Question of the Day, Sunday, April 3, 2016

good morning! 

today my mind was wandering back through the years, as is common for me while i'm doing the chores each morning. so for today's Question of the Day......

let's talk about driving and related!

How old were you when you learned to drive?

Do you remember what car you learned to drive with (for example, buick, ford, or sedan, station wagon, etc)?

Any humorous or scary stories about while you were learning to drive?

i'll start!

i was 16 years old when i started learning to drive -- the minimum age in NY State (at that time) to obtain a learner's permit was 15. i learned to drive with my parents Plymouth station wagon (automatic transmission), blue with some sort of fake wood-looking panels along the sides of it.

two things stick out in my memories of learning to drive. that the hardest part of learning to drive for me was learning to parallel park.      and that if i started feeling stressed during a driving lesson, i'd then start to jerk the steering wheel slightly -- tense up and lose the ability to smoothly steer, and kind of steer in little jerks one way and then the other.      my favorite part was doing 3-point turns -- i just loved that, and found it really easy to learn. 

i learned to drive manual transmission/stick shift about 10-ish years later, when i bought my second car.

how about you?

I grew up in Kansas and at that time Kansas had an insanely young age for driving, 14 for a restricted license and 16 for a regular license.  I am sure they have raised the age by now, I was born in 1956.  I think being a very rural state and kids working on the family farm had a lot to do with it.

I started to learn with my father, not a good idea.  I don't think a parent should teach their kids how to drive.  That was in an old Nash Rambler with a 3 on the column.  I then took Driver's Ed freshman year in high school.  I don't remember the model but it was in one of those full size big as a boat GM cars.  

I learned to drive at age 16, which was the legal age for a learners permit in New Jersey at the time. It was actually a course in high school. The car was a 1980 Buick, and I loved it!

My first spin in the wheel was during a snowstorm lol. We went round and round a circular street around a man made lake (perfect). Actually we all learned to drive in the snow, or driving thunderstorms (NJ weather is nuts like that), and what a blessing that was.

I was 15 when I took Driver's Ed (required by law) but you couldn't get your license till you were closer to your 16th birthday.  Driver's Ed was a semester long class at my high school.  You were assigned based on your birth date. The first half was learning from the manual with a teacher and the 2nd half was a study hall where 2 at a time we got real driving experience with the teacher or one of the gym teachers or coaches.  Some kids had to do that over the summer.  I failed the driving portion 2 times.     I had never driven before so I was able to get a permit to work on my skills.  I asked for a renewal on it once without even testing too.  

I completely agree about parents not being the one to teach their kids to drive.  It was AWFUL.  My mother's car was a stick-shift.  I went home crying at least once.  My step-dad drove a van that was 3 years older than I was and had no power steering.  it was also an extended passenger van.  I sure wasn't getting anywhere in that!!   I might as well have been in a tractor trailer trying to learn.

My mother's co-worker and friend lived on our street and she volunteered to teach me to drive in her BRAND NEW CAR!!  She was 22/23; just out of college.  But she made all the difference in the world!!  She was always calm and collected.  After a few weeks with her I was able to drive with one of the coaches again and he said it was like night and day.  He couldn't believe I was the same person.     

I was the oldest of 5.  After my step-brother and I; my Mom and Step-dad would essentially trade kids when it came time for driving lessons.  My Step-dad was better with me; my Mom with my step-siblings.  They swear the girls were easier than the boys too!  I remember this one dark night I was driving home down the dark road that led to our neighborhood.  I ended up behind this old blue car going 30-35 in a 50.  I remember kind of getting up their tail and a guy's face glancing back at me while laughing from the back seat.  Then it dawned on me that the guy was my step-brother, the driver was my step-sister!  And my step-dad was in the front seat insisting she was driving too fast because the speedometer had broken on the car!!!    We got home and I was like "noooo...you were going 35...."     Poor her!    Ironically; she is the best driver in the family.  I don't really care for it that much and I refuse to drive in the snow.  

I learned how to drive at the age of 33. I'm epileptic, and had finally gotten the ok to drive. I also realized my mom was having more and more difficulty with driving, and that I just had to learn, period. Which I relayed to my neurologist, who agreed it was a good time.

