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How Long Did It take you to learn to Drive

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B-Right-On
Posts: 570 - Karma: 532
Pretty sure this isn't a repost. Post your stories about when you first started driving.
Jul 17 2013 4:57PM
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Backyard.Skier
Posts: 5397 - Karma: 1,498
passed learns and drivers first time so yeah...

/claim
Jul 17 2013 4:58PM
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a_burger
Posts: 5244 - Karma: 20,856
Got my permit last August, my License June 7th.

Really wasn't too bad except one of my instructors was deaf in one ear and decided all the other instructors were wrong and he would basically tell me everything I learned the previous week was wrong. But I still passed the test first try.
Jul 17 2013 5:04PM
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Dan.
Posts: 7201 - Karma: 1,126
If I were to guess by the drivers I see on the road around me, most still haven't learned, and they've been driving for anywhere between 1 and 50 years.
Jul 17 2013 5:06PM
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howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
what's scary is how shitty teen drivers are.

what's scarier is they think they aren't.
Jul 17 2013 5:11PM
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Willgum
Posts: 3254 - Karma: 3,066
First time I turned the key the car blew up and I died
Jul 17 2013 5:13PM
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eheath
Posts: 61710 - Karma: 124,287
Driving wasn't too hard but my first car was a standard so it took me a while to master that.
Jul 17 2013 5:13PM
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Joshua.
Posts: 2957 - Karma: 6,230
I think it took me about a month to get comfortable behind the wheel...

parallel parking... that's a different story.
Jul 17 2013 5:16PM
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fujarome
Posts: 8630 - Karma: 1,561
A few weeks to get the basics, and I'm still learning more years later.

It's experience based. Drivers ed and road tests will be good enough to get started but from then on out it's all random experiences that will teach you.
Jul 17 2013 5:17PM
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timmi
Posts: 12874 - Karma: 3,460
So many people never learn how to drive. One guy actually sped up today so I couldn't make my merge, and drove me nearly onto the soft shoulder. This was up to a red light.

One thing that you should always remember when driving is that people will always do idiotic things while driving, but getting angry and reacting puts yourself and others at risk. You'll never see them again.
Jul 17 2013 5:20PM
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~Gotama~
Posts: 821 - Karma: 3,160
just play a lot of grand turismo and watch out for squirrels
Jul 17 2013 5:22PM
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B-Right-On
Posts: 570 - Karma: 532
Seems legit
Jul 17 2013 5:24PM
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Chinchi
Posts: 1591 - Karma: 4,212
Took me a week or two to get by, never had a problem and I've been driving for over a year and have had no accidents so I think it's going well so far
Jul 17 2013 5:24PM
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rockersteez
Posts: 593 - Karma: 1,199
My parents wouldn't let me skip school to get mine. Luckily a week ish after we had a freezing rain storm that shut down schools. My dad was like "Are you not coming". I was thinking WTF? Like you're going to let me drive in this shit. Freezing rain on back mountain roads in a park preserve. I learned to drive pretty quickly as I didn't have much of a choice. It was probably for the best as I have no problems driving long distance in shitty weather now.

Jul 17 2013 5:31PM
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jblaski
Posts: 5566 - Karma: 1,078
I've had a license for well over a decade now, and still find myself in situations that I've never been in before.

If anyone thinks that a couple weeks of drivers ed means that you know how to drive and are completely ready to hit the road, you're an idiot.
Jul 17 2013 5:37PM
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B-Right-On
Posts: 570 - Karma: 532
First time I ever drove was in a state park on a highway going 55. It was only a two lane road but I what bricks
Jul 17 2013 5:40PM
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J_BISCHOF
Posts: 2082 - Karma: 1,449
I had a fisher price jeep when I was 8. Got it christmas morning, was driving that bad boy up and down sidewalks by noon. So....4 hours? You don't really "learn" to drive. You just drive. You learn stupid useless textbook nonsense, like stay back 500 feet from a firetruck. Who cares
Jul 17 2013 5:42PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,296
16 lessons of 1.5 hours before I got my license. And then I also had a theory exam (quite hard-ish). I did it pretty fast.
In the Netherlands you are required to take driving lessons with a certified instructor and when he feels you're ready to take your drivers exam, you can take that (through the government). I think it takes the average person about 45 hours or so to get their exam. Most people fail their first exam.

