What was your driver's ed like?
By writersedge
@writersedge (22563)
United States
January 12, 2009 8:57am CST
I had driver's ed at a college at the age of 19. It was a non-credit after hours course. My co-students for the actual drive car were DWIs/DUIs all sentenced to driver's ed. My co-students for the classroom included an older woman who would be driving for the first time and women who had married Air Force guys from foreign countries and had never learned how to drive as well as the Driving Intox/Under Influence. The DWIS/DUIs all quit after they received papers saying they attended the first couple of classes, so I drove the entire two hours (one night driving two hours and one night classroom two hours).
It was January and February in the North Country. The worst driving possible. One night the roads had been cleared by plowing and rock salt. So they were perfict. My instructor told me to drive to this parking lot. He said to get up to speed. The parking lot was all ice, I got up to 55 mph (our Interstate and Throughway speed at that time). The he yelled, "Hit the brakes!" The car started to fly around in a circle, but I turned back. My instructor turned to me and said, "Good, I don't have to teach you that. You naturally turn the wheel the way you need to during a skid."
My heart was really pumping.
We did all kinds of driving. I87 driving, back roads, main roads, country, suburb, city, etc. One time he was having such a good time, he forgot what time it was. He said, "OMG, we've got to get back!" So we changed places and he put the pedal to the medal.
Another time, he had me do figure 8s forward and backward around two light posts in a parking lot. Lots of practice with parallel parking. Lots of high density driving where kids chase a ball into the street and other crazy stuff. One way onto a two way, two way onto a one way, etc. They changed the one ways and two ways in the testing section of town just before my driver's test. So I always look for the one way signs because, they have changed that part of town three times since I started learning how to drive. I've had more people come at me from the wrong direction and have to change lanes after they do that. I had to fly into someone's driveway one time.
I learned how to avoid a lot of accidents. What to do if you can't avoid one to minimize everything. 4 people where supposed to be driving in the 2 hour time period, but I had the instructor all to myself. Still can't avoid deer and snow banks, though. Actually, I have even avoided them occasionally.
So what was your driver's ed like?
2 responses
@carolbee (16230)
• United States
12 Jan 09
It was so long ago in high school but was fun. Four kids and the driver's ed teacher loaded the car. Off we went to parking lots and main streets. Ofcourse traffic at this particular time of my life was light. Not nearly as many cars. It was a required course in high school and was during the daylight hours. It was fun since I knew the kids in the car with me. Parallel parking was interesting but I got it right the first time. What nobody knew was I had been driving for 2 years by the time I took driver's ed. My father taught me at age 13. I was a tall, lanky kid so could see over the wheel.
1 person likes this

@writersedge (22563)
• United States
12 Jan 09
I waited until I was 19 because I didn't really want to drive. I figured I would be driving the drunks home if I got it and sure enough, two days after I got my license, "Come on Susan, we have to bring your Dad home, I'll drive the truck and give him H, you just need to drive me there." First of many times brought Mom to go fetch someone. And the hospital runs for all the Emergency Room times. So I waited until I absolutely had to. Wish I could have taken it in high school and had fun with it. But it was interesting and I took it seriously because I knew people who had had accidents and cost their parents their home or their life savings.
I was my max height at 14, I'm not very tall, but I developed early.
We didn't have traffic circles or the amount of traffic either. Also Plattsburgh was 1/2 as long. Thanks and take care.

@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
12 Jan 09
We were all teens trying to get our licences after turning 16.
Generally they prefered to have all girls or all guys in a class, but my class I was the only gal.
I was also the only one he caught with the brake only once, and I was just a faction of a second behind him. The boys he got quite a few times.
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
12 Jan 09
Sounds like you were really, really good!
1 person likes this



