An Apology From a New Driver

kage_rod

OHMYGOD I'M SO SORRY FOR CUTTING YOU OFF I DIDN'T CHECK AAAAAHHHHH

... Yes. Um. I'm learning to drive, and that's the main type of thing I say - sincere, frantic apologies to my fellow drivers. Now, I refuse to drive with my mom (she looks like she's about to have a heart attack the whole time), so I'm with my AMA driver. The car has a gigantic STUDENT DRIVER sign on top and the same warning all around the shell, with a small sticker stating that it's a standard on the bumper.

I have no other way to apologize, as myself and as a representative for (I hope) most student drivers, so I'm using this forum. Basically, this is my way of saying I'm so sorry for being inconvenient, dumb, naive, scared shitless, and kind of scary to drive near. We're trying to learn, obviously, so we can be proper drivers, but it still sucks to watch others pass you by or see you and actually get grumpy.

Yes. I've seen other driver's faces fall as I turn the corner. Like I'm doom on four wheels, when I'm doing everything right and going the speed limit and everything. And I'm sorry. I really am.

Thank you for taking your time to read this.

VentureJ

Apology...accepted?

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Like I'm doom on four wheels

You are. The first few lessons. Don't feel sorry, people who get grumpy because a student driver makes a mistake are stupid and/or aggravated already. The student driver signs (just one L here, one on the front, on on the back) tells people they should be careful and obey the rules for once to make the student's live easier. You'll get better, good luck Kage *waves*.

Apreche

Play racing video games as practice. It won't help you with traffic rules and such, but it will help you with controls.

am_dragon

The only way you are going to learn is practice. The fact that you know you've made a mistake and feel bad about it makes you better than half the people on the road already. I would recommend a few day trips with a friend or family member. If you live in the city you can have them get you out of town and spend a few hours driving on the highway.

After 21+ years of driving I was in my first accident last April. It was not my fault, I was at a stop light behind other traffic. I saw the other guy coming up behind me. I saw he wasn't slowing down, I couldn't get out of the way and he hit me going about 30 miles an hour. That hurt, totaled my car, I'm just glad a saw him so I could tuck my chin and hold on. The impact broke the back of my seat, and I bent the steering wheel about 70 degrees where I was holding on.

I got a new car, and was overly cautious I thought. 3 months later I was distracted by some construction on a building for just a second. When I turned back to the road everyone in front of me was stopped. I hit the breaks and slid into the guy in front of me. I hit him just as I was stopping, it did no damage to his truck, but really made a mess of my new car.

My point is nobody's perfect. Just stay calm, and pay attention to your surroundings. The more you drive the better you get. Get your mom to drive with you. You can pull over at any time she doesn't feel comfortable.

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am_dragon's advice.

Eh... why not first get your drivers license with a certified instructor and in a proper car with 2 sets of pedals? Once you have your driver's license just get in the car with your parents and do as you've been taught. It'll be weird at first, a strange car, but you'll get used to it.

VentureJ

Play racing video games as practice. It won't help you with traffic rules and such, but it will help you with controls.

Agreed, though it'll also inherently improve your reflexes as well (depending on which game you get, like Gran Turismo)

trogdor9

Eh... why not first get your drivers license with a certified instructor and in a proper car with 2 sets of pedals?

Most student driving cars only have a second brake. Also, it's very hard to learn to drive when you only do it for 2-3 hours at a time every few weeks, especially when you're using a crappy Ford Focus.

/curses AAA's shitty car
//likes his Camry

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Also, it's very hard to learn to drive when you only do it for 2-3 hours at a time every few weeks

I had 40 lessons, each one hour, passed both my theory exam and driving exam in one go. 1 hour/week is enough, though it's always better if you take more lessons/week since you won't have to get used to driving again, or at least, less so.

Erwin

I forgive you :P

Neito

As long as you stop for pedestrians, you're good in my book.

Erwin

Also DON"T EVER drink and drive.

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Also DON"T EVER drink and drive.

FIXED IMHO!
As for cutting people off, my driving instructor always said I should look with my nose. So if you can, mount a static eye on the tip of your nose, that way you'll properly look at the rearview mirror, side mirror and side, and tap your chin on your shoulder! o: That is side. Took me ages to do that properly, learned it the hard way and scared the heebiejeebies out of me.

Schnevets

I've been driving for a year now, and I assure you, that's the worst attitude to have while driving. You need confidence, you need control, and that means you have to accept everything as it comes and just shake anything else off.

AtheriShadow

I learned by driving to work, which took me through neighborhoods, highways, back roads, a roundabout, and wrapped up with a bit of parking at the destination. Then, I did the reverse at night afterwards. Every day was an hour-long driving lesson with a few variations in route to keep things changing.

sK0pe

Also DON"T EVER drinkand drive.

FIXED IMHO!
As for cutting people off, my driving instructor always said I should look with my nose. So if you can, mount a static eye on the tip of your nose, that way you'll properly look at the rearview mirror, side mirror and side, and tap your chin on your shoulder! o: That is side. Took me ages to do that properly, learned it the hard way and scared the heebiejeebies out of me.

