other cars or people being around.

Hehheh...I did that myself. There's a cemetery behind our house, and my dad thought I should practice there. I was kind of skeptical at first (was woried about what would happen if I hit a gravestone or something), but it was actually really helpful, and I got through it accident-free .

[Medusa]

I hate driving. The first time I drove in drivers training I ran 2 stopsigns. And now I'm 16 and I still don't have my lisence but I'm planning on getting it by the end of the school year...

I didn't get my license until I was 17 and a half in fact I had to take my theoretical test a second time because the time for my first learners permit expired. What I hated most about driving was the pressure from everyone around saying that I need to learn to drive because you can't get by without a license (I still don't necessarily agree with that statement). To everyone learning to drive, don't stress yourself about it, relax, take your time and eventually you'll get it

[Charisma]

Thanks guys. I was driving on a relatively empty street, but there was still some traffic. I've thought of using a local parking lot, but my mom isn't inclined to wake up at 6 in the morning on a weekend, as the lot would only be empty until 8.

No schools near you? those parking lots tend to be really empty on weekends. I was stuck doing the parking lot thing for like 1/2 a year...well maybe not that long but it sure seemed like it. My mom wanted me to get it down right and practice and practice until she thought I was ready for the road. I whined and complained so much about it, so unfair. If we didn't get to do the driving in the parking lot for like 2 weeks and then on the third week I finally convinced someone to come with me...it was back to the stupid lot because we hadn't been practicing for 2 weeks. I HATED IT! I mean it was their fault we hadn't practiced, not like I hadn't already done the parking lot for like 3 other practice days before that...argh

Okay, sorry just had to rant there. Do the parking lot thing, just don't get stuck in the parking lot like I did. Then go out to low traffic roads, although I found the highway easier for me to drive around when I was taking my lessons. I didn't like the little town roads, they felt busier to me and more calculating.

You will get the hang of making turns and calculating how much gas you need. One hint for making turns is not to use both hands to pull the wheel. Lets see if I can explain this when you turn if you are using both hands you tend to either crossover and not allow for a wide enough turn or slide the wheel little by little with your hands. What you should do is grab the wheel far enough right or left depending what type of turn you are making and pull just with one hand to make the turn...make sense? probably not . Also when making turns, always, always slow down, there is no rush to making a turn

You will learn how to maintain a speed without having to look at the speedometer constantly, you will be able to feel the speed you are going soon enough.

The hardest part for me was parking, they say girls aren't as good as calculating spaces as men are. Some tests say they are better at this visually than girls, probably true, it was in my circumstance. I however learned how to park and eventhough I'm not great at it now, need to work on parallel I'm okay and can manage .