I'm now, finally, attempting to get my license. I got my first lesson with a driving instructor, who immediately took me out on the road and I'm not sure how I feel about it. He was very "Driving is a serious thing!" about it which I completely respect, but throughout the lesson it was like: "If you do xyz wrong you will die." "Good, because if you don't do that you will crash into a tree and die." And being constantly reminded of death was not doing well for my confidence. Also, there were things he was telling me to do that I thought were outdated such as having my hands at '10 and 2' and 'hand over hand' turning...aren't you not suppose to do that anymore?

Who taught you to drive? Did you ever switch instructors? Any interesting driving stories?

DRIVING INSTRUCTOR ARE STRESSFUL I COULD YELL ABOUT IT. Serious this time.

My father taught me how to drive but I don't have a license since I can't afford it right now. Even if I don't like him much, he's a great driver and he doesn't stress me.

Damn instructor should guide you, not order you around.

I started learning to drive when I was 15, and finally got my license at 22. My first instructor, who taught a class that enabled me to get a permit, was very precise about speed limits. My mom was very nervous about being in the car with me driving, which made me even more nervous than I was. She got through the hours of driving practice by having me follow a straight, main road for a very long time. I got good at following distance and stopping at lights because those are pretty much the only skills I get from doing that. A little before actually getting my license, she enrolled me in a driving school taught by police. I had been practicing for so many years by then that it was the last push I needed to be good enough to pass the test, though it would be several years yet before I became a confident driver. I got lost easily and getting lost puts my anxiety through the roof.

I had 4 driving lessons with an instructor but I also had plenty of practice with my mom beforehand so I was a pretty confident driver.

Also, I hadn't heard of "hands at 10 and 2" and hand-over-hand steering being outdated, so i looked it up, and uh. wow. the details are gruesome don't look it up

I can't think of any interesting driving stories aside from NDEs except for one time i was driving home with a pizza and on the sidewalk i saw a beefy shirtless dude rollerskating so that was nice

My Dad taught me to drive. I was sixteen when I first started out really with it, the same age my Dad was when he got his license (he had his permit at 15 1/2) and I was terrified.

I scared myself out of getting my license three times before I actually got it.

At 23.

I never had proper lessons, just my Dad and I had to drive my mother around for her physical therapy in the winter of 2012-2013, that's how I learned to really drive.

Interesting driving story: I drove down near Frederick, Maryland for one of the lessons with Dad. I did it but oh man, I hated every second coming back up on one of the outer loops of the Beltway...

That sounds like a pretty awful experience D: Good for you for getting through it! I got my license at 25 because I used to get panic attacks when I tried to practice driving for years before that. If I'd had an instructor like that who kept telling me about how I would drive off the road and die, I most likely would have panicked, driven off the road, and died x.x

I did go to driver's training classes, but I couldn't get up the courage to schedule driving with an instructor and eventually got old enough that the classes weren't required anymore, so I just never completed the course. I practiced with my parents, mostly my mom, because my dad sometimes reacted too harshly and I couldn't deal with it, even though I know he was trying to be helpful. I did most of my driving practice with my boyfriend/fiance because he was patient and I could cope with driving better when I was with him. So, you have to find the person that you work best with - maybe an older sibling or aunt/uncle if your parents aren't a good option.

And if the instructor keeps telling you things you know are wrong, keep in mind that all you have to do is finish the class with them, and then it doesn't matter what they told you. Ultimately you just have to follow the rules/laws and pass your test with the examiner, who probably won't be anything like the instructor was (mine was totally silent except for asking me to turn, etc., which helped me not be stressed because I didn't feel like I was being criticized).

No interesting driving stories; since I got my license, the vast majority of my driving has been my ten minute commute to work and back and I don't really feel confident to go very many more places at the moment.

My very first time driving was with my dad around the work shop.. it was just getting used to corners and getting 'the feel of the wheel~' I was 15. A month or two later I got my G1 (canadian thing... you can only drive with someone who has had their license for over 5 years.. ie your parents) and drove to a friends house. on country roads. at night. in the dark. first time on the real road. I didn't quite see the curb on a left turn and almost crashed into a pole... my dad yelled "woman what are you doing" and grabbed the wheel and turned me in the right direction. I think thats the only time I've every heard my dad call someone woman. It was hard not to laugh.

