How did you learn to drive ?

[saadie]

rules :: dont rant or anything ... just get along with your story :P


one day my mum asked ... do you want to drive ....
and i was like :D ..
soo we went to the garage and took my old charade fer a spin (its 70 bhp front wheel 1L ) ..... it was a manual .. soo had a couple of jerks when releasing the clutch .... but then i was on my way .. and everything was fine ... i went out with my mum and my bro fer a couple of months ... and now ima pro .. hehe .... .
i've been driving fer a year now ... never had an accident or a near miss or anything ... and nothing beats me on the traffic lights :twisted: ....
soo .. there it is . one year of sucessfull driving .. without a licence :)

( we so much need a whistling smily ) :roll:

[dingo]

Umm....I went to a driving school and had a few lessons then did my test and passed the second time. In my first test I actually hit another car while trying to reverse park :oops: , funny thing now is that I am a master at reverse parking and much prefer it to 'normal' parking. :D



soo .. there it is . one year of sucessfull driving .. without a licence :)



why not get one, this will only cause trouble.

[Ghostbat]

I was 16 when I started practicing with our old Volvo 244 GL, 116 rwd horsies.. Nothing spectacular, my father taught me well and now I'm a master at it :) Well at least I've never caused any accidents after 10 years on the road and that old Volvo was very entertaining when winter came 8) Practied a little with my uncles Volvo 850 GLT becuase that was the same car as the one you performed your driving test in. Man that 850 felt seriously fast back in the days..

[saadie]

why not get one, this will only cause trouble.
u can only get a licence when you get an ID card .... which you get at 18 ...... im 17 ... :D

[pharzo]

Well i had some lessons when i was 16, and then passed all the tests at the driving school, but not at the "DVM" because of my age. I was in Latvia at the time...

Then when I turned 18 i had some lessons in Poland and naturally passed first time :D

I think a professional instructor is really the only way to go...when i was 16 and learning the first time i though i was the cock of the walk...then my instructor here in Poland showed me how pathetic the first instructor was...this one was a former rally driver :D

So i basically ended relearning everything from a slightly different perspective. I was really lucky, because he wasn't some kinda of bureaucratic idiot with blinders on, who only knows how the follow the letter of the law. He was more of the type to obey the "spirit" of the law...so he never scolded me for going over the speed limit, but he would get really pissed if i used speed innapropriately...he would just pull the car over give a lecture. Honestly i think if i didn't have him as an instructor i'd wind up like so many 18 year olds jackasses on the road, speeding at every corner, and endangering all the people on the road...

I'm sure if nejcdolinsek ever gets back from his isolated slovenian home :wink: he can tell you guys more, he had the same instructor as i did. He's pretty famous among the english speaking community here in Warsaw, as he taught pretty much everyone and their children here how to drive.

That said, I strongly advocate trying out several instructors, but at the very least to go for a professional one. Not like..."my dad taught me to drive"

I mean, my dad used to drive a soviet general, and then he was an EMT driving an ambulance, and he's a fantastic driver, but I'm still extremely happy that he didn't teach me to drive, and that my instructor did...there's just no substitute for being part of the whole "system" and knowing the ins and outs...like knowing how to get you your license fast and no headaches (important in Poland) and knowing what kind of stuff the police hate and will stop you for, and knowing what kind of stuff they might just laugh off, and more importantly knowing how to TEACH. It's important to find an instructor who is a great teacher as well as a great driver...

Wow this was quite a long post...but it's a pretty important issue to me

edit:

oh saadie i think driving without a license is quite possibly the stupidest thing you can do. When you drive on the road, you take into your hands more lives than just your own. If you hit someone and end their life, imagine what their family members would feel if they knew someone was driving without a license...

