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Recently got my Learners

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Parkour_Jarrod
Look out Queensland, Australia here i come!

Well, the title explains it, i recently got my learners permit, incase other countries don't have it i will give it a quick rundown of what that means i have to do:

The learners permit is something that all Queensland Drivers get before they get the Provisional licence.

With this permit i hvae to undergo 100 hours of driving in all conditions 10 hours being of night driving. I have to hold the permit for one year before attempting to get my Provisionals and i must be accompanied by a Open Licence driver when ever i drive with my "L's"

(in order of how to get licence, Learners, Provisional 1, Provisional 2, Opens)

Now, im asking does anyone have any tips for driving in the road, (remember i drive on the LEFT hand side with a RIGHT side steering wheel)?
jinger89
Always be attentive. Don't distract yourself with things in the car (radio, phone, food, etc.), until you are very comfortable with driving. It'll also probably take you awhile to get the feel of the particular car you're driving, as in the size and maneuverability.

Also, if you ever feel tired driving (sleepy, drowsy, not completely alert), then pull over somewhere and take a quick nap or something. Rushing to get somewhere on time is not worth getting into an accident!

I have a personal experience where I was tired driving back form school one day, and I don't remember the drive home because I was literally dropping in and out of sleep while behind the wheel. I only remember several flashes of images as I swear the car back onto the road or to avoid an accident. I'll woke up sitting in my car, in my garage, somehow alive and well... Please don't ever repeat what I did.
[FuN]goku
jinger89 wrote:
I have a personal experience where I was tired driving back form school one day, and I don't remember the drive home because I was literally dropping in and out of sleep while behind the wheel. I only remember several flashes of images as I swear the car back onto the road or to avoid an accident. I'll woke up sitting in my car, in my garage, somehow alive and well... Please don't ever repeat what I did.
This is one of the things that has discouraged me from getting my license, since I love to stay up late, I'm usually tired when I wake up. But recently I've decided to go get my Beginners permit as well. Kinda sucks having to get drove around by others Razz
ocalhoun
jinger89 wrote:

I have a personal experience where I was tired driving back form school one day, and I don't remember the drive home because I was literally dropping in and out of sleep while behind the wheel. I only remember several flashes of images as I swear the car back onto the road or to avoid an accident. I'll woke up sitting in my car, in my garage, somehow alive and well... Please don't ever repeat what I did.

You know, that actually counts as a DUI, and you can be arrested?
Fun fact there. Wink

Just take on whatever challenge you can get, and get lots of practice. Don't be one of those silly people who can only drive small cars on uncrowded pavement. Get some practice backing a huge truck with a trailer through a parking lot. Twisted Evil Once you learn how, you'll be glad you did.
jinger89
ocalhoun wrote:
You know, that actually counts as a DUI, and you can be arrested?
Fun fact there. Wink


Omg are you serious? I thought you needed a high blood alcohol content or the proof of being under some type of substance to get arrested for a DUI... I'm sure glad to not have run into a cop that day either way.
David_Pardy
Ohhh, there's sooo much I could tell you on this subject!

For a start, from a NSW driver perspective: You Queenslanders need to learn to take curves faster Wink. Just a tip!

But... My advice is get yourself a V6 Commodore or Inline 6 Falcon with a manual gearbox to learn it. You NEED to learn in a BIG car with a bit of power so that a) you learn to respect the size of your vehicle and control it, and b) you learn to drive correctly and to use the engine to control the car, not your feet. You also need to learn to control the throttle.

The reason I say big, reasonably powerful cars is because there are all these ignoramuses claiming learners/P platers should be banned from anything bigger than a 4 cylinder bubble car... They have no idea what they're talking about.

Anyway... I'll try and give you some tips in point form:

1. Drive like everybody is trying to ram into you, because then you'll be prepared for the idiot who didn't see you coming.

2. Accelerate, brake, take corners and change gears SMOOTHLY.

3. Start turning the wheel before you enter corners.

4. Use your indicators CORRECTLY, don't slack off. People who don't indicate correctly cause accidents.

5. Once you get off your Ls, don't buy into the hype about speeding. Drive at the speed limit and learn to drive SAFELY, not SLOWLY.

6. If you do end up driving/owning a small car, and it's a manual, make sure that you don't change gears while the engine is revving low. I drive a Hyundai Getz for work with a redline at 6500rpm, and I frequently change gears between 4500-5500 revs depending on how much power I need for the situation. Peak torque starts at about 3000rpm in that car so I try to avoid accelerating in a gear which has the revs lower than that.