I was so awful when i was first driving... like I was really bad... nearly three years later though and now with my fully G license for half a year I'm great! Especially with parking! Driving in the snow is still a bitch... no matter how good of a driver you are.. black ice and kill you if you're going too fast.... or if someone else is going too fast and turns into you. :I

my advice to you (not that you asked for it but) with parking is: don't be afraid to turn your wheel. So many people dont turn their wheel enough and they dont get the right angle going into their space because of it.

The day before I turned 16, my dad gave me a lesson. Then at the end when I pulled into a parking lot, he screamed "BRAKE BRAKE BRAKE!" because I was 5 ft away from a fucking light pole. I panicked, hit gas instead, tapped the pole... in front of a county cop who was so mean and horrible that he made me cry. The city cops were super sweet, one of them even pulled me in for a hug. That was nice. But now I'm 28 and I still can't drive because I'm scared to death. Lesson: Don't be like me. lol.

- I learned to drive in a like half semester class in high school (it was after school, but still worth credit). I actually had a pretty good time and came out of it a pretty confident driver.

But, they definitely did teach me a few 'good to know' things.. The 10 and 2 hand positions and hand over hand turning techniques are definitely out of date. Those driving suggestions come from a time before airbags.. The airbag is there to protect your face/head in an accident, but if you are using hand over hand turning and 10 to 2 hand positioning then the airbag will throw your arms into your face, causing much more damage than a normal car accident.

Also, it is not illegal to drive in sandals (though that isn't recommended, seeing as it can get caught on the pedal) or bare foot (which I personally do, I feel that with more feeling on the pedal I get better control over the vehicle). This was actually a very common misconception, apparently, though I hadn't heard it until I joined the class a lot of people believed that.

I first learned with my mom since she was brave enough to get in a car with me. She was teaching me in conjunction with driver's ed so I would be going out in the driving instructor's car and then using her car at the time to drive around our neighborhood.

I would agree, don't drive in sandals until you feel confident with what you're doing. I drove once with my mom in sandals and pulled up very fast to the curb to park because my sandal got stuck. It's funny now thinking back because no one would have gotten hurt but it can be very dangerous. My driving instructor was very laid back, it's the instructor you get when you actually go to get your license that is terrifying. Mine didn't say anything accept for what she wanted me to do and then later when I passed was shooting the breeze with my dad. I think a lot of the instructors are very harsh because they treat the situation as if it was their own kid trying to learn how to drive and they want to make sure you know what you're doing before they send you out there with a bunch of people that don't follow all the rules and drive crazy.

Thanks for the responses and advice guys.

I am never taking lessons with that guy again. I was suppose to have one today but he didn't even show up (and silly me already paid for the class)!

He was suppose to pick me up from my house to go for a 1 hour drive. He called to confirm that I was still expecting the lesson but I just got the voicemail for some reason. I sent a text message back (since he asked for a call or text in response) that I was still able to have the lesson. He called again, and I don't know why but my phone sent it straight to voicemail. He claimed I didn't respond to my first call. I called him back and his phone went to voicemail, so I left a message saying who I was, the time of the appointment, that I already left a text message, and that I could still have the lesson.

NEVER SHOWED UP. He was suppose to show up regardless of if I responded to him anyway since we established in the first lesson that I would call in advance if I had a change in my schedule.

Then my mom decided to call, since she was the one that found that instructor for me and the office had her number while the actual instructor had mine. All he did was yell at her that I didn't pick up his call and hung up. WTF?

Wow, rude AND unprofessional. I'm sorry you were stuck with such an instructor.

Wow, how did you sign up for that class? I Even if your phone went straight to voicemail then he should have left you a message. You even texted him so he still should have shown up regardless. would call the main office and tell them how unprofessional that instructor is and demand a refund if they don't give you a new driver.