[antonioledesma]

why not get one, this will only cause trouble.
u can only get a licence when you get an ID card .... which you get at 18 ...... im 17 ... :D

because in countries like saadie's and mine you will not have so many troubles if you get stopped by police. You get caught, you cough some money and you're free to go.
I started driving at 14, got my permit until 16 and was only good for a year. At 19 I got my first license.
Yes, those things are unimaginable in first-world countries, but not in third-world 8)

Back with the topic, I learned to drive with the family company's car when at 12. Then a couple years more my mom "taught" me how to drive

oh saadie i think driving without a license is quite possibly the stupidest thing you can do. When you drive on the road, you take into your hands more lives than just your own. If you hit someone and end their life, imagine what their family members would feel if they knew someone was driving without a license...

I'm sure that saadie knows very well the issues of driving. I really don't think that if saadie or me had an accident just like the on you describe, the family members would not really care a lot about the driver's license.

I know this is very stupid, and more in Europe, but things are just like that. Here you can get your driver's license in 1 hour without exams, a driving test, etc. And if you need to do an exam (usually written and it has very stupid questions about how many types of roads and signs exist) you bribe the officer and you have your new license

[nchs09]

my dad gave me a lesson 1nce and then i just picked it up. it was on an automatic around a college campus on sunday so it was easy and i got the hang of it.


then when i learned to drive a stick it was up a hill :( he yelled and all that shit :( but eventually i learned. took me a good 2 or 3 months of trying before i got it good

[Anonymous]

why not get one, this will only cause trouble.
u can only get a licence when you get an ID card .... which you get at 18 ...... im 17 ... :D

because in countries like saadie's and mine you will not have so many troubles if you get stopped by police. You get caught, you cough some money and you're free to go.
I started driving at 14, got my permit until 16 and was only good for a year. At 19 I got my first license.
Yes, those things are unimaginable in first-world countries, but not in third-world 8)

Back with the topic, I learned to drive with the family company's car when at 12. Then a couple years more my mom "taught" me how to drive

oh saadie i think driving without a license is quite possibly the stupidest thing you can do. When you drive on the road, you take into your hands more lives than just your own. If you hit someone and end their life, imagine what their family members would feel if they knew someone was driving without a license...

I'm sure that saadie knows very well the issues of driving. I really don't think that if saadie or me had an accident just like the on you describe, the family members would not really care a lot about the driver's license.

I know this is very stupid, and more in Europe, but things are just like that. Here you can get your driver's license in 1 hour without exams, a driving test, etc. And if you need to do an exam (usually written and it has very stupid questions about how many types of roads and signs exist) you bribe the officer and you have your new license



well if the system/ test is a farce ok, it may not be so important as being taught properly, but presumably you cannot get insurance without a license like here?? if so that instantly labels anyone who does so as scum in my book. These pricks without licenses here who think they can drive :roll: often invovled in hit and run accidents , complete fucking arseholes all of them, just cos others do so they seem to feel its justified :roll:

Anyway back on topic, i learnt by having a few lessons, while i could afford them but in the end bit the bullet and got insurance on the mini, between that and paying for parts i couldn't afford alot of lessons so i passed in my car first time with only a few minor faults..... 2 for speed approaching corners i seem to remember :oops: (3 in one catorgory and you fail i think)

[ARMAN]

Learned a bit at russian roads in Lada 2108 when I was about 13-14 y.o. but cause it was just for few times never really learned + my father was shouting and screaming all the time so I was more scared than excited :?

Then in Prague we had at school calss of cars and driving for one year, there I learned, it was fun time, many many funny storys of crashes(someone slammed garage doors...forgot that they are closed :lol: for example), funny situations, screaming in rage instructor(one of the best guys/teachers I met, great pal even if he was 25-30 years older than us).

Drove like a sick idiot, literally, for about 1-2 years, than had a crash and from that time drive as safely as can... on roads where I can meet people, children, dogs etc. Wanna race - pay a time on local track.

