Tonight Dad drove me an hour away, to a disused airfield, to show me the basics of driving. At first I did pretty well, managed fine considering I had never, ever driven before until I 'stopped funny' and the car juddered to a halt.
My Dad, bless his soul for trying to teach me, stayed calm but I could feel the tension and it was making me nervous. After that I kept focusing on the accelerator, obsessed with watching the rpm, instead of the clutch and at one point I went over 10mph and seriously panicked. I was trying to ask how to 'brake right' without screaming in sheer panic. It was terrifying.
I drove up the air strip one last time at a reasonable 6mph and remembered how to brake and that was it. I couldn't take any more. I'm pretty sure my dad couldn't either. He shot out of the passenger seat like a bullet.
Even thinking about the experience 2 hours on makes me break out in a cold sweat.
I think I'll stick to public transport for now.
*reaches for the tranquillisers*
It's a lot of moving parts if you've never done it before...and it's extremely frustrating when the car stalls out. I've been driving for over twenty years and I stalled out the other day at a stop sign not thinking about what I was doing.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of those things that seems like you're never gonna catch on to...until the moment that you do. Then you can't remember not being able to.
Brilliant! Sounds exactly like the first time I drove with my dad, he took me to an industrial estate, told me how to drive but not how to stop, I drove straight out onto a main road, terrifying, he lost the bap and I did't drive again for 6 years! Lots of years and lessons later, I passed the test, third time lucky! Good luck xx
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