It was with my dad. He drove us to an abandoned plane landing path where there was plenty of open space, we switched places and he told me to go nuts, after driving around for a bit and learning how to switch gears he told me to floor it so i did and i reached around 170km/h which isn't that much but was more than enough for my first try. It was pretty fun, and now i miss my dad, damn.
First off, never feel bad about getting your license at a later age, basically everyone has to drive where I live because things are a bit more spread out than in a big city but I still know people in their mid-twenties without license and no drive (heh) to get one.
I had my first lesson at 16 but didn't finally get my license until I was 19, mostly because I was so put off driving by the lessons. My teacher was pretty shitty, he didn't provide much in the way of instruction and just seemed to get pointlessly angry when we'd fuck up despite him not telling us jack shit about how to drive. The classroom section was really fucking boring, Jim Sterling did a few rants recently about his recent drivers training experience, might want to look for those if you haven't heard them, assuming you're a fan. Worst thing that happened was probably when my partner tried to accelerate at a stop sign, guess he missed the break, the instructor put on the passenger break and pulled the car into the grass, the rut the tires left was there for weeks and I always grinned whenever we went past.
I messed up the actual test, just on the parking bit but did good enough on the driving part that I got my license on the first go, you might want to ask around because some places are easier and some will almost always fail you on your first go regardless, just to pocket some more money, that really happens.
I've always had a fairly healthy respect for driving, I used to be afraid to drive, especially after a friend died a few years back in a car accident. Now I actively enjoy it, mostly because I have a sweet car but still. I've gotten pretty adept at it over time, which is really the only way you get good, put in the hours.
My first time driving was absolutely horrible, I was so nervous and started sweating like a pig. Yeah for the longest time I really thought I was never going to be able to drive or want for that fact. Every time I had to drive to get a little experience I almost started having panic attacks, I though I had driving phobia, or something like that. My biggest problem was that I always stalled the car, and could never pull away fast enough. Particularly at robots when people where behind me.
But after 12 excruciating months and 2 failed driving tests, I finally became good at it and got my licence. Hell I'm now at the point of when I drive it all happens automatically.
So for anyone actually wanting to learn to drive,PRACTICE. Seriously drive around as much as possible. Not that I wanted to scare you OP
My first driving experience was some small, around the block, style driving. After 3 days into my permit, my uncle tossed me the keys to his car and said "Let's go to Gilroy." I live in Santa Cruz, so we took CA 152, over Hecker Pass, a windy mountain road. I was nervous over that entire drive but it ended alright. I even got through the entire thing. After that I took Highway 1 to San Jose, another mountain road and filled by crazy people. After that I drove part of I-5 and various highways to Las Vegas for a convention. This is over the course of a week. I do not recommend that experience to anyone, but it was a lot of fun for me.
Smooth as butter. Although I was a bit put off by "Your first task is to drive the last student home." That poor girl, getting driven home by some guy who's never properly driven a car before.
Wow there must be something about dads and driving.
Yeah my first lesson was with my dad as well. I wasn't really nervous, but it did have a bad start when he first wanted me to drive on the street. I obviously wasn't ready for it, I had no idea how to drive a car since you know I was never in control of one ever in my life. Eventually we went to a parking lot and he scolded me for not knowing how how to turn or stay on the center of the road, again I don't really know what he was expecting from me. Things got a lot easier the next few lessons when I actually understood how to control the damn thing.
I guess my point is never assume somebody knows something even if you have been doing it for years.
First time I ever drove was with my dad. He took me to an old dirt road. Had large puddles, ditches, and jagged rocks. It wasn't too bad per say.
When I first actually started driving in roads however, I was pretty scared. Hell, I'm still scared of driving. Part of me wants to get better and get my license already so I don't have to burden my parents anymore, but another part of me hates the idea of driving anywhere beyond my route to work or school. (coincidentally, they're pretty close to each other)
Of course, when I actually am driving, particularly when I'm on one of my lessons with an instructor, I actually don't feel as nervous. I don't know why that is.
I started out by getting surprised that the car moves once you release the brake pedal.