But not I actually know how to drive. When I lived in the states I didn't have my license and I was a better driver than most people. Automatic is too easy though. Everybody drives stick in Europe.
Jul 17 2013 6:05PM
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rockersteez
Posts: 593 - Karma: 1,199
Yes, I drive standard because it's more difficult and not for the increased control. I just want to make sure everyone knows how skilled I am when I tell them about my ride.


Drives for 15 min in Jerz with parents, better driver than everyone in the whole country.


Jul 17 2013 6:14PM
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A^frame
Posts: 297 - Karma: 297
Let's get real. The most important skill is driving in the snow. If you are good at that. You are a good driver in my eyes.
Jul 17 2013 6:15PM
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CashmereCat
Posts: 2211 - Karma: 2,394
Took me about two days to get comfortable driving a stick jeep. Automatics seem so boring to me.
Jul 17 2013 6:17PM
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Avifarer
Posts: 5926 - Karma: 598
All my uncles live on farms so i grew up driving ride on lawn mowers, quads moving up to trucks and driving them around before i was legally allowed to drive so i think i had a pretty good grasp of it before getting my license. in alberta you can get your learners license when you are 14 and you have to have your parent in the passenger seat, then you can get your full license at 16.
Jul 17 2013 6:17PM
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*DUMBCAN*
Posts: 2447 - Karma: 5,628
After about five months of learning, passed first time. Two weeks later I left my car on it's side in a ditch on my way to school...
Jul 17 2013 6:27PM
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SFB
Posts: 8895 - Karma: 26,356
took me about 2 weeks its not hard at all.
Jul 17 2013 6:49PM
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No.Quarter
Posts: 5257 - Karma: 16,965
Teen drivers arent bad at driving, we just are stupid and reckless a lot. When i first started driving i thought it was cool to peel out of the school lot in my honda accord, some people learn later than others that shit like that makes you look like a tool.
Jul 17 2013 6:57PM
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GayWolf420
Posts: 37692 - Karma: 123,867
No trust me they are. From what I've seen, kids at my school let their egos get in the way and pull dick moves like using merge lanes on the right to pass you and shit like that.
Jul 17 2013 7:01PM
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SamtheEagle
Posts: 1658 - Karma: 713
my dad took me to a ranch in texas and we took a truck out. Lots of room for error until they got on hunting seats on the front. then i was worried about running him and my uncle into a cactus but it wasnt bad. Basically about 10 minutes to get the basics down and have been progressing since.
Jul 17 2013 7:05PM
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Laurent.
Posts: 10056 - Karma: 25,313
This is actually footage of me from the first time that I ever drove a car:

Click for larger image
Jul 17 2013 7:07PM
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No.Quarter
Posts: 5257 - Karma: 16,965
Just wait for them to crash/die. Survival of the fittest at it's best.

But seriously though, any school will have those people. Just wait for them to do it by a cop, and laugh, laugh a lot. My school seriously does not have very many cocky drivers
Jul 17 2013 7:07PM
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Funnel
Posts: 7817 - Karma: 1,537
Stupidty and recklessness isn't a substitute for bad driving. Teenagers are terrible drivers, and I'll be the first to tell you I did stupid shit behind the wheel my first two years of driving. Once I gained a lot of experience driving, long trips, snowy roads, etc. I became a better, more conscious driver. Every day is a learning experience in a car/truck. Overall, teenagers are bad drivers. Ask your insurance agent why you're a high risk and he'll give you the stats.
Jul 17 2013 7:09PM
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B-Right-On
Posts: 570 - Karma: 532
When I get my licence insurance is going to cost 92 fucking dollars and thats with a Good student discount, fuuuuuuu
Jul 17 2013 7:19PM
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No.Quarter
Posts: 5257 - Karma: 16,965
I would quote the snowy part, but i'm on mobile.

A big part of why teens are bad drivers in bad conditions is how many times they drive in that stuff. I was lucky and had defensive driving classes scheduled on snowy days, but even so there has only been one time in my 6 months of having my liscence that i have had to deal with ice. I did horrible, i was sliding past corners and through stop signs. However, after 10 minutes i was completely comfortable and had no problems stopping, accelerating up hills, or turning.