I learned how to drive in a little black Toyota Echo, which I still drive now, and will until the day it completely goes on me. I love that little car!

I have to say, learning how to drive as an adult was probably more difficult than if I'd learned as a teenager. When you're younger, you have a lot more ignorance about things. Before anyone takes exception to that statement, what I mean is that you have a lot less life experience terrifying you while you learn. There's a reason the term "ignorance is bliss" exists, and it truly is bliss. As an adult, you are so much more aware of all the dangers out there. In a way, I suppose that is a good thing. But it took a good several months, and a lot of time in a town where the speed limit was 70mph and their idea of rush hour made me laugh, to get over my fear.

Btw, to this day, driving in teh city still terrifies me.

I didn't get my full license until I was 19, because my parents said I'd have to pay the insurance increase once I got my license :lol3:. Kids can get a permit/restricted license at 14 in this state, yikes! I think I got my permit when I was 16 or 17. I wasn't in any hurry. It's a small town so you can walk or ride your bike anywhere. I would drive the car around my uncle's farm sometimes before that, so I knew how to drive. I don't remember anyone specifically teaching me. . .. I still can't drive a stick shift though. I don't know anybody who has one for me to learn on!

I was around 8-9 years old. My dad being the teacher.

I can't remember the name of the car (I should know, parents loved that thing!) but it was an old style wagon. I keep thinking it might have been a volkswagen. Then moved on with a truck.

Hey we were horse farm people 



Officially got my first learning-permit license at 16-17, and proceeded from there.




 

Dad had me out on mountain roads when I was 13 years old, so I knew how to drive. In PA, you have to be 16 to pass the drivers' test and, when I was 16, I was married and pregnant, so I never went for my test until after our son was born. Rick had to work, so Daddy took me down for my test. I drove our Mustang Fastback (and that puppy was a bugger to see out the back window for backing-up). But I passed with flying colors. Dad told Mom that he heard me say to the cop, "Oh wow! Thanks!" so he knew I passed. I had a wee bit of trouble with the 3-point turn, but the cop cut me some slack.....even he asked me why in the world I'd take my drivers' test in a Fastback. 

I always wanted a Trans Am; I don't know, just thought they were neat cars. One morning I was at my parents' house and told Dad that I was buying a used TA. He looked me straight in the eye and said, "You will over my dead body!" Here I was married with a child and Dad was still telling me what to drive. He started looking in the paper and one day, he called me and said, "Get up to the house." I went up, he was in the car waiting for me. Drove me up to this dealership and we looked at a Chevy Nova. He told me, "Buy it." And I drove that car for a good ten years, all over the eastern seaboard, everywhere, without a bit of trouble. 

When I got my first brand new car, I test-drove a Plymouth Turismo. I really liked it, but wanted to get one with manual transmission. So I ordered the car at our local Chrysler dealer, complete with the manual tranny, left the dealership, went home and said to Dad, "I just ordered a Plymouth Turismo with a stick. I don't know how to drive stick! Dad....help!" Dad gave me "that" look, shook his head, grabbed the truck keys, and said, "Let's go!' And away we went. Til we got back home late that afternoon, I had it down. I remember he had me stop dead on a steep mountain hill and then start back up again. And we did it over and over and over and over again, until I could start that truck and go without drifting backward or stalling the truck out.

My best car? Clarence, the PT Cruiser. He is awesome, he is amazing, he's simply a wonderful car. With a manual transmission. And he's been all over the eastern seaboard, too. When I brought him home, Dad couldn't wait to get his hands on that car. 

I know this thread is about cars. But I can't talk about my cars without talking about Dad. I owe a lot to my father. I know I caused that man endless hours of stress, both before I got married and afterward.   I think it's a law or something with daughters.   

I think I was 19. I took lessons so I couldn't tell you what kind of car it was. I don't remember.

Dad tried to teach me but it didn't work out. He was a NYC fireman and he was the one who drove the chief to the fires. What does that mean? He drove like a NYC cab driver. Would YOU like to take lessons from someone who drives like they are a NYC cab driver?

