Crazy Lady's guide to Earth driving

[Frantic Freddie]

I'm glad my mother doesn't drive too much anymore & we're close enough to get her stuff or pick her up & take her somewhere.Livin' in a semi-rural area helps,not much traffic.

[protege]

So for anyone who has had to deal with a super-slow driver of a black Subaru with PA plates, I apologize. I'm a better driver than that, I promise.

I'll add that to the list of people to avoid in the morning

[Reyneth]

If you have a loan on your car or a newer vehicle, you are required to have full coverage (at least in WI you do). I love full coverage. It's very expensive but it's piece of mind. Liability can really screw you over if your car is totalled.

There is no actual defined "full coverage" when it comes to auto insurance. It may be interpreted as the legally required minimum liability; liability + comp/collision; liability, comp/collision and rental, etc. Make sure you talk to your agent or insurance company to learn exactly what you are covered for - and are not.

*The more you know....* lol

[chainedbarista]

back in the day, when most schools still had driver's ed, we were taught parallel parking, but in areas where people were not likely to get in/out frequently and since we were a rural area, the highest speed limit was 50.

don't feel bad, i've failed my first driving exam; i think it's pretty normal, actually. most people i've talked to have failed their first go around.

my mom taught me to drive, but in our grandparent's driveway, for backing up and such; let's say that it took me a long time of practicing for me to back up to her standards.

[EricKei]

2. Slow down for people who do not have the right of way. For example, someone approaching from my right has a stop sign and I do not.

I gotta agree on this one, too. Slow down a little, but don't stop unless it's clear that the cross-traffic isn't even gonna slow down for that stop sign.

9. Left-turn lanes are optional (I use them; she does not).

Uhm, no. No, they are not. Good man.

10. When able to turn right on red, don't because it's too scary. Those people behind you beeping can go get bent.

Well, for a novice driver, yeah, I can see that. Until you are comfortable with the timing needed to make such a turn, take what time you need. Turning right on Red (where allowed) is an OPTION, not a requirement.

=============================

My Mom had this hangup for *decades* -- she always dreaded making left turns, even with a light to protect her. It turns out (pun very much intended ) that she got this from *her* mom...who was mostly blind in her left eye for most of her life, and, as such, needed to turn her entire head all the way in order to make such a turn. Grammy was extremely paranoid about left's, and so Mom unconsciously picked it up without ever knowing why until she, herself, was in her 40's. Mom has since gotten over it, but we still tease her about it to this day..."Hey Mom, we can't get there from here -- you'd need to make...DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN...A left turn! We might as well just go back home...". Yes, complete with verbalized sound effects/music sting.

Now that the related tangent is over with ... On an unrelated tangent, I think I may have now seen the winner of all "don't tailgate me" license plates the other day. It was a personalized plate that simply read, "STOP".

[Pagan]

don't feel bad, i've failed my first driving exam; i think it's pretty normal, actually. most people i've talked to have failed their first go around.

I passed on my first try and my test was administered by one of Las Cruces' finest. But you'll laugh at the "test".

We did it during my driver's ed class time, 3 of us plus the cop. I got in the driver's seat at a motel parking lot on Main. Turned right out of the lot and drove about 1/4 mile to the traffic light where Mr. Cop told me to turn right. I didn't think I had enough room to squeeze between a truck and the curb, but he said "Nah, you got plenty of room" so I went. Then I drove about another 1/4 of a mile to the parking lot of the cable company. That was my driving test. Half a mile and a right turn on red.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I passed my driving test on the first go, but there was a glitch of sorts. I approached a T-intersection on the leg of the T. There was no stop sign, but the post was there. I asked if I was supposed to stop or not, but got no answer. I think I did stop, look, and then proceded.

[redbluegreenyellow101]

I passed on my first try and my test was administered by one of Las Cruces' finest. But you'll laugh at the "test".

We did it during my driver's ed class time, 3 of us plus the cop. I got in the driver's seat at a motel parking lot on Main. Turned right out of the lot and drove about 1/4 mile to the traffic light where Mr. Cop told me to turn right. I didn't think I had enough room to squeeze between a truck and the curb, but he said "Nah, you got plenty of room" so I went. Then I drove about another 1/4 of a mile to the parking lot of the cable company. That was my driving test. Half a mile and a right turn on red.

