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Learning to drive ( poll )

Eduard the weeb

Learning to drive  

72 members have voted

  1. 1. Who did you learn to drive

    • Just did it
      21
    • Parents/Guardian taught me
      40
    • Learned how through books and shit
      11
  2. 2. Do you need that book the DMV sells you ?

    • Yeah
      25
    • No
      47


I didn't have to get a learners permit nor take a driving test to get my license. I was able to get a farmers license when I was 12 years old which let me drive the farm truck 10 miles away from the edge of our property. When I turned 16 I just went to the DMV and got my license. 

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Pull a chair, i learned to drive a manual in one of those "hold my beer moments" when i was 11.

Grandfather's friend had this Powerstroke powered Ford Ranger with an Eaton 5 speed manual. I could see through the window and reach and we were in the field, he asked if i knew how to drive the thing and i said "sure!". Well, there you got it, hopped in, failed to get it rolling a few times but eventually got it going, shifted smoothly despite the weight of the Eaton transmission, something i learned just from seeing how my mom and my grandpa shifted gears on the city and the highway. I can drive anything manual since.

When i learned to drive an auto was pretty much the same thing, on a truck (this time a Mitsubishi L200 Triton), but this time it was even more random.

At the time i was working at this huge country store (my first job) and we had this lazy rich customer called "Dioni" (literally, not Johnny, it was Dioni, and my boss was called "Magaiver"), he bought a bunch of stuff and he had to park at the back to pick it up, he was drinking a mate with my boss (aforementioned Magaiver) so he didn't get up, he tossed me the keys to his truck and said "would you kindly?" and again i said sure. And i winged it, never had driven an auto before i accelerated too hard at first and nearly hit my own truck (a C10), but again i managed. 

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Being from the UK i paid for lessons and used the AA Driving books (AA are a breakdown service company here) for a few months i was doing 1 hour a week after about 6 months i bumped that up to 2 hours a week and my skill improved a lot quicker) it took me 2 tries to pass my theory (which is ironic as i'm normally very good with theory things) and passed my practical on my first go. I also did pass plus which was a further 6 hours of driving on motorways and country roads; this makes my insurance cheaper with some companies (up to 10% for some)

 

I also did a couple of nighttime lessons i highly recommend doing that also winter driving if possible. I passed my test before i was 18 (you can start learning officially at 17 here in the UK)

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1 hour ago, AlwaysFSX said:

Then regular traffic still isn't paying attention to that light, they're paying attention to their own?

Kind of - if you're in the lane beside the bus, you can see that symbol. You should know what it means.

 

In my city, we actually had drivers call the police because they thought buses were running red lights. The local news paper had to put out a "PSA" basically saying "Yeah those special lights mean buses can go and you can't".

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2 hours ago, XenosTech said:

All seeing eye is watching you. It mean anything else.

 

In my country you don't even have to read the book to past the test. Also I took my first driving lesson today and it was hella fun though my instructor was kinda surprised that I can drive so well for a novice lol (Racing sims for the win *fist pumps)

When you've mastered "look where you want to go", steering comes naturally. 

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1 minute ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

When you've mastered "look where you want to go", steering comes naturally. 

Technically I was driving before but not legally nor on public roads so was never a need for me to get a permit

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So what I learned, is that your parents, your parents parents and everyone else on the road is driving wrong, because the people who taught them just figured it out, because there was no 'right' way to drive a car when they first came out.  It might sound cheezy, but I learned how to drive here and it's taught me a lot about not only learning to drive, but how to be safe on the road and how to even teach others how to drive the right way (the safe way): http://www.junglejsdt.com/

I might not know what I'm talking about but I'm gonna say it anyways

 

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Memorize the book the DMV offers, because as everyone has mentioned, that is the official source of information on road signs, regulations, laws, and what to do in situation X that may come up. Books however only teach you theory and law. You need significant practice before you are really capable of piloting a 3000lb death missile around competently. This is a practice discipline not a read-about-it discipline.

 

Also, NOW is the time to start paying attention while your parents are driving you around. Ask them what they're doing, how they handle non-standard situations (4 cars come to a 4 way stop simultaneously, who goes first?), and ask them to quiz you on the book. Also, recognize that they may be wrong, and challenge them on it when they are. We get complacent and lazy once you forget the finer points of driving law, and everyone could do with a refresher. Quiz them as much as they quiz you.