BTW I was legally driving from 17 y.o.(in Czech min from 18y.o.) but in licence I had stamp that I can drive until I am 18 only with someone who have valid licence ..and I did..... most of the times :mrgreen:

[skituner]

i learned an old chevy s10 pickup (manual trans) at my friends farm when i was around 13

[SFDMALEX]

Me mate had an old Zaz http://www.home.no/migreg/Bilder/Zaz-968m.jpg When we were around 12 we drove around his yard, then his dad let us drive it (with him in the car) on a country road, well not even, more like a rally course in the woods, after that I got to drive my dads 2108 and it went from there...

[gis]

i turned 17,i took 13 driving lessons,i took the test and i passed,lol quite simple :D

[cateye]

learn from a friend ... at teh age of 17 and after few months driving like a pro ... and now its been 7 years longest drive was 7 hours straight .......

[oscargarza88]

well i was like 14 i think... and we own these dune buggys but more like the baja 3000 ones but of coarse not thaaat good, they have a vw altered bug engine... so we were at a ranch and well he tought me there, in a way it was harder because the clutch is harder and more sensible, so i had lots of bad starts... but i got the hang of it... just with some patience i learned... and well i drive not very often here but i have alittle more than a year of driving experience so im pretty good for being me, specially reverse parking i dont know why, but i just do that well... even im impressed sometimes... :wink:
and those dune bugys are sooo fun u have no idea!
her's a pic of my dad and me after a run in the buggy...as u can see we were soaked in mud, as if we jumped in a pool of mud and came out, and it was at night so it was cold! oin the back u can kinda see the buggy... sorry i have no better pics...
but anyways all of this was in mexico, and well if u learn how to drive there u can almost drive anywhere! :)
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/1827/dcp01671qj.th.jpg (http://img142.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dcp01671qj.jpg)
**btw the buggy in the pic is a 4 seater so its not very fast, we have a 2 seater made for competitions which is bad ass!

[|Nuno|]

I learned quite early - I was 10 at that time. Me being very interested about cars, like my dad, made it easier since he cloud explain things easily and I'd understand it well, since it's something that I obviously enjoy. Man, things can be really simpe and fun when you like what you're doing... (The way I'm talking I make driving look like rocket scince lol.)

Anyway, the car was a FIAT Uno and apart from a stall at the first attempt, everything was smooth. :D Of course this happened on a desert road - more like a huge desert terrain actually, with some gravel roads. I'm still a n00b tough; I think I only have around 150/200 Km's under my belt, because I can't get a license until next year, so I only drive on non-public roads or roads with very few movement.

[bmagni]

i started at 13 when i used to play tennis with my father, so i would take the car to the club and back home, it was quite "near" home, you know in mexico 10-15 mins is near home. Then some months after that we used to go across the city every weekend, so i took the car and brought it home, at home we've always had manual transmission cars, my parents dont like autos, so do i ;). so after that they had enough trust in me to lend me the car but not to buy me one, my father was really close into buying me a car but my mom refused cause she said it was too much of a car for a 14 year old.
ive never had an accident, just one time that a stupid lady reversed into my left front light.

[Evo]

I was 16 dad gave me the keys to his Discovery automatic I drove with out any mistakes.. When I reached home to park the car in the garage by mistake I hit the accelerator instead of the brake and I crashed the car in to the wall.. Dad did not trust me driving his car for a while but in that time we had a suzuke don't ask me what name it is coz I got no clue.. it was a manual . I steel the car anld go for couple of hours drive when I know no one will be at home.. so I learned that way.. Although the only person who caought me doing this was my older brother but good of him that he never open his mouth till this day.. :mrgreen:. Kept driving until the day I turned 18 when I officially took my driving lisence :mrgreen:

[sameerrao]

I must be a late bloomer - I got my car license when I was 20. I took some classes as is true for most of you. It was in a small car with twin set of pedals: clutch, brakes, throttle - one for instructor and one for you.

