Do you know how to drive a car?

I got a stick and want my automatic
Compatible created in the attic

I kind of know how to drive and I do have a license. I passed my test in 1990 but last drove in 1994. I kind of remember how.

Inspired by this thread and the recent death of my shitty Caddy:

http://a448.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/122/l_17aecfca969f33dfe7f34ba02f72c79f.jpg

RIP big boy.

http://a967.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/86/l_aa0dbdb3b97f1f879a2a616022e39bb6.jpg

You had the body of a Caddy but the SOUL of a '91 Plymouth Sundance.

;_;

I am a VERY, VERY good driver, insofar as I am exacting in following traffic laws and a very 'defensive driver.' I pride myself on the ability to make turns, starts, stops, merges and lane changes in fast, busy traffic with a grace that will never wake up a sleeping passenger or even slightly worry one who is awake, even if I'm driving around with my left foot out the window (this is the best part of inner-city driving with an automatic). My parallel parking is elegant. I can do what I call my "patented 92-point turn" and safely escape even the most absurdly packed parking scenarios. I have a rule to let one person drive before me when waiting in line. This, I think, is a nice courtesy. Above all, I am patient and cautious, but still expedient at getting where I need to be (a little early – nothing makes me more anxious than being late).

Consequently I am terrified at being a passenger in many people's cars, as many people are schizoid and terrifying drivers. I have to keep my eyes closed the entire time I'm in her car, but even then, FEELING the car's evidence of her obvious mistakes makes my cringe. I can't even WATCH someone play Grand Theft Auto, it's that bad.

her = my mother-in-law, who will do things such as drive an ENTIRE CITY BLOCK in reverse on a public road. asdlfvoi'nasDbfduib vjdn *vomits*

if youre not terrifying your passengers your not doing your job as a host

Oh man I am NEVER getting into a car with you.

I'm a very good driver, but I'm moderately aggressive. You have to be a bit on yr toes in SF, 'cause you will lose if you are too courteous. Given that, I'm better at defensive driving than most folks: I scan traffic far ahead, pay particular attention to the distribution of brakelights, anticipate the actions of cars, bikes, and pedestrians, and so on.

Did you know that you can shake a tailgater who is talking on their cell phone (illegally, w/o handsfree in CA) by slowing down on the highway to a mere 40 mph?

Nobody gets a ticket for going 80 mph on a highway in CA, by the way.

i have not owned a car in years but i love driving and always have. when we went down to austin my one demand was i drive the van on the overnight shift. it was great, except for the stretch of highway in arkansas where the deer kept running across the highway. that was fucked up. otherwise it was fine. i love long distance road trips.

I heard a COMPLETELY STUPID rule of thumb about how fast many mph you can drive over the speed limit. You divide the speed limit by five and that is the number of mph you can exceed the speed limit. For example, in a 35 mph zone, 35/5 = 7 so you can go 42 miles an hour. And get guaranteed a ticket.

There's no answer for "Um, I used to know, but I forgot..."

I learned to drive American style - automatic, stick, whatever. (I used to be ace at parallel parking and everything.) But having spent the past decade back where they drive on the other side of the road, I have completely forgotten.

They say it's like a bicycle, but I forgot how to ride one of those, too. :-(

I suppose I should learn how to drive UK stylee but honestly, I live in a city with decent public transport and rarely (i.e. once every five years or so) have any need to drive.

I don't have a license & can drive manual or automatic transmission cars

i actually do some kind of mathematics in my head - 20 = 25, 30 = 35, 55 = 64, 65 = 74, 70 = 79

thats independent of the traffic in front of you obviously

prove it ice craem

20 = 25 is TICKET CITY. Anything under 40 is a SPEED TRAP, esp. in the 20s. At least in small towns, home of the surreal slow crawl & cops on every other street.

oh wait youre right 20 = 24 but thats only during school hours

30=34

do you kind of get the key to my math = rounding down

btw i have never gotten pulled over once despite regularly driving like an absolute maniac for several years

Small towns in general are speed traps. Gotta fill the coffers somehow, y'know?

so according to the math upthread it would be safe to drive 96 mph on rte 94 in western michigan? that doesn't sound right.

xpost My dad is one of those driving-a-city-block-backwards types... On one particularly horridly icy winter day in high school when he drove me to school and, rather than wait in a massive morning gridlock of vehicles, drove his ridiculously oversized truck over a large median separating the main road from a residential side road. He probably sped and/or tailgated a lot of the rest of the way, ice be damned.

