<p>I didn’t drive when I was in high school- ( you could easily walk to my high school- )</p>
<p>oh I take that back-
my Grandpa tried to teach me to drive- in his Buick, he thought we would be safe in his Seattle- Magnolia neighborhood, because they ( still) practically have zero traffic ( because there is nothing to do there)
However, I was distracted by all the landscaping and ran a stop sign ( there wasn’t anyone else around)
He about had a stroke. :o</p>
<p>Then a friend taught me to drive with his Cutlass or GTo or whatever those big old jacked up cars were.
( sorry- I am a girl- I do not care about the difference between Hooker headers or stock or between a V-6 or V-8)
He was actually very good though, he had a lot of patience, and he taught me how to use visual cues to improve my driving. Too bad he went into the Marines and came back kind of a jerk.</p>
<p>But I didn’t have my license until I was about 18 and I had bought my own car, with the money that had been invested for me from the life ins policy my parents bought when I was a baby. ( Dodge Coronet or Dart? -have to ask H- I had worked in high school, but I walked to work- my money went for school clothes)</p>
<p>It was pretty nice, leather seats, electric windows, four doors- but the important thing is having someplace to go
:)</p>
<p>I learned to drive in driver’s ed and I thought I was doing just fine in my parents’ 12 year old Ford LTD–the thing had power and a trunk bigger than some houses. Unfortunately it got 10 mpg on a good day and so one day my father stopped the 12 year old Vega in a nearby town, switched seats, and said it was time to learn to drive a stick. Too bad that town had a lot of hills. I always thought that was a mean way to teach someone how to use a clutch. Glad I learned though!</p>
<p>I learned how to drive a stick on our Volkswagen that had a clutch that you had to push all the way to the floor every single time before it would engage- we also had hills, not as bad as Seattle, but still.
Haven’t had a car with a clutch for years though- can’t believe you have to special order if you want a clutch in your Jeep. </p>
<p>I learned to drive on Sundays (because in those days stores were closed on Sundays) in the Saks Fifth Avenue parking lot. I drove my father’s huge car (it was safe so they said)…and I took Driver’s Ed. My kids had to get up early on Sundays to go around that same parking lot before the store opened. :)</p>
<p>Years ago I got a summer job driving a Good Humor ice cream truck. As the guy who hired me took me out into the lot to show me my first truck, he said “Oh, you can drive a stick shift, right?” and I said, “Uh, sure”. I really needed that job.</p>
<p>Well the drive on the highway out to my route, in 4th gear, was not too bad. Things got interesting though when I discovered the route took me through the steepest, narrowest residential streets in town. Jingle Jingle! Lurch-a-Lurch. Jingle jingle! Lurch-a-lurch.<br>
After a couple hours of stares and laughs from the clientele I settled into my groove, and have been comfortable driving a stick shift ever since.</p>
<p>My dad came into the house one day and said “You’re going to learn to drive today.” Family station wagon, stick shift. He must have known it was time, because I had no trouble with the clutch … and several trees along the driveway were missing bark.</p>
<p>When I took driver’s ed in HS I was surprised to learn that I was the only one who didn’t already know how to drive. Gee, the kids who lived on farms had 3 or 4 years driving experience in already. My Dad tried to take me out driving and gave up on me. My (very patient) older brother ended up teaching me to drive.</p>
<p>When I got married I needed to learn to drive a stick shift. H (actually fiance then) tried to teach me, but that didn’t work out so well. I would ask what gear I needed to be in and he would explain how the gears worked (note: he is an engineer). After a few tries with him I couldn’t drive the car but I was nearly able to design it. So H’s sister stepped in to help and I learned.</p>
<p>My father taught me how. I waiting until 18 to take the driver’s test (back then, only classroom driver’s ed was required if you waiting until 18.) I took the test with the automatic shift although I was in training with the stick as well.</p>
<p>Here in CA, a certain number of hours of “classroom” (can be done on line) and on the road driver’s ed is required for those under 21 before they can take the test. H and I also worked with S on this. After the first few times out, I determined that if the only job I could have was as a driver’s ed instructor, I’d either have ulcers or be unemployed.</p>