I then got even further surprised by how little pressure needs to be applied to the gas pedal to get it to go. This became a problem for about three lessons, as the car would often jerk when I pushed down on the gas due to how much trouble I had figuring out how far to push down on it.
After that, I was told to practice parking in an open lot, and I completely missed any space. I ended up parking right on top of the intersecting point of four parking spaces.
Once I got out on the road, things were a little easier. I managed to stay close to the speed limit most of the time, and I even managed to drive safely through one of the busier areas in the town I lived in. I think I even figured out how to do left-hand turns within that time, which considering how many drivers struggle so much with left-hand turns, that was actually impressive. On the other hand, right-hand turns took me until at least the second or third lesson to fully get down.
However, I completely messed up all simulated experiences where I had to answer a question about what I'd do in a particular situation. I struggled immensely with switching between the brake and gas pedals smoothly, and I also found my foot slipping off the gas pedal a lot.
Overall, it could have been worse. I actually think my second time driving was even worse than my first, given how badly I messed up pulling out of a parking space (though I didn't hit anyone) and how many times the instructor had to stop me from passing through a red light or stop sign.
Im guessing by the way you worded your post you are from america. American cars very seldom have a handbrake (or parking brake/E-brake) most UK cars have a handbrake so your car doesnt roll when you take your foot off the brake. If you stop on a hill simply put the handbrake on
I then got even further surprised by how little pressure needs to be applied to the gas pedal to get it to go. This became a problem for about three lessons, as the car would often jerk when I pushed down on the gas due to how much trouble I had figuring out how far to push down on it.
Again UK cars tend to be manual. You can mash the gas pedal as hard as you like but until you release the clutch it isnt going anywhere. You only lurch if you release the clutch too quickly. It gives you so much more control when maneouvering and starting from stationary. Also if you give your car maximum revs and slip the clutch you can impress the ladies by spinning your wheels
When I was 12, my dad took me to a huge gravel truck parking lot (which is now a shopping mall) and I drove a few laps around it. I managed not to stall the engine.
Everyone should drive an old Communist car at least once.
I was 15 and my dad took me to the local high school parking lot after it had been abandoned by the students and faculty. He had me drive around it a few times, make some turns. Wasn't really that stressful, at least until he made me try and parallel park.
I'm not really bothered about cars, but once I realised that I wouldn't have time when I started uni I began to learn. My first lesson was just kinda standard, the usual awkwardness but otherwise acceptable drive through a quiet neighbourhood. I passed 6 months later after 3 test attempts that were so painfully nerve-racking. Seriously, driving tests were the most stressful things ever. Now I have my own car and drive quite a bit.
My advice to you would be to make sure you're very much prepared for your driving tests because they are far from cheap, and also to know that driving lessons aren't very indicative of future driving experiences. I dreaded my lessons every week but now that I have my own car I feel like I have a lot more freedom.
I thought my first lesson would just be a few rounds around a practice course (a really little one but good enough). But after those few rounds were over she said lets go on the road... as in a real road with cars in a town with pedestrians and cyclists ==> on my FIRST DAY T_T
When my 2 HOURS of Hell were over she said "Well see you tomorrow". I was going to Hell again tommorrow T_T. I almost cried the next day because of the stress i've had about freaking driving.
Ah well now i'ts 1.5 years later and luckily i drive better now.
But there's one little detail that still stresses me out:
...
...
...
Next week I have my practical exam D:
Screw parralel 'S' parking blehh (It's hard for me to get the 45° angle right :/)
Im guessing by the way you worded your post you are from america. American cars very seldom have a handbrake (or parking brake/E-brake) most UK cars have a handbrake so your car doesnt roll when you take your foot off the brake. If you stop on a hill simply put the handbrake on
I wasn't on a hill, which is why I was surprised. I figured that gravity would do its job at getting the car to move, but I never expected the car to just move on a flat surface.
I can't really complain, though. At least they took me to an open, empty parking lot to figure that out, so I wasn't in any risk of hitting anything or anyone.