 

Then, once you pass the written test, drive as much as possible. Parents need to run some BS errand? Drive, take the long route. Siblings need to be driven somewhere? Ask parents if you can be the driver on the way to/from/whatever. Just drive, as much as possible. Try to get the required hours in the first couple weeks-- the more experience you have, the better.

 

Once you have some hours under your belt, and if your parents are actually good at it, ask to drive in inclement weather. I.e., if it snows frequently, ask them to help you find an empty parking lot and go skid around. You need to learn, eventually, how to handle an understeer or oversteer event. The DMV booklet and Driver's Ed may touch on the theory, but theory is useless without muscle memory. However, if your parents are pretty shit at correcting skids, or afraid of them, don't rely on them to teach you correctly-- see below.

 

Once you have your license, if you're in the US, I highly highly recommend looking into the Tire Rack Street Survival course (also put on by the BMW club in some areas). You will get the opportunity there to experience what happens in emergency situations-- hard braking + lane change, loss of traction on one or another axle, multitasking and how that ends poorly, etc. That course was very valuable to me as a learner. You do this course in your own vehicle so that you learn how to apply the teachings to your actual driving experience.

 

Don't stress about it. Driving is a necessary skill, but if you approach it from the perspective of 'i'm going to rock this' then you'll be fine. Don't be intimidated by it or you will forever be a timid driver!

 

Lastly-- the time to accelerate to highway speed is IN THE MERGE LANE. Not once you get ON the highway. Bottom that gas pedal out on the floorboard, it won't hurt the car, and gas is cheaper than being rear ended! Also, turn signals, USE them.

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4 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

useless skill in 2018.

its 110% not a useless skill. In Europe, about 85 percent of cars are sold with stick shifts. Traditionally, gasoline has been much more expensive in Europe. So Europeans have always done everything they possibly can to maximize their gas mileage. Plus its really not that hard to learn how to drive a manual transmission. Once you learn it, it never goes away, its like riding a bicycle. Besides, the American way is laziness! Take the easiest path possible! I teach all my children know how to drive manual, even my daughters. I would take them out to the country roads and spend some quality time with them, teaching them how to shift gears, use the clutch properly, emergency maneuvers, then we'd go into the city and a mall to an unused part of the parking lot and practice parking. The main key is parallel parking, and stall parking. I see too many people on the roads who are useless. They have 2 car lengths to parallel park, yet they back in..... now that is just plain useless.

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Just now, Canada EH said:

its 110% not a useless skill

If you never drive a manual, how is it a useful skill?

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2 minutes ago, Canada EH said:

its 110% not a useless skill. In Europe, about 85 percent of cars are sold with stick shifts. Traditionally, gasoline has been much more expensive in Europe. So Europeans have always done everything they possibly can to maximize their gas mileage.

OP lives in America. Not Europe.

 

Also, with modern automatics, you get comparable fuel efficiency compared to the manual version of the same car/engine.

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Here's why it's a useful skill.

 

At some point in your life, you will need to drive a manual car.

  • Say your buddy got drunk and you need to get him and you home, and his car is manual-- you're screwed unless you can drive manual. Uber doesn't exist everywhere.
  • Buddy got injured and you need to get him off the mountain to meet the ambulance -- need to drive manual.
  • Your car is in the shop and your friend lends you his car, which is manual
  • Offered to help a friend move, and his car is a manual station wagon-- super inconvenient to only have one driver.
  • Road trip with a friend, who has a manual car. If you don't know how to drive manual you are the bad friend
  • Go to Europe for a vacation, rental car is manual despite requesting an automatic-- surprise!
  • Don't want your car stolen? buy a manual
  • Want a cushy summer job? Be a valet or a lot attendant. Don't know how to drive manual? No job for you.

Not to mention it's more fun and it prevents you from multitasking while driving.

 

Automatic fuel efficiency is nowadays as good if not better than manuals, but we're talking single MPGs-- irrelevant in the grand scheme, and entirely dependent on driving style.

 

You don't need to own a manual car, but knowing HOW to drive one is a major plus.

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Just now, bimmerman said:

Here's why it's a useful skill.

 

At some point in your life, you will need to drive a manual car.

  • Say your buddy got drunk and you need to get him and you home, and his car is manual-- you're screwed unless you can drive manual. Uber doesn't exist everywhere.
  • Buddy got injured and you need to get him off the mountain to meet the ambulance -- need to drive manual.
  • Your car is in the shop and your friend lends you his car, which is manual
  • Offered to help a friend move, and his car is a manual station wagon-- super inconvenient to only have one driver.
  • Road trip with a friend, who has a manual car. If you don't know how to drive manual you are the bad friend
  • Go to Europe for a vacation, rental car is manual despite requesting an automatic-- surprise!
  • Don't want your car stolen? buy a manual
  • Want a cushy summer job? Be a valet or a lot attendant. Don't know how to drive manual? No job for you.

