What is the silliest mistake you have made while learning to drive?

LuckyStar

Last night I accidently pressed the accelerator instead of the brake while pulling into a carpark, lucky there was no car in front of me. Felt like a right tool. Last week I forgot to bring down my gear coming up to a roundabout, I was still in 4th going really slow and the car started shaking. Then there's cutting out which I still do every day. Usually when I am on a small slope and try and do a hill start when it turns out the car would have been OK if I'd started normally. I get so disheartened when I do stuff like this, will I ever learn???

cold_filter

Had the car a couple of weeks pulled into the drive an incline of about 1 degree i'd say!

Just as i stopped the phone rang so got talking went inside.

A few mins later i hear lots of beeping from outside the house, live on a busy enough main road. So i'm thinking I wish those f**ckers would relax i'm trying to watch fair city!

A few seconds later there's a knock at the door i open it and there's my 98 punto sitting in the middle of the road will massive tailbacks in both directions! Needless to say i was very very embarrassed!

Nightwish

When I first began my lessons at 19 I was at a junction turning right onto a main road. The junction was on a bend so I couldnt see much in either direction. The traffic was really fast so I edged out but got so frightened I just started crying and refused to drive the car. The instructor had to calm me down and direct the increasing queue of traffic around me.

Also when I began lessons again in September and bought my first car, I found it really hard to change gears in my car (a 98 clio). It was really really stiff and I made the mistake plenty of times, of putting the car into 4th instead of 2nd. Also on a roundabout I was changing gear, but the gearstick wouldnt go into gear, so I had to glide the car in neutral, onto the hard shoulder. I sold the car a few weeks ago, cos the car was just awful to drive.

j1979p

Once when I went around a roundabout (and I had to stay in the right hand land) I was so occupied with trying to find 2nd gear that I was drifting off into the left hand bus lane! Basically, I was trying to steer around the tight roundabout with my car roaring in 1st gear while drifting into the left lane. Luckily the bus that was coming up on my left was far enough behind to slow down without honking his horn! Thank God for L plates to save at least some embarrassment!

Stark

On my first driving test I mistook a line of parked cars along the left of the road for a queue of cars stopped at the red lights ahead. Took me about 2 mins to realise my mistake after the lights went green, noone moved and I peered inside the cars to see there was noone inside them. Then got beeped at when I tried to merge back into traffic. Picked up a Grade 3

j1979p

Two questions Stark:

How long were u driving before you took the test?
Did u pass on the next test or how many tests did you have to take?

Stark

Was driving about 3 months. Came close to passing on the second attempt (failed by 2 grade 2s), passed on the 3rd attempt.

L1011

Nearly drove my car through the front of Donavon's (then) Londis in Maynooth when I hit the accelerator and not the brake.

Took two minutes to get the car started at the Celbridge Road lights in Maynooth, during rush hour, due to constantly cutting out - then realised I was in second gear...

Think they were definately the worst.

Have knocked a car in to second when intending to get 4th quite recently, gearbox nowhere near as tight as the ones I'm used to; you will still make stupid mistakes the odd time even after a very long time driving.

S.I.R

worst mistake i done was , when showing off in a mates car , i was doing all the J turns , donuts etc and forgot to remove my hand from the center holes in the steering wheels... broke 4 fingers..

i only learned to drive 2 days previous :rolleyes:

Ciaran500

lol

Have had nothing like any of these so far, theres still plenty of time for them though >_<

LuckyStar

MYOB wrote: »

Nearly drove my car through the front of Donavon's (then) Londis in Maynooth when I hit the accelerator and not the brake.

Happened to me the other night coming in my driveway!

enner43

Nightwish wrote: »

I made the mistake plenty of times, of putting the car into 4th instead of 2nd.

Have done that myself many times!

m.j.w

Last week on one off my lessons I got out of the car to switch places and got back into the car and tried to start the car even though it was already running. Felt like a right tool

SV

Reversed into a skip.
Done in the boot and back window.

When i had first got my car..it was on budget tires..went to take off in traffic lights in the wet...couldn't stop the tires spinning.. embarassing.

Also..going from 2nd to 3rd past the traffic corps and it jumps out of gear..car lets an almighty roar..then there's the blue lights.(Second day driving)


All of this happened within a week of me owning the car. Stupidity.

redcar

I was on the Stillorgan dual carraigeway I think it was, recently started driving, started to take off from the traffic lights... not realising i was in 3rd gear, didnt notice and decided i wasnt going to cut out, so after reving the befecked out of the engine and much noise coming from all over the place i eventually took off.... then realised i was in third... i was a bit mortified when i realised people were looking at me with the usual "Learner drivers... should be shot!".

Another time... same place I decided to take off with the handbrake on... didnt get very far, but couldnt figure out what the **** was happening. Then once again realised... mortified! lol Dont take that way home anymore... bad luck!

Wishbone Ash

m.j.w wrote: »

got back into the car and tried to start the car even though it was already running

That's normal enough, especially in a noisy environment. I've done it numerous times!