Oh my gosh thats horrible! I'm so sorry to hear you've had such an awful experience with that company. You should try and call the company and see if you can get a different driver since you already paid for the hour and he never showed up. If they wont do that get your money back.

Driving lessons are really only needed if 1. your parents wont/cant teach you or 2. your insurance goes down because of it.

My first driving lessons were with my mom. Those were hilarious, now that I think about it because she would freak out at the slightest thing and actually attempt to break on an imaginary pedal in the passenger seat lol Then I decided to go to an actual driving school to get lower insurance and get my actual license quicker. The instructor I had was very negative, he would constantly be putting me down for the slightest mistake and insisted that I would have a hard time passing the provincial exam. But I ended up passing on my first try, in a snow storm, with flying colors. So blah, proved him wrong.

I hope you're able to switch instructors. This guy sounds extremely unprofessional. You send a text message and leave a voice mail but it still can't register with him that you confirmed? That makes no sense.

I got my license at 28 so... yeah.

That said, I did the typical driving instructor thing at 17, but then never took the test because I went to college that summer, but my first lessons were with my father. After that since my college was an hour away and I usually came home for breaks I just mostly didn't care or wasn't around long enough to take the test and learn enough so I just never really took the test. I also failed a couple times too, in that interim but yeah i got my license a couple days after my 28th birthday last year. My mother isn't the greatest driver and was pretty terrified with driving with me or with anyone really in general.

I am 23 I just recently got my license. I had very bad anxiety about it for a long time, but where I live everything is half an hour away so literally you need to be able to drive. I tried practicing with my mom's car but she was so bad at trying to teach me because she was a lot like what your instructor sounds like. She was sooooo nervous and very jerky and would yell at me a lot and made me feel very uncomfortable and I feel like that made me kind of drive badly. At one point I stopped driving her car and she didn't even say anything about it (like why I wasn't practicing).

So what I did was waited until I got my income tax this year and went out and bought and insured a car with only a permit haha. Apparently you can do it! I got a used 1999 Saturn (I was looking for a Neon but Saturn is very similar) and practicing driving got sooooo much better.

I felt like I was much more in control of the car. I feel like it isn't quite as sensitive as my mom's very new (I think it is a 2012?) car. Like, I have to give it a little more push and a little more effort with the steering which is good because I feel like I am more in control of the car.

The driving test was soooo nerve-racking. I live in the country and had 2 options of where I could go. The first was a place I had been to before but it was city-style driving. The second place I had never been to before and was country-style driving but was 45 minutes away so I couldn't go there to see what it looked like.

I took a leap of faith and chose the country-style driving town. I am glad I did. The test was veeeeeery nerve-racking but I passed! I made a few mistakes (I had to parallel park twice and I stopped when I should have yielded which is total bullshit but lol oh well). At the end he said I made some mistakes but not enough to fail! YAY. Haha. Set for life and that is all that matters!

Now I can truly say I love having the ability to drive. I am not nervous getting into my car. It is such a freeing feeling being able to get done what I need to get done on a daily basis without having to make plans like a week in advance to get a ride. It is truly awesome. Please don't give up! It's so worth it!

edit: I still get lost easily? Maybe not LOST so much as I can't remember how exactly to get places that I have been literally hundreds of times. I just have a bad sense of direction LOL. I really need to think about which way I need to go once I get to the end of my driveway. Luckily I have a GPS. Hahahaha.