Massive truck = owns the road, apparently.

I learned to drive in the same icy death trap conditions, but haven't had to use my licence for nearly a year. Doesn't really have any use in London, but can't really complain. I don't mind public transit and I really like not spending money on insurance/gas/repairs/etc.

Instead of doing a numerical calculation, the right way to "speed" is to go a wee bit slower than the fastest cars, and never be at the front of the pack.

DEEZNUTS YOUR HUBRIS WILL BE YOUR DOWNFALL

And you might kill a kid!

I live in a 25 mph zone in a neighborhood FULL of kids. Small houses packed with too many kids. A little park that always has at least 8-20 kids in it. Kids from the local dojo running around the block for warm-ups. 25 mph zone and people ZOOM through in their souped-up cars. I stop a car at least once a week and give them a tactful but bold speech about how they might kill a kid.

Don't kill a kid!

i never look at the speedometer, i drive by sound, feel, and generally just keeping pace with surrounding traffic.

I stop a car at least once a week and give them a tactful but bold speech about how they might kill a kid.

Wait, wut? Can you have yr hubby film you doing this, please????

i actually regularly scan the sidewalks etc for kids & brake whenever any are around! same with dogs & cats! i am a model driver imo, as we all are iom xps

xp

bahahaha no, we don't have a camera

I have one for "Always stop at Stop Signs," "This is a One-Way Street and You are Going the Wrong Way," and the classic "Don't Kill a Kid."

chikev & lib - in the COUNTRY a lot of times there is no surrounding traffic

I am always tempted to invent a new one for "Mom, Quit Treating Your Kid Like a Piece of Shit" to deliver across the street from my front yard to moms in the park, but that would just be impolite.

i walked past a school bus yesterday in logan square that had a sign on the back that read "STOP for children crossing the road" but someone crossed out the "for children crossing the road" part and wrote (in what looked like a 10 year old's penmanship) "killing little kids".

xpost- deeznuts, thats when i drive by sound and feel.

I've never learned how to drive, never had any need for that. I've lived in Helsinki my whole life, and the public transportation here is pretty good, so I have no need for a car. For environmental reasons alone I've decided not to get on unless I absolutely need it. Also, I think I'd be terrible driver and would probably hurt someone, because spatial co-ordination really isn't my strong side. I keep bumping into objects even when I'm walking.

Hahaha, yeah, I fell on a fucking YUCCA just WALKING the other day, and I've been in hell of bike collisions ("I can't stop before traffic, better just drive into this building!" But I'm a great DRIVER. ???

I can drive pretty much anything that has a motor and some sort of transmission. Adding everything up over the years, I'm confident that I've driven about 700,000 miles total.

when I want to run away
I drive off in my car
but whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are

700,000 miles of that!

20 = 25 is TICKET CITY. Anything under 40 is a SPEED TRAP, esp. in the 20s. At least in small towns, home of the surreal slow crawl & cops on every other street.

-- Abbott, Sunday, August 24, 2008 7:21 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

are you speaking in kmph or mph??

if you go 40 in a 30 in a residential area you are risking suicide by cop

xpost: mph, sorry

(also, obligatory "yes I am extremely attentive and careful at all times, especially when in residential neighborhoods, and on at least one occasion slowed down to avoid hitting a raccoon that my passenger couldn't even see until we were about ten feet away from it")

I don't think I've ever seen a 30 mph speed limit in my life. I'd probably go 35 in it, I suppose.

also I have recently begun to suspect that my speedometer might be slightly off, so take everything I say with a grain of salt.

im not saying yr a bad dude im just saying, abbott et al are otm about small town cops drilling anyone who speeds at 10mph+ over the limit

xps wtf?? 30 mph is common in towns

where are these mythical cops who will ticket people who aren't going at least 15 over the speed limit?

