First time driving

[adrianblaine]

There are quite a few other factors that also push Americas driving every where and the weak public transportation system compared other parts of the world. One of the biggest reason is in America we are a lot more spread and have longer drives everyone. Back when the city where building up build up of the suburbs did a lot of damage. But one of the biggest reason that the public transportation is weak is there is just a ton more area that has to be covered for the smaller population. Reason that American do use more land for there houses is for the simple fact that we have a lot of land and its comparatively cheap. So we can get larger houses for a much cheaper price than they can over sees. But that is a side note.

I would have said exactly this about 4 years ago before I started Architecture school. The program I am in focuses heavily on urban design and the history of sub-urban america. Of course there are varying views on how this happened, but none of them are for rational reasons. Just because we have more land does not mean we need to waste it. Just because we have more land does not mean we have to spread out so much.
http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/openspace.html

From 1982-1997, the U.S. population grew by 17 percent, while urbanized land grew by 47 percent. Over the past 20 years, the acreage per person for new housing almost doubled, and since 1994, 10-plus acre housing lots have accounted for 55 percent of the land developed.

This is unethical, unsustainable, and unacceptable. The car was just the means by which the oil companies could get rich. They sunk tons of money into getting people to buy them and getting the politician to build the roads for them. Americans spend almost 1/3 of their paycheck just on transportation (gas, car payment, insurance). Does anyone else find this wasteful?

Anyway, I've been getting off topic. Practice makes perfect in anything.

 

[ErikCLDR]

Well, I will be like my italian driving teacher guy.

"Look Far"- don't look at the ground in front of you, but look far away. Be sure to look out of cars around you though.

If you're accelerating too quickly it may be because you have too much of your foot on the gas pedel, you're only supposed to use your toe. The other possibility is that you are driving the car I drive when I do my driving lessons where you can either slowly get up to speed by lightly touching the gas, if you push a tad harder it lurches forward and the engine revs up really high. Not to worry though, the crappy 4cyl engine takes about 20 minutes to reach 60mph. Seriously, my dads 6000lb Discovery can make accelerate much faster.

My driving instructor is crazy though. He says the same thing ever day. It works though, cause he is one of the "elite driving schools in CT". 92% of his students pass both the driving and law test. He claims in his 17 year of teacher (OMG how can he stand it- borrring) he's had 5 people fail the law test.

Also, the questions are incredibly easy, just visualize it. If the multiple choice answer includes "safe" or "safely" its always right. If it says "maybe" its wrong. If it tells you to look more around you that is the correct answer like. Additionally following time is either 2 or 4. 2 for a car, 4 for a truck or motorcycle. And the parking distances are "a penny, a dime, and a quarter" - 1ft or less to curb, 10ft to a firehydrant, and 25 to a stop sign/intersection. Also its 1hr to sober up per drink, 400ft to stop from 50mph, and 1/3 of a mile to pass another car.

 

[ErikCLDR]

I would have said exactly this about 4 years ago before I started Architecture school. The program I am in focuses heavily on urban design and the history of sub-urban america. Of course there are varying views on how this happened, but none of them are for rational reasons. Just because we have more land does not mean we need to waste it. Just because we have more land does not mean we have to spread out so much.
http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/openspace.html


This is unethical, unsustainable, and unacceptable. The car was just the means by which the oil companies could get rich. They sunk tons of money into getting people to buy them and getting the politician to build the roads for them. Americans spend almost 1/3 of their paycheck just on transportation (gas, car payment, insurance). Does anyone else find this wasteful?

Anyway, I've been getting off topic. Practice makes perfect in anything.

Well, our founding fathers did not want the US to end up like Europe. Everyone living in cities, working in factories, poor and living in slums. So thats a contributing factor.

Some people don't want to live in cities though believe it or not. Its the way it is. From my house to school its 30min, driving about 40-50mph. There is no way I could walk. Unless I woke up at 2:00am. There are no sidewalks either. And I am def not gonna do it when on fri there is going to be a wind chill of -30

General Comment: People who have never left the city, or been to america, don't judge- we need cars to transport ourselves, yes SUVs waste gas, somepeople need them, some don't, but its not like all of us are in walking distance of a school... work... even store.