7. Learn to drive manual! It's NOT hard! Pester your parents if you have to. You WILL become a better driver for it.

8. ALWAYS look where you're going. Make eye contact with EVERYONE. Make sure you know where every single other car on the road is and what they're doing.

9. Watch out for any environmental hazards, such as tree branches in strong winds which may fall onto the road.

10. If you ever get the opportunity to take a defensive driving course for cheap or free, take it! It is illegal in Australia to learn to regain control of the car on public roads, so the only way you can learn to recover your car is by accident, or on private property. Let me just tell you right now that it's far better for you to already have the knowledge than to learn it after you've crashed into something.

11. Don't lock the wheels up. If you've braked too hard and your wheels are locked up, take your foot off and put it back on. This can take some nerve, but you will slow down faster while you have traction.
ocalhoun
jinger89 wrote:
ocalhoun wrote:
You know, that actually counts as a DUI, and you can be arrested?
Fun fact there. Wink


Omg are you serious? I thought you needed a high blood alcohol content or the proof of being under some type of substance to get arrested for a DUI... I'm sure glad to not have run into a cop that day either way.

Oh yes, driving under the influence can be charged for being under the influence of anything that impairs your driving skill...
Alcohol, drugs, sleep deprivation, prescription medications, even distractions.
(You can also get a DUI in nearly any vehicle; I knew a man who got a DUI on a bicycle. The exception is that you cannot get a DUI on horseback.)
jinger89
o_O

I am driving under the influence more than I should. Something tells me I should get more sleep these days.
Afaceinthematrix
ocalhoun wrote:
jinger89 wrote:

I have a personal experience where I was tired driving back form school one day, and I don't remember the drive home because I was literally dropping in and out of sleep while behind the wheel. I only remember several flashes of images as I swear the car back onto the road or to avoid an accident. I'll woke up sitting in my car, in my garage, somehow alive and well... Please don't ever repeat what I did.

You know, that actually counts as a DUI, and you can be arrested?
Fun fact there. :wink:

Just take on whatever challenge you can get, and get lots of practice. Don't be one of those silly people who can only drive small cars on uncrowded pavement. Get some practice backing a huge truck with a trailer through a parking lot. :twisted: Once you learn how, you'll be glad you did.


LoL. I learned to drive in Southern California where what we consider normal roads are what other places consider severe traffic. Dangerous actions to save two seconds are not out of the ordinary. It's supposed to be one of the more dangerous areas to drive in the U.S. (although being a native, I'm used to it and I've seen far worse conditions down south in Mexico)...

Anyways... Yeah, you do not want to be like my cousin, or any other people that I know that learned to drive in the midwest where there are no people. My cousin will come down to California and absolutely refuse to drive where as I have no problem driving here...

But I must admit that I do have problems with big trucks. I was in Wyoming earlier this summer and I borrowed a car from someone that I know there. I like nice fuel efficient cars. I have no purpose for trucks (although I am currently driving a small light duty truck because that's all I have right now). I do not own anything that needs towing so I have no purpose for a truck. He drove a huuuuge Ford F250. This thing was a beast. It went from low gear into first gear (where as I'm used to a small civic that starts in first gear) and it had an extremely heavy clutch with a huge gear shift.... I must say that this was very difficult for me to parallel park or to park in general. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to tow anything...

I can handle crowded traffic easily because I learned to drive on that, but I'm not so good with the huge trucks.

However, I do have my own advice for the original poster. I do not know what kind of car you'll be learning to drive on, but if it has an automatic transmission, I seriously suggest that you still make an effort to learn to drive a car with a manual transmission. Even if you never own a car with a manual transmission (although many people, like myself, prefer them), you may need to rent a car or borrow a car some day and you do not want to handicap yourself.
ocalhoun
Afaceinthematrix wrote:

I can handle crowded traffic easily because I learned to drive on that, but I'm not so good with the huge trucks.

There's something to be said for learning to drive in one...

I took my license test in a Chevy Suburban, the 2nd largest SUV on the road...
The test administrator was amazed that I was able to pass with it. (Given that it barely fit in the practice parking spaces...)

Learning to drive a large vehicle:
1: Learn to intuitively know where the edges of the vehicle are - to the inch. That takes practice.
2: Get accustomed to having precise control, and being very close to obstacles. Learn how to swing wide to the outside of sharp turns.
3: "Think Volkswagen" Many times, you can be scared away from an opening that really is big enough. Half of the difficulty is just believing that you can do it.
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