Not to mention it's more fun and it prevents you from multitasking while driving.

 

Automatic fuel efficiency is nowadays as good if not better than manuals, but we're talking single MPGs-- irrelevant in the grand scheme, and entirely dependent on driving style.

 

You don't need to own a manual car, but knowing HOW to drive one is a major plus.

None of those are reasons why you need to know how to drive manual.

 

None of those are realistic - many people go their entire lives without touching a manual.

 

If you like driving manual? Yes, that's the main reason to learn. Because some people find it fun. The rest are "whataboutisms" - hypothetical scenarios that may or may not be likely given anyone's life experiences.

 

I don't even know anyone who owns a manual - certainly none of my friends do.

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9 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

None of those are reasons why you need to know how to drive manual.

 

None of those are realistic - many people go their entire lives without touching a manual.

 

If you like driving manual? Yes, that's the main reason to learn. Because some people find it fun. The rest are "whataboutisms" - hypothetical scenarios that may or may not be likely given anyone's life experiences.

 

I don't even know anyone who owns a manual - certainly none of my friends do.

Most of that list are from direct experience. Not-sober-enough-to-drive friend was two weeks ago as well as a bunch of times in the past with multiple friends, offering to move and road trips have been frequent (I'm the one with the manual, buddy learned to drive stick on the drive from MI to CO). Europe vacation surprise manual car has happened about a half dozen times. I know a bunch of valets through the car club. They rake in bank during the summer months, and knowing stick is a prerequisite. Same for dealership lot attendants and service advisors, though that's more specialized. The only ones that are more whataboutisms are the car theft and emergency transit.

 

Another point-- most weeks, my friends and I carpool to dinner once or twice a week, sharing driving duties. We rotate through who is the DD, and that doesn't always line up with the DD driving their own car. Our group is 50% manual cars, so not knowing how to drive manual would be a major hindrance to getting us home post food/drink.

 

You may not know anyone who owns a manual or feel the need to know how, that's fine. It is a useful skill to know even if you don't need to use one daily. It's also not hard to learn, it'll take a couple hours on a weekend with a patient friend.

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7 hours ago, LAwLz said:

Ehm, what?

Driving on the highway is by far the easiest part of driving. It's the slow city driving that will be the difficult part. Lots of things to keep track of, lots of starts and breaks, controlling the clutch and so on.

 

Also, if you're in Sweden (which I think I recall you being) then I would recommend the books from the DMV, or some other up to date studying guide specifically made for passing drivers tests.

In Sweden (don't know about other countries) there are A LOT of non-driving related things you need to know in order to pass the written test. I had some question about which type of green-house gas was reduced/removed by which type of filter in the car. How age affects reaction time. How to drive in the most eco-efficient way.

Because the test here is an hour long some people find it hard to drive for that long. Driving on the highway gives you more confidence behind the wheel and its very beneficial for experience. Learning to use the clutch should really be done in a carpark not on the road, which is a high pressure situation for new drivers.

I passed all my tests very comfortably the first time around and have done a defensive driving course, the highway helps a lot to get comfortable in a car. 
 

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43 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

None of those are reasons why you need to know how to drive manual.

 

None of those are realistic - many people go their entire lives without touching a manual.

 

If you like driving manual? Yes, that's the main reason to learn. Because some people find it fun. The rest are "whataboutisms" - hypothetical scenarios that may or may not be likely given anyone's life experiences.

 

I don't even know anyone who owns a manual - certainly none of my friends do.

It's way easier to get going with a manual on snowy grounds than it is with an automatic. Especially if you're sitting with your tires in sort of a bulge and the snow is all icy and stiff. It's by far easier to wiggle yourself out of it with a manual than it is with an automatic. Very own experience. Despite that: in a lot of parts of the world automatics come at quite a premium so it's very likely that you'll end up with a manual rental. If you don't want to travel around, sure, ignore that one, it's still useful to know and not that hard since the invention of gearbox synchronization decades ago. No heel and toeing anymore, no double clutching, no rev matching. You just need to get used to using your left foot and develop some feeling in it.

