<p>My first time out driving, I knocked our mailbox down. It’s a complex activity which is why you must not text while driving ever! Against the law in our state anyway. My brothers started driving at a young age by driving tractors out in open fields. I think this is ideal, but we can’t all do this. Don’t put off learning to drive, but do practice on low stress roads and in parking lots. If you have a family member who is not so nervous, go out with that person. Even though I passed my first road test at age 16 (barely) it took many hours at the wheel to feel more comfortable. Many, many hours in my case. But the people I know who put off learning only had a harder time. Start young, but keep it simple at first.</p>
<p>DS was a lousy driver in the beginning, and he knew it. I took him out regularly and had him practice in parking lots. We would drive in reverse, practice parking vertically, parallel parking, backing out of driveways, etc. He has had his license now for a year and just started driving on smaller freeways. See this as a marathon, not a sprint. Work at it as you build up your confidence.</p>
<p>For weekday practice, I recommend checking to see if there’s one of those big mega-churches anywhere near you. I took the kids to one every day for weeks when they were learning to drive (after they finished drivers’ ed, which they started without any prior experience at all). Of course, I expected my kids to learn to drive a stick-shift before they got their licenses. My son even chose to take his driver’s test in my stick-shift car–and the examiner pointed out that he didn’t know how to drive a stick. Still flunked him, though (forgot to turn the wheels to the curb when he parked).</p>
<p>The first time I drove, my dad had to literally grab the wheel because I was about to run into a car on the side of the road. I was placing MYSELF in the center of the road, forgetting that my car stuck out to the right! One of the hardest things for me was learning to align myself a steady distance from the center line.</p>
<p>With practice, you’ll be fine. My state requires classroom education plus 50 hours of driving time - 10 of which must be at night, and 6 hours with a certified instructor. S2 takes his test next week, after having his permit for 1 year. He has improved a lot over that time.</p>
<p>One thing I did with both my kids was send them early on to a specialized 2-day intensive driving school. These schools operate on large parking lots and do things like wet down the pavement so the students can practice recovering from a skid. S1 was a very nervous driver until he attended this school. He says it helped tremendously.</p>
<p>Don’t worry, OP. I still suck and I’m 20 years old. Practice is key here, obviously. Also, most of it is nerves. Once you feel comfortable behind the wheel and confident (but not overly so) with your driving skills and your car, you will do way better.</p>
<p>I had a hard time beginning to learn how to drive because in my mind, I was terrible. I thought I’d never learn to drive at all and therefore, my nerves and doubts showed whenever I drove and overrode everything else. I even started a thread here on CC seeking advice. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1351976-any-advice-new-driver.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1351976-any-advice-new-driver.html</a> </p>
<p>And whereas I still have a way to go, I feel waaay more confident than I ever did before. Just practice with your instructor and then by yourself, learn the rules of the road and it’ll become second nature. :)</p>
<p>Oh and btw, I think highways are easier than regular roads. But build up to that. You should be a confident driver once you look to tackle that.</p>
<p>If we want to talk about terrible new drivers, I didn’t actually get comfortable driving on the freeway until this past year and I got my license in 2007. I have no idea how I passed the road test, I’d only been on the freeway a handful of times and then never again for years after that. I had the technical skill but was still nervous about it, and my parents thought it was better to just forbid me to drive on the freeway than spend time practicing with me… which resulted in a little nerves turning into a full blown phobia. A coworker ended up teaching me after work one night when I started my first full-time post-college job. When she told me we were going driving after work I nearly fainted in the middle of the office, but now I’m not nervous anymore. :)</p>
<p>And to this day, I have a hard time driving in rain. I swear just by coincidence it has only rained when I’ve had to drive somewhere maybe half a dozen times the entire time I’ve had my license, and only REALLY rained two or three times. I can drive through a blizzard no problem, been there done that, but rain is still a challenge. Driving is just one of those things you have to learn by doing!</p>
<p>OP, I feel your pain!!! I’m in a similar situation and would do just about anything to be able to NOT have to learn to drive. So stressful . . . Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes!</p>
<p>OP … don’t worry … you will get comfortable … it just takes time. A couple thoughts</p>
<p>The first time I ever drove was the first day of driver’s ed (I had never driven with my parents) and I almost hit a parked car … on the OTHER side of the road! I was SO nervous. After a couple turns driving I was OK … to be fair each time we upped it notch I got nervous again (driving on the highway. parallel parking on a busy street, etc) but each time I was fine after a couple turns. Despite the nerves by the end of the class I was an average driver in my class and my instructor was comfortable with me taking the test (which was not true about everyone).</p>
<p>Second, it doesn’t really matter if you drive first with your parents or in class … if you’re going to be nervous you’ll be nervous whoever you are with. And frankly, depending on your relationship with your parents if may be easier for your first couple drives to be with the instructor. </p>
<p>Lastly, while the order of the driving does not matter IMO I think parents have a HUGE role in kids learning to drive because skill and comfort come from practice … lots of practice. In my family we let the kids pick who they wanted to drive with (and they both had a preference) … and then we started in a neighborhood with wide roads with very few parked cars, lots of turn options, and very little traffic … then they got comfortable with that we moved to busier roads. We stayed at one level until the kids were comfortable and confident and then moved on to something harder. </p>
<p>Good luck … I’ll bet your second turn will be much better than the first one.</p>
<p>I am currently trying to teach a very anxiety ridden 18 year to drive. Last summer he gained some confidence on rural roads. ( no cars at all) but returned home after his visit had a near accident at busy intersection and stopped practicing for a year.</p>
<p>Now he’s coming here for a month and I start all over .</p>
<p>Can someone with such severe anxiety issues learn to drive? No way will he get in a car with a driving instructor - too much social anxiety?</p>