I do agree though, it is ridiculous how much some people spend on cars with money they obviously do not have. How can/why would someone that probably makes $50,000 a year buy a $45,000 Acura (Aunt).

 

[extraextra]

Also people say you have to get used to different cars....thats a loads of balls to be honest! If you can drive....you can drive simple as that!!

You probably have to get used to the responsiveness of cars. A car with a 115hp engine is a lot easier to stop (the brakes feel less slow) than a car with a 380hp engine.

I can't recommend it enough - scan the road. Check your rearview mirror and don't stare at one spot in the road while driving. It's easy to get relaxed and space out while driving, and then you won't notice a red light or a pedestrian and it could be fatal.

 

[quagmire]

When I learned to drive it was first my mom's 2001 Chrysler Sebring convert. Thankfully that only lasted a month. As it's future held costly repairs. I hated driving it. We also have a 2002 Chevy Suburban. I would beg to drive it when we went out instead of the Sebring. The Sebring's gas pedal was way too sensitive. It would think it was a BMW, Corvette, etc and jump off the line scaring me. Then of course after that sudden burst of power, it would lose its power and become a dog. Equipped with the famous POS 2.7 V6. The Suburban, while huge for a new driver( I actually drove it pretty well my mom said. I understood that it was a huge heavy vehicle and knew I needed to brake sooner and go easy on acceleration) was much more enjoyable to drive. The gas pedal was just right. When we got the message that the Sebring was going to be costly in the future, we traded it in for a 2006 Chevy Equinox. Although weaker then the Sebring with the 185 HP( although 210 lb of torque which moved the vehicle nicely with that torque on the low end) 3400 V6, it was again more enjoyable to drive. I now drive the Equinox and 2007 Saturn Aura XR which has the Cadillac CTS's 3.6 V6 making 252 HP. The Aura XR I feel will be the best car I will drive for awhile( pretty much until I can afford to buy a 'Vette ). They're all auto's, but I am interested in learning a stick now that I know how to drive in general. Problem is no one has a stick so I can't learn on one yet.

Anyway, advice is that brake early and go easy on the gas. Better to brake too soon and coast to the stop then to brake too late and have to slam on the brakes. And keep both of your hands on the wheel preferebly at 9 and 3 o clock. Comfortable for me at least and keep my arms away from the airbag so if it deploys in an accident, I don't punch myself.

 

[Kwyjibo]

oh yeah ...

I see that you're in the chicago area


please for the love of god, next time it snows, find an empty parking lot and learn how to drive in snow / ice. (Learn how your car will respond if you're going 20 and you SLAM on the breaks - actually quite fun in the parking lot but SCARY as hell in real life). Its essential for places that get snow like Chicago, but its dangerous and tricky as well. You will quickly learn that as soon as it snows everyone forgets how to drive in the snow, but the more experience you have the easier it is the next time.

 

[adrianblaine]

Well, our founding fathers did not want the US to end up like Europe. Everyone living in cities, working in factories, poor and living in slums. So thats a contributing factor.

Some people don't want to live in cities though believe it or not. Its the way it is. From my house to school its 30min, driving about 40-50mph. There is no way I could walk. Unless I woke up at 2:00am. There are no sidewalks either. And I am def not gonna do it when on fri there is going to be a wind chill of -30

General Comment: People who have never left the city, or been to america, don't judge- we need cars to transport ourselves, yes SUVs waste gas, somepeople need them, some don't, but its not like all of us are in walking distance of a school... work... even store.

I do agree though, it is ridiculous how much some people spend on cars with money they obviously do not have. How can/why would someone that probably makes $50,000 a year buy a $45,000 Acura (Aunt).

Did you look at the picture I posted? That can't be what our founding fathers had in mind as well. Let alone anyone. Is this what our "advanced" society is supposed to look like?

It is extremely disturbing how car oriented we are. Like you said about where you live, they make it so that walking isn't even an OPTION. You are REQUIRED to drive. All I'm arguing for is choice basically. I believe most of the population would move to a more urban condition if they realized it was even a option. I'm not even talking about cities, but small towns. I would love to live in a small town that had a train to the bigger city. Developers don't even know how to develop anything but sprawl, leaving us with not choice but to live in it...