I first practiced driving in mom's 1984 Camaro, the car that became mine when I turned 16. Either my mom or my stepdad would take me to my high school's parking lot when it was empty so I could get a feel for the handling and learn all of the knobby-dos. Nothing difficult.
My drivers ed test? Um...
First of all, the instructor had me drive through downtown Golden, Colorado (known primarily as the home of Coors Beer) for some residential driving. That's also where he had me parallel park. You would think that any sane driving instructor would ask a student to parallel park between two cars parked against a sidewalk curb, right? Not this sadist - I had to parallel park between two cars parked against an eight-foot-high concrete fucking wall! No curb between the road or the wall. No sidewalk either. Just street, meet wall. If I'd screwed up the parking, I would have torn half of the instructor's car's bumper off, even if I didn't touch the other cars!
So then it was time to test my driving on a curvy road. Correction: a windy, uphill, mountain road that's popular with cyclists but has no bicycle lane or shoulders on which the cyclists can ride. Oh, and the occasional 100-foot drop off a cliff face if you make too big of a mistake.
Meet Lookout Mountain Road:
The "M" on the mountain is really there - it's made of rocks painted white, and is maintained by the students of the nearby Colorado School of Mines
I drove the entire road: up from Golden, past the Buffalo Bill museum (instructor didn't let me stop to throw a penny on Bill's grave though!), down the other side, and out on to I-70. Then I had to drive I-70 east into Denver right before rush hour, did some city driving, and then back to the driving school.
My first driving lesson was fine. It took me ages to take off in a manual without stalling, but I got the hang of the basics pretty quick.
My first driving test on the other hand? That was a heart-breaker. Five minutes in, the instructor failed me because I drove through a zebra crossing without stopping for a pedestrian. Rookie mistake I know, but I foolishly thought the fact that they hadn't stepped on to it meant that I had a right of way. I felt so awful about myself for the rest of the day.
I had this weird thing when I was learning to drive. I could do left turns great, however I could not for the life of me do right turns. The amount of times I nearly made the car east the pavement/sidewalk was embarrassing.
First driving lesson was with my mom. She drove to an empty area and let me try to get the car rolling.... I'm not exaggerating when I say it took me months to start without the engine dying. The reason was that I couldn't feel the pedals since my feet are so fucking big. Bought a pair of shoes with a thin soul that were too small for me and after that I didn't have as much of an issue with starting.
Anyway; when I finally got out on to the real road I came about 300 meters before I panicked and had to pull over. I felt like there was so much I still needed to know and I couldn't handle being observant of everything.
Slow and steady wins the race, I guess, since a year went by before I had my license. Took me six attemps on the driving exams, though only the first two failures I consider my fault. Swedish driving exams are harder than in the rest of the world, and were I live(Stockholm) it's especially tough, but I'm seriously suspecting they were just trying to fill a quota.
My tip for you would be to take a crash course. I saw a few adds for that when I started out. Two weeks of intense driving lessons, theory books and everything. Back then I thought the price was way too high. The money I spent over that years worth of gas + a few lessons + all those exams was lower than the crash course would've been, but I might've gotten my license after only those two weeks.
As for the driving: it may seem overwhelming at first, but eventually you'll learn to sort the fluff out and driving will be as natural to you as riding a bicycle.
These days(about a year later) I got a part time job where I have drive all over Stockholm in a light truck. The shifts are usually 10-12 hours long, and I drive a lot generally, so I'm quite used to it.
My first lesson was OK, My Dad had taken me driving round a parking lot before, but he'd done a shit job of explaining how to operate the clutch, so I was really worried about fucking up and stalling a lot in my lesson, but my instructor explained clutch control to me really well and I only stalled once the whole lesson. My instructor drove me to a quieter area of roads, I spent 10 or 20 minutes driving around a very small block of houses in first and second gear, and then my instructor drove me back home. I didn't feel like the lesson was boring at all even though I never went faster than 15mph and I was only turning left on completely empty roads, but it was a great introduction for me and I learnt other stuff pretty quickly in my later lessons.
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