Driver training, part 2
- Turning is hard. It's easy enough in concept, but it's hard to do a sharp turn that doesn't cut into any other lanes.
- I'm not used to the idea of braking gradually.
- I drive slowly. Defies the stereotype, for sure. The instructor asked me “How old are you?” “21, going on 22.” “You drive like you're 90. Speed it up.” Keeping the speed of the car below the speed limit, safe for traffic, and above 10 kept me very busy.
- Mirrors are another thing that keep me busy.
My main problem was that the instructor kept giving me a constant feed of low-level directions: “Apply the brakes, signal, mirrors, look over your shoulder, now gas, let off the gas, turn, brakes, …” When we were done, I suggested to him that he should just tell me what to do (e.g. “Turn right here”) and let me do it. Catch me if I get something wrong, but otherwise, let me do it, and I'll probably get it right. Otherwise:
- I'll be following him, instead of thinking and acting on my own.
- I'm not going to be able to get along when he's not there.
Lesson 3 of 3 is today. Here's hoping I don't need more.
posted by Peter Hosey on 4/06/2006 02:59:00 AM
3 comments:
How much driving have you done prior to this? I'd recommend driving as much as possible.
None. The problem is that I'm learning on an automatic, and Mom's car is a manual. She's not about to teach me (nor do I want her to - she doesn't have the patience for it), and I doubt she'd let me borrow the car to learn to drive it.
I could probably rent one for the day, so having a car for the test wouldn't be a problem. I do need the practice, though.
And more training, too.
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