I just had my first ever driving lesson - I'm actually quite shocked too, because it went well. The lesson lasted an hour and I got to drive for twenty minutes of it; I found the biting point first time and quickly got myself moving (albeit a little bumpy...) and was very proud. The only thing I did wrong was that as I turned my first corner (to the left) I didn't turn the wheel far enough so the instructor said to turn it harder and I got it on to the curb and promptly took both feet off the pedals and both hands off the steering wheel with a lampost straight ahead of me - thank god for dual-controlled cars eh?

Nevertheless, I got it straight back on the road and drove for a further 13 minutes ish before going home feeling quite proud that I didn't stall it or anything :D

awesome!!! i just had my first one saturday

Excellent! First time driving is always a bit nerve-wracking. My first time was before Driver Education classes. My grandfather took me to a vacant parking lot so I could get the feeling of starting, stopping, and steering without any obstacles to worry about. Then he added the traffic cones.

Enjoy, and good luck!

awesome!!! i just had my first one saturday

How did yours go? :)

Excellent! First time driving is always a bit nerve-wracking. My first time was before Driver Education classes. My grandfather took me to a vacant parking lot so I could get the feeling of starting, stopping, and steering without any obstacles to worry about. Then he added the traffic cones.

Enjoy, and good luck!

Well, my mum doesn't have a licence so I can't drive with her and my dad has a licence but he's never driven since he passed his test lol. My step-dad has a car and a licence, but he refuses to take me out even though I offered to pay the £1000+ they want for insurance :(

mine went well, i can do pretty good, though my only problems is when i first go to go, the gas isreally sensitive so if i so much as tap it it launches forward lol
my other problem was turning to the rite to park. i can turn to the left but for some reason i cant turn it the other way as well, only when parking of course. other tahn that yea i did good, my mom started me off in a parking lot and then we went and took a really long way to get home it was cool

Congrats! I remember how excited I was when i first got behind the wheel.

You guys are lucky to get good instruction. My father taught me how....er..a...tried anyway. He was the nervous type and not the kind of dude that should have been teaching anything to anybody. I didn't want to pull back into the driveway after we toured around the block because the turn was too tight but he told me "DO IT NOW OR YOUR NEVER GOING TO LEARN HOW TO DO IT!" So I did. I swung in too fast and ended up running over the family dog. I jumped out of the car and began screaming. We had all loved that dog for seventeen years. I screamed all the way to my bedroom and ended up crying for two whole days. Daddy buried the dog. My mom took me out to teach me how to drive after that. It was a hell of a deal.

wow. well, my mom is telling me all the rules to it...but she doesnt even follow them its kinda funny. i will follow them but i just am tempted to point out every rule she breaks as she drives lol

Lol awww this is why I wouldn't learn with a parent, going with a driving school. I'd practice in my step-dad's car if he'd let me, with him in it obviously, but I wouldn't want him to actually teach me.

mine went well, i can do pretty good, though my only problems is when i first go to go, the gas isreally sensitive so if i so much as tap it it launches forward lol


Lol I second that! The gas pedal on the car i'm learning in is super super sensitive and i barely touch it and it just launches forward and I have trouble keeping it at right revs and speed.

I never really worry about following a speed limit unless I'm really close to a cop. For the most part I follow what the majority of traffic's speed is. If they take me down, they're going to have to take a lot with me. Though, if I'm on the freeway, I try to find someone going within or near the limit and follow them.

When you first start driving, it seems hard because you think there are a lot of things to focus on. However, with experience, it's not really all that bad.

I was thinking about trying rally racing one day... haha

My mother is a very nervous driver, and even a more nervous passenger. Even if she had been up for it, I'm glad she wasn't the one to give me lessons.

As for her boyfriend at the time, I'd have been too sorely tempted to wreck the passenger side of the car. My grandfather was a very calm, experienced driver though.

My son got his initial lessons with my girlfriend. But considering how many cars he has wrecked in the last couple years, she doesn't wish to be reminded of that fact. My daughter received her initial lessons from her stepdad. and also took Driver's Ed in a better school than Scott did. Her driving record is excellent so far (knock on wood).

I thought I'd hate driving when I first started - I didn't even want to learn - but now I really enjoy it. I get my license in January, and will hopefully inherit my dad's car at some point.

I took Masterdrive, which might be unique to Colorado, but it's just a driving school. Must say, I hated it, felt it was too anal. I don't enjoy driving with my parents either, though, so I guess I'm kind of stuc.

Are you driving a stick or an automatic? Personally, I like stick more, but I'm pretty much the only person my age I know who knows how to drive manual.

Good luck! it's really not as hard as it seems at first. I hit a pole in driver's ed my second day, and now my van's got a green mark on the bumper, and I reversed into the basketball hoop in my driveway, but other than that, it's fun. :P

-Scavenger

I think Scavenger was playing bumper cars.

Though I haven't been driving all that long, about a year, I've yet to mess up a car. During my driver's training, my instructor told me to go through yellow lights when I felt I had the chance -- then she ended up using the breaks when I kinda went though a light that just turned red. She also told me about some of her family problems which was kind of odd... and I also faked Christian to make things go along smoothly.