edit2: Idk about the 10-and-2 thing but that is how I drive naturally? That's just sort of where your hands go I guess, for me at least? Also I do have a funny driving story. Actually it's totally not funny lol but I guess kind of. Since my car is a '99 it has manual crank windows. Now, this car is old, but the only problems it's got besides high mileage is that it needs oil like once a month because it's got a pinhole in the tank ($5 for oil) and like twice a year it needs a bit of a touch-up with soldering done on the exhaust, not a huge deal) which is really great for such an old vehicle. Anyhow. SO last night I went through a drive-thru for fast food and when I went to crank the window back up it made a weird noise and then... stopped cranking. And it was raining. I was like what. So I pulled into a parking spot to try and fix it but no luck. Something inside the door was broken and my window was completely down. So I had to drive home at night in the rain like that. ugh lmao. I got home and luckily my mom lives in the same apartment building and she was home and had a large plastic bag to put over it for the night (otherwise I was gonna tape smaller bags to it). Anyway that's my funny-not-funny story haha. I had to take it to the garage today. Unfortunately the gears are busted and also plastic so not fixable and the parts and labor would be $200 so for now the window is just gonna be broken (but in the up position) until I get taxes again next year. But I will take a minor problem like this over something major. Still feel like my car is like, Old Reliable or something. Lol.

I had a very sweet instructor who did a lot of work on my confidence, which was non existent, which I'd say is one of the most important things, because if you're not confident you're prone to panicking and second guessing yourself which never helps in any situation. Of course you still have to learn the rules and such but that's not a surprise :P

One thing is reminding you to take care and use your head but constantly saying stuff like that is not helping... And the hands at "10 and 2" aren't bad, but my teacher always scolded me for doing the hand over hand thing.

Also if you don't feel comfortable find another driving instructor if possible, I've always found that feeling comfortable with someone does a lot for learning.

I got my license last year a couple days after my 28th birthday.

That said, it wasn't fear on my part so much as partial laziness.

I took the requisite drivers ed at 15 and did all the course study and stuff, but left for college 17 never having taken my license test. After that, I was in college and only came back during vacations so never bothered really learning or practicing in earnest.

In the interim I'd just take it but due to lack of practice always ended up failing and then finally last year I got my license. That said, I barely drive since I've only had my license for a year and while I know I can drive long distances since I've been driving highway alon without issues.. I still hear my dad's voice in the back of my head saying

" you've only had it for a year, highway is dangerous.. don't drive it!"

As a sidenote, I do hand over hand sometimes almost instinctively and I learned 10 and 2, but I learned in high school in the early 2000s and I don't think there were any other positions considered normal back then.

I think the norm is on either side of where the steering center is on the wheel because it keeps you locked in place and is much more secure and it's what I personally use since I find it more comfortable personally.

Before that I just used 10 and 1 almost instinctively( not sure why, but I did) and then shifted after getting my license to using 10 and 2 normally.

I'm really, really relieved to see quite a few people who got their license in their 20's, because I'm 21 and still don't have mine and I constantly feel inadequate about it. It's nice to see that it's not actually that uncommon.

I've never had a real instructor, but I really wish that I did. I've just been learning with my mom and her husband, but neither of them is a very good teacher (my mom gets way too flustered and freaks out all the time, and her husband is a total asshole). I get SUPER anxious while driving and I just panic constantly, and neither of them is patient or tries to comfort me, they just point out what I do wrong and yell and make things worse, heh.

Last week my mother made her husband take me out to get some parallel parking practice, and within two minutes I was in tears, ffffrt. It doesn't help that my hands get really sweaty while I'm driving (because I get so darn nervous) and I feel like I don't have a good grip on the steering wheel. Plus I haaate going very fast--I maintain the speed limit or 5 above at a maximum--but everyone else on the road seems to love to try to warp to different dimensions and they make me panic when they ride so close behind me. I avoid the highway because of the multitude of cars, but the people who drive on the back roads in my area are used to being able to fly, so they get really angry when they get stuck behind me, and I know that they're angry and it makes me want to just pull the car over and run away, pfft.

My mother's husband actually works for the PA Department of Public Transportation--he certifies drivers who want to work with heavy equipment--and he doesn't have a problem with keeping your hands at 10 and 2 (that's how he drives, and although I consider him an awful teacher I must admit that he's a skilled driver), but he has a biiiig problem with turning hand-over-hand. As pointed out, it can cause serious damage to your face if your airbag goes off, but also it can cause your arms to "lock up" around one another and if you need to react quickly, you could be in trouble. Not recommended!

Good luck with your driving practice! Your instructor sounds like a jerk (and also kind of useless). I would see about asking for another instructor if you can.