Sorry in advance for the wall of text! Some background…
Enter me, someone who usually gets around by bicycle or public transport. I’m about 200 miles away from anyone close (besides my partner) and the trains, while fast and convenient, are expensive and quite limited at some times of the day.
So, as a solution, I decided I’ll pick up some driving lessons so I can drive to friends with a rental or my own vehicle, on much more flexible terms. Since I had some existing experience in various driving simulators (almost 200h combined), I decided why not?
Now, about the lesson.
The instructor was absolutely amazing, got me up to speed with all kinds of things I wasn’t familiar with, like adjusting the mirrors, wheel and stuff.
The car is a stick shift/manual, as that’s the norm here. To be honest, changing gears was the easiest part - it felt really familiar because of the simulators. However I really struggled with how much information you need to take in from around you during the actual driving, literally had to try so hard to not make my mind wander for even a second, because I’d lose track of the environment and stuff. It was dark too so that made things a little challenging.
I’d say a major stress point too is the fact that i’m operating a 2000kg SUV, not an agile 20kg bicycle.
On one hand I’m hoping things improve with time, on the other I really wish we had good, affordable public transport to begin with.
What are your thoughts?
It’s kinda like going to a new job. It’s only scary because it’s new. As long as you’re not on your phone the whole time or driving drunk it’s a lot easier than you’d think
Tbh the hardest part (at least in America) is some intersections are weird, but 90% of the time you’ll have people in front of you to copy and figure it out.
Sounds like a pretty normal first time out. You’ll get used to the streets around where you live and then you’ll get the same experience the first time you drive somewhere new. Then again the first time you get on a high speed highway. Then the first time you drive in a city downtown.
You’ll get comfortable with all those situations eventually and each one will make adapting to the next situation easier.
You are absolutely not alone. When you first start out, everything is overwhelming because the minutae hasn’t become muscle memory yet. You also get better at anticipating what other drivers on the road are about to do, and your reaction times get quicker.
Check out defensive driving concepts like covering the brake when reducing speed by moving your foot from acceleration to hover over the brake pedal, in case you need to press it. Looking 3 cars ahead of you to see the flow of traffic ,managing your own speed, leaving 2 to 3 seconds of space between the car in front of you (usually at least one car length if not more). Using signals, watching for hazards, and above all else, staying calm.
At first just lining up your wheels with the lines on the road takes a little thought, but once you get that down you can return to it when you feel overwhelmed, then ya take a breath and scan your mirrors. You will be just fine!