Dr.Millah

Hmm, taking off in second gear after stopping, have tryed to start the engine while it was already running more than once, drove with the handbreak up after lights until i noticed the car was really unresponsive.

and the worst mistake of all was in skibbareen co cork when i had 3 others in the car going up a very steep hill, was lost so i didnt know it was coming up. Anyway half way up a M3 starts on his way down and there was parked cars on my side so i had to pull in, handbreak up far as i could get it and it was still going backwards, foot stomped onto the foot break, so when the M3 had gone i was pretty close to the parked car behind me. (the car is a 2000 opel corsa 1.0l) and pretty much before the car even budged the car was full revs with the limiter keeping it back, it then crawled up the hill at about 3mph until it got to the top where the wheels started spinning like crazy on loose chippings. Eventually made it anyway and it was pretty funny after all aha, never again though!

The Real B-man

Mistaken Mph for Kph on the Speedo

BlackWizard

I was in a rush somewhere and was completely lost. I needed to do a u-turn asap to get back on the road I wanted to be on.

So I turned down a village street and pulled into a driveway. Slapped the car into reverse and turned around to see what was behind me while reversing. But something was wrong. I didn't appear to be moving very fast. So I pushed the accelerator and this time I did move. I moved straight into the van on front of me. I put the car in second gear instead of reverse No damage done though.

No one was in the car with me, but I went red as a tomato with embarrassment and then I started to uncontrollably laugh out loud in the car. Even thinking back to it now, it's still kinda funny. But only the way that you have to be there to fully get it.

Capt'n Midnight

LuckyStar wrote: »

Last night I accidently pressed the accelerator instead of the brake while pulling into a carpark, lucky there was no car in front of me. Felt like a right tool.

Until you get the reflexes right one tip it to press with both feet, that way even if both miss the brake the clutch will be pressed in so the car won't go faster.

have had several near-death experiances caused by someone who didn't understand the rules of the road and didn't care until they had had them. Stuff like driving straight when the main road road turned to the left, had anyone been driving on the other side of the main road the passenger (me) would have got it.

Wishbone Ash

In buses with manual transmissions, 2nd gear (the normal moving off gear), can be extremly difficult to find. The situation is further exacerbated in a 'strange' bus that one may not have a 'feel' for. Several times I've found myself taking off at a green light only to discover that I'm travelling in the wrong direction and having just scared the crap out of the motorist behind. I used to have to resort to moving off in 3rd to ensure I was travelling in the right direction. At least most modern buses have an audible warning buzzer which activated when reverse is selected.

The most dangerous thing I've ever done is almost kill a cyclist the first time I did the C+E test. I was moving the truck into the left lane at the Tolka Bridge in Drumcondra when a muppet on a bicycle decided it would also be a good time to leave the footpath and go into the same lane. He almost went under the trailer! :eek: The tester uttered several expletives with shock and then threw the clipboard onto the dashboard. Needless to say I was not successful that time!

Wertz

Apart from the usual stuff like stalls and missed gears only one or two things stick in my mind as being patently stupid and I learned from both of them.
First one was crossing the bridge of peace in Drogheda, headed south after the lights, some guy was tailgating me in a white van which was getting on my nerves so I decide to switch to the inside lane...I checked mirror, indicated and made my manoveur flawlessly...just a shame I never bothered to check my blindspot....nearly put some poor guy in an A4 into the boyne. Lots of tyre smoke and beeping. I was shakingf after it, god knows what the other poor guy was like. That is always on my mind every time I change lanes now and I religiously check blindspots (it's not something that I had ever had covered well during lessons).
There was the other time, 2nd or 3rd hour behind the wheel (dual control) I nearly put an instructor through the windscreen by panic braking, both of us were belted and she had expressly told me it was the one thing I shouldn't do cos she couldn't control it....I was doing maybe 30-35kmph, saw some brake lights up ahead and managed to clutch in much too early (so I was coasting) then panicked thinking I was out of braking distance so stamped on the ABS. Instructor was pretty pissed. I went looking for a new one a week later lol.
Oh yeah and I've done the forgotten handbrake routine too, slight incline on our drive, taking in shopping, come back out and car is out in the road...fortunately I live in a cul de sac, but our driveway and gates are pretty narrow...only the steering wheel was straight, I'd have had some grinded paintwork.

LuckyStar

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Until you get the reflexes right one tip it to press with both feet, that way even if both miss the brake the clutch will be pressed in so the car won't go faster.

I dont get what you mean, having two feet on one pedal would probably be painful?

Capt'n Midnight

no not both feet on one pedal :rolleyes:

when you start it takes a little time to get used to which pedal is which and that's why there are cars with dual controls.
If one foot is on the accelerator, then the other will be on the brake or clutch , pressing with both feet means the car won't shoot forward , and pressing harder in panic means it won't shoot forward faster.

mgsrocks

Was driving for about a month and tought id head up to howth to practise. went onto a one way street with the biggest incline id ever seen. Went at it in third gear and about half way up the car stops and cuts out (should have been in 2nd). Tried about 5 times to do a hill start but i kept rolling backwards no matter how much gas i gave it. So i decide to just reverse back down...untill a car come up behind me!

angeldelight

Some of these made me laugh, but only becasue I know how it feels! I was on my 2nd provisional and had been at Tesco with my bf (not a driver), and got back home. I had to park in front of my dad's car along the kerb so was reversing, kept going til I was satisfied then turned round and said to my bf "right I think I'm absolutely as close as I can get without hitting it". Then took my foot off the clutch while still in reverse and car shot back about a foot. Didn't hit my dad's car as I hadn't even been close but the two of us had a good laugh about it, the feeling of panic was something else!