How did you learn to drive?

AprilT said:
I failed my first driving test miserably. They had a full course they used at our dmv, how was I two know it was a two lane road or that there were stops signs just beyond the bush that I wasn't paying attention for. :dunno:For one, I just thought to myself I really appreciate the extra wide road I got to ride in the middle of with so much space on both sides of me.

When I knew better, I did better. :bigwink:
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I too failed my first driving test. I did well right up to the end of the test. The guy told me to take the next left back into the RMV parking lot, so I did EXACTLY what he said, and I completely missed the fact that there was an island. Drove on the wrong side of the island and that was an automatic failure. Took it again in six weeks and passed just fine, but was mortified in the meantime that I'd flunked my initial test.
 

Yes, I took driver's ed....passed it. Prior to taking my actual test I stayed up all night at a slumber party (remember those?), took my written test and FAILED! Waited two weeks and passed it the second time. In 1964 new drivers only needed to be 14 to get their license...much too young to be responsible.
 

I also had Driver's Ed my junior year in High School taught by the football coach. (Wow, I'm seeing a pattern here :confused: ) Later on, I trained and got my Class 1 license at work.
 
I bought a car when I was 17 and my brother in law gave me a few lessons. However, his standards were clearly not good enough since I failed! So I then took a handful of lessons from a proper driving school and eventually passed.
 
We had something called a Learner's Permit at that time in Ohio. You got that when you passed the written test. Someone had to be with you any time you drove if you only had an LP.
 
I had to drive the getaway car b/c the regular driver chickened out.

(Actually, Because my dad was @ work, my Mother taught me in her own car. Then, one could get a permit @ age 14; which I did.

Got my 1st traffic ticket the same day; Parking with left wheels to the curb. I asked the cop, "What's wrong with that?"

Re replied, "How did you get there?"

Then, I understood; Driving on the wrong side of the street! Never, ever did it again! A lesson learned.....the hard way. :(
 
I learned to drive before I was old enough to qualify for a driver's license. On Friday nights my girlfriend's Dad would come home with a few too many beers under his belt. We would ask to borrow his car and he was always willing think I had my license. Since my girlfriend was too scared to drive I took over the wheel and off we'd go. It was a stick shift but I got the hang of it pretty quick and off we'd go on Friday nights. We were lucky never to have been caught. I must admit we had fun. :drive:
 
nitelite said:
I learned to drive before I was old enough to qualify for a driver's license. On Friday nights my girlfriend's Dad would come home with a few too many beers under his belt. We would ask to borrow his car and he was always willing think I had my license. Since my girlfriend was too scared to drive I took over the wheel and off we'd go. It was a stick shift but I got the hang of it pretty quick and off we'd go on Friday nights. We were lucky never to have been caught. I must admit we had fun. :drive:
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That brings back memories!
 
Lived in the country with lots of country roads and farms. One of my girlfriends boyfriend was older than us so I'd practice driving his car while they were in the back seat making out.
 
My grandmother used to tell a great story about how she learned to drive in 1918. Her father had just bought a brand-new Model T and she announced that she wanted to learn to drive it. Her brothers hooted and hollered and insisted that there was no way a woman could learn to drive, but her father (who never said no to her about anything) said he would teach her to drive.

On her first day out by herself, she came home and asked one of her brothers to park it in the shed for her. Her brother refused, saying that if she was so high-and-mighty that she thought she could drive then she could darn well park it by herself, too. She attempted to park it but drove right through the back of the shed, damaging the front of the car. Her brothers felt very vindicated about her mishap and were sure that their father would forbid her to drive again. Her father said (and I quote from the story), "if Ruth wanted to drive the car through the shed every time, then that was OK with him" and went out and bought another car. She said she lost her nerve for driving then and didn't drive for another two years, relying instead on a buggy to get around.
 