He never stopped driving like one- even if it was just to the grocery store. Weaving in and out of traffic, speeding, tailgating. All that fun stuff. I was working so I paid for professional lessons. My first car was a 1981 Monte Carlo

Denice said:

 
I grew up in Kansas and at that time Kansas had an insanely young age for driving, 14 for a restricted license and 16 for a regular license.  I am sure they have raised the age by now, I was born in 1956.  I think being a very rural state and kids working on the family farm had a lot to do with it.

I started to learn with my father, not a good idea.  I don't think a parent should teach their kids how to drive.  That was in an old Nash Rambler with a 3 on the column.  I then took Driver's Ed freshman year in high school.  I don't remember the model but it was in one of those full size big as a boat GM cars.  

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i agree!      i think it takes a particular kind(s) of driver and parent to be able to teach their child(ren) to drive. i don't actually remember the reason i took driving lessons (from a driving school), but i know that my dad started out teaching me to drive. and i think i may very well have flunked my first driving test, which may also have been the reason for those driving school lessons.

misterwhiskers said:

I learned to drive at age 16, which was the legal age for a learners permit in New Jersey at the time. It was actually a course in high school. The car was a 1980 Buick, and I loved it!

My first spin in the wheel was during a snowstorm lol. We went round and round a circular street around a man made lake (perfect). Actually we all learned to drive in the snow, or driving thunderstorms (NJ weather is nuts like that), and what a blessing that was.

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i feel the same way! i learned to drive in NY State, so i was comfortable driving in pretty much any weather. 

mickNsnicks2mom said:

 
i feel the same way! i learned to drive in NY State, so i was comfortable driving in pretty much any weather. 

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I learned to drive in NY also. 

I learned how to drive at 12, but got my license at 16. First car was a 1969 Ford Fairlane, I was driving that same car when I had my car wreck in August of 1986. Only real humorous driving story I had was getting pulled over by a Missouri state trooper for speeding (and I was), he gave me a ticket, as well as what I thought was a very unnecessary tongue lashing. After he was finished with me, he was walking back to his car, and fell flat on his face after tripping over a rock. At the same time, I took off, and as I had been sitting in a puddle, proceeded to spray muddy water all over the back of his uniform, especially around his posterior. I literally laughed myself horase as I was traveling along Interstate 44 on my way home. True story.

MoochNNoodles said:

 
I was 15 when I took Driver's Ed (required by law) but you couldn't get your license till you were closer to your 16th birthday.  Driver's Ed was a semester long class at my high school.  You were assigned based on your birth date. The first half was learning from the manual with a teacher and the 2nd half was a study hall where 2 at a time we got real driving experience with the teacher or one of the gym teachers or coaches.  Some kids had to do that over the summer.  I failed the driving portion 2 times.  

  I had never driven before so I was able to get a permit to work on my skills.  I asked for a renewal on it once without even testing too.  

I completely agree about parents not being the one to teach their kids to drive.  It was AWFUL.  My mother's car was a stick-shift.  I went home crying at least once.  My step-dad drove a van that was 3 years older than I was and had no power steering.  it was also an extended passenger van.  I sure wasn't getting anywhere in that!!  

I might as well have been in a tractor trailer trying to learn.

My mother's co-worker and friend lived on our street and she volunteered to teach me to drive in her BRAND NEW CAR!!  She was 22/23; just out of college.  But she made all the difference in the world!!  She was always calm and collected.  After a few weeks with her I was able to drive with one of the coaches again and he said it was like night and day.  He couldn't believe I was the same person.  

  

I was the oldest of 5.  After my step-brother and I; my Mom and Step-dad would essentially trade kids when it came time for driving lessons.  My Step-dad was better with me; my Mom with my step-siblings.  They swear the girls were easier than the boys too!  I remember this one dark night I was driving home down the dark road that led to our neighborhood.  I ended up behind this old blue car going 30-35 in a 50.  I remember kind of getting up their tail and a guy's face glancing back at me while laughing from the back seat.  Then it dawned on me that the guy was my step-brother, the driver was my step-sister!  And my step-dad was in the front seat insisting she was driving too fast because the speedometer had broken on the car!!!  