<p>My brother and I had an off-road car (VW stick) we would run around our dirt track in the back acres of our yard. I also had an off road motor-cycle which teaches you much of the basics of clutching and revving the engine to shift. By the time I got to Driver’s Ed I felt pretty comfortable driving.</p>
<p>There’s really nothing to a transmission. It’s just two sets of meshed shaft-mounted gear sets arranged co-axially inside a structural case that has … Oh.</p>
<p>I would probably never have learned to drive, except that when I was in my mid-20’s my boyfriend got a job which moved him from Manhattan (where I had grown up, hence the lack of driving skills) to the suburbs of Philadelphia. When we got engaged, I realized that I would have to learn, and I was terrified.</p>
<p>My driving instructor was an aged beatnik in Greenwich Village who told me tales of Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac while I learned to navigate in an AMC Pacer. He was a great instructor, and I passed my driving test the first time. Unfortunately, going 20 miles an hour down Bleecker St. doesn’t prepare you to negotiate I-95 with crazed truck drivers. As a result, I hate highway driving, but am happy to drive in cities/suburbia. I still take public transportation whenever it’s convenient - I’d much rather take the commuter train into the city than drive.</p>
<p>I taught myself to drive at 14…my Mom traveled a lot and I had access to the car… Thankfully I’ve been a good driver from day one, it’s always felt natural. I graduated at 16 so I never had time to take Driver’s Ed and just waited until my 19th birthday when I didn’t need classroom or behind the wheel but drove without a license until that point. Thankfully my kids lack my deviousness on that front although my oldest got her learner’s the first day she was able, and her license as soon as possible but she took to it easily as well. Now for my 14 year old… that may be my pay back! :)</p>
<p>Starting driving go-karts that my neighbor owned when I was about 6, solo around 9 or 10. Drove the farm truck at 12. </p>
<p>Formally took “Driver’s Ed” the summer after 8th grade, when I was 14. In Iowa you can get a school permit to drive to school functions (“home” events only) directly from home once you’ve had your learner’s permit (available on 14th birthday) for 6 months.</p>
<p>I took a driving course the summer after I graduated from college because I’d gotten a grant to go around the country photographing fire stations for a year and was going to need to drive. I practiced mostly on my boyfriend’s (now husband’s) parents gigantic station wagon. (The kind with the fake wood panel on the side. My first car was a brown Econline Ford van with three gears and camping set up in back. I drove through all but six states (I think) in the next nine months. It was great.</p>
<p>(My first driving experiences were actually at 15 or 16 in African driving a stick shift Puegeot on the other side of the road.)</p>
<p>My father took me out to the stadium parking lot, got out of the car and told me to drive around the lot until I knew what I was doing. He went off and practiced driving golf balls until I could drive around the lot. </p>
<p>H was a farm kid driving a tractor at 4, driving farm trucks by 12, at 16 he was driving all over the county working for his dad and uncles. At 18 decided he better get a license.</p>
<p>Living out in the country, my Dad started teaching me to drive at 14 in the 3/4 ton duelie pick up. That thing barely fit on the roads. When I finally got to Drivers Training, it was just about learning to drive in town.</p>
<p>Booklady, your story is very encouraging for me – I’m 25, and I’ve never had a license. Everybody likes to get on me about learning, but I am very reluctant, even though I know I really ought to. It’s bad to admit this in Boston, but I prefer the T. :)</p>
<p>I took Driver’s Ed and Driver’s training in high school. My mother actually taught me to drive in the parking lot of our church. Why the church parking lot? The funeral home was across the street, just in case I killed us. She taught me to drive a stick months later on a deserted country road. She proceeded to yell “Shift” “Shift” at me at the top of her lungs. Nice…</p>
<p>I’m in my 40’s and I still remember the sound of her voice yelling “Shift”. She thinks the story is hilarious…</p>
<p>My BF taught me how to drive a stick. I was a terrible, terrible learner. He was incredibly patient, well beyond the call of duty. So I married him.</p>
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