Poll: First-time Drivers

[Kaboose the Moose]

So yesterday I promissed my friend that I would take her out on her first time driving experience. To be fair, she does know the basics of driving (at least with the automatic transmission vehicles) it's just that she's never really had a chance to drive a car on a busy road before. So I bravely volunteered my car and my services to guide her through this integral part of adult life.

The whole experience was quite amusing (to me, of course) but my friend felt differently.

After a brief stint on the M4 (if you were stuck behind a particularly slow Toyota Camry yesterday arvo..sorry) she kept commenting on how it was a tense experience and how nervous she gets when switching lanes that I began to wonder what my first time driving experience was like.

Unlike her though I never avoided the wheel of a car in lieu of the well-developed public transportation system of London, so I was much more comfortable behind the wheel when my time came to get my license. Initially though I did have issues with parallel parking and suffered bouts of road rage..problems that I have thankfully put behind but I reserve the latter for the buses.

Anyway, I digress

Can you drive a car? If so, can you drive a manual or automatic? How was your first time? How long did it take you to become comfortable with driving in traffic?

Also did anyone realise that if you take your mouse to the Escapist logo...a pony appears?

 

[RufusMcLaser]

I've driven everything from tiny cars to 5-ton cargo trucks, manual and automatic. On the balance I prefer the tiny cars!
I think I was around 13 the first time my parents let me drive- it was on a Sunday morning in the country, so there wasn't any traffic to contend with. It was harder than it looked! And that was with an automatic.
My mother patiently trained me on manual transmissions when I was 14. It was frustrating and hateful at first. Eventually I developed the necessary set of habits, and found that I preferred it to an automatic because of the extra degree of control it gave me.

Driving in city traffic was intimidating for many years. I wasn't comfortable with it until I'd been driving for 5 or 6 years, and I still find it stressful when there's lots of traffic and nowhere to park. (I'm looking at you, Europe.)

 

[WolfThomas]

Drove on farm when I was a boy, so I knew how to drive at a young age. Live in rural area so I slowly eased into to in more and more populus areas, eventually driving around a city when I was at uni.

 

[Ziadaine_v1legacy]

My first time was in a manual and I was TERRIBLE. I stalled it every damn time I started it up and eventually said "Fuck it, im driving auto"

4 years later I almost have my full licence and I can drive both rather well. I still am a bit rusty from Neutral to first in a manual though <.<

 

[loc978]

I too have driven and worked on a wide assortment of vehicles in a wide assortment of places, from mopeds to buses to 10-ton HEMTTs, from rural roads in the northwestern US to downtown Rome at midnight... on a Saturday(worst.traffic.ever).
First thing I ever drove was a 1966 VW beetle with a 4-speed, a missing gas pedal, and a worn out clutch. 'Course, that was on the aforementioned rural roads, so I had no other drivers to worry about... just ruts to avoid high-centering on.
I learned to drive in the city a few years later in a '71 Oldsmobile with a 3-speed and a big block under the hood, though. Adapting to city traffic was annoying, but not difficult for me. Probably took me a week or so to get used to it.
To this day I prefer an older car with a manual transmission... something that has no computers onboard that take any facet of the controls out of my hands, and that I can fix without ordering specialized tools.

 

[Lord Kloo]

OMG, a pony, this is awesome...

In other news.. My first time driving in the rural countryside of Worcestershire was pretty ok to be fair, not to tense and not too easy either, its only when I started on dual carriage ways and motorways that it got a bit tense and frustrating as other people didn't actually follow the rules that I did.. it took about 8 lessons or so before I was happy to be in heavy and stop/start traffic..

OH and although I have to learn in a manual I have driven automatics and much prefer them to a manual, so much easier and nicer to drive..

 

[ottenni]

Paddock bombs are the best way to learn. Nothing beats starting in a car with no first or second gear and a handbrake that doesn't work. Its good because if you crash nobody cares.

 

[Dogstile]

A PONY! I love you for showing me that man.

Anyway, first time I drove, it was because my dad told me I had to race afterwards. I didn't come last, surprisingly, but it was tense.

 

[Merkavar]

i have a automatic license but have driven a manual once. only stalled once

my first few times were awesome. i nealy drove of a cliff, bumped a tree and nearly went into a telegraph pole at 60ks. but i didnt think i came close to anything, but the passengers did.

i still get worried when driving near big trucks. especially on small bridges

 

[Daggedawg]

I do have a licence, was taught how to drive manual. But I never drive, don't really like it, nor do I really need it.

Oh, and the pony is cool!

 

[JokerCrowe]

I KNOW how to drive a manual-shift car, but I don't have a license. It's the theoretical stuff that get's me... The first time I drove on a road I was with my dad, a bus came towards us so my dad grabbed the steering wheel, just so I wouldn't steer us into the bus I guess... I didn't really feel the trust..
It was tense, but now I'm a lot more comfortable with driving, it's just that stupid theory.

 

[Zaverexus]

I got my license almost a year ago and drive a standard transmission.
I live just outside Orlando, Florida and we have zero public transportation so its relatively necessary, though I much prefer to walk where I can.