Driving student experiences!

I'm sure that at least two-thirds of us know how to drive. We were students before and I would like for those who have learned how to drive to share their worst experiences. By that, I meant the biggest mistake of your driving education.

My worst experience was also partly my teacher's fault. He always told me that whenever we come across an intersection, I have to keep going straight when he doesn't say anything. I was driving at 35 mph (55 km/h) near a university in Los Angeles and all of the sudden, he went "GO RIGHT, GO RIGHT!" I panicked and made a 270 degree turn, which blocked traffic. I asked my teacher to let me park along the sidewalk to let everybody through, but he kept pressing on the brake and talking on the phone. So many people were honking and yelling at me, I almost started crying.

 

The first time that I ever drove a car was at driving school. They took me through the maneuverability course. The first time without drunk goggles, the second time with them. I hit all of the cones with the goggles, and none of the cones without the goggles.

My driving instructor was really confused..

 

The first time I ever drove in driver's ed, my driving partner caused an accident. He decided to merge onto a freeway without looking, and the guy next to him swerved left to miss the Dodge Ram that was coming at him from his right side (us) and smacked a little Ford Taurus into the other lane. I'll never forget the look on both their faces.

 

Car tried to mess up on me while driving...

 

All that really sticks out is how I kind of accidentally parallel parked on my first try. My instructor was like impressed but I didn't really know what I was doing so I felt bad >_>

Everybody makes mistakes in the process of learning so don't feel bad you guys no matter what at least you arent this women https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTYJuWZu9Es

 

I never attending any driving school... learned it all from my parents...

Anyway, The first time I drove I was backing out of the drivway and ran over our neighbors mailbox.

 

I was driving in my mom's car, and I fucking hate the way it drives. I was trying to control the damn thing, but it always either turned way too quickly or didn't turn quick enough, so I was driving extremely slow, only to realize there was a bus full of people behind me. I started panicking, because I knew I had to get out of the way quickly, and I ended up grinding against the guardrails.

But I was just starting out and now I've gotten to the point where I'm a competent driver. And I have driven my mom's car since then, and I was able to control it, so it just takes practice.

 

We had several 1 hour sessions, with 3 student drivers in the car, and we would each take 20 minute turns.

One day I was the only one that showed up, so I got the whole hour. The drivers ed teacher said just head that way, and once we got out of town he zoned out listening to a sports radio talk show.

About 50 minutes into the session, he finally says, do you have any idea where we are. My reply nope, but I saw some high tension wires. So I said if we follow those east it will either take us to the steel mill at the next town over, or one of the cities about 30 miles south east of where we started.

So we followed the lines, making all kinds of turns on the all of the country back roads to keep heading in the right direction. After about 30 minutes we passed a little hamburger stand and the teacher said, I know where we are turn left at the next road. We were about 20 minutes away from where we started, so we got back about 50 minutes late.

The next driving group was so bummed that I took their session, and my dad was sitting in the parking lot wonder where the were.

That is where I learned the joy of just driving with no particular place to go. With smartphones and gps, people learning to drive now won't know what it is like to be lost. When you are not in a hurry it is a pretty liberating experience, but when you are it is frustrating as hell.

 

I ran a redlight... or two... with my driving instructor... It was mostly miscalculating if I should stop or not when the light turned yellow, so luckily it was never a dangerous intersection or completely running a red light. I think one time he said to keep going (we probably would have made it fine if I did), but I started slowing down and then changed my mind to keep going... and the light turned red before I got through the intersection.

Also it was odd, and I've never experienced it again, but when I was with the driving instructor, this person turned left and ended up turning into the wrong side of the center divider... they had to back out and turn onto the correct side of the road... just an odd thing that happened during one of my first experiences driving!

I had several 1-hour sessions with the instructor... every time he had to use the restroom at some point during the 1 hour... he made me stop and wait...



Ohhh and also while I was new, we parked at my old school, which had parking spots literally right above a cliff. I was reversing to get out with my mom and accidentally had it in drive. and accelerated and it scared the crap out of me! I braked immediately... either that, or I was parking and instead of breaking I accelerated... either way I haven't had issues getting confused with the brake and gas pedal in a while, but it happened a few times when I was new. Always scary!

 

I was thinking about taking drivers Ed next year. Anyway I learned how to drive when I was 11. My dad was teaching me and he said that's the gas and that's the break I got the 2 confused and slammed on the gas and then he said HIT THE BRAKES!!! And I slammed them and the tires were screeching then he put the car in park and said ok were gonna try this again this time don't even touch the gas at all. :lol:

 

The second time I ever drove I was with my dad and I almost drove off a small cliff. I didn't judge the distance right when I was about to turn down a hill, so I started slowing down way too late, realizing I overshot the turn, and tried turning anyways. We were just about to go over before Dad shouted "STOP! STOP!" and I slammed the brakes. Any further and I probably would have totaled the car and killed or at least broken us...

 

Nothing, NOTHING, can beat Indian driving school policy. NOTHING, I tell you.

My mother learned to drive in England and she told me how the lessons there last months and they teach you everything slowly and carefully so I was prepared for it to take a long time.

But! This is India. So what happens here is that in 16 classes, over about a month and a half, they teach you to lift the clutch and press the accelerator and move in first gear and in second gear, and reverse gear.