 We got home and I was like "noooo...you were going 35...." 

   Poor her! 

  Ironically; she is the best driver in the family.  I don't really care for it that much and I refuse to drive in the snow.  

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i think that's the part that parents have a hard time doing when teaching their own children to drive! 

ahhh, that's a funny story! 

We started out learning to steer the car sitting on our Dad's lap. He always drove Oldsmobiles. It seems like it took forever for our legs to get long enough to sit on the seat and drive with him sitting next to us. We lived in the country and we learned how to drive on country roads. You got a learner's permit first, then a license at 16. But the three of us kids knew how to drive by the time we got the permit.:lol3:

mickNsnicks2mom said:

 
i think that's the part that parents have a hard time doing when teaching their own children to drive! 

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Indeed. I ended up teaching our son how to drive; Rick simply couldn't do it as he was too nervous with DS behind the wheel. I started him out on stick because that's all we had at the time. Took him into the parking lot at our junior high school and he drove around in the parking lot. He was so happy and he kept grinning. He looked over at me and said, "Well? What do you think?" Wasn't watching where he was going and ended up out on the main road....right in front of an oncoming car. I'm yelling, "Stop! Stop! Stop!" Thankfully, the car driver was paying attention; he swerved and got out of the way, which was good because DS stalled the car out in the road and there we were.

I looked at DS and said, "Get out of my car." He knew not to say a word; he got out of the car, we switched places and didn't speak the whole way home. That was probably about the time, my hair started to turn white. 

Thankfully, the next day went better. But when I told Dad what happened, he gave me their car (which was automatic) for DS to learn to drive. That went much better. And he took his drivers' test using my parents' car, instead of mine. 

And to this day, when DS drives any stick, he grinds a lot of burger! Our DIL has a manual tranny on her Honda Civic; DS can drive it into and out of the garage.....if he's really careful, he won't stall it.

Oh, and when we were in Vegas, DS got a speeding ticket when he was driving to work one morning. He never told us. When I got into work about a week later, a co-worker came over to me and said, "Hey, was that your son pulled off along xxxxxxx Road? Sure looked like his car!" That night at dinner, I said to DS, "So....did you pay your speeding ticket yet?" Busted! "Mom, you weren't even here! How the   did you find out?"

To this day, he has no idea. And it wasn't too long after that he was talking to a buddy. I don't know what they were talking about, but I heard DS say, "No, I'm not going there. Believe me, my mom will find out. She ALWAYS finds out! Even when she's not home, she knows what I'm doing!"

Mothers always have eyes in the backs of their heads. Or, luckily in my case, somebody who sees something and usually lets me know about it!   

Donutte said:

I learned how to drive at the age of 33. I'm epileptic, and had finally gotten the ok to drive. I also realized my mom was having more and more difficulty with driving, and that I just had to learn, period. Which I relayed to my neurologist, who agreed it was a good time.

I learned how to drive in a little black Toyota Echo, which I still drive now, and will until the day it completely goes on me. I love that little car!

I have to say, learning how to drive as an adult was probably more difficult than if I'd learned as a teenager. When you're younger, you have a lot more ignorance about things. Before anyone takes exception to that statement, what I mean is that you have a lot less life experience terrifying you while you learn. There's a reason the term "ignorance is bliss" exists, and it truly is bliss. As an adult, you are so much more aware of all the dangers out there. In a way, I suppose that is a good thing. But it took a good several months, and a lot of time in a town where the speed limit was 70mph and their idea of rush hour made me laugh, to get over my fear.

Btw, to this day, driving in teh city still terrifies me.

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ahhhh, i'm the reverse of your story! i'm not able to drive any longer, since i was about 32 years old -- medical reasons. the closest i get is driving my lawn tractor on my property. 

some of the traffic and driving i've seen though  ......makes me glad that i don't drive.

Willowy said:

I didn't get my full license until I was 19, because my parents said I'd have to pay the insurance increase once I got my license

. Kids can get a permit/restricted license at 14 in this state, yikes! I think I got my permit when I was 16 or 17. I wasn't in any hurry. It's a small town so you can walk or ride your bike anywhere. I would drive the car around my uncle's farm sometimes before that, so I knew how to drive. I don't remember anyone specifically teaching me. . .

