My road test

[TheMacNerd]

Hi,

during my driving lesson today my road test instructor said that he says that he feels comfortable with me on the road test this time. This will be my second attempt at the road test and my 5 hour class is next sunday.

 

[jedishrfu]

That’s a good sign. Did you have a personal driving instructor? Usually that kind of connection helps you pass.

 

[jtbell]

Good luck!

Back when I did it, in the late 1960s, in my state you had to take a state-certified driving course. Is that the case where you are?

Most high-school students (in my town at least) took a course at school, and got some academic credit along with it. I took a private-company course instead, because the instructor was my uncle. He moonlighted there on his days off from his main job as a firefighter. Before he became a firefighter, he had been a highway patrol trooper, so he knew the "rules of the road" well.

I also spent some time with my father in both of our cars, in an empty shopping-mall parking lot on Sunday mornings. One car had a stick shift on the floor, the other on the steering column. The driving-school car was an automatic. So I had plenty of variety.

But I didn't actually own a car until about ten years later, near the end of graduate school. Before that I walked, bicycled or rode a bus when I was at school, and used one of my parents' cars when I was home on vacation.

 

[Mark44]

during my driving lesson today my road test instructor said that he says that he feels comfortable with me on the road test this time.

Does this mean that he didn't feel safe with you the first time?

This will be my second attempt at the road test and my 5 hour class is next sunday.

Well, good luck! I had driver ed in high school in the early 60s, but didn't get my license for about another year. I had plenty of practice at driving, though, before I actually got my license.
Don't ask...

 

[TheMacNerd]

Yes I have a personal driving instructor.

 

[Windadct]

It may be worth taking a breath and thinking about all of the people that have passed - if they can do it you can. Chances are - it is nerves and the desire to be perfect that is setting you back.
IMO - driving is much more about AWARNESS of your surroundings - look and think ahead, be prepared. Yes - you will get graded on the X + Y + Z of your actions, but anticipating what is needed, will be better than overthinking what you are doing in real time.

 

[Janus]

Good luck!

Back when I did it, in the late 1960s, in my state you had to take a state-certified driving course. Is that the case where you are?

Most high-school students (in my town at least) took a course at school, and got some academic credit along with it. I took a private-company course instead, because the instructor was my uncle. He moonlighted there on his days off from his main job as a firefighter. Before he became a firefighter, he had been a highway patrol trooper, so he knew the "rules of the road" well.

That's how they did it in the '70s when I went to school also, Driver's Ed was offered as part of the curriculum. Now, schools in my state still offer it, but as an extra-curriculum course held during non-school hours.

I also spent some time with my father in both of our cars, in an empty shopping-mall parking lot on Sunday mornings. One car had a stick shift on the floor, the other on the steering column. The driving-school car was an automatic. So I had plenty of variety.

I actually learned to drive before I was legally old enough to do so (even with a driver's permit). We heated the house by wood at the time which meant hauling the wood from where it was cut back to the woodshed. I used to drive our old '62 Buick special as close to the edge of the woods as I could, load the trunk up with wood and then unload it at the woodshed. Most of the time this was off-road, but a few times I had to go ~1/4 mile down the road.
My earliest experience with "driving" was a tractor when I was 9 years old. Once I was heavy enough to hold down the clutch by putting my weight on it, I was given the job of driving the tractor while my Dad and older brother loaded hay onto the trailer. It didn't involve any shifting as it was always in first gear, just steering and releasing the clutch slowly enough to prevent jerking the load off the Trailer (Though I couldn't resist popping the clutch at least once when my brother was sitting on the back of the empty trailer, just to jerk it from underneath him. Of course, this earned me a few choice words from my Dad.)