The worst that's happened since I've been driving on my own is that I went through a red light. I had just come back from some girl's house and my mind was racing... but even more so when I almost ran into a Jeep because a light in that area never seems to catch my attention. It felt really weird because I had caught myself half way, then had to ease on to the next light.

I drive a standard, and so does my son. My daughter drives a pickup truck with an automatic transmission.

I learned to drive an automatic - training on a standard was not an option, but I learned how a few years later. I would never go back to an automatic by choice.

Why not? I only know automatic, because it's all I have access to. I've wanted to learn manual, but my opportunity no longer exists. Oh well.

Manual gives you full control over what gear you are in. more efficient, and faster acceleration. I never want to waste time going from a full stop to matching the traffic speed.

<3 laptops with wireless internet.

Anyway, I understand that you get to choose what gear you're in... but my Jetta has automatic where you can select the highest gear it can go into, and that's good enough for me. I don't really use it though. Also, I've never had a problem with a fast pace... this is also evident in my stories.

What are you driving? I want a Subaru Impreza WRX STI... ah, that'd be nice.

A Saturn ION Red Line. 5-speed and a supercharger

a supercharger... psh

This post shows my car:
http://www.writingforums.org/showpost.php?p=52666&postcount=14

Well congrads on doing so well with your first lesson.
Mine I kind of ran into a fence to kill a massive spider lol
I don't do that anymore :p

I know what they look like. :p Mine is a mark IV Jetta 2.0L, naturally aspired, about 115hp. It's kinda weak, but it's got some nice features. Leather seats (heated), sunroof, fully illumed cockpit.

I won't have it any more as I'll get going to Chicago though. Has anyone ever really been there? I want to here what others thought of it.

Don't smash into fences, or don't kill massive spiders?

I've visited Chicago, but either never left the airport or was on business without time to sightsee.

My main impression? Flat!

Won't do either! Spiders run after you to get you and well cars break!!!! oops :D:p

lol run!!!

They're faster - more legs

I hate spiders! :(

Not crazy about them myself...

Not bumper cars so much as forgetting which pedal's the brake and which is the acceleration.

Between manuals and automatics, I love the manuals - like Cogito said, it's so much more control. And you get to know the car more; get a feel for the engine and it's capabilities. I find you don't get that as much with automatics.

Haha... you forgot the pedals? The only problem I've had regarding pedals is that my knee can sometimes get a cramp and I sometimes slip from the break pedal.

That is very true but I only have my automatic license as I had a bad experience during my learners with a manual and my ex partner.
I will get my manual one day though.

I do suggest you get experience on all roads though, gravel and so forth. I learnt on a dangerous road to drive and found I can handle a car better now that I had that opportunity. Gravel roads can be hard to drive onat first when you are at a reasonable spead, so take it steady and you will be fine. Just do it before you get your license so you know what to expect later on.

Also get experience night driving. I didn't and well I wish I did to be honest.

In our driving classes in upstate New York (snow country), part of our lessons including driving in snow and recovering from skids. We had to cause the car to skid on a highway and then recover control, and the instructor made us repeat it until we were confident.

Whenever I get a new car, I take it to a snowy lot at my first opportunity so I know exactly how it handles in a skid.

The Impreza I want is an AWD... dunno why, but I've always wanted a car like that. Also, another good thing about manuals is that they're usually $1000 cheaper.

we don't have that where I live anymore. Had it for a week or two but the speedway committee and council put a stop to it.

I pushed the wrong ones...my mom laughed at me for about five minutes after I did, too.

I live in Colorado, right in the Rocky Mountains, so I've got snow country too - I got my permit in January and spent my first four months driving only on ice - lots of experience skidding. Never managed to do it on the highway, though, seems like that would be a good idea, just for the experience. Both of my cars have awful traction, it's hell when I spin out.

I've gone into a skid/spin on icy highways, and was glad for the training. My son, never having had that training, spun out at 60 mph a couple of years ago with his sister in the car. A snowbank and seat belts saved them from injury, but the car was totalled.

Some advice that I was given when I got my learners from the police officer is as follows;

"Treat everyone else on the road as a moron. Treat them as though thy have no idea what they are doing and you SHOULD be fine!"

I loved the fact that he called everyone a moron and the expression he used was absolutely hilarious as he said it too. :D

Eh... I do that, but it doesn't take much imagination. I've been meaning to write a list of all the stuff I've seen that irritates me on the road.

99% of things irritate me on the roads when I am driving, actually even as a passenger. I have bad road rage as a driver and passenger. :D:D

Tell me about it. I'm normally mild mannered but when I'm driving I get agro at people for being toooooo slooooowwww down the main street when i'm late for work.

I got my learners permit when I was sixteen... I only just got my drivers liscence a few weeks ago. I'm twenty three!

I get agro on the freeway. It is a freeway, it has no stop signs or red lights and yet they still come to a grinding halt! argh!

Yeah. poncy..... anyhoo. Just irritated me when, I'm dort of late for work when the car above me stops and lets out a passanger then the passenger talks for a minute and then another person gets out.. meanwhile there are four cars behind them! It really makes me agro!

Yeah I hate it when they do that. I always shout and beep the horn lol
Also when they drive slowly, like 30 kms in a 60 zone. Don't they know what an accelerator is for?