Instead of not drinking, make someone else the designated drive!
I have a slightly different method for the lane changing - MILK, as in Mirror (rearview and side mirror), INDICATE, LooK (at your blind spot), the 3rd part saved me from crashing into somebody on freeways a bunch.

You'll also find nutjobs who don't know the rules and don't look at the giveway signs, I had one of these at a 4 way intersection, a crazy guy thought I was wrong (I had L plates on), drove up next to me and started screaming then cut me off and slammed the breaks on and threw a beer bottle at me, I was able to dodge all this shit with my Dad going crazy beside me!

Good times...

What's wrong with the Ford Focus (isn't this the same car that is raced in the WRC)? I was taught by a driving instructor because my Dad didn't know the current real road rules when it came to the test and my mother was too scared to drive with me. So I learnt in a Mitsubishi Lancer and the driving Instructor had all 3 pedals on his side of the car too and I realised he liked going fast but at the speed limit when he complained that I was too slow off the line at intersections. It was funny because he also wore those old people's wrap around glasses and had a British accent.

Jain7th

I'm having the same "problem", when I drove the first time I killed the engine 5 or 6 times. After one week of driving (my instructor wanted me to take the test in less than 9 days) I somewhat got the hang of it and passed with no problems at all.
But after the test I didn't really drive at all, both family cars are always occupied, switching from diesel to petrol is hard, I would have to drive one hour to friends and I didn't want to drive after getting drunk (in the next morning of course) and driving is stressing me out, I could easily kill myself, the people with me in the car, everybody around the car and not to speak about the possible damage to other cars.

The best tip, from one newb to another, is to simply drive but without anybody permanently talking about stuff you did or didn't do wrong, if you can't tell that you made a mistake you shouldn't be driving.

On another note, it's amazing how much other people do wrong on the road, not caring about rules and endangering others, and all I do is drive slow and make passengers feel when I switch gears.

Driving school cars have the pedals on both sides and lightes indicating if your blinker is on.

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I have a slightly different method for the lane changing - MILK, as in Mirror (rearview and side mirror), INDICATE, LooK (at your blind spot), the 3rd part saved me from crashing into somebody on freeways a bunch.

The third part must be done always, and I've learned it in the mirror, blind spot, indicate. You'll scare yourself shitless if you indicate before checking your blind spot for you'll automatically will change lanes slightly once you have your indicator on. Know what happens around you, then act, not know 75% what happens around you, act, check the remainder.

Also, are parents allowed to teach their children how to drive in the USA!?!? O.o WTH! Darned lucky punks, allowed to drive from 16 years old and don't even have to pay any driving lessons if their parents want to teach.

Apreche

Also, are parents allowed to teach their children how to drive in the USA!?!? O.o WTH! Darned lucky punks, allowed to drive from 16 years old and don't even have to pay any driving lessons if their parents want to teach.

The driving ages and such are different in every state. Most states allow you to get a learner's permit at one age, then they let you take the test some time after that. If you want to drive with the learner's permit, you need someone in the car with you who has a license, and is over 18 I think. Each state is different again. Also that person can't be drunk or anything. Some states also have laws that if you have the learner's permit you can't have too many people in the car, or too many minors in the car.

However, at least in CT where I learned to drive, you can attempt to take the driving test as soon as you have had the permit long enough. You can take the test even if you have never sat behind the wheel before in your life. You will probably fail, but you can do it. If you suck too bad, the DMV person will probably just force you to go back and get out of the car. There's also a written test, which is stupidly easy. If you fail that, they don't even let you take the driving test.

Lastly, IIRC, the Ford Focus in the US is not exactly the same as the one sold in say, Europe. Also, I already knew how to drive from video games and such, but I took driver's ed at a driving school in the mall. They had Chevy Malibus.

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Also, I already knew how to drive from video games and such

Video games don't teach you how to drive at all. You can't change gears, you can't look in the mirrors and over your shoulder easily, you'd have to hit various buttons to do so, you mostly can't turn on indicators and if you can AI traffic around you won't respond to it, turning a corner you learned when you was taught how to drive a bicycle, it doesn't teach you how to park, etc, etc, etc. It only teaches you how to keep that image on your screen between those two drawn lines when you try to make it go too fast through an artificial corner.

Apreche

Video games don't teach you how to drive at all. You can't change gears, you can't look in the mirrors and over your shoulder easily, you'd have to hit various buttons to do so, you mostly can't turn on indicators and if you can AI traffic around you won't respond to it, turning a corner you learned when you was taught how to drive a bicycle, it doesn't teach you how to park, etc, etc, etc. It only teaches you how to keep that image on your screen between those two drawn lines when you try to make it go too fast through an artificial corner.

I mean real racing games in the arcade. And no, those video games didn't teach me how to park, or obey traffic signals, or use signals, or how to drive in traffic. However, they did teach me the basic controls of gas, break, steering wheel, and gears. Also, from 16 years of sitting in cars and paying attention to what was going on, a lot of that other stuff was obvious.

