i disagree. learners should get the feel of as many cars as they can i reckon. if youve only ever learnt in one car, then when you get your p's and later on in life when you have to drive other cars, you wont have the necessary skills it takes to be able to smoothly adapt to the different cars. especially in manuals. every manual drives differently.bizadfar said:
Learner Driver help (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter snail_2006
- Start date
AntiHyper
Revered Member
It'd be fun to learn how to drive in Germany, driving in the motorways there.
They even imposes a law that slow vehicles whose max. speed are below 60K's are not allowed.
Hey, I was the same I hated driving and I got my licence half a year after I was 16 because my parents forced me. When I got them I was originally worried that I was going to crash, but when my dad took me out for the first time it didn't seem so bad because he was so patient and told me calmly what I was doing wrong so I would fix it. I still get a bit worried every time I get behind the wheel and have done only 12 hours in a year of getting my licence but now the more I drive the less worried I get because I can see myself improving.
SiZmOs
"Shaken, not stirred."
despite the fact i'm horribly late to reply to this, and most of the ideas have already been said, id just like to enforce them all.
the whole driving in a carpark idea - brilliant. i never did that on my Ls, despite the fact I ended up doing about 70 hours... perhaps a little more.
after you've spent some time driving with people you're comfortable around, i'd definately recommend getting an instructor. they teach you the little things that your folks (or whoever) may not pick up on. for example: I had been driving for about a year, (well over the 50hr mark) before I even decided to get an instructor. the only reason we got an instructor was for this reason exactly - to pick up on anything little i was doing wrong...
i went with ABC, and the guy was aboslutely great. easy to get along with, to talk to, everything. after 10 minutes of driving, we pulled over and he tells me that i have everything down patt, except one thing - when i turned the wheel, my hand would go on the inside if the wheel, and if i did that in the P's test, i would fail. period.
the next 50 minutes, as well as other lessons were spent just fine tuning that and a few other nick-nacks i was doing wrong.
i never learnt to drive in a manual - ive driven one, but have never "learnt", in the true sense of the word... so my idea here may not be appropriate, but still, it's worth a shot:
if you're just uncomfortable driving, if it's possible, maybe you should do a bit of driving in an automatic, just go get a feel for the road, and interactions with drivers and signs, lights and everything. then, once you've gotten comfortable BEING on the road, switch over into a manual car, where the only real difference is the changing of gears, and in effect, breaking. those tasks ma take a bit of getting used to, but they may be easier to get used to after you're comfortable in the car. hell, you can practice them in the empty parking lot straight out if you'd really want... depends on you.
thats about it... i'll just add, that driving can be stressful. there are lots of idiots out there, who are on their full licence, and just don't obey the rules... but, driving can also be a great stress reliever. just to go for a drive would clear my head completely... i can't do that anymore considering the price of petrol, but still. driving isn't something to be afraid of... but don't be in any hurry to get your Ps either... take your time. i took a year and a half, despite the fact I could have been on them in about 6 months if i were allowed to. hell, my mate just turned 19 and only just got his Ls. dont think there's any pressure to get your licence. if your folks or whoever are pressuring you, just ask em nicely to back off a bit and let you do it in your own time...
all the best, snail. hope to hear from you when you get your licence =)
see you on the road.
the whole driving in a carpark idea - brilliant. i never did that on my Ls, despite the fact I ended up doing about 70 hours... perhaps a little more.
after you've spent some time driving with people you're comfortable around, i'd definately recommend getting an instructor. they teach you the little things that your folks (or whoever) may not pick up on. for example: I had been driving for about a year, (well over the 50hr mark) before I even decided to get an instructor. the only reason we got an instructor was for this reason exactly - to pick up on anything little i was doing wrong...
i went with ABC, and the guy was aboslutely great. easy to get along with, to talk to, everything. after 10 minutes of driving, we pulled over and he tells me that i have everything down patt, except one thing - when i turned the wheel, my hand would go on the inside if the wheel, and if i did that in the P's test, i would fail. period.
the next 50 minutes, as well as other lessons were spent just fine tuning that and a few other nick-nacks i was doing wrong.
i never learnt to drive in a manual - ive driven one, but have never "learnt", in the true sense of the word... so my idea here may not be appropriate, but still, it's worth a shot:
if you're just uncomfortable driving, if it's possible, maybe you should do a bit of driving in an automatic, just go get a feel for the road, and interactions with drivers and signs, lights and everything. then, once you've gotten comfortable BEING on the road, switch over into a manual car, where the only real difference is the changing of gears, and in effect, breaking. those tasks ma take a bit of getting used to, but they may be easier to get used to after you're comfortable in the car. hell, you can practice them in the empty parking lot straight out if you'd really want... depends on you.
thats about it... i'll just add, that driving can be stressful. there are lots of idiots out there, who are on their full licence, and just don't obey the rules... but, driving can also be a great stress reliever. just to go for a drive would clear my head completely... i can't do that anymore considering the price of petrol, but still. driving isn't something to be afraid of... but don't be in any hurry to get your Ps either... take your time. i took a year and a half, despite the fact I could have been on them in about 6 months if i were allowed to. hell, my mate just turned 19 and only just got his Ls. dont think there's any pressure to get your licence. if your folks or whoever are pressuring you, just ask em nicely to back off a bit and let you do it in your own time...
all the best, snail. hope to hear from you when you get your licence =)
see you on the road.
Jiga
Active Member
Yeah I would say the best advice would be to start on an auto if your a struggling learner, because all you really need to do in an auto is get used to how the car handles and then your set. For me, after like 10mins of driving in a nice quiet wide street, I was into some light traffic. With manuals when your first learning you get abit overloaded with trying to get use to the cars handling, watching out for things, and changing gears.
Unusual, my Camry has the exact opposite where the brake pedal is quite firm as it should be.
Last edited by a moderator:
daydreamkitty
Love me hate me, meh.....
Hello
I thought I would mention that i've been a learner for about 8 months.I've only got about 5 hrs on my licence and At first I was a bit worried. But it's harder I guess because i live in a highly populated area of Sydney (inner west).
I was gaining confidence in backstreets (for instance haberfield) and moving further along.At some points my mum was more scared of me driving then i was.
Four months ago my mother reversed by accident into someones car and i havent learnt yet anymore except for round abouts.
You need to start accepting one day that you need to drive.Sometimes it's a luxuary - (think of adults in china getting a car for the first time when all they have been using is bikes. ) bad example due to the increease co2 on the ozone layer.
Other times for need- You need to get someplace and theres no trains busses around ect.
Dont let others push you- My mum was not screaming in my face and I found it easier.
theres always lessons to be learnt- your not going to be perfect the first time you drive.
-Loui
I thought I would mention that i've been a learner for about 8 months.I've only got about 5 hrs on my licence and At first I was a bit worried. But it's harder I guess because i live in a highly populated area of Sydney (inner west).
I was gaining confidence in backstreets (for instance haberfield) and moving further along.At some points my mum was more scared of me driving then i was.
Four months ago my mother reversed by accident into someones car and i havent learnt yet anymore except for round abouts.
You need to start accepting one day that you need to drive.Sometimes it's a luxuary - (think of adults in china getting a car for the first time when all they have been using is bikes. ) bad example due to the increease co2 on the ozone layer.
Other times for need- You need to get someplace and theres no trains busses around ect.
Dont let others push you- My mum was not screaming in my face and I found it easier.
theres always lessons to be learnt- your not going to be perfect the first time you drive.
-Loui