Learning to Drive: Chapter One

Learning To Drive: Chapter 1

Learning to drive is a serious venture: you are in control of a machine which is heavy and can go fast, and you are surrounded by other machines some of which are heavier or faster and many more which are soft and slow (pedestrians, cyclists and animals) or soft and fast (motorcyclists).

There are the legal requirements which must be covered, the operation of the vehicle to learn, the rules of the road and the hazards always present therein. It is something which I have always wanted to do but just never got around to, well, after applying for and receiving a provisional drivers license and having studied the highway code book I finally got the chance to begin my lessons. the following is my story of my experiences doing so and as such is not intended to be any form of driving instruction, it is simply what I recall and may not be entire or completely accurate, but to the best of my recollection is how it happened. I hope you find it useful or at least entertaining!

I booked a number of lessons in one go. Soon my instructor was to call me and we arranged a time for the first lesson, which I was instructed would be 2 hours long since there would be so much to take in. Okay.. time to study more on The Highway Code book as I awaited the first lesson.

The day of my first lesson:

Soon enough the day came to meet my instructor and have my first ever lesson! He arranged that he would come and pick me up outside of my home, and so I was waiting on that sunny afternoon outside so that I would see him and he would see me.  After a few minutes of apprehensive waiting and not really knowing what to expect  he turned up in a smart looking car with the company insignia and stopped where I stood to ask through the open passenger window if I was who he was expecting – we exchanged greetings and names and then I climbed in the passenger seat beside him.

Of course there are legal requirements when being instructed including a valid drivers license and vehicle insurance amongst others, so the first thing which was checked by my instructor was that I had both parts of my provisional drivers license, the first being a card and the second being a slip of paper with details on it. The insurance for the car being covered by the driving instructor company, and yes I had those things with me – so far so good.

He next advised me that he wanted to begin the lesson elsewhere – a few blocks away in a quieter area, so off we went. The area was quieter, a leafy number of narrow residential back-roads, he pulled up in a parking space and switched the engine off.

And then further questions ensued such as: had I ever driven before? No; Did I know how to use the clutch, etc? No; I admitted that I was a total beginner, and though I might have guessed at one or two of the vehicles systems and how they were operated I chose not to since I would have only part known. As it turned out it was the best choice to be taught everything as a total beginner.

Along with the fact that it was my first ever lesson was the fact that this man and I had never met each other before, but a few jokes and smiles helped make the atmosphere more friendly for both of us.

Getting in position:

It was about that point that he advised me to swap places with him, so we both climbed out and he sat in the passenger seat and I in the drivers seat. He told me that the first thing to check when getting in was that everything was comfortable and as it should be, he also showed me how to adjust things so that they could be if they weren’t.

• The seat had to be close enough to the pedals that they could be properly reached, the height of the seat not too low.

• The mirrors had to be in the correct positions, that is the middle windscreen mirror should show approximately the same shape as the rear window from top to bottom and side to side and the left and right wing mirrors should show the rear view with also a view of that side of the car on the closest mirrors edge. Along with one or two other things. He then asked me if I had any questions so far – I thought for a moment trying to hold those new things in my mind and said no questions, so far so good..

Then onto the cockpit and the driving instruments:

• There are three pedals he taught me, on the right is the Accelerator, in the middle is the Brake and on the left is the Clutch (C, B, A) though he advised me that the accelerator tends to be called the ‘gas’ as well. He then gave me an overview of what these pedals do: The accelerator injects more fuel into the engine making it go faster, the brake is the brake, and the clutch is the instrument by which the gears of the engine are separated to allow the engine to either change up or down a gear or to disengage the engine from the wheels.

• Next was the gear stick and how to use it, with (in this vehicle) five forward gears and one reverse gear, the lowest gear being the slowest but the most powerful. The gears being adjusted in synchronicity with the clutch pedal. In order to change up or down a gear the right foot is taken off the accelerator and ‘hovers’ over the brake pedal just in case it is needed and the left foot presses the clutch pedal down all the way to the floor – then a new gear is selected before whilst still holding down the clutch pedal – then with the new gear selected the clutch pedal is gently raised and the right foot goes back to the accelerator.

• The handbrake he told me, locked the rear wheels only, and unlike the brake pedal which automatically illuminates a vehicles brake lights the handbrake gave no such warning to other road users and was intended to be used as a brake to hold the car stationary once it was stationary such as when stopping on a hill or when parked rather than bringing the car to a stop from a moving position. It worked to lock the rear wheels by pressing the button at the tip and pulling it up to the locking position, conversely, it worked to release the rear wheels by pressing the button on the tip, lifting it slightly to disengage it and then lowering it to the down position.