I'm really not against cars. I just don't want to be so dependent on them and have to use them so much.

 

[ErikCLDR]

When I learned to drive it was first my mom's 2001 Chrysler Sebring convert. Thankfully that only lasted a month. As it's future held costly repairs. I hated driving it. We also have a 2002 Chevy Suburban. I would beg to drive it when we went out instead of the Sebring. The Sebring's gas pedal was way too sensitive. It would think it was a BMW, Corvette, etc and jump off the line scaring me. Then of course after that sudden burst of power, it would lose its power and become a dog. Equipped with the famous POS 2.7 V6. The Suburban, while huge for a new driver( I actually drove it pretty well my mom said. I understood that it was a huge heavy vehicle and knew I needed to brake sooner and go easy on acceleration) was much more enjoyable to drive. The gas pedal was just right. When we got the message that the Sebring was going to be costly in the future, we traded it in for a 2006 Chevy Equinox. Although weaker then the Sebring with the 185 HP( although 210 lb of torque which moved the vehicle nicely with that torque on the low end) 3400 V6, it was again more enjoyable to drive. I now drive the Equinox and 2007 Saturn Aura XR which has the Cadillac CTS's 3.6 V6 making 252 HP. The Aura XR I feel will be the best car I will drive for awhile( pretty much until I can afford to buy a 'Vette ). They're all auto's, but I am interested in learning a stick now that I know how to drive in general. Problem is no one has a stick so I can't learn on one yet.

Anyway, advice is that brake early and go easy on the gas. Better to brake too soon and coast to the stop then to brake too late and have to slam on the brakes. And keep both of your hands on the wheel preferebly at 9 and 3 o clock. Comfortable for me at least and keep my arms away from the airbag so if it deploys in an accident, I don't punch myself.

I've driven a suburban. It scared the crap out of me. You feel like your mirors are going to hit passing cars and trees. You have to like push the brake 1/2 way before you feel any sort of braking power. Its kinda fun though.

The first car I drove for more than like 10 and on a road over 40mph was my dads Discovery. Now mostly I drive either the Disco, my moms VW Touareg, or our Grand Cherokee. The disco is pretty slow and has the worst stopping distance of the three. The VW is faster and stops better. The grand cherokee is pretty good all around but the brakes are not great. Their is also my dads commuter car, 1998 Cutlass which I hate to drive cause it feels (and is) cheap, but it does have good acceraltion but I don't like the feel of the brakes. Out of the VW, Jeep, and Rover the VW is is the easiest to drive but the Rover has amazing visibility which I love.

 

[SkyBell]

I'm learning how to drive stick, because it is what I intend to drive for most of my life. Plus, you're not just putting the car into gear, and forgetting about it. You have to actively shift gears, and this makes you focus more on the road, instead of cell phone conversations, and other things you shouldn't do while driving.

It's really not as hard as people say. Like Chundles said above,

And the residents aren't there to call the cops on you as you lay down umpteen little burnout marks all over the place as you bunny-hop the car a thousand times trying to start the damn thing. I tell you, once you figure out the smooth timing of the "off clutch, on accelerator" motion it's like the sun has come out and you wonder how you ever made so many, many mistakes before.

He got it exactly right. Anybody can drive an automatic, and anybody can drive a stick. But people usually choose automatic. Have we really become so lazy, we won't push our foot down on a clutch, and change gears? This can't possibly burn one calorie.

Learn to drive stick. One of the best driving decisions you'll ever make.

 

[Swarmlord]

Take it slower than you would originally thing when approaching those 90 degree corners. When you are inexperienced it's easy to swing wide into the other lane.

 

[quagmire]

I've driven a suburban. It scared the crap out of me. You feel like your mirors are going to hit passing cars and trees. You have to like push the brake 1/2 way before you feel any sort of braking power. Its kinda fun though.

