Going for driving classes ? My observations might help ...

May be because am an Arian, I day dream alot, fantasize things and try to get my dreams materialized ;-) While I was in Zurich, I got fascinated by cars so much that I wish to have a Mercedes two-seater with a gorgeous french babe by my side on a long drive and .... Well,I felt that the dream is cool but the there are two things missing - one - I donno driving, and the other ...you can guess , hehe...

Ok, let me talk about driving here .. I have been riding a bike for the past twelve years or so and initially I thought that driving a car shouldn't be that tough ! Of late, I joined a driving school and started learning how to drive a car. I have some observations that I intend to put down in this post with a hope that these observations help the reader of this post (provided you too have just started driving a car :-))

On Day-1, the instructor showed me where the accelerator, the clutch and the brake are located, explained me a bit on when and how to use them and asked me to control the steering alone and leave the rest to him. I felt that the guy underestimated me without knowing the fact that I have 12 yr experience (bike)... but the moment I got on to the road, I realized that I overestimated myself :-( The most important thing while driving a car is to gaincommand over steering.

For a couple of days, I practised controlling the steering and when my instructor felt that I was comfortable enough with the steering, he asked me to use the clutch, accelerator and the brake..One common experience that a novice driver will have is that the car stops the moment you switch to first gear and start releasing the clutch... sometimes you get frustrated too 'coz you end up spending time starting the car and putting the vehicle on gear 1 :-( So the next important thing is - how to release the clutch and get the car moving smoothly in gear 1..

Once you master that, just keep in mind that you switch to higher gears (2, 3, 4) if you think that the road is clear and the car can keep going coolly.. but if you think that you got to slow down, then switch to lower gears (1 or 2) so as not to let the car stop abruptly.

So far, so good.. the tips above should keep you going on the road provided you are well within the speed limits and cautious (don't say you are arian and you day dream a lot ;-),just concentrate on the road and the traffic around you)

Then follows an exercise on how to run the car in reverse gear.. this should be relatively simpler than the ones above..

Besides, there is one last thing that is very important and is really really tough.. and this one is the technique that you should use while ascending a steep road with traffic infront and behind you..God, this the scary part of the story 'coz when you are heading up the steep and for some reason if you got to stop and wait for a moment,you will observe the car goes backwards and the guy behind you keeps honking..you get tensed !!! Well, a couple of practice sessions and you should be able to manage.. handle the clutch, brake and the accelerator so that you move forward "only"..

After you are comfortable with the car, all the experiences while learning look funny.
I enjoy driving a car now.. after all it's the practice that makes you perfect :-) and for me, it's an attempt to chase a dream ;-)