The main idea is, how we learn to drive and who we are tought by vastly effects our driving skills. For example, my Mom has been living in Colorado for 20 years and still cant drive worth shit in snow and ice. She never had a good baseline teaching on snow so she doesn't know how to drive in it
Jul 17 2013 7:24PM
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BChaps1209
Posts: 1350 - Karma: 2,441
it took a few weeks for me to feel pretty comfortable on the road- waited for license and yeah no accidents i think i'm pretty safe/cautious. still a little shaky on manual, i've only been out a few times in it though.
Jul 17 2013 7:26PM
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snowdon
Posts: 2480 - Karma: 391
"We're not bad at driving, we're just stupid and reckless drivers!" Teenager logic.
Jul 17 2013 7:29PM
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jblaski
Posts: 5566 - Karma: 1,078
You're a teenager.
You're a shitty driver.

Deal with it.
Jul 17 2013 7:31PM
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DizzyG
Posts: 698 - Karma: 296
If you're in the US, you WILL NOT fail the test, you would have to try to fail on purpose to do that.

As for the teenage driver thing, that would be me. I am actually decent at driving mountain roads and snow and stuff because berthoud pass is where I did probably half my permit driving. That said, I'll admit I'm pretty bad a heavy traffic driving.
Jul 17 2013 7:39PM
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No.Quarter
Posts: 5257 - Karma: 16,965
Fuck accepting reality. I accept that i am probably not a good driver, but i am not some soccer mom texting while spanking her kids while sipping on her starbucks while going 20mph over in her 4 ton SUV. I was blessed by my parents with a great driving school and having me drive at all opportunities. Not all teens are terrible drivers, just not very good

So who is worse, me or my grandma who can barely see over the dash in her boad sized Caddy and cannot read the speedo or see the lines painted on the street
Jul 17 2013 7:41PM
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.AR6rider.
Posts: 15976 - Karma: 8,799
Cool generalization, Hansel. When I was a teenager, I liked to drive fast and corner hard, just like any other kid, but I was certainly not a shitty driver. Whether you think that's up for debate is fine, but I was taught to drive with an awareness of my surroundings, I didn't eat, text, talk on the phone, or any of that shit while driving (I still don't), and I always drove defensively in traffic. My driving record is 100% clean 9 years later, with the exception of a few parking tickets. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I'm willing to bet there are more kids like me than idiots crashing into things and fucking shit up.
Jul 17 2013 7:47PM
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.frenchy
Posts: 18231 - Karma: 12,394
Lol. Nah, it's pretty easy to fail the driving test actually.
Jul 17 2013 7:47PM
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No.Quarter
Posts: 5257 - Karma: 16,965
This.

It is the outliers that make up the generalizations. There is a pretty big "silent majority" effect.
Jul 17 2013 7:50PM
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rockersteez
Posts: 593 - Karma: 1,199
Yeah for sure. I think the biggest thing is learning how to drive a car before trying to drive fast etc.

Many people get behind that wheel and abuse their freedom. They don't respect what they're driving and it takes a few years, and a couple crashes for them to realize it.

I knew one girl who went totaled at least 2 and crashed 5+ I think with a couple years. Can't believe her parents bought he new cars.
Jul 17 2013 8:45PM
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_Garagely_
Posts: 1948 - Karma: 3,250
Only a few days to feel comfortable. And United States drivers ed is stupidly easy.
Jul 17 2013 9:10PM
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gusestomp
Posts: 1377 - Karma: 746
About a month ago I passed my learners permit first try. Easy.


Jul 17 2013 9:18PM
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Blake.P
Posts: 9894 - Karma: 3,585
This. I've had my license for almost 4 years (still not a long time) by have a perfect record (one small speeding ticket that was deferred and dropped) and am an excellent driver in winter conditions. So much so that on road trips, if my mom (dad doesn't have this problem) encounters ice or snow, she makes me swap over and drive
Jul 17 2013 9:18PM
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LiquorLanch
Posts: 1909 - Karma: 1,046
Took like 10 minutes to learn. Backing up takes practice. Most of ot is getting used tp the vehicle and peripheral
Jul 17 2013 9:19PM
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Lukegnar
Posts: 189 - Karma: 1,239
I got my class a and class m permit on my 16 birthday. 2nd week driving I drove to NY 6 hours away and back perfectly fine.
Jul 17 2013 9:31PM
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-WZ-
Posts: 3600 - Karma: 6,582
i live in canada
Jul 17 2013 9:32PM
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Dingo69
Posts: 1330 - Karma: -171
Couple days on manual. Years to get as good as i am now.
Jul 17 2013 9:33PM
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Eleidecker
Posts: 245 - Karma: 119
After i got my G1 (Ontario) it took me about 3-4 weeks to get the basics.
Jul 17 2013 10:35PM
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