Have you heard of kangaroo petrol?
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (382357)
Rockingham, Australia
July 12, 2021 7:55pm CST
My last discussion was about our new car and being given a fuel voucher for filling in the evaluation form. This led me to thinking ‘kangaroo petrol’.
I wonder if you’ve ever heard of ‘kangaroo petrol’. This is what Australians call it when a learner driver has trouble releasing the clutch smoothly and the car hops down the road in fits and starts. It seems so hard at the time to release the clutch smoothly but it’s not long before a new driver gets the hang of it.
When I was learning to drive, my brother had me drive the tractor home through a paddock. I kept over-steering and left wonderfully curved wheel-marks the whole length of the journey. Luckily, I got over that too eventually. Do you remember learning to drive? I should think it’s not something that would be forgotten easily.
Photo, of course, of some real kangaroos.
30 people like this
30 responses
@RasmaSandra (98072)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
13 Jul 21
You just made me laugh with the thought of a car hopping down the road. Perhaps with a kangaroo alongside it to see who comes in first, I learned to drive ages ago the state of Connecticut, I drove for some years in my hometown of NYC and then brought the car with me to Latvia when I moved there, The car is long gone and I no longer drive,7 people like this
@RasmaSandra (98072)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
14 Jul 21
@JudyEv in 1994 it cost only $1000 to ship the car and plus I had it for years and it had the automatic drive most of the cars there are on shift
3 people like this
@JudyEv (382357)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Jul 21
@RasmaSandra That makes sense. We found that on the continent too - with few automatic cars being available.
3 people like this
@FourWalls (86812)
• United States
13 Jul 21
Oh, yeah, I'm sure everyone who's ever driven a clutch has hopped a couple of times, even when getting a new car. Every clutch is a little different in its release point.
5 people like this
@DaddyEvil (174590)
• United States
13 Jul 21
My son taught me how to drive a stick shift. He was 15 when we picked up the car we wanted to buy, he drove it off the lot and then let me behind the wheel when we got out of sight of the dealership. I drove us 12 miles through country roads with him correcting the way I drove it and we bought the car once we were back at the lot. I drove us home. (I was 30 and he was a good teacher.)
5 people like this
@JudyEv (382357)
• Rockingham, Australia
13 Jul 21
@DaddyEvil You have to be 17 here to get a licence It's much harder now than it ever used to be.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (174590)
• United States
13 Jul 21
I don't remember learning to drive, let alone what car I learned in. I drove tractors on our farm when we were baling hay, drove the farm truck while my brothers "bucked" hay and drove a different type of tractor while brush hogging the farm.
3 people like this
@DaddyEvil (174590)
• United States
13 Jul 21
@JudyEv The first time I can remember driving was while brush hogging the farm. My brother had to wrap styrofoam into a brick and taped it to my foot so I could reach the gas and brake on the tractor.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382357)
• Rockingham, Australia
13 Jul 21
@DaddyEvil Oh wow, you couldn't have been very old.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (135910)
• Marion, Ohio
13 Jul 21
I learned to drive in a 3 speed on the column in the hay fields.
4 people like this
@FourWalls (86812)
• United States
13 Jul 21
That’s how I learned to shift. I’d shift gears for my mom or dad in our 1964 Plymouth Valiant from the time I was 5 or 6. Broke my heart when the new car they got in 1967 was an automatic.
Yes, I was in the front seat with no seat belt, save for Mom’s arm. And I survived.
2 people like this
@wolfgirl569 (135910)
• Marion, Ohio
13 Jul 21
@FourWalls I did enjoy driving that old truck. I was only 12 or 13 at the time. I couldnt throw the bales of hay high enough yet so they put me driving it. I had to almost stand to reach the pedals and still see where I was going.
Thats how all 3 of us rode. Or in the bed of the pickup
2 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (49775)
• India
15 Jul 21
@JudyEv
Here on some crowded stretches it is often 3-2-1, 2-1 and very less times 4th or 5th gear.
Yet automatic ones are now getting sold more in India.
In manual gears, 2nd and 3rd gears get a lot of wear and tear. Plus one needs a good intution sense on the Indian roads plus very good brakes !!
1 person likes this
@dgobucks226 (37621)
•
13 Jul 21
I've been a victim of Kangaroo petrol 
Thank goodness I decided driving an automatic would be a lot less stressful 
Thank goodness I decided driving an automatic would be a lot less stressful 3 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (49775)
• India
15 Jul 21
The 1st gear was the one which took me some time to master. Initially, I tried to release the clutch faster but learnt to master it after some practice.
But I kept my patience as well.
I think these days I am probably less patient than what I was then.