 

Oh and no idea how moving trucks are equipped in North America, but in Europe most of them are manuals, same goes for smaller rental vans and trucks. 

Sure, I'd go with a modern 8-speed automatic if I had the choice (performance and mileage wise) but – you can't always choose.

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3 minutes ago, bowrilla said:

It's way easier to get going with a manual on snowy grounds than it is with an automatic. Especially if you're sitting with your tires in sort of a bulge and the snow is all icy and stiff. It's by far easier to wiggle yourself out of it with a manual than it is with an automatic. Very own experience. Despite that: in a lot of parts of the world automatics come at quite a premium so it's very likely that you'll end up with a manual rental. If you don't want to travel around, sure, ignore that one, it's still useful to know and not that hard since the invention of gearbox synchronization decades ago. No heel and toeing anymore, no double clutching, no rev matching. You just need to get used to using your left foot and develop some feeling in it.

 

Oh and no idea how moving trucks are equipped in North America, but in Europe most of them are manuals, same goes for smaller rental vans and trucks. 

Sure, I'd go with a modern 8-speed automatic if I had the choice (performance and mileage wise) but – you can't always choose.

Pretty much all rental trucks in Canada at least, are Automatic now.

 

Also, many automatic cars have manual-gear lock-in with the base auto transmission.

 

My Jetta, for example, I can switch into "manual mode" and select and lock in any gear I want. The computer will occasionally override your setting, if it's dangerous to the engine, but otherwise it works almost the same as a manual without a clutch to worry about.

 

That makes the advantage of a manual in winter conditions moot, since I can pop myself into 1st (or whatever) to rock my car out of being stuck, etc.

 

Now, some cheaper entry level automatics won't necessarily have that, but most new ones do.

 

And abroad, sure, automatics might be an expensive upgrade, but not so in North America. In fact, outside of the utter lowest entry range, most cars come stock automatic now, with some not even having a manual option. In fact, you're often paying extra to get the manual transmission in many new cars.

 

There's next to no situation where I would ever need to drive a manual car in Canada.

 

So while in Europe, knowing manual might be a valuable skill that everyone needs to know, those who try to say the same in Canada or the US are over blowing the usefulness of it.

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Asian here, my people like to learn driving by watching youtube or trial and error. 

Sudo make me a sandwich 

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1 hour ago, dalekphalm said:

Also, many automatic cars have manual-gear lock-in with the base auto transmission.

 

My Jetta, for example, I can switch into "manual mode" and select and lock in any gear I want. The computer will occasionally override your setting, if it's dangerous to the engine, but otherwise it works almost the same as a manual without a clutch to worry about.

 

That makes the advantage of a manual in winter conditions moot, since I can pop myself into 1st (or whatever) to rock my car out of being stuck, etc.

That's technically not the same. If it's an automatic gearbox with a torque converter, it doesn't matter if you lock it in a gear or not. The issue is that you can't control the point at which torque is applied to your wheels in a way you can with a manual gearbox by letting the clutch slip. Since even double clutch gearboxes don't offer you any control over the clutch you have to rely on brute force and … luck. Or you might be tempted to use the brakes at the same time but that's quite some wear on the components. 

I've been in that situation before and I can say from experience: you're better off with a manual in those cases. 2nd gear, and rock yourself out by varying the slip of the clutch. 2, 3 or 4 rocks and your out. I've once spend 15min to get out of a parking space with an automatic because it lacks control. 

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1 minute ago, bowrilla said:

That's technically not the same. If it's an automatic gearbox with a torque converter, it doesn't matter if you lock it in a gear or not. The issue is that you can't control the point at which torque is applied to your wheels in a way you can with a manual gearbox by letting the clutch slip. Since even double clutch gearboxes don't offer you any control over the clutch you have to rely on brute force and … luck. Or you might be tempted to use the brakes at the same time but that's quite some wear on the components. 

I've been in that situation before and I can say from experience: you're better off with a manual in those cases. 2nd gear, and rock yourself out by varying the slip of the clutch. 2, 3 or 4 rocks and your out. I've once spend 15min to get out of a parking space with an automatic because it lacks control. 

Hmm, well all I can say is that I've never experienced that problem, and I drive in Canadian Winter.

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2 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Hmm, well all I can say is that I've never experienced that problem, and I drive in Canadian Winter.

It sure does also depend on the car of your choice. Think of sportier, a bit more powerful rwd cars. They can get tricky in the winter – and actually quite entertaining if you know what you're doing. Depending on where exactly in Canada, I might opt for awd.