My dad taught me to drive his old (and it was very old but with a new paint job) 37 Chevy. Figured if I could drive it I could drive anything. That was when I was 16. I must have pulled over and started back up a dozen times getting used to the clutch and floor shift. The next week I took a chance on passing the test without ever looking at the book. Passed with flying colors. From then on I was the driver when he had to run his routes on weekends. I always loved driving. These days I hate riding with someone else driving. Guess you'd call me a pain in that case. I try not to look.
 
We lived on a farm so my first driving was on a farm tractor at very low speed when I was 8. That taught me steering and the use of a clutch and gearshift. Then my mother started me road driving in our '29 Ford Model A pickup on the way home from church. I got my licence at 14 in New Mexico. No driving test, just 20 questions on driving rules. I'd earned enough money that year to buy my own car, a '29 Ford Model A sedan. Later, I took Driving in high school but ​I really learned to drive in Los Angeles on the freeways. There it's survival of the fittest!
 
My Dad taught me. He was a truck driver, and had probably witnessed everything that can possibly go wrong on the highways....when he retired he got an award for driving over a million miles with no accidents. I grew up in Colorado, and Winter driving on snow and ice was the biggest challenge...so one Sunday, after a good snowstorm, he took me to a big open parking lot, and had me make every mistake he could think of. In a couple of hours of that "exercise" I learned lessons that have served me well for the almost 60 years I've been driving.
 
In my case I was taught how to pass the UK driving test by a really good driving school. It was only when I started to go out on my own in a beaten up old Ford van that I learned how to drive.

In those days there was no vehicle inspection for cars and vans, if there had been there is absolutely no way it would have passed, but it's peculiarities including unpredictable brakes and steering not to mention a non functioning shock absorber, damper in other parts of the world, on the front near side wheel made every trip a learning experience but learn I did.

Eventually the rear axle disconnected from the van and that was curtains for it but it had only cost me £12 in 1962 so it didn't owe me anything.

Today I drive an elderly Jaguar S type that is like driving a sofa down a road but I still miss my old Ford van. That thing took REAL driving skill!
 
I got my license at age 37. For the third time in 12 years, I was offered a position in the field by one of my supervisors, who said I was working below my capacity. I would go from unit secretary, a job that bored me silly to V.D. investigator. I hated being stuck in the office and had learned how to do the work the city and state investigators were doing, including talking to doctors and nurses about the diseases. I knew I had to get the license to be get the position. My supervisor took me driving a couple of times, another co-worker did also. We were like family in our office. Anyway, I also took lessons from a driving school. I made a mistake while parallel parking but calmly pulled out and tried again. I was so happy when she told me I passed.
 
NancyNGA said:
Do you remember who taught you, or at least went with you while you practiced? Driver's Ed anyone?

My mom taught me when I was 16, because my father was, well, let's just say "a perfectionist?":rolleyes: She taught his brother, too, for the same reason.
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My father taught me to drive when I was 12, we had a large property so there were plenty of drive ways. I took my driving test at 17 as soon as it was legal for me to drive on the road.
 
Dad was the world's worst driver, so he taught me to drive. I learned real fast what NOT to do and passed my driving test at 16 with flying colors.
 
I was in a country town and 17, long time ago. Things were pretty easy those days.
I also got a motorbike licence. When I was learning (on a motorscooter) I dropped hubby off at his work which was next door to the police station, and when I went for the licence they said they had seen me various times and didn't actually give me a test.
 
I paid a driving school $12 an hour and it seems like it wasn't too long before I was able to get my license. I wanted to make sure I got it before my 30th birthday. I have never cared much for driving and I still don't like to. The night before I took the test my husband went out and bought me a new car (remember the Chevettes?) and came home and handed me the keys and said "I know you will pass your driving test tomorrow." I did pass the test and then I got a job so I could help make the payments on the car. I think it was only 6 or 7 thousand. Wish I could buy a new car for that now. Oh, my husband did give me my first driving lesson and that lasted about 1/4 of a mile and then I pulled over and told him I thought driving lessons would be cheaper than a divorce. He agreed. :)
 

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