1 person likes this
@ptrikha_2 (49775)
• India
17 Jul 21
@JudyEv
In many things, we have a difficulty in the beginning. Once we get a hang of a proper way or technique then it is much better.
Still I am very careful when reversing in a narrow part because that comes with a higher risk.
@kobesbuddy (78833)
• East Tawas, Michigan
13 Jul 21
Yes, I remember when I was first learning to drive. The clutch was certainly a problem, for me to master. Now, I love driving a vehicle with a clutch, though both of ours have an automatic transmission. The three speed on the floor, that was my favorite! It was a 1972 Rally Nova:)
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382357)
• Rockingham, Australia
13 Jul 21
@kobesbuddy It sounds like you were a bit of a rev-head!!
1 person likes this
@kobesbuddy (78833)
• East Tawas, Michigan
13 Jul 21
@JudyEv When I was younger, I loved to down-shift and make a 307 Nova sound powerful!
1 person likes this
@anya12adwi (10292)
• India
14 Jul 21
Well, I am out practise now!! I am scared of driving car after it got dent because I got scared after a school van horned at me!! After that I stopped driving!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382357)
• Rockingham, Australia
15 Jul 21
@anya12adwi That's so true. You have to watch out for everyone else doing something stupid.
1 person likes this
@anya12adwi (10292)
• India
15 Jul 21
@JudyEv Yes, people here recklessly drive!! I was so scared that I now hesitate to ride my scooter now!!
Because even if you drive safely, you can pay the cost for other people driving crazily!
1 person likes this
@oahuwriter (26773)
• United States
14 Jul 21
I remember learning to drive. I went to Driver's Education for insurance discount too. It was taught with automatic drive, si it was easy. Not heard of kangaroo petrol, it's cute!
, it's cute!1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382357)
• Rockingham, Australia
15 Jul 21
@oahuwriter And then it's no trouble starting off up hills either.
1 person likes this
@oahuwriter (26773)
• United States
15 Jul 21
@JudyEv
It really is easier. Just push to d & go.
1 person likes this
@Butterfingers (66603)
• India
13 Jul 21
Hearing the term for the first time but good to know about it, thanks
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382357)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Jul 21
@Butterfingers Monkey petrol might be a bit similar.
1 person likes this
@Butterfingers (66603)
• India
14 Jul 21
@JudyEv haha how about Dog or monkey petrol
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382357)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Jul 21
@ladyhero That's correct. You don't really change gears either. If you want to go faster, you put the vehicle out of great, increase the revs and let the clutch out again. The modern ones drive more like a car I think and are very sophisticated.
1 person likes this
@topffer (42155)
• France
13 Jul 21
I learned to drive two wheels vehicles first, and I have fallen down so often with my first bicycle, that the other falls and car accidents don't really count Seriously I got a small motorbike driving licence at 16, a big motorbike driving licence at 18, and a week later my car licence with quite no lessons, as I was already knowing how to drive. However I experienced a few times kangaroo petrol long ago, when there was a bit of water in the gas.
Seriously I got a small motorbike driving licence at 16, a big motorbike driving licence at 18, and a week later my car licence with quite no lessons, as I was already knowing how to drive. However I experienced a few times kangaroo petrol long ago, when there was a bit of water in the gas.1 person likes this
@Orson_Kart (8301)
• United Kingdom
14 Jul 21
We use that phrase over here in the UK too. I guess, unusually, it must have originated over there in Oz as we have no kangaroos. I remember when I was learning back in the 70's doing that. I think it was trying to use the accelerator in 1st gear to control the speed. Now we are moving towards all electric cars, there will be no need to learn clutch control. Eventually we won't even drive them and technology will. Watch out!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382357)
• Rockingham, Australia
15 Jul 21
we were surprised that the majority of cars - hire ones anyway - in the UK and on the continent were geared. Here, most are automatic which are of course a lot easier.
@LadyDuck (502665)
• Italy
13 Jul 21
I do not have a driver license, but I learnt to drive, my husband taught me. I remember that I had a hard time with the clutch and my husband got mad, this is why one day I stopped the car, went out, told him "Now you drive and I will never drive anymore"... when I say something I do!
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222623)
• United States
13 Jul 21
I remember learning to drive very well. Fortunately it was on an automatic transmission car.
1 person likes this
@DocAndersen (54399)
• United States
13 Jul 21
I was 16 years old. I had my learner's permit. I had driven maybe 6 times. I was visiting my grandparents in Wisconsin. It snowed.
grandpa said I have to go to the store. Come with me!
i headed towards the passenger side of the car. There was snow and I had never driven on snow. He handed me the keys and said you are driving.
I learned!
1 person likes this
@DocAndersen (54399)
• United States
13 Jul 21
@JudyEv it was - scary as all-get-out at the time.
1 person likes this