It is a big vehicle to drive. It can be scary especially since the brake is soft and need to push further then you're used to. Think about it though. If you're towing horses, trailers, etc you don't want to jerk them around. Having a soft brake pedal softens the jolt to the trailer/horses. Now I believe the new GMT-900 Suburban has a less squishy brake pedal and is something we're used to in normal vehicles. The only thing I don't like about the Suburban is the ball joint steering where it has no on center feel which makes the steering wheel very loose when going straight. Again, the new GMT-900's have rack and pinion steering now solving the problem.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I would have said exactly this about 4 years ago before I started Architecture school. The program I am in focuses heavily on urban design and the history of sub-urban america. Of course there are varying views on how this happened, but none of them are for rational reasons. Just because we have more land does not mean we need to waste it. Just because we have more land does not mean we have to spread out so much.
http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/openspace.html

This is unethical, unsustainable, and unacceptable. The car was just the means by which the oil companies could get rich. They sunk tons of money into getting people to buy them and getting the politician to build the roads for them. Americans spend almost 1/3 of their paycheck just on transportation (gas, car payment, insurance). Does anyone else find this wasteful?

Anyway, I've been getting off topic. Practice makes perfect in anything.

You missed the part about cheap land. The huge amount of cheap land that allows for this larger areas to cover. And because people buy houses spread pretty far out it very hard on a public transportation system to get any where near the power that it has over seas. People spread out because the land is cheap. Land is easily 5-10 the cost over sees so people will tend to build closer together. As for other proof just look in the US where land cost more you see the houses generally closer together. Also in the US people are not pack as closely together and the population density is much much lower. The public transportation system is much weaker the farther west you go and you noticed people are more spread out to the point where it hard on a public system. If you look at new England area you noticed that everyone is really close together and guess what they have a decent public transportation system. And of course you got the BIG BAD oil companies that can be blame for everything...really get real on that part but this is off topic.


As for back on the original top there are some other things that need to be done. in drive is always have you eyes looking farther down the road and not over the front of your hood. A common rookie mistake is just to look maybe 100 feet or so in front of them. Really it should be intersection to intersection so a several hundred ft. It was something that took me a while to get used to and good at. But you will get it in time.

 

[R.Youden]

I don't think it has been mentioned on here but a good thing that I did was whilst you are learning, or even before you start to learn, if you are sat in the passenger seat imagine that you are driving. This gives you a lot more time behind the 'wheel' and it is also very useful to learn what other drivers are doing. I often find that drivers are in the wrong lane at a round-a-bout or indicating in an opposite direction but with time you can learn by their body language what they are actually doing.

When I learnt to drive I was in a brand-new VW golf with a fantastic clutch and really solid biting point and I learnt in a very flat part of the UK. As soon as I passed I got given a 15 year old VW polo with a terrible clutch that has no distinguishable biting point and then I moved to Bristol in the UK which is one of the hilliest cities around! That was fun.

 

[bartelby]

I started to learn last year (failed first test for "appearing not to use left door mirror when exiting roundabouts" haven't reapplied due to being skint)

But driving is very easy. I love it. Switching between my instructors Ford Fiesta and our Alfa Romeo was a bit of a struggle. The change in bite points and such was a little tricky to start with.
But I drive everyday and I'll be reapplying soon.

 

[siurpeeman]

Practice, practice, practice and beware of other drivers. Oh yeah, and practice.

i couldn't agree with this more. practice and beware of others. the latter is the only reason why i never run yellow lights. as for manual driving, it's all a matter of personal preference. you have to really love driving to enjoy everyday manual driving. don't get me wrong, i love driving stick (and i do drive stick), but it isn't everybody's cup of tea.

 

[MACDRIVE]

They always tell you in driver's training to place your hands at the 10:00 & 2:00 o' clock position. I cannot drive like that. I have my left hand at the 1:00 o'clock position and my right hand tucked in between the seats.

By the way, how on Earth do you Brits & Aussies shift a manual trans with your left hand? I can't begin to fathom how awkward that must be.

 

[bartelby]

By the way, how on Earth do you Brits & Aussies shift a manual trans with your left hand? I can't begin to fathom how awkward that must be.

Erm, it's not awkward at all. Us Brits and Aussies have good control over our limbs.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

Driving is all about anticipation!

