[sharc_biker]

Learning 4 wheeler:
Age: 14
Tutor: Dad
Car: Ford ikon 1.6

Learning 2 wheeler:
Age: 13
Tutor: Dad
Bike: Kawasaki Bajaj KB100 :-D

Learnt both car and bike at my family's farm

[4nd3r50n]

Age - 34
Tutor - Driving Institute Tutor
Car - Maruti Swift VXi (1.3L)
Location - Mumbai (Dombivali)

Going by the average age of people on this thread who learnt driving, my age to start is pretty shameful... and I am still learning.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by 4nd3r50n

Age - 34
Tutor - Driving Institute Tutor
Car - Maruti Swift VXi (1.3L)
Location - Mumbai (Dombivali)

Going by the average age of people on this thread who learnt driving, my age to start is pretty shameful... and I am still learning.

Shameful? Not at all. The point is to learn and then execute well. Age no bar! A lot of my uncles learnt driving after their retirement @ 60! In that comparison, you are just born!

Cheers!
Saket

[narsi_6989]

Learning 2 Wheeler:
Age: 15
Tutor: Dad
Vehicle: TVS XL Super. (Bikes self learning during college) Learnt riding the Bullet once I got it in 2005. Rode it from Chennai to Coimbatore. Instantaneous :-)
Location: Chennai (in a huge ground near my school)

Learning 4 Wheeler:
Age: 18
Tutor: Dad
Vehicle: HM Ambassador
Location: Coimbatore

[4nd3r50n]

Originally Posted by saket77

Shameful? Not at all. The point is to learn and then execute well. Age no bar! A lot of my uncles learnt driving after their retirement @ 60! In that comparison, you are just born!

Cheers!
Saket

Thank you for the encouragement! I really appreciate it.
A little question that is off topic- I can't find a thread that talks about the intricacies of driving. I mean there are threads that are about driving at night, in the rains, in the ghats- but nothing specific for newbies. For instance, I stall the car a lot. What do I do to avoid it? I'm sure there must be other users who have gone through this phase and their advice can help. But I just can't find such a thread. If there is one, can someone please give me the link? Thanks much.

[Shanksta]

Learning 4 wheeler
Age: 12
Tutor: self tutored(DIY-isolated roads next to my house)but if I had any doubts my dad would help.
Carad's Hyundai Accent GVS

Learning 2.wheeler
Age: 11
Tutor: Again self
Vehicle: TVS Scooty ES

[agambhandari]

Still learning a 4 wheeler:
Teacher: Initially Mom, practicing with any license holder alongside
Age:started at about 16
Vehicle:Honda City and Chevy Spark

No plans for 2 wheeler for now..

[Samba]

Four wheeler
Age- 9 Years
Tutor - Dad.
Car- Premere Padmini ( I used to look through the steering wheel! )
Place- In a private area which was not a public place. Dad was strict and never allowed me to drive in a public place till i go my Driving Licence at the age of 18.

Two wheeler
Tutor-Dad
Two wheeler-
Non geared- Bajaj Sunny at the age of 12 (Place- In a private area which was not a public place. Dad was strict and never allowed me to ride in a public place till i go my Driving Licence at the age of 18.)
Geared at the age of 18, Yamaha YD 125.

[AbhishekB86]

Age : 24
Instructor : Driving School
Car : My own Beat.

It took a month of waking up at 5-5.30 and driving for an hour to master it. However to get used to the length and width took a tad bit longer.

I'd love to learn how to ride a two wheeler.

[girishglg]

Learning 2 Wheeler:
Age: 16
Tutor: None
Vehicle: Hero Puch Automatic

Just picked up my uncles Puch and started riding it as soon as I got a LL. Felt a super feeling when a motor powered the ride from some where for the first time in my life. Never stopped riding after that!
Location: Bangalore

Learning 4 Wheeler:
Age: 18
Tutor: Dad
Vehicle: HM Ambassador
Location: Hyderabad

Used to drive my Dad's office car with his driver as my tutor. The Amby felt like a tank and is still memorable. Then went to a formal driving school and learnt in a 800 in Bangalore before buying one.

[vb-saan]

Car
Age: 18 Years
Tutor: Driving instructors
Car: HM Ambassador / Maruti 800
Place: Thrissur, Kerala

Scooter/Motorbike
Age: 18 Years
Tutor: Friends
Make: Vespa Select / Yezdi Classic
Place: Thrissur, Kerala

Notable incident - Failed in the first attempt to get a learner’s license.
The interview went like this:
Officer: If you have to turn right, what’s the signal
Me: Flash the right indicator
Officer: And to turn left
Me: Left indicator
Officer: Well, you turned 18 just last month, come back another time!