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12 minutes ago, bowrilla said:

It sure does also depend on the car of your choice. Think of sportier, a bit more powerful rwd cars. They can get tricky in the winter – and actually quite entertaining if you know what you're doing. Depending on where exactly in Canada, I might opt for awd.

Yep. RWD + snow tires + LSD + DSC-off is the fun way. Especially if bhp >= lots. I've had to rock the car out of a snow drift quite a few times in proper winter as well-- it's a real thing if you don't have traction control, or have poorly implemented traction control. Can't say I've tried it with an automatic aside from our old suburban, which just mobbed over anything in its way in 4Lo.

 

I'll be honest, I have yet to drive an automatic transmission I didn't want to dropkick out of the car, and I've driven a LOT of cars. Give me a true manual or a responsive DCT/DSG any day over a dimwitted lethargic efficiency-focused automatic.

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With regards to the OP, I learned to drive through a driver training company. It was a three-day thing where they came over and taught me how to drive. Now it might be a luck-based thing since in California, there's no accreditation program (as far as I know) so you could end up with a crappy tutor company. But otherwise, they taught defensive driving so I was able to really drive with that mindset.

 

I don't think driving, at least for the purposes of commuting, is something you can learn with just books. You need some time in a vehicle to get a feel for how at least one of them operates. And while I'd argue some techniques can be read in a book, they're probably better being told as you're driving.

 

3 hours ago, Canada EH said:

its 110% not a useless skill.

In North America it pretty much is. If you were to classify manual transmission cars on a wildlife conservation status, it'd get a CR rating. And if you go to Europe and you actually need to drive, just ask for a car with an automatic transmission. I'm pretty sure the rental car companies aren't going to go "lol, we only have manual"

 

Also I'm finding the "manuals get way better fuel economy than autos" argument something that doesn't have whole lot of weight as it once did. The Mazda 3's fuel economy between the automatic and manual is minimal, like 1 MPG, since the 2014 models.

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4 minutes ago, bimmerman said:

I'll be honest, I have yet to drive an automatic transmission I didn't want to dropkick out of the car, and I've driven a LOT of cars. Give me a true manual or a responsive DCT/DSG any day over a dimwitted lethargic efficiency-focused automatic.

ZF 8 speed as can be found in BMW's current line up (and some other manufacturers as well). Can be gentle and quick as hell right on your demand.

But we're now drifting off quite a bit.

 

Is it really that unregulated in the US? You just go on and get a learner's permit? I'm staggered. In Germany you got to driving school and drive with a proper driving instructor in modified cars that offer brake, clutch and throttle controls for the instructor as well. There's a minimum of practical lessons within cities, roads outside of cities and on the Autobahn. Then there's the theory part. You have to attend a specific amount of lessons at the driving school after that it's up to you and your learning to properly prepare yourself for the test. Once you've completed mandatory lessons and passed the theory you can apply for the practical test.

While it doesn't hurt to practice on private property or practicing grounds driving itself isn't that hard outside of rush hour city traffic. It's the complexity and business of city traffic that's making people nervous. A lot of stuff happening at the same time, many potential hazards, traffic of all kinds out of different directions.

Use the quote function when answering! Mark people directly if you want an answer from them!

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4 minutes ago, bimmerman said:

I'll be honest, I have yet to drive an automatic transmission I didn't want to dropkick out of the car, and I've driven a LOT of cars. Give me a true manual or a responsive DCT/DSG any day over a dimwitted lethargic efficiency-focused automatic.

ZF 8 speed as can be found in BMW's current line up (and some other manufacturers as well). Can be gentle and quick as hell right on your demand.

But we're now drifting off quite a bit.

 

Is it really that unregulated in the US? You just go on and get a learner's permit? I'm staggered. In Germany you got to driving school and drive with a proper driving instructor in modified cars that offer brake, clutch and throttle controls for the instructor as well. There's a minimum of practical lessons within cities, roads outside of cities and on the Autobahn. Then there's the theory part. You have to attend a specific amount of lessons at the driving school after that it's up to you and your learning to properly prepare yourself for the test. Once you've completed mandatory lessons and passed the theory you can apply for the practical test.

While it doesn't hurt to practice on private property or practicing grounds driving itself isn't that hard outside of rush hour city traffic. It's the complexity and business of city traffic that's making people nervous. A lot of stuff happening at the same time, many potential hazards, traffic of all kinds out of different directions.

Use the quote function when answering! Mark people directly if you want an answer from them!

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