I want to be clear that I don't think racing simulations, even really good ones, are a replacement for real driver's education. I learned a lot in real driver's ed that I would have been screwed without knowing. Most notably, the ability to back into a parking space. If you can't get between the lines, you automatically fail your test in Connecticut. All I'm saying is that they can help a lot with mastering the basic controls of moving the vehicle.

trogdor9

Also, it's very hard to learn to drive when you only do it for 2-3 hours at a time every few weeks

I had 40 lessons, each one hour, passed both my theory exam and driving exam in one go. 1 hour/week is enough, though it's always better if you take more lessons/week since you won't have to get used to driving again, or at least, less so.

Apparently, AAA gives significantly less driving lessons than their competitors. There are 15 two-hour classes in a classroom and six 2-3hr classes of actual driving.

Rym

You can't change gears,

Few cars in the US are manual anymore, and most people here are unable to drive them, so it's kind of a moot point.

am_dragon

Few cars in the US are manual anymore, and most people here are unable to drive them, so it's kind of a moot point.

A good friend of mine, who loves cars, just bought a 07 Shelby GT Mustang. I couldn't believe it when he told me it was an automatic. So I'd have to agree, unless you are driving a large truck manual is dead.

I grew up in Iowa on a farm. You could get a learning permit at 14 to drive with an adult. I was driving tractors when I was 10 or 11, and driving our truck on the road by 13, when my dad needed someone to follow him. When I was 11 I received a motorcycle for Christmas. It was an older bike, but it would do 70 MPH so it wasn't a toy. We had room to drive and not many people around so it was easy to learn.

While I was in high school there were 3 student deaths related to drunk driving, and one girl was paralyzed from the waist down. My high school was very small, there were not more than 170 people total. Drunk driving is not worth it, don't do it.

kage_rod

Also, are parents allowed to teach their children how to drive in the USA!?!? O.o WTH! Darned lucky punks, allowed to drive from 16 years old and don't even have to pay any driving lessons if their parents want to teach.

Hahaha. Ha. Hah. It's not free, not in a -long- shot. We just get a discount because we're AMA members (Alberta...member association or something). Plus, I'm not American. Canadian. And yes, parents are allowed to teach their kids here, but most likely, it's all wrong. For example: a normal road that is considered a two-laner, with two parking lanes, is actually 4-lanes. If you turn right into it, you have to go into that first lane (parking lane), if there's no obstacles, before speeding up, switching gears, doing the check, and changing lanes.

By the way, did you guys know that a garbage can that is barely out of someone's driveway is considered an obstacle, and therefore must be given a wide berth? I didn't.

I know I won't drink and drive; I hate drinking, and I usually exercise common sense.

As for all the tips: Thanks so much, though I think I'll stay away from racing games. I get caught up and like to crash into other vehicles/people/landscape for the hell of it, rather than learn anything.

Andrew

And yes, parents are allowed to teach their kids here, but most likely, it's all wrong.

I was lucky that my father was a B-1 bomber pilot instructor for the Air Force for several of years. Teaching his children to drive was a frivolous task. It wasn't quite as fun for me though...

Rochelle

Few cars in the US are manual anymore, and most people here are unable to drive them, so it's kind of a moot point.

For myself, I've been driving manual for 11 years. For only one year during high school, I had an automatic. When I first started driving, I was taught on a 5 speed. I think it's better that way, because once you know how to drive manual, you know how to pretty much drive anything. You never know when it might come in handy. There have been many occasions where friends were too drunk to drive or whatever, and I was the only person who knew how to drive manual and ended up driving their car.

I will more than likely buy an automatic when I buy a new car, but that won't be happening for few years.

Only cons to driving a manual, imo:
1)Driving in stop-and-go traffic: Your left leg will be sore for the rest of the day.
2)If you don't know how to properly drive a manual, expect to replace the clutch.
3)Being at a complete stop on a insanely steep hill and trying to go without rolling back too far.

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3)Being at a complete stop on a insanely steep hill and trying to go without rolling back too far.

Handbrake, letting the clutch come till the car wants to go, give gas and remove the handbrake. I have more trouble with slopes that are on the edge of "I can just use the brake for this" and "I need the handbrake here."

dutopia

Don't drive near me please, nothing worse then a nervous driver. Seriously though, once you get your confidence everything else comes very quickly.

Rym

I think it's better that way, because once you know how to drive manual, you know how to pretty much drive anything.

I just think that technology is going to make the idea of a standard manual transmission obsolete. Hell, I say it already is. There's no reason to make a human being work a clutch when computers and sequential gearboxes can achieve the same thing faster and better.

dutopia

I think it's better that way, because once you know how to drive manual, you know how to pretty much drive anything.

I just think that technology is going to make the idea of a standard manual transmission obsolete. Hell, I say it already is. There's no reason to make a human being work a clutch when computers and sequential gearboxes can achieve the same thing faster and better.

I agree, actually recently there have been a fair amount of automatics coming into Europe. It's a bit silly really how long its taken already.