[lurker]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

Bumping an old thread. A thread that I wanted to start myself.

We have a Honda Jazz at home. I learnt driving sometime ago, but I am not confident as such.

I have problems with gauging distances and the dimensions of the car. I also struggle with parking and choosing the appropriate gear. I ride a geared bike, which I ride quite well. As a person who likes automobiles, I look down on myself when I can't do things that my friend who isn't into cars as much, can do immaculately well. I am fairly proficient with the bike. But I cannot seem to get the hang of the car as quickly.

Can anyone give me any tips on how to improve? :(

I really, really want to become a better driver and want to prove to myself that I can drive and park well as well.

Any tips will be appreciated. Moreso specific tips.

practice slow driving in light to medium traffic.

clock up as many miles as possible without banging your car into some pedestrian/tree/divider. Make it as many incident free miles as possible.

every day of survival with your stats intact is a victory.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

I have problems with gauging distances and the dimensions of the car. I also struggle with parking and choosing the appropriate gear. I ride a geared bike, which I ride quite well. As a person who likes automobiles, I look down on myself when I can't do things that my friend who isn't into cars as much, can do immaculately well. I am fairly proficient with the bike. But I cannot seem to get the hang of the car as quickly.

Gauging dimension of a car has less to do with your driving skills, it just needs time to get used to.
One technique I used when I was learning to drive was to take the vehicle along any small road where shoulder has thick grass. I would drive slowly while moving the car towards the grass to get an idea when the car will start to rub against the car. This was helpful in giving a fair idea about the cars width. However, nowadays it is bit difficult to find a road that way.

Also, driving style of a bike and car differs. I am more comfortable with cars than bike, and my friends keeps complaining that I ride bike like riding a car (overtaking, changing lanes etc).

My suggestion will be to take out car early in mornings on weekends if possible. Leave bigger roads (ORR, Airport road, etc) and take the vehicle in not so narrow roads. This will help you in getting comfortable with gear changes and steering. Also, in early mornings you will not have to worry about other traffic.

Once you get comfortable with the gear changes and dimensions you can try driving in traffic.

[Adi22]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

Bumping an old thread. A thread that I wanted to start myself.

We have a Honda Jazz at home. I learnt driving sometime ago, but I am not confident as such.

I have problems with gauging distances and the dimensions of the car. I also struggle with parking and choosing the appropriate gear. I ride a geared bike, which I ride quite well. As a person who likes automobiles, I look down on myself when I can't do things that my friend who isn't into cars as much, can do immaculately well. I am fairly proficient with the bike. But I cannot seem to get the hang of the car as quickly.

Can anyone give me any tips on how to improve? :(

I really, really want to become a better driver and want to prove to myself that I can drive and park well as well.

Any tips will be appreciated. Moreso specific tips.

Just brush aside the thought that you cannot drive well, half of your problems would go away. Anyone can , keyword is "PRACTICE" to improve your judgement of such things.
Try to improve your skills on open fields (not to harm anyone or urself or the car), do an "8", "U", Circle, run the car on parallel lines, zigzags b/w stones etc. Try to get an overall feel of the car when you drive, with practice you will have a guage of all four corners of your car in your mind at any given point when driving.

[venuvedam]

In India, it is baptism by fire - Unless you stop thinking about your "bad driving skills" and start driving, you will never be able to gain confidence. Remember, two or three scratches or dents - don't matter. Just ensure you are following all safe driving principles. Leave the rest to the almighty.

We were all in your shoes. It is just a phase of life that everyone conquers some day. You also will.

[ObsessedByFIAT]

I don't think there anything like perfect driving. As long as you keep other road users safe while caring for yourself, your near and dear ones as well as the car, you are a good driver!!

[ashwin.terminat]

Thanks for all your tips guys

So it all boils down to practice. Just a question though, I may have driven around 1000km overall. But mostly with gaps of around 2-3 weeks in between each 20-30km drive. Would that be why I haven't really got to grips with it yet?

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

We have a Honda Jazz at home. I learnt driving sometime ago, but I am not confident as such.

I was in the same boat as you. I was not confident enough to drive in traffic, worried about having to stop on a slope etc, so much so that I totally avoided driving. My BILs tried to give me confidence to drive, but I still was not very comfortable driving.

Then one evening, we went into the city with my BIL driving. He drove to the railway station, stopped, got out and told me that he has a ticket to go elsewhere and I can take the car back home. This was during the busiest time in the city, traffic crawling, a dreaded (for me!!) railway overbridge to cross and on top of that a festival at a church on the way with bikes, cars and people coming in from every side. The distance home was around 5-6km and I took about 40mins to cover that distance. I made it without incident, and I have not been short of confidence since that evening.

