At first I did everything wrong... I stopped in the middle of the street to let someone in who didn't have the right away on one of the busiest streets in my town. I was constantly almost hitting the curb and I just kinda felt completely clueless about what was going on. It was only a 30 minute session, and towards the end I started doing a little better and actually got the hang of it but there was one thing that I didn't really get the hang of.. turning. Is it normal to absolutely suck at turning your first time driving? I seriously could not grasp the concept of spinning the wheel and overlapping your hands. He didn't let me practice on little turns first he kept on putting me in the really busy intersections and since I kept on turning wrong, he kept on screaming at me and grabbing the wheel. Any tips on turning? Is it normal to be terrible at turning your first time driving? I'm totally nervous about driving again in a few days, will I get the hang of turning soon?
2007-10-15 14:24:21 · 10 answers · asked by Jstevens 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Safety
there is a saying of 'trying too hard'. nervousness will completely phuck u up. the more relaxed u are the better.
look where u want the car to go in the turns. belive it or not, it works just like it does on a street bike. dont be looking at a spot only 30' ahead. that disappeared about 5 seconds ago. u should be looking at least 100' ahead. there's a critical skill u need to develop: situational awarness. the art of being able to track, id, and threat prioritize everything that's in ur airspace. in ww2, the pilots had a saying. the 1 u dont see is the 1 that smokes u.
always assume the other dude is gonna do the wrong thing.
u actually should be on back roads with little traffic instead of busy streets. that is just too much info for a rookie to safely process. that is BEGGING for problems. fortunately for u, u managed to keep from having a wreck. there's nothing worse than a rookie freezing up in heavy traffic. very bad scene.
find some back roads and work on them for awhile. ya gotta learn how to walk before ya run.
2007-10-15 14:43:32 · answer #1 · answered by forktail_devil 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Drivers Ed is different from everything else you do in school.
Other stuff, you memorize so you can pass a test, then forget it. With driving, you better not forget what's what.
You might visit amusement park, and practice with the bumper cars ... there it does not matter if you crash into people, but at least you get experience with a few minor controls.
I assume you have permit to drive with an adult. Ask your family if they can take you to a parking area that has the painted yellow lines but no one parked there, such as a goodly distance away from the store (most everyone parks at mall crodeed around entrances, so at time of day when not a lot of shoppers, there's large tracts of mall parking area where no one using.
Alternatively, could ask for permission to use shcool parking lot outside shcool hours.
What you will be doing, is steering to stay inside the yellow lines of the parking spaces, practicing parallel parking, front end parking, back in parking, going around a block, where there is no curb.
If there are two adults with you, one will be your passenger, another can have a movie camera photographing how you doing, for a discussion afterwards of where you have the most trouble.
You could also look into any way to get some of those traffic cones that the road crews use to mark off construction ... they would be great to use in the practice maneuvering in mall parking area where not other traffic ... can you make a maneuver without knocking over the cones?
When I first learned how to drive, I also sucked at it.
But I had intelligent adults in my family who helped with the above stuff.
I can't remember the details, but there was also something they were doing with chalk (like what is written on a black board in a classroom).
2007-10-15 15:57:49 · answer #2 · answered by Al Mac Wheel 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Don't worry man, you're intelligent enough to describe this situation in the detail you did so you're intelligent enough to drive an automatic car. Millions and millions of people get their license and are qualified drivers, it just takes practice. Some just get it quicker than others. First time I drove, I took a car home right after getting my restricted license. The one thing that I felt was most difficult was making sure I was perfectly in the middle of the street lines, especially when turning on a big intersection. After about 2 times driving it was second nature. My first car was a manual transmission, and that I will admit was difficult. It took me about 3 days till I was good enough to be able to drive it on the road. It was very frustrating to learn. After learning to drive a manual transmission car, I am confident that anybody i've met can drive an automatic transmission car.
2007-10-15 15:01:00 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
that is why they call it drivers ed cause you are learning and anyone who is learning anything no matter how old they are is apt to make mistakes. keep practicing and get your parents or someone to take you out for more driving than just what you get in your drivers ed class. i was teaching someone how to drive and they did the same thing when they were making turns. i suggest that what you do is to sue your parents car or a friends and just sit in the driveway and practice turning the wheel as the drivers ed teacher told you to. make sure that you have the car engine running or else you won't be able to turn the wheel
2007-10-15 14:47:05 · answer #4 · answered by hermitofnorthdome 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I never had the chance to drive because of a seziure disorder (epilepsy). I would imangine that turning could be tricky when you first start. Even steering might be (without any turning). It sounds as if you almost have it down pat. I'm sure you'll get the hang of turning. With more driving, the better you should get. Think of when you started to learn to ride a bike, your balance or something would get off and you land on the ground.
Good luck with your driving & steering.
2007-10-15 14:44:17 · answer #5 · answered by kb9kbu 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Get your dad or mom to take you out in some big parking lot so you can practice. You need alot more practice than drivers ed will give you.
It takes awhile to really master driving, I remember it used to be really tough to keep the car in the lane and not drift but now it's second nature.
2007-10-15 15:03:38 · answer #6 · answered by Bill 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
they really shouldn't have you starting out on roads like that without turning a bit in a parking lot. but don't worry about not being able to turn well everyone overcompensates their turning when they start or can't turn like they want you to, you'll figure out ways to make it easier and get better at driving.
2007-10-15 14:33:27 · answer #7 · answered by Michael 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes I've ridden with first time drivers and they always grip the wheel too hard and can't move their hands fast enough the first few corners. relax your grip and don't talk to yoursef in your head , you get better with more time behind the wheel.
2007-10-15 15:39:12 · answer #8 · answered by redd headd 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Its normal to do some of that, but turning? I don't think it's that hard for most people. I didn't find it too hard for turning in any situation. Just keep it up and you will get it.
2007-10-15 14:32:49 · answer #9 · answered by Evgeni 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
SURE YOU WILL, JUST RELAX AND BREATHE AND DON'T FEEL INTIMIDATED BY THE INSTRUCTOR, HE OR SHE IS JUST THERE TO HELP.
2007-10-16 02:11:41 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