Idaho, New Mexico (the only places I've ever lived). Esp. this town, where I usually just let my car idle:

http://gpod.qwestoffice.net/images/hq_shelley.jpg

Home of the PSYCHEDELIC LAUDROMAT:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3213/2361919119_782ac84bc7.jpg?v=0

Trying to think if my twenty-years-back lessons would help me now any, and the answer is 'probably not'

I am always tempted to invent a new one for "Mom, Quit Treating Your Kid Like a Piece of Shit" to deliver across the street from my front yard to moms in the park, but that would just be impolite.

^^^ Perfectly demonstrates how Abbott is all id and superego, no ego.

have only driven stick (as primary vehicle) since i was 14

I had a dream years ago wherein I was playing Pong with Ally the alligator from "Pogo" comics, and he said the exact same thing!

xp to libcrypt

I am now in my third city where driving is not particularly important or encouraged. Which is good, because I don't think I'd be a terribly good driver.

non-driver, grew up in New Jersey. BEAT THAT!

grew up in the sticks where there's zero (ZERO) public transportation and you have to drive thirty miles if you want to see a movie (60 for a good one) or just about anything else you want that isn't beer or groceries and the only thing to do is drive the strip. These days I live in a town that may as well not have a bus system (because it is totally useless and is actually almost quicker to walk) and I bike/walk six miles to and from work every day.

does that beat it?

bwa, probly

Nobody gets a ticket for going 80 mph on a highway in CA, by the way.

Minimum requirement for driving on the high way here is 70 km/hour here. If below that speed, you are fined.

Abbott, I know how to drive a car but I do not have my license yet. I am currently trying to "master" it though. :-) I know how to drive forward, not yet backwards. hah.

Here it's kinda expected you learn to drive manual. Automatic is still uncommon but nowadays most new "big" cars are automatic. But most people I know, save one or two, have a license for a manual. Even though I'm still crap at it, I can understand why pple (here anyway) prefer automatic.

i wish i could drive and had a car, but i'm just lazy i guess

given the number of total munters who drive, how hard can it be?

Every single friend has been telling me that. I retort: so what does it mean when I will fail? One friend said:"That you're a bigger idiot." :-(

My dad more or less forced me when I was 18 but I was too stubborn and insecure so I quit. Now with two kids and a husband with a visual handicap I realize that it's a necessity. Yes, I could go without it but it makes life damn hard for me and the people around me.

Now I can understand why people love their car so much: you have so much freedom. If/when I will have my license I won't need to check if there are still trains at 11 PM in Bumfuckville where our friends live. I can just take the car and GO.

I've been working on getting my license this past year. I kinda keep going through driving instructors. First my dad, then my ex-gf (GOT WEIRD), then my friend Kenzie, and now I haven't been driving much for the past few months. I have this feeling that once I actually get a license and a car it's going to be like WHY DIDN'T I DO THIS WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER AHHHHHHH?!!!

Stevie, I completely relate to the bit about making the lives of those around you harder. One thing I HATE to do is ask for a ride. HATE it. SO much.

for long trips, I'd rather drive an automatic, especially on highways. In my parents car, I go up to 130km/h, put on the speed regulator, rest my feet, let the car do the job and listen to music or whatever

i'm not understanding this. you can get cruise control with stick shifts.
people who don't trust anyone else to drive besides themselves, do you have an issue with flying?

Actually, when I as a teenager and learning to drive I would have panic attacks behind the wheel. I would see myself veering into another lane and just completely freeze up and people would have to jerk the wheel. It was real bad. Plus what Kenan said about being the King Of ADD.

These days I don't do that at all (freezing up), so, it's been going better than I expected.

xpost

i know, it just so happens that there isnt one on my stick shift. The automatic i like better for the highway or traffic jams (when you dont have to switch to first, back to neutral, back to firsdt, back to neutral back to....)

people who don't trust anyone else to drive besides themselves, do you have an issue with flying?

No, I don't have a pilot's license. :) Also, I don't mind buses TOO much, although I have driven a vehicle as large as a 25-foot, four-axle moving truck.