. I still can't drive a stick shift though. I don't know anybody who has one for me to learn on!

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i found that after i learned to drive a stick shift, that if i drove an automatic again i had to not use my left foot for the brake pedal. for driving a stick shift, the left foot is used for the clutch which means the foot is firmly and quickly pushed down on the clutch pedal -- so my inclination when using my left foot was to hit the brake pedal like i would the clutch pedal. 

Cassiopea said:

 
I was around 8-9 years old. My dad being the teacher.

I can't remember the name of the car (I should know, parents loved that thing!) but it was an old style wagon. I keep thinking it might have been a volkswagen. Then moved on with a truck.

Hey we were horse farm people 

Officially got my first learning-permit license at 16-17, and proceeded from there.




 

Click to expand...

wow! that's really young to start learning to drive! that must have been very exciting, learning at that age! 

Winchester said:

 
Dad had me out on mountain roads when I was 13 years old, so I knew how to drive. In PA, you have to be 16 to pass the drivers' test and, when I was 16, I was married and pregnant, so I never went for my test until after our son was born. Rick had to work, so Daddy took me down for my test. I drove our Mustang Fastback (and that puppy was a bugger to see out the back window for backing-up). But I passed with flying colors. Dad told Mom that he heard me say to the cop, "Oh wow! Thanks!" so he knew I passed. I had a wee bit of trouble with the 3-point turn, but the cop cut me some slack.....even he asked me why in the world I'd take my drivers' test in a Fastback. 

I always wanted a Trans Am; I don't know, just thought they were neat cars. One morning I was at my parents' house and told Dad that I was buying a used TA. He looked me straight in the eye and said, "You will over my dead body!" Here I was married with a child and Dad was still telling me what to drive. He started looking in the paper and one day, he called me and said, "Get up to the house." I went up, he was in the car waiting for me. Drove me up to this dealership and we looked at a Chevy Nova. He told me, "Buy it." And I drove that car for a good ten years, all over the eastern seaboard, everywhere, without a bit of trouble. 

When I got my first brand new car, I test-drove a Plymouth Turismo. I really liked it, but wanted to get one with manual transmission. So I ordered the car at our local Chrysler dealer, complete with the manual tranny, left the dealership, went home and said to Dad, "I just ordered a Plymouth Turismo with a stick. I don't know how to drive stick! Dad....help!" Dad gave me "that" look, shook his head, grabbed the truck keys, and said, "Let's go!' And away we went. Til we got back home late that afternoon, I had it down. I remember he had me stop dead on a steep mountain hill and then start back up again. And we did it over and over and over and over again, until I could start that truck and go without drifting backward or stalling the truck out.

My best car? Clarence, the PT Cruiser. He is awesome, he is amazing, he's simply a wonderful car. With a manual transmission. And he's been all over the eastern seaboard, too. When I brought him home, Dad couldn't wait to get his hands on that car. 

I know this thread is about cars. But I can't talk about my cars without talking about Dad. I owe a lot to my father. I know I caused that man endless hours of stress, both before I got married and afterward. 

 I think it's a law or something with daughters. 

 

Click to expand...

that brings back memories of when i was learning to drive my first stick shift -- a dodge daytona. i learned to drive stick starting when i drove the car home from the dealership, no prior experience whatsoever. and i remember this very steep hill in Alexandria, Va......i wanna say it was on Braddock Road. that steep hill would have made an excellent expert ski slope! so i'm heading up that steep slope one day shortly after buying my new car, and traffic is stopped which i reach halfway up the hill. being new to driving a stick shift, this was very stressful for me and i knew i must get it right -- starting moving again, and not drifting backward (which would mean i'd hit the car behind me) or stalling.      i had several minutes to think and get myself ready before traffic started moving again, and when the time came i took a deep breath and got the car moving again. after that, i felt comfortable driving a stick shift -- figuring that if i could handle that situation on the Braddock Road hill, i could handle just about anything related to driving a stick shift.

i agree! as an adult, i've often said that i'm sure i gave my dad a few grey hairs during my teen years!