 

[Rodimus Prime]

i couldn't agree with this more. practice and beware of others. the latter is the only reason why i never run yellow lights. as for manual driving, it's all a matter of personal preference. you have to really love driving to enjoy everyday manual driving. don't get me wrong, i love driving stick (and i do drive stick), but it isn't everybody's cup of tea.

ah the joys of yellow lights. They are a very special thing and some time it is a much much better idea to go though them than to stop. You have to be aware of who is behind you and if they are 2 close run though the light.

Biggest thing on yellow lights and intersections is you have to choose a point of no return. 2-3 strips back from the intersections and after you cross that point you are going to though the intersection no matte if the light changes or not. Lesson I learn the hard way in drivers Ed. I was nicely rear ended at a yellow light when I should of just gone though it. Mind you the guy who hit me was tail gating a car that had STUDENT DRIVER on it. I was parodied of yellow lights for months afterwards. For yellow lights you should stop if you can do a safe, easy stop. You should never have to slam on your brakes for a yellow light. If you slammed on your brakes that pretty clear that you should of gone though the light.

 

[Kwyjibo]

Biggest thing on yellow lights and intersections is you have to choose a point of no return. 2-3 strips back from the intersections and after you cross that point you are going to though the intersection no matte if the light changes or not. Lesson I learn the hard way in drivers Ed. I was nicely rear ended at a yellow light when I should of just gone though it. Mind you the guy who hit me was tail gating a car that had STUDENT DRIVER on it. I was parodied of yellow lights for months afterwards. For yellow lights you should stop if you can do a safe, easy stop. You should never have to slam on your brakes for a yellow light. If you slammed on your brakes that pretty clear that you should of gone though the light.

This is why I wanted to get a switch in my car that turns on the brake lights ... that way I could turn on the light, the guy would slow down behind me and BAM I make the light, and laugh all the way to the next light.

Of course I assume this would be highly illegal.

 

[sikkinixx]

read the drivers book a few times, learn your four-way stop stuff since that really pisses drivers off when you screw it up (well it pisses ME off ), do lots of shoulder checks so you always know what is going on around you. 90% of drivers don't need to wory about themselves, they need to worry about the 10% who can't drive.

Oh! and the most important thing I found when I started driving, do what you feel safe with. Don't let some jackass behind you taking the left turn push you into taking the turn before you think it is safe. **** him. Better to make some idiot mad at you then get t-boned and have it be YOUR fault.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

read the drivers book a few times, learn your four-way stop stuff since that really pisses drivers off when you screw it up (well it pisses ME off ), do lots of shoulder checks so you always know what is going on around you. 90% of drivers don't need to wory about themselves, they need to worry about the 10% who can't drive.

Oh! and the most important thing I found when I started driving, do what you feel safe with. Don't let some jackass behind you taking the left turn push you into taking the turn before you think it is safe. **** him. Better to make some idiot mad at you then get t-boned and have it be YOUR fault.

Very true. Never make a turn that you are not comfortable with and let some one push you into it for the reason listed above. If you do not think there is not enough room for the turn then there is not enough room plan and simple.
Also put good size safety factor on how much room you think you will needed. You do not have the experiences yet to be able to judge speed and how much room you need. What I feel like is enough room is more than likely going to be a lot less than what you feel like is enough room but I also need a much smaller safety factor than you do because I am a better judge on all how much room I need and that will come with time.

 

[gonyr]

It just takes practices. Also you need to remember not to get cocky and think you are a good drive. Simple fact is that you are a crappy drive and will be a crappy drive for quite some time.

I think this sums it up perfectly. I am a teacher that has had two students (both 18 years old) killed in traffic accidents in the past few years. The most important thing you could possibly do as a new driver is to be cautious. There's no such thing as too careful when you're starting out.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I think this sums it up perfectly. I am a teacher that has had two students (both 18 years old) killed in traffic accidents in the past few years. The most important thing you could possibly do as a new driver is to be cautious. There's no such thing as too careful when you're starting out.

I might like to add I think it takes 5 years of driving to get to the point of where an experienced driver is. So for Americans than means you not even up to the normal driving skill until you are 21. And that would also explain why the insurance drop at 21 that my brother and I got.

 

[lu0s3r322]

yeah im the OP and at my school they say to drive on the defensive everyday.