Posted by: Kittykait
Last week I got my Learners Permit! I was a little nervous about the test but it was all multiple choice questions, easy!
As it turns out the part I should have been nervous about was the picture. I think they need to change the order of things and do the vision test *after* they take your picture to make sure your not permanently blind. If you watch everyone in the room jumps and blinks when the flash goes off. I thought I was struck by lighting for Pete’s sake!
Anyhoo since then my eyesight has recovered and I’ve driven Dad (most of the way) to work 3 times and on Sunday we had an extra car in town so I drove Mom all the way home from church all in our Kia, which is a manual. Manual is generally thought of as really hard but I had a good teacher (my dad) so I think it’s fun. I’m not perfect at it but I was feeling really proud of myself Sunday because I had to start and stop on a few hills (for the first time) and I didn’t even come close to killing anyone! 
Right now we have 3 working vehicles, the great white whale, the Mustang and our little Kia. I haven’t driven the van yet which, for now, is fine with me. I drove the Mustang half way home one time and even though it’s automatic (and super cool) for now I prefer the Kia because the nose is shorter and the windows are bigger so I don’t have to be too nervous about what I can’t see.
I think the dumbest thing I’ve done while driving was right after a light turned green, I shifted into first, to start, then I gave the car some gas. But the car didn’t move so I gave it more gas… still nothing, I was getting kind of frantic then I realized I must be in third. Nope. I was pumping on the the brake not the gas. That made me feel really intelligent. I didn’t even mind when Natalie and Becca waived and pointed to the “Student Driver” sign from the back seat.
Mom and I were wondering together how many people know how to drive manual. Mom thought probably less know than don’t. So shouldn’t automatics be called standards?
Let’s see:
Loading ...Remember months ago when I said I would do a weekly poll? I did warn you that I would forget!
I voted “no” on the poll – but there’s a reason behind that. First, we don’t have a manual transmission car, and Second, I can only drive a little on my learner’s permit. And I don’t particularly like driving (after the newness and novelty wore off
) 
I also wonder to what extent it’s an age thing? I’m thinking those in their 40s and older are much more likely to know how to drive a stick-shift than those of us in our 20s. I’m in my 20s and have never driven a stick-shift. My husband, however, has because of a pickup truck used by the family business.
Nope, it’s not an age thing. I’m over 60 and couldn’t drive a stick shift (manual) if my life depended on it. My 32 y.o. daughter, that’s all she drives. And my baby sister.
I still remember getting my learner’s permit and learning to drive (16+ years ago). My parents made me learn how to drive a manual and pass my test on it because “if you can drive a manual you can drive just about anything-dad”. I haven’t had any problems figuring out any of the vehicles I have had to drive since. Congratulations on this very exciting milestone.
I am in my late thirties and I learned to drive in a ’64 fold falcon. That was the ugliest car and I always hated it. It had a three on the tree and that’s what I learned to drive in. It was fun on back country roads but it would suck in today’s city roads.
I voted yes, but there is a caveat. I couldn’t drive a stick out on the road yet. I recently got my learners permit and my dad is teaching me on both our manual and on our stick-shift. Oh, and both my sister and my brother learned stick shift driving and love it. It is useful to know. When my parents bought my sister’s car, they thought that they weren’t going to get it because someone was ahead of them and had a better offer. Yet, when the guys who wanted to buy it, (they were foreign) got into the car, the started jabbering and couldn’t figure out how to drive it. It was a stick shift and they couldn’t drive it. So, my parents bought the car.
Lulu
I think you mean stick shift and automatic. Isn’t stick shift and manual the same thing?
The first time I drove a manual on a real road, we sat through at least 4 stoplight changes, at night, in downtown Detroit, on our way to a club while I figured out how to get it in the right gear. Fortunately we were in college and thought it hilariously funny, instead of being scared, and no, we were not drinking (or anything else illegal, unless you count driving a car you don’t know how to drive). But college is learning time, right?
I voted yes, but I am in the UK where it is much more common so I don’t know if it should count!
Congratulations on getting your permit! I did vote on your poll but to be fair in Scotland manual is standard for us although I do have a few friends that can only drive Automatic. I dont know about in the States but if you pass your test in an Automatic in the UK you are only ever allowed to drive Automatic whereas if you pass in a Manual you can drive both.
Good luck with the driving, it really is the best thing I ever did (although I was about 27 by the time I went to do my lessons!) xx
I think you’ll always be glad you can drive a stick shift. Good for you for admitting your trouble at the stoplight. When I was just learning to drive a standard, I got stuck on a hill in Kansas City, and I nearly had heart failure trying to keep the car from rolling back downhill, while still giving it just enough gas to get going and not let off on the clutch too quickly and kill it!
I’m not sure how to answer. Way back in the dark ages, I learned to drive (in College Station, TX!) in a manual Volkswagon. However, I totalled that car on the way to work an Aggie game and I’ve never had the opportunity to drive a stick in the 23 years since.
My Dad insisted that we all learn to drive a standard transmission. He said once you knew the basics, you could attempt to drive anything. Now as the Mom of a 16 YO boy, I deliberately looked for a standard transmission for him to drive. It requires finesse and a light touch on the pedals. I think it makes one pay more attention to what they are doing. He was nervous at first. We got the new-to-us Standard about 6 months after he started driving to school everyday. But he picked it up pretty fast.
Both my hubby and I are in our mid thirties and all we ever buy are sticks, that is two cars before we married and 3 since. I only had a short time after learning that I drove and automatic, the ugliest brown 84 mustand ever built, I totally it in about a year and half, with no regrets, even though thankfully it was not my “fault” unless you count inexperience as fault.
Really the scariest part of being a new driver is all the dumb stuff you start seeing other drivers do, and figuring out how to react and not over react to them.
Even if the dumb stuff gets really bad it gets less scary with time. Use your student driver time well and don’t be in a hurry to drive alone.
Congrats! My mother made me learn stick because she did not want me to learn how to drive but I did! Now you just need you dad to get a Porche to practice shifting on! LOL
I can drive stick. I’m not that great at it, but I can definitely do it. I wouldn’t say I love it, but it does make me feel more in control (plus my boyfriend thinks it’s awesome–haha).
I think sticks are called standard because they are the standard everywhere in the world except the US. A German visitor once got into our car, looked baffled, and said, “Where is the third pedal??” In MD, you aren’t allowed to take the driving test in a stick. It has to be automatic.
I learned to drive in a car with a standard transmission. It was not on the floor, but on the steering wheel. I learned in an old car no longer made. It was made by American Motors and was called a Pacer. I did like it. My family used to laugh and make fun of my car. They called it a ‘space car’ and ugly. To me it was a great car.
I have not driven a standard in a long time. I think it is like riding a bike. It would come back to me.
Hey Kait,
You never told me you were planning to get you Drivers Permit. Good for you! Did it cost you anything? Daddy wants me to look up some information on it. I’m planning to get my permit soon.
Do you think you can e-mail me?
Abigail, ( Megan’s Twin;)
I think I’ve always had my vision test before my picture was taken. That’d be really nervewracking to have it in reverse, yikes.