First Driving Lesson

Today, I had my first driving lesson. This was kinda different to what others I know have done, because I've had it when I'm nearly 18 (within 3 months); I sent for my provisional driving licence two months after my birthday in October, and have put it off intentionally until the college summer holidays; I've been in vehicles before (cars, go-karts, etc) and to call me reckless is likely saying that Hitler's bad; it's one hell of an understatement :D I just to jump through tyre barriers in a go-kart to skip half the track :D But I digress - Today, I just had it.

It was arranged last Friday with my instructor on the phone. We said today, 8:30 in the evening, outside my house. When I put the phone down, I suddenly remembered that the college council of which I'm part of agreed three weeks earlier that we'd all meet up to play Laser Quest (Side note - The bill, £300, was paid for by the college as this was supposed to be a "teambuilding exercise"...so they armed us with guns and made us shoot each other :huh:) on that same day, 4pm til 8. Anyone half-decent with maths will figure out that it meant that I'd have had to get out of town and back home within half an hour.

I rang up my instructor, and asked if we could arrange another time. He suggested that we change the place to meet up. Nearest significant place was the People's Stadium, a stadium still under construction for the Warrington Wolves. That was the place. Sunday, I go round it and see that due to its size, trying to find him would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack; either it'd be impossible, or it'd be painful ;) Just yesterday, we decided to stick to the old plan; outside my house.

So I make my way to Laser Quest, but there&#39;s one thing which I&#39;ve loved...until now <_< - Around my area, it&#39;s been nothing but sun the past week. It&#39;s already boiling, and now (any LQ regulars would know), inside Laser Quest it&#39;s black, it&#39;s dark, it&#39;s stuffy, and you&#39;re bound to get sweaty. I did, and while getting some good scores in the 10+ games, I was suffering a bit - Sweating so much that it was getting into my eyes and I couldn&#39;t see made me submit in the second game, I have all kinds of scratches and bumps by diving for scenery, and in the last game I hit my right big toe against a heavy wooden part; still hurts, though I&#39;m not sure whether it was broken.

Why am I saying this? Because I had to live through them in the lesson as well. But anyway, back to the point :D

I met up with him finally, and we went to part nearby. Today&#39;s learning grounds was a fairly long, quiet road between two roundabouts; perfect for learning the basics. Thing was it became obvious that I needed to learn a lot after it; my work with the steering wheel, especially with turning around a roundabout (hands doing the 6 o&#39; clock, 12 o&#39; clock movement) left a lot to be desired; half the time I was heading out the roundabouts to fields, other times I clipped the paved work in the centre. >_<
Pedal work was even worse - I was pushing too hard & too fast on the pedals - too much on the accelerator meant going too fast, too much on the clutch meant I was shuddering all over the place, and too much on the break meant the same but stopping.

But I was improving by the end :-)

I was generally pushing and pulling things too hard; I&#39;m guessing it was because of being buzzed from the Laser Quest. Moral of the story - Don&#39;t shoot your fellow college council members and have your first driving lesson at the same time. :D

This story kinda got me wondering; what was everyone else&#39;s first driving lessons like? There must be some good stories in them. :w00t:

having mine next Friday :D

OK so the foot pushy thing on the left is the accelerator, right? and i just floor it? Got it

in the words of Spongbob:

I&#39;m Ready, I&#39;m Ready, I&#39;m Ready

I&#39;m Ready, I&#39;m Ready, I&#39;m Ready

I&#39;m Ready, I&#39;m Ready, I&#39;m Ready

The thing on the left is the clutch.

From left to right, it&#39;s clutch, brake, accelerator (think of CBA)

But back to the point - Any stories to tell guys (who&#39;ve done them already ;))

i&#39;ve got to say i kinda cheated a little
before i had my first real driving lessons on the road, i went to a place which was basically a large car park where i paid to drive some cars in relative safety (legally of course)
i did these lessons when i was around about 16 and a half or so, up until i was 17.
by the time i was 17 i had learnt most of the basics (stopping, going, turning, signals, handbrake turns etc...)

then for my 17th birthday i basically got some lessons.

only needed 18 lessons and i had passed (incidentally when i was exactly 17.5 (9th July 2002)

anyway, my first off road lesson was pretty bad. i was driving a really slow Ford Ka. i stalled it first time away (rookie mistake), but after that it was ok. i got a few stops, starts and a couple of left hand turns.

my first on road lesson was a little more exciting. it was approx 9:00 pm, very wet and very dark.
the car: Renault Clio 1.5 TD. it was actually pretty nippy, and i got up to about 65mph on my first lesson. i didn&#39;t crash (and haven&#39;t crashed up until this day (well, i&#39;ve never hit anything anyway...:P )) so i think i&#39;m diong ok...

touch wood...:P

My first "lesson" was 25 years ago when my brother-in-law let me try out his 4WD Jeep pickup.

It was on a lightly-traveled country road (gravel back then).

It was a little tricky at first due to the combination of the loose gravel and the fact that the truck didn&#39;t have power-steering.

However, I was doing fine though till we came upon a cross-road with a stop sign.

Not only was I unprepared for the fact that the loose pavement wouldn&#39;t allow for quick deceleration, but I also wasn&#39;t aware that he&#39;d just had the brakes on the vehicle redone.

Needless to say, I locked up the tires and skidded all the way through the intersection creating a huge cloud of dust. :P

Bender gave me my first driving lesson. He had this big blue van back then. He first took me to the parking lot of the supermarket at night, after that we went for a drive in a quiet neighbouthood. He freaked out a bit when I tried to take a curve at 100 km/h....Never drove into something though, it went ok right away.


I still don&#39;t have my driver&#39;s license though, I&#39;m just too lazy I think lmao

When I was a young sprout of 13 my father worked at MartinMarietta. We lived in Columbine Hills ( yes, that Columbine). Anyway, all the men in the neighborhood worked at Martin, and as they had their very own 4 lane highway leading to the plant, they all bought sports cars and staged a Gran Prix to and from work every day.
My Dad had a Healey 3000 and he taught me to drive in that. As we had a cabin in Wyoming I was able to get a Wyoming driver&#39;s license at 14. When we moved to Virginia they made me take Driver&#39;s Ed.
I failed.
I&#39;d never driven an American car with a automatic transmission before.
It was pathetic.
I&#39;ve never owned an American car, nor a car with a auto trans since.

Slightly off topic.

I drove abroad for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Here were a few of the problems :

Left Hand Drive Car - Never done it before.

Driving on the Right - I know it&#39;s normal for most of you but imagine the opposite.

6 Speed Manual Gearbox - Never even seen one.

Used to changing gear and handbrake with left hand - not an option.

Left Palm Aiport at 23:30 local time - knackered.

Really busy with buses and taxis who obviously knew their way out of the airport and through the city - I didn&#39;t.

Trying to find a place in the hills in the North of Mallorca, in the pitch black, with no street lighting.

There was a fun journey.

BTW thanks for the kind words elsewhere Illuminati.

I had mine 4 years ago in Europe --&#62; this one never expires - looks like a credit card -

Then I moved down to Australia and had to do the licence again <_< &#39;cause they drive on the left side of the road

I had my first lesson at 13... My pop took me out on the rather long stretch of driveway we populate in upstate NY, in the chevy. It went... interesting.
I was doing surprisingly well, although I was frightened to death of going fast, and rightly so, because after about ten minutes, my dad panicked, grabbed the wheel, did a thing with the pedals, and what do you know, we went bush wacking :)
After crashing through a fence and down a hill, I grabbed the wheel and managed to avoid a tree...
And I haven&#39;t been driving with him since...