Mine was similar. All I had to do was parallel park behind one car (there was no car behind me) and go around the town square once (it's a small town). The whole thing took maybe 5 minutes.

It's no wonder why we have so many idiot drivers in this town - the driver's test is too easy!

[Kogarashi]

I passed on my first try, and with a decently thorough test too. Instructor had me drive around town for a while, do a three-point turn on a side street, and then parallel park once he saw a spot on Main Street. Only bad mark I got was I pulled too close to the car in front of the car I was parking behind, though it was pulling away at that moment which is why I pulled as close as I did (because it wasn't going to be there for more than half a second). Oh well. Got my license at least.

Since then, though, I've lived in several towns where it seems like the licenses are handed out in cereal boxes.

[Andara Bledin]

It was a personalized plate that simply read, "STOP".

Oh, yeah, can't touch that one.

^-.-^

[protege]

First time I took the driver's test, I failed. Not because of something I did though. The power steering pump on the '87 Tempo I was driving...suddenly let go mid-way through the 'serpentine' section, and I hit a cone. Passed it on the second time though.

[Mondestrucken]

I recently saw something very scary. Although I work at a DMV, we no longer do road tests, and haven't done them for about 13 years (stopped just before I got hired - I am so lucky). So road tests are administered by testing facilities licensed by the state.

It was a handout from one of the road test facilities, located in the inner city. To take a road test, you had to supply your own car. The hand out made it very specific: there are certain vehicle conditions, which if present, would mean that the examiner would refuse to perform the road test, and money would not be refunded (in other words, show up in a decent car, or you would pay for a test that you would not be allowed to take).

Okay, I am thinking: brakes in good shape, and working brake and tail lights, and yes, those were on the list. But also on the list:

Seats, and they had to be real car seats. Sofas and lawn chairs were expressly forbidden.

A windshield.

A floor.

Doors. Doors that not only were present, but could actually open and close. Doors that would not open on their own especially when turning a corner. No doors held shut with duct tape or rope.

The really scary part of all of this was that from the way this handout was written, it was obviously in response to people who had showed up with cars like this expecting a road test examiner to get into these death traps. People are out there driving around, sitting in lawn chairs, their doors flying open as they round a corner, braking by doing the Fred Flintstone thing.

[Bella_Vixen]

I failed my first 3 driving tests.

I'm still pissed about the guy who: Ran a red light. Almost hit a truck. Never used his turn signals. Was barefoot. HE PASSED.



I know what you are going to say: "But those are automatic fails!!!!!!!" He passed. Trust me. The instructor who passed him failed me. I forget why. Then had the nerve to ask if I had any questions...but I chickened out.

[protege]

The really scary part of all of this was that from the way this handout was written, it was obviously in response to people who had showed up with cars like this expecting a road test examiner to get into these death traps.

At least in PA, our annual safety inspections tend to weed out cars like that. There's the occasional shitbox on the roads, but there aren't as many as there once were. All that's really needed to get around the state tests, is just a licensed garage...that will simply slap a sticker on the car, and not bother with the test.

How do I know this? Well years ago, my parents had a couple of cars that really *shouldn't* have passed--the '79 Volvo sedan with holes in the floor and a huge crack in the windshield; the '86 Taurus with a rusted-out gas tank, destroyed suspension and a handbrake that didn't work; the '87 Tempo where the door flew open if you hit the brakes...provided said brakes actually *worked!* All of those things would have been enough to fail, yet those cars all passed

Of course, that garage is no longer around. They got busted for inspection fraud and other shady things. Can't understand why

[roothorick]

If you have a loan on your car or a newer vehicle, you are required to have full coverage (at least in WI you do). I love full coverage. It's very expensive but it's piece of mind. Liability can really screw you over if your car is totalled.

You do? I'm pretty sure I only have liability on my Lumina, which still has an outstanding loan on it. Although it's possible the loan isn't actually attached to the car...

The WI test doesn't include parallel parking anymore. I remember the instructor having me pull back in to the DMV office, and wondering what I did wrong. It turned out I passed -- and on my first time too -- they just don't do the parallel parking test anymore.