• The steering wheel being fairly self explanatory along with a few other things he then asked me again if I had any questions so far, by this point my mind is busy but still can cope with more and I have understood his clear instructions so I reply no questions, so far so good..

The next thing that he says, though it shouldn’t have, surprised me – we were to go for a drive, with me driving!

The car had in-fact two sets of pedals, one for the driver and one in the passenger seat which I had noticed but not really considered much (I was mentally telling myself not to touch them or knock them with my feet as I rode in the passenger seat, and it’s a good thing I did not as doing so would have affected the car) It was at this point that he brought this extra set of pedals to my attention and assured me that he would be able to manipulate the car to brake or accelerate if I had problems and that he would steer by reaching over to the wheel if that too was going poorly, and with a joking but true statement that he wouldn’t let me crash because of his own sense of self preservation as well as everything else I had confidence to begin.

Moving off from stationary:

In order to move off from a stationary position, I learned, to the best of my memory to do the following:

• To press the clutch down all the way to the floor,

• Then with it down to select first gear with the gear stick,

• Then still holding the clutch down all the way to gently press on the accelerator with my right foot to raise the needle up a bit,

• Then, holding the accelerator at that point to gently raise the clutch up about halfway until I felt the car move ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly (this is called the ‘biting point’ and it means the engine is now connected to the wheels via the gears which are being engaged or disengaged by the clutch)

• At this point I was to do my observations, which is as it sounds – checking in the three mirrors and the ‘blind spot’ by looking over my shoulder into the road that there were no vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists etc that might collide with me if I moved out at the wrong moment.

• Having satisfied both myself and instructor that indeed the way was clear I signalled to show that I intended to move off, so gentle flick of the indicator light on the steering wheel,

• Then to release the handbrake and raise the clutch up gently and at that point the car moves forward.. and that is what happened..

Okay, so far so good.. he has taught me the controls, what they do and how to operate them and now for the first time ever I am behind the wheel of a car and it is MOVING! Now is the time when my mind was most focused and alert.

Stopping:

In order to stop the vehicle I was taught the following:

• First to check my mirrors for approaching hazards around me

• If the road is clear then I can begin to stop by first signalling my intent to do so (if I were driving down a road and wanted to pull over, usually to the left, I would then indicate left)

• Then to take my foot off the accelerator and onto the brake and brake gently with my right foot whilst pressing the clutch down all the way as I steer into the area I want to park,

• Then finish braking whilst still holding the clutch down

• Then once the car is at a halt where I want it to be to take my feet off the brake and off the clutch and to engage the handbrake and to put the gear lever into neutral

What I learned besides these things:

I see learner drivers around a lot, going slowly, sometimes annoying other road users and that’s one thing as an observer, as a third party viewing from the sidelines, but being the learner driver is another feeling! As drivers waited for me to move off I felt awkward but was not about to be panicked so I just did my best and stayed cool, as women with prams crossed roads where I was intending to go or cyclists passed by I was extremely conscious that I was going to be better safe than sorry and took every effort to do my best not to cause harm or loss to anyone or anything.

Also that the steering wheel can rotate twice in one direction so that it may not, for a learner driver, be readily obvious whether or not the steering has come back to a straight line or whether the steering wheel must be turned once more -  leading to some apprehension and over-steer as I navigated around these leafy narrow streets with their worryingly expensive looking cars mere feet from this vehicle I was navigating!

As it happened my instructor calmly spoke out loud what to do at every moment on the way and now and then he would add more gas or brake more or even lean over and correct my steering. I drove a number of times around two or more different blocks and my instructor was very good, at the end of my driving time I parked for perhaps the third time and then we recapped on everything.

Soon after he drove me back home and we set a day for the next lesson.

I learned a lot in those first 2 hours, including that it is not necessary to steer all the way around a corner as this would result in over-steering, but to steer around a corner and to stop steering into the corner just before I would instinctively.

I discovered also that the accelerator is very sensitive and that even if I took my foot off of it the car would ‘coast’ forward for quite a number of meters.

Also that as a driver I should be looking mostly ahead of me as far as I could see so that I had time to react to them anything which might present itself there.. traffic lights, pedestrians, cyclists, kids running out into the road, other cars, turnings etc.

Like the kid’s game where you pat your head, rub your belly and hop on one foot whilst saying a sentence there was so much to take in just operating the vehicle alone, and there is so much to be aware of outside of the vehicle such as the highway code and potential hazards that both combined can at moments feel almost overwhelming -  it was good but I used intense concentration and focus. I was told that I did well and am looking forward to my next lesson.

Coming up, my next lesson: Chapter 2!