Learning to drive

blondie83

Hey all, I'm a 21 year old, and recently got a load of driving lessons for my birthday. I've had two of them so far (never driven before), the first one hour, the second two hours. Thing is, I actually find it a little bit stressful out on the main roads, and I never get stressed! During the two hour lesson this evening my instructor had me driving all over the Palmerstown/Ranelagh area. I don't mind the quiet areas, but on the busier roads I always feel like I'm going to mess up/cut out and annoy everyone else! Anyway I was wondering how other people here learned how to drive, and how they found it:cool:

embee

My Dad taught me to drive four years ago. He drives for a living anyways and is a good driver, but I think sometimes its better to learn from a stranger. My Dad used to reach for the wheel when I would be driving (which is SO off-putting) and would get maybe a little more nervous than an instructor would.

The thing I found the hardest was taking off and the clutch control ... Once I learned how to take off from first gear without the car leaping around wildly, driving was a piece of cake. Parking too was no problem.

John R

If you are getting lessons from a family member it has to be someone very calm. After the first few lessons from an instructor my mother tried to give me a lesson, ten minutes down the road we were both nervous wrecks. My dad on the other hand was perfect, no shouting or panicking so I kept calm too.


I have taught a few mates to drive, best thing I found was to head out into the quiet mountain roads where they could drive continuously for a long time and get used to the car.
Learning initially on busy city roads is counter productive because at first you need to master basic car control, worrying about other cars and traffic rules is a distraction. You should go somewhere quiet to get used to the controls and when you are comfortable with the car start to deal with traffic.

OfflerCrocGod

Within about 5 mins into my first and *only* driving lesson I was breaking the speed limit and in third gear It was the first time I had ever driven. I have stuck to public transportation since then

RobertFoster

Don't worry about cutting out etc in traffic - every driver has been there. I too get stressed driving, it gets better once your confidence grows. When you get the basic controls of the car down, driving becomes enjoyable.

SprostonGreen

I had ten lessons (an hour each) last December. I bought my first can on January 10th this year. I love driving and started late; 30yo.

I was exilarated every time I was out on the roads, and a little nervous too, my back was always stuck to my t-shirt with sweat. But its great driving and learning to drive.

Dont worry about all those things like cutting out etc, it might happen, but so what, nobody on the street knows you and you'll be gone the next minute anyways.

You have to make mistakes in order to correct them, I always liken it to when I first went rollerblading. I was paranoid about falling, but when you do fall, you realise its not that bad and you just get up again and you're less concious about falling.


Stick with the lessons, enjoy them and ask mates and family for a shot in their cars aswell, as it always good to practise things like hill starts.