Needless to say I didnt learn that much as the instructor used to always keep the clutch partly in and the cluctch was pretty beat anyway.

After i got my license, I then took my parents car and drove for 200 km in two days with my grand-dad - he made go thru highways, crowded and narrrow streets, parking in all directions and other stuff. I think I trully learnt that day driving with my grandpa.

[Evo]

I must be a late bloomer - I got my car license when I was 20.

And you call your self a car entusiast .. Hehehe kidding..

I think I trully learnt that day driving with my grandpa.

Most people learn quite a lot of stuff about driving after they pass their test. And I am certainly one of them.

I also agree about the first accident theory.. That you will learn and be extra careful after your first accident. And I belive in that too..

[sameerrao]

I must be a late bloomer - I got my car license when I was 20.

And you call your self a car entusiast .. Hehehe kidding..

Hey!!!! ... I couldnt afford a car back then anyway ... I had a little scooter to get me round town before that.... :D

Besides look at my progress since ....

First car :
http://www.geocities.com/greatkalam/m800.gif

Second car:
http://www.motorworld.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8886

Third car (some years out in the future):
Hopefully the 80s iconic "redhead"

[Darkel]

I also agree about the first accident theory.. That you will learn and be extra careful after your first accident. And I belive in that too..
I also second that, we had an accident last month, I wasn't driving but I'm now 200% more careful on crossroads, I always think "and what if this guy suddently wants to go there and cuts the road in front of me etc ..." and I think it's a good thing, it taught me everything can happen, and not only to the others :|

The first time I drove a car was 3 years ago at school, there were some policemen there to speak about the driving license and so on, we could drive a bit on the playground and it was honnestly a horrible experience for me, it was late in the afternoon, I was the last one, that policeman seated beside me was a real asshole because he did not even help me, as if I already had my licence, hell, I had never driven any car, I stalled something like 10 times, everything with the clutch, I still don't know why we weren't allowed to use that damn accelerator :roll:
I still consider this day as the worst day of my whole life ...

Anyway last year I passed my theoretical test and I started having some lessons, now I can only drive with an experienced driver as passenger, as Insane said, it's exactly the same system here.
My driving lessons whith the instructor (a woman) were nice, I started from the beginning (unlike my first experience) and there was no problem at all :)

[corpse_grinder0]

when I was 12, I went to the liquer store with my cousin.. bought whatever we went to buy, and went back to the car, but he got in on the passenger, and told me the only way we are gonna get home, is if I drive. I was a bit nervous but very well determined. It was a new vw Jetta at the time... about 7 yrs ago... and stick. I had a hard time beleiving where reverse was, since I thought reverse was bottom right in all cars that were stick. Well I stalled only twice, and made it home. instantly hooked!

[topgeartom]

I'm currently learning, had about 6 lessons so far, and stalled it twice to date. Ive done most of the major manouvers. I've got 3 point turns pretty much sussed, can do reverse round corners really well, and after about 4 tries can now get very close to the kerb on parrallel parks. I'm still getting used to the clutch as its pretty much fucked on my instructors car. The biting point is really high, so its very difficult to get it immediately, or make a nice smooth gearchange quickly. I'm getting there though, and my examinersays im really really good. Ive never had any form of experience before my first lesson, and when we were about halfway through it he said "I can tell youve got this sussed, you know what your doing" which obviously made me very happy. On my seccond lesson he said "If only everyone who learned to drive was as good as you, my job would be much easier" which also made me blush rather a lot! One of main problems though, is tha im still too nervous, so i rush things and make small things really complex.

[Darkel]

I'm still getting used to the clutch as its pretty much fucked on my instructors car. The biting point is really high, so its very difficult to get it immediately, or make a nice smooth gearchange quickly.
I got the same problem 2 weeks ago when I had to drive the school car again (just for an hour tho), when you used to drive a real car (I mean, not fucked up by everybody) you notice that those are really shitty :D