So I would suggest you to "just do it" as in the Nike ad. In all probability, you are not as poor a driver as you imagine yourself to me.

[sswaroop]

A couple if things to do to quickly gauge distances and knowing the ends of the car.

1. When you are driving, keep an eye on the rear view mirrors. It is usually good to circle in a clockwise manner every few seconds or so. Better to open up both ORVMs. Start with the center rear view mirror, rotate to the left and to the right mirror. You will know who is where in your mirrors. Each glance shouldn't be more than second each. And do this every 30 seconds or so. This will take a few days of getting used to.

Doing so it'll not be a surprise when someone overtakes you from the left or right. And over time you can judge how far back a vehicle is and at what speed and if you can move into that lane without any trouble.

2. Use your indicators really well. Even if you have to change lanes by 2-3 feet, use indicators, wait 2-3 seconds and see if the person behind has seen your blinkers and slowed down and then move into the lane.

3. Try and check your blind spots while changing lanes. 2 wheeler drivers and auto drivers have a bad habit of driving in the blind spot behind your left and right shoulders. So a quick glance of a half a second should tell you if anyone of there in that lane. This can be avoided if you have checked mirrors often enough. Checking mirrors makes you aware of the road and helps you in identifying bad drivers who are coming up from behind you (haphazard lane changing, overtaking by crossing the lanes etc)

4. Most scratches etc happen on the left hand side of the car. Practice parking very close to a curb for some one present for some time. You can also use mirrors of you have electronic ORVMs if you have time. By this you can know where your car ends and how close you can go in traffic. Also when you park in malls or outside, go a distance that you feel comfortable initially, get down and check how much distance you have left. So you'll know for next time how close can go.

[Keralite]

I would say at least 10K kilometers to gain that real confidence.

But then even if one is perfect in city driving clocking more than 50K Kms, still he/she may not be good in Highways and vice-versa.

Another segment is Ghat region which includes hairpins. One has to have a different kind skill/patience/knowledge of rules to comfortably drive through hairpins taking care of oneself and others.

[vinya_jag]

I would say that there is no perfect driver yet.

Your first few hundred kilometers are the cautious, tense ones.
The next few thousand Kilometers is getting used to.
Then monkeying around with your driving skills
Then stretching the limits.
Stopping when you know you have crossed the limit
Now getting cautious until you hit another of your limits.

By now, you are old enough to understand the dangers of bad driving, not just by your own experience, but also others'. (Team-BHP posts)

Now, you tend to calm down, and expect the others on the road to follow suit, (But they are all in the different phases of their driving ages)

And little later, you are getting older, senses going weak, traffic overpowering, and you stop. All this while you were never a perfect driver.

What would you want to go towards perfection?
- How relaxed are you on the road?
- How relaxed is the passenger next to you, when you are driving.
- How worked up are you at other road users
- How early are you braking
- How much can you avoid honking
- How efficient is your driving, how much fuel can you save
- How confident is the driver who is driving behind you, over your driving.
- Are you in the way of faster moving traffic
- Are you getting stuck behind slow moving traffic

I have been driving for the last 15 years, and started when I was 16. And now am in the 'complain on other road users' phase.

[sun_king]

Most instructors here teach you how to pass the driving test and this means basic car control and knowledge of traffic laws. Pass, you get the book or the card and you are legally allowed to drive a motorized vehicle on public roads. A rough analogy here is that now you know the alphabet, a few words and some common phrases. Time to read more.

A good start is the shotgun seat with a good driver, observe what he/she does. If you find something perplexing don't hesitate to ask, it is always better to know why you are doing something and there are chances that even the things the good driver does can be improved. And this is also the perfect time to observe the other occupants of asphalt. Learn to spot the morons and real drivers, lot many patterns exist and if you can identify them, there is a fair chance you get a usable "spider sense" just a few precious milliseconds before something could happen.

Periodically switch seats if possible, be open to constructive criticism. At this time it can be assumed that you know what you have to do when behind the wheel and it is just a matter of getting the experience on how to do it. The troubling thing with getting experience is that the test comes before the lesson and here is where confidence plays the big innings. Practice, the more you are in the vehicle the more you adapt to the road and the machine. Do the right things, do not let a bigger diaphragm manipulate you into doing things you shouldn't be doing. And at the same time do all that can be done to ensure your safety and the safety of others are not compromised.

Driving is not a rocket science, a little effort and adequate common sense should make you a reasonable driver. Situation awareness is the key, presence of mind and practice is what will give it to you.