As it happens, this morning I started biking to work rather than driving. Depending on the bike route, it's between 8.5-9.5 miles and takes me less than an hour, and costs me no gas and no parking. Plus I can take my bike right up into my office, so don't have to worry about security.

(ok i also like my parents automatic more than my stick for long trips on highways cos my stick makes so much noise when going fast, whereas stepping into the automatic is like entering a world of silence)

That's some mileage xp :) I have to pull 1,400lb palettes and lift heavy things when I get to work for 10+ hours, always bums me out because my shower and breakfast are basically null by the time I get there (BIG LONG HILL!!! biking home is AWESOME though) and I'm ZAPPED until my first break.

Do you find yourself without energy to face the day by the time you're there?

i can drive a stick. i am an awesome driver.

It wasn't bad -- grabbed a banana before I left, and I always eat real breakfast at work anyway, plus my building has showers. It's ideal! I'm a desk jockey, so don't have to worry about wearing out at work. Going home there's a MAJOR uphill portion (Cedar hill, for those of you familiar w/the Cleveland area) that I usually end up walking about half of.

driving an automatic is so bizarre after driving stick for so long. for instance, even though I know it won't, I reflexively tense up when coming to a stop, thinking the engine will be killed. After a day or so, I get used to it, but it still feels like doing something other than this thing called "driving".

i prefer stick for country driving, but i am glad i have an automatic right now. automatic is U&K for city driving/driving in traffic

automatic is U&K for city driving/driving in traffic

Yes, that's why the majority do stick shift here. ;-)It's not U&K if you know how to do manual.

well, i know how to do manual just fine, but i would have gotten serious foot cramps if i'd been driving a standard saturday when i was stopped in traffic for 2 hours.

True.

y'all better watch out on us19 in somersville, wv (and surrounding areas such as fayetteville) by the way! do not even go 1 over, not 5 or 10 over, or you WILL be ticketed.

i do not really trust other drivers. the whole time we were in hawaii, driving around curvy roads with drop offs down to the sea, i was flipping out at my father's "mad skills" (he prides himself on his ridiculous driving. he meets his message board friends to celebrate that they all have the same sporty car by driving the DRAGON - some curvy road in nc i think that is also known to by a motorcycle death trap). then, we went snorkling and there were cars on the rocks by the shore exactly because these people think they are too good at driving to be careful or slow the fuck down on a blind hairpin turn. i don't think he learned anything from seeing this, though.

i love manual. automatic scares me. except for the 2 weeks i was commuting from arlington, va to chevy chase, md. would have loved a clutch-free vehicle then!

I tried teaching a guy to drive once but he mostly spoke Dutch, wasn't fluent in English & I had a hard time w/his accent & him w/mine. So that didn't last very long.

It was an automatic. The main thing I conveyed was "FAST ONE" (gas pedal) and "SLOW ONE" (brake), which is STILL abt 1/3 of what you need to know.

I can only drive manual, never been in an automatic as far as I know. Lol europe, I suppose?

Always the best bit of Amazing Race - when the Americans are confronted with manual shift cars.

i learned how to drive a manual in 1993, drove for a few months, took test, failed test, drove for a few more months (even shared driving to s california from bc!), took test on different car, failed by like 1 point for something stupid, relationship with guy who had car ended (amicably, sorta), never got around to taking driving test again, was busy with school, didn't care enough abt driving anyway, sometimes drove bf's truck, but haven't been behind wheel of a car since 1996!

it is kind of mental :/ i'll just decide one day that i need a license and do a course or drive around with a friend for a while. i have zero desire to drive in this city tho unless i'm driving out of it.

I kind of know how to drive, but I don't have a license

Failed my test 6 times about 10 years ago. Gave up trying after that, lessons too expensive and the reason for failing the last test was so ridiculous I just couldn't be arsed any more. The only time I've wished I could drive since then is when moving house. It's not like I could afford a car anyway, or have anywhere to park it if I did have one.

tried it once, hated all the clutch pedal messing about, i always thought driving was a lot simpler than that. No way could i concentrate on avoiding driving into walls and pressing down on the right pedals. I am useless at doing two things at once.

never going to drive.

