Drivers Training

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12-10-2010, 09:06 AM
POS Racing

Drivers Training

My daughter has her learners permit and we are doing the Online & Parent Taught Drivers training.

She is doing really well with the driving part.

We started out in parking lots before she got her permit and got the basics down.

Since she got her permit she has logged a ton of hours behind the wheel in all conditions rain, dark, traffic, freeway, & country roads. I'm trying to let her get a feel for as many of the real world variables as I can. I feel seat time is the key to being a good and safe driver.

I do plan to sign her up for BMW's Street Survival but that's not till spring.

She also has to participate in Autocross next season in an effort to make her a better and safer driver.

My question to you guys is when you were learning to drive did you do anything that stuck in your mind as being beneficial to being a better driver?
12-10-2010, 09:09 AM
OZMDD

My Mom was the City Attorney for a fairly small city where we lived (McAllen) so she told all her police friends what I drove. :(
12-10-2010, 09:11 AM
sammm

Quote:

Originally Posted by POS Racing

My question to you guys is when you were learning to drive did you do anything that stuck in your mind as being beneficial to being a better driver?

Had to pay for my own gas when borrowing dad's truck.
12-10-2010, 09:34 AM
onething

My aunt was the secretary to the Chief of Police. She took care of my tickets . . . KK's Mom can do the same, I'm sure.
12-10-2010, 09:34 AM
ken o

A Lincoln Town Car is better as a straight line car then it is at making turns. Also mailboxes don't stand a chance with a car that size.
12-10-2010, 09:35 AM
onething

Actually, driving around on sandy roads is a fond memory. I learned to drift before anybody knew what it was. We called it dirttracking back then.
12-10-2010, 09:43 AM
MadMonkey

Don't put it in park while you're still moving. I'll never forget the look my dad gave me.
12-10-2010, 10:09 AM
jrj512

Snowy/icey parking lots are a great place to learn car control at low speeds. Street Survival does similar by soaping down a section of the Bus Lot.

The SCCA AX school would help. I am trying to get the ::Curls:: to attend, so maybe her and your daughter can be BFFs there.

Passing on a two lane highway is a skill to learn.

Maybe take her to downtown Dallas or Fort Worth during a busy time. That way, she can get used to yeilding to pedestrians when her light is green and learning to look for one-way streets.

Teach her to read the block numbers on street signs.
12-10-2010, 10:35 AM
SixAce

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrj512

Snowy/icey parking lots are a great place to learn car control at low speeds. Street Survival does similar by soaping down a section of the Bus Lot.

The SCCA AX school would help. I am trying to get the ::Curls:: to attend, so maybe her and your daughter can be BFFs there.

Passing on a two lane highway is a skill to learn.

Maybe take her to downtown Dallas or Fort Worth during a busy time. That way, she can get used to yeilding to pedestrians when her light is green and learning to look for one-way streets.

Teach her to read the block numbers on street signs.

+1 on the icy driving. Keep an eye out this winter and try and find an icy parking lot to practice in. Better there than on a road w/no experience for the first time.

I'm sure you've also done the panic stop practice in the parking lot too. Good idea to get them used to both abs and non-abs panic stops. Just for giggles, do the key off situation so she can understand what happens to ps/pb if the engine should die for some reason.

Imbed in her mind "I'm ok, you're so-so" mentality.
12-10-2010, 11:31 AM
Majik

Quote:

Originally Posted by SixAce

Imbed in her mind "I'm ok, you're so-so" mentality.

POS is her dad, she has thought that her whole life.
12-10-2010, 12:31 PM
Robert

Don't shift an auto transmission into R when your doing 60 mph.

The turbo 400 transmission was OK afterwards, but it was an interesting few seconds
12-10-2010, 12:53 PM
Titus

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert

Don't shift an auto transmission into R when your doing 60 mph.

The turbo 400 transmission was OK afterwards, but it was an interesting few seconds

+1, but the Acura Legend transmission was not so lucky. I would have been a dead man if Acura hadn't decided to cover it even though the car was 1k miles out of warranty.
12-10-2010, 12:56 PM
shortshift

Being from Chicago, I totally support the icy/snow covered parking lot suggestions. The best tip I've heard of is the little doll for the dashboard with the "Icky" name tag (Impatience Can Kill You). Good luck!
12-10-2010, 01:11 PM
Radio-Active

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMonkey

Don't put it in park while you're still moving. I'll never forget the look my dad gave me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert

Don't shift an auto transmission into R when your doing 60 mph.

The turbo 400 transmission was OK afterwards, but it was an interesting few seconds

Quote:

Originally Posted by Titus

+1, but the Acura Legend transmission was not so lucky. I would have been a dead man if Acura hadn't decided to cover it even though the car was 1k miles out of warranty.

Sheesh...
What is it with all of these people and slushboxes on a Miata Forum! Bunch of :cat::cat::cat:
12-10-2010, 01:15 PM
Radio-Active

Make sure she knows how to merge. It's a lost art for 95% of the drivers around here. Dang idiots jam up the freeways with their get-on-zit speed of 50mph!
12-10-2010, 01:17 PM
Titus

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radio-Active

Sheesh...
What is it with all of these people and slushboxes on a Miata Forum! Bunch of :cat::cat::cat:

Even at 16, I drove a MT... I just happened to be in Dad's car that night as mine was in the shop getting a new clutch thanks to the previous weekend's hijinks. :punchout:
12-10-2010, 01:19 PM
sammm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert

Don't shift an auto transmission into R when your doing 60 mph.

I did that in dad's '72 (maybe '73) Pinto wagon. Not doing 60, but probably around 40. Car just died, but started right back up and kept going. It had the sweet 3-speed automatic console shifter and I was driving it like a manual. :burnrubr:
12-10-2010, 01:20 PM
sammm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Titus

Even at 16, I drove a MT...

3-on-the-tree was the true manual. That was one of the first things I drove. Grampa M's truck.
12-10-2010, 01:24 PM
ken o

Quote:

Originally Posted by sammm

I did that in dad's '72 (maybe '73) Pinto wagon. Not doing 60, but probably around 40. Car just died, but started right back up and kept going. It had the sweet 3-speed automatic console shifter and I was driving it like a manual. :burnrubr:

No way a Pinto did 60.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sammm

3-on-the-tree was the true manual. That was one of the first things I drove. Grampa M's truck.

Your Grandpa had an M truck? Cool!
12-10-2010, 01:52 PM
CosmosMpower

You all are old :)
12-10-2010, 02:24 PM
cone-cerned

Quote:

Originally Posted by CosmosMpower

You all are old :)

I hope you are