That's IT. My instructor didn't even let me check my rear view mirror for the entirety of my lessons, he kept it turned towards himself. He constantly had his foot on the emergency brake on his side, which meant that to make that horrible old training car move at all, I'd have to press the accelerator really hard. And then he'd blame me for wasting petrol. I wasnt taught to use the handbrake at all. I wasn't taught to park. By the time is got my licence I basically knew how to start the car and that was about it.

Speaking of getting the licence; my test required me to drive for 5 seconds in first gear. That was all. That is all you have to be able to do to get a driving licence.

I'm lucky I had a mother who taught me properly afterwards or else I'd probably be dead by now. This is how the majority of the population learns to drive here.

 

When I took my driving test, the proctor was pretty heavy-set. The seatbelt in my car didn't extend at first, and she gave me the nastiest look (and almost an instant fail). During my test, she had me turn left over a solid white line, then she marked me down because of it. There was no way to turn left without crossing the small portion of the line that I did. They're tricky. Other than that, learning and taking the test was a piece of cake!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JYxrBScd-o
(spoiler, they crash)

/thread - When me and my instructor were driving, we pulled to a gas station to fill up, but i kind of, almost crashed into one of those "racer" guys, who disregarded the laws of the road. And he then flipped and came up to the car, started bashing at the door, then opened it and i was freaking out and stuff... Then my instructor, the badass that he is, pulled a stunt gun and made him back down. And that is why i keep pepper spray in my car.

Then this other time, when trying to do a reverse, this one girl in a Mercedes, was speeding up, passed the intersection on yellow and almost planted on the side of the car. To make matters worse, this was during my first practice exam.

Was driving in the back of a car, when the girl who had her hour before mine, was driving and suddenly, for no logical reason, decided to switch lanes, going against traffic. I mean, lines were kind of worn out but, the cars, coming straight at you, should have been a giveaway that something is wrong.

Also, was a witness how a guy scrapped a gearbox, on a steep hill, where the instructor liked to test people on their skills with the clutch. I did inquire about this recently, and am not surprised to hear that he no longer does that.

And lastly... Due to reasons i won't go into, my instructor got the chance to drive my Probe, and let me just say... for a person who is supposedly a "professional", he failed miserably, and almost got me a ticket for speeding. I mean, i get the urge to go full out, but still. Also, almost blew out my tires, because he wanted to "test" the power steering.

Anyway... I'm glad i managed to at least get my driver's license a few years ago, and not have to deal with this stuff anymore.

On an unrelated note... Brad, if you happen to read this. Mind elaborating on said glasses? I'm quite curious, as they don't have such stuff here. No obstacle course either.

Which reminds me... How we were thought to park. Instructor takes us to some secluded part of the city, and finds a spot, which weirdly almost always was next to an expensive car... I mean, seriously?! It still surprises me that there are no special places, where people can practice this.

 

I had illegally driven a few cars before, being underage. Usually my stepfather would be too drunk to drive, so he'd have me drive. A few times of this, and I was pretty good at it.

I never had an official driving class, until high school. I only took the class, because it offered a discount on insurance rates. Also, it seemed pretty easy, which it wound up being. Our instructor spent 2 weeks going over the basics, then the rest of the semester, we were split into groups of 3 and drove. Usually, 2-3 groups would go a day, while the others were left with a substitute teacher.

I did exceptionally well, at least in my driving class. I had a goal to work towards, which was to pass, and get that discount.

When it came to the actual driving exam, where you get approved for your license, I performed very well. It also helped that I had the car, at a comfortable temperature on the inside, had padded the seat the instructor would be sitting in, and even had an extra unopened soda can for them. I was passing that exam, damn it!

Of course, I had my reckless driving period, but that's over. You have an accident, and it'll knock some sense into you.

 

I'm sure I could have once written a book of Dumb Things I Did In Traffic Safety Class 20-some years ago...

One strong memory: something spooked me, and I slammed on the brakes. Hard. So hard, evidently, that the car screeched to a stop and the engine stalled out (even though the car was an automatic).

I went out the most with one teacher. One day, I went out with a different teacher. And I became the subject of conversation with both of them. The second teacher said he didn't understand the complaints the first teacher had about my performance--I wasn't really that bad. The first teacher said something along the lines of oh, yes he is! Being honest, I think both might have been right: one of the problems I think I had with the main teacher I drove with was the car he used.

Then there came the fine day that I was good enough to start driving the family car with my mother riding in the passenger seat. I took off the down the driveway. Possibly full of pride that I was driving my mother. Turned right...and turned too hard, and ended up in the ditch. My mother took over for a moment to get the car out, and our program resumed as scheduled.

---------- Post added 7th Dec 2014 at 08:49 AM ----------

Interestingly (or not, perhaps), the system my school used was both classroom and practice driving all term long. There were two full time teachers. One did classroom at one high school, and the other did the road portion. They flipped roles at the other school. Although, perhaps, it would have been better if they'd took turns doing each role at each school--one teacher might potentially be able to work more effectively on some problem a student was having on the road. Then, again, maybe it really wouldn't make any difference.

I took the class in summer, and so, in addition to the two regular teachers, they had two teachers come in just to do road work. The teacher I rode the most with was one summer-only teacher, and while he was a nice man--and patient--I wonder if a full time, well experienced teacher wouldn't have been better.

 

Once, when driving with my dad, I actually managed to brake hard enough for long enough that his cell phone, which was in his pocket, turned on. I don't think I'll ever live that one down. Lol.