Perfect driver? I have no clue, will keep checking this thread every few years to see if anyone figured out how to be perfect.

[sam_sant2005]

I have driven more than 1 lakh kms on 4 wheelers and 75k on two wheelers (Started driving in 1997). However I would say, more than 'confidence', 'perfectionism' etc, what we need is 'PATIENCE'.

Most of the accidents and road rage happens when you are stressed and impatient. On the road be patient and drive and let others drive. Automatically, your free mind will take care of the rules of the road as well.

[blackstallion76]

Friends,

Got a used car for my wife. That too an automatic. She has been learning car driving since last 2months. Got a hang of controls, basic MSM techniques.

However, she gets confused on using steering position while doing left & right turns.
Gets confused while turning the steering wheel to bring it straight after taking turns.
Makes small hand movements over the steering while taking turns.
Does not use Pull-Push technique. Still practicing.

And regulating accelarator in small inclines is a problem.
We saw at least 5hrs of Youtube videoes and 10hrs of Driving school classes.

There were two incidents where gas was pressed and steering was not straight which we ended up in side curbs with hard braking. Real scary to make others learn.

What is the best method/way to learn the turnings?
How to regulate the gas while going uphill?

We normally go for empty roads in BSK 6th stage layouts where there is no traffic.

Please advice.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by blackstallion76

Friends,

Got a used car for my wife. That too an automatic. She has been learning car driving since last 2months. Got a hang of controls, basic MSM techniques.

However, she gets confused on using steering position while doing left & right turns.
Gets confused while turning the steering wheel to bring it straight after taking turns.
Makes small hand movements over the steering while taking turns.
Does not use Pull-Push technique. Still practicing.

And regulating accelarator in small inclines is a problem.
We saw at least 5hrs of Youtube videoes and 10hrs of Driving school classes.

There were two incidents where gas was pressed and steering was not straight which we ended up in side curbs with hard braking. Real scary to make others learn.

What is the best method/way to learn the turnings?
How to regulate the gas while going uphill?

We normally go for empty roads in BSK 6th stage layouts where there is no traffic.

Please advice.

Let the car straighten the wheel. Tell her to relate that to how much she has turned the wheel. Typically most normal left and right handers wont need the wheel to be turned to full lock. Tell her to keep that in mind, that mostly straightening will happen within one revolution of the wheel, ALWAYS under two. In a stationary car, tell her to consciously check if the wheels are straight until she gets the "feel" of the car. A non resisting steering is straight, unless the wheels are up in the air.
Its an auto, what kind of regulation of the gas would be needed? Just press the pedal enough to keep it moving

[Vaas]

Hello guys, this is my first post on tbhp. I was approved few months back. Starting with a bit of introduction I am a 22-year-old male who tries to live life at its fullest but is somehow just existing. My technical knowledge on cars is very limited but my love for them is immense. I have tried my hands on few cars from SUVs to hatchbacks.

My journey on learning to drive a car started some years back, my first car on which I learnt to drive was a third generation Honda City which is to date my favorite car. I learnt driving by my dad. I haven't joined any driving school or something. I have a very mixed opinion about this point that whether you should learn from driving school or by your father, etc. While we all know that in driving school, many instructors have the controls of vehicle and they interfere too much which leads to decreased learning experience but in case of learning from your father, the infamous sword of scolding is on your head all the time. While saying this I'm not undermining the amount of love of fathers' for us and our safety but still sometimes we do make mistakes and get scolded but it's a part of learning process. While I was lucky in this case that my dad didn't scold me on every mistake but there was other problem that he wanted me to remember all the routes and areas in which we went, and I found that more stressful than driving car itself lol. I even stopped going for early morning drives and my enthusiasm for learning driving was also decreased and I thought that this is not for me. It went for a long time.
But after many months there was a reinitiation of the spark to learn driving. It happened one day when I was watching some insta stories of my classmates and saw a story in which the person was driving car and they all were having fun, this probed me to start thinking, if they can drive car why can't I. So, after that the series of early morning drives started again but this time, I was more focused and enthusiastic plus I asked my dad to not talk about areas and roads too much. This all worked and now I can drive car very well. I passed driving test without any single mistake. Parallel parking and reverse S were seemingly daunting task but when I got in car and got on track, it got over in no time.
The tip I can give the new learners is that they should not lose the spirit of learning to drive or in any other field too, obstacles come in different manner but the method of solving them remains same, that is by facing them. Your motivation can be different from what's in my case but don't lose the spark in you and you will achieve your goal no matter what. Yes, it can take some time but in the end you will win.