Never learned. No coincidence I've lived in London my whole life.

I learned to drive at 14 with an automatic. My car-nut friend kept telling me "once you learn to drive manual, you'll love it, you'll never go back." My wife taught me to drive manual one day in '88 (when she was 8 months pregnant, many laffs that day). We've had manual vehicles ever since, but mainly becuase they're a little cheaper than equivalents with automatic, and I'm a stingy fucker. I'm getting kind of tired of manual transmissions, to be honest, and would kind of like our next car to have an automatic.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

never tried to drive a manual. what do you do when (for instance) you want to drop a gear to overtake?

shit I mean, never tried to drive an automatic. ie I have always driven "stick".

you slam down on the pedal

never tried to drive a manual. what do you do when (for instance) you want to drop a gear to overtake?

-- Thomas, Tuesday, August 26, 2008 6:30 PM (Tuesday, August 26, 2008 6:30 PM) Bookmark Link

shit I mean, never tried to drive an automatic. ie I have always driven "stick".

-- Thomas, Tuesday, August 26, 2008 6:31 PM (Tuesday, August 26, 2008 6:31 PM) Bookmark Link

of course you do. that's why it's called automatic.

i can buy that you've never driven one but you've never been a passenger in a car with an automatic transmission?

slamming the pedal usually compels the auto transmission to drop a gear

i can buy that you've never driven one but you've never been a passenger in a car with an automatic transmission?

-- chicago kevin, Wednesday, August 27, 2008 1:04 AM (38 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

once that I can remember. a taxi in stockholm. but that was before I knew how to drive so I didn't pay much attention.

damn!

as stated above, you just get heavy on the gas and the transmission does the rest.

or you can shift into '2', which will force it to use just its two lowest gears

http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/auto/images/res3.jpg

Manual is fun when you can drive on mostly empty highways. If you're in traffic everyday it's absolutely miserable ... the only benefit is that you have greater control over how to move the thing.

which is not something you want to do if you're going, say, 70 mph and want to overtake another vehicle.

xpost.

You put it in P for Pass, duh.

what? gears are more complex than "High" or "Low" ?

http://digilander.libero.it/calimerosegg/gallery/system16/outrun.gif

i can buy that you've never driven one but you've never been a passenger in a car with an automatic transmission?

This is not uncommon in Europe. Now I have this weird obsession to check parked cars if they are manual/automatic. There's a few out there but on the whole most are still stick. My father in law has a manual but apart from that all the people I know drive with a stick.

Lesson three was, ahum, interesting. I think it could be called:"Lesson in endurance for the teacher" as I was still unable to start from first gear some of the time. ARGH!!!! I still don't feel when the engine "connects" and as a result I just stop. :-(((( I also learned how to start from up a hill which is DAMN FUCKING HARD when you drive with a stick.

I feel such a klutz. :-(((((( People YSI me HOPE and GOOD VIBES.

Dont worry about the hill start! It's normal to mess it up when you begin! I'm actually surprised you're doing hill starts if this is your third lesson and you stall when you start your car. But hill starts are so much fun, I love doing them without pressing on the accelerator :D

Also, dont care about what the teacher may or may not be feeling. He sees people who want to learn all day long all through the year, he's used to seeing people not get it in the beginning.

Message got cut off but what I wanted to say is just do your own stuff without thinking about the teacher. I know I was terrible if i became too aware the teacher was just next to me. Forget about him (except when he's giving you pointers though) and you'll do well. Good luck and have fun!

This was hour five and six. But the third time I'm going (every lesson is two hours). I'm doing a 20 hr course so it goes slower in a way.

I am VERY nervous but in a good way: I can see myself driving one day. In the distant future but it's there, a glimmer of hope. ;-)

Yeah, I think I mainly messed up when I was aware of all the cars behind me and the teacher. But the teachers are pretty good (aside from the silly jokes). :-)

Thanks

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I kinda expected more "automatic and no manual" answers

4 real

Some Americans keeping very quiet here.

And that is a trait not stereotypically associated with U.S. citizens!