[StrangeWizard]

Car
Age: 18 Years
Tutor: Driving school.
Car: Honda City
Place: Mumbai

I tried driving our old M800 in and around my building when I was 16. I tried moving the car in 1st gear but it kept stalling. Then I observed other people driving and then finally I could get the car to move properly. I still couldn't figure out when to let go of the clutch completely.
Then I joined a driving school as soon as I turned 18 and then practised a bit in my Spark to gain more confidence.

Still don't know how to ride a bike. I learnt riding my friend's Activa but not a proper bike. In fact I'm not confident with even the Activa in traffic.

[GrammarNazi]

Learning to drive

Age : 14
Car : Premier 118NE
Tutor : my older bro was learning, figured it out by just looking at him learn from the back seat. Secretly practiced clutch control. Can still say it was quite a decent car. Didn't let my dad sell it for 60k, eventually after a year, sold it off for 22K.
First 'drive' : Taking the car out of the garage, wasn't as simple as it sounds here.
City : Bangalore

Remarks : If I was asked to learn driving as on 'This' day, given the traffic, I'd any day rather be driven than drive/ride. The roads and traffic are terrible.

[PGNarain]

Learning 4 wheeler:
Age: 13 (First time I held the Steering Wheel)
15 (only roads within the Colony)
18 (City Roads)

Tutor: at 13 - Dad's driver would let me hold the steering wheel while he modulated the brakes, clutch and accelerator. - Felt WOW, I still vividly remember the first time the car responded to me!!

At 15 - My dad taught the basics of driving but I was allowed only to park the car in the garage, first head on and then back first. As a result, I am very comfortable while parking, parallel parking even today and none of my+my parent's cars have ever had rear parking sensors. Started to tag along with my elder sis, who was learning driving and followed up with more driving within confined roads with Dad's driver.
At 18 - Dad insisted I attend driving school. Enrolled in Maruti driving School formally passed the exams and got my permanent License. But still did'nt get to drive on city roads. Finally my cousin sister urged me to start driving her car, on the sly - without my dad's knowledge!!

Car: At 13 - Maruti Gypsy Still feel wow, when i drive it today!!
At 15 - mere dad ki maruti - 800
At 18 -still mere dad ki Maruti - 800 and my cousin sister's zen, loved that car.

Learning 2 wheeler:
Age: At 17 - Gearless Scooty
At 24 - Geared Motorcycle
Tutor: At 17 - my cousin sister, though it freaked her out no end!
At 24 - Friends - only instruction was, you break it, you pay for it!
Bike: At 17 - Kinetic Vespa
At 24 - Yamaha Boxer

[SS-Traveller]

This is perhaps going to be a touchy topic, but here goes...

I have been talking to / questioning a lot of people in real life lately, regarding their driving, and this thread is simply an extension of the same. Some of the information and observations that I have gathered includes the following:

- The quality of driving skills among most Indian drivers is astonishingly atrocious;

- Most Indian drivers are self-taught, i.e. they tried their hand at driving a car on their own, and gradually extended their activities on to the main road;

- Some drivers have been instructed by relatives or friends about how to drive;

- No one has ever failed a driving test and needed to appear a second time (in fact, most boast of the fact that passing the test was a formality);

- No one that I came across in India has studied any handbook or manual about learning to drive properly (in fact, most are surprised that such things exist!);

- Among those who attended a driving school, the instructors simply taught them to move and stop the car. There was no focus on learning / following traffic rules and concepts such as right of way, except that one needed to stop when the traffic light is red;

- Those who learnt to drive a few decades earlier, know the traffic and right of way rules better, but don't really follow them because 'other drivers don't, so if I try to follow rules, I am more vulnerable'.

Obviously, learning to drive properly is not a priority before one can get a driving licence in India. Many members here have, over the years, looked for tips and instructions on how to drive well even though they have managed to get their DL earlier, and multiple threads exist on the same, such as:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Driving is perhaps the most hazardous activity we indulge in, almost every day; yet, I believe most of us have not been trained to handle the activity in a proper fashion. However, some members have received good driving training abroad, and I for one am very grateful to them for penning down their experiences on Team-BHP. Some good threads are:

1.

2.

3.

Let us hear on this thread about your individual experiences about learning to drive and getting your driving licence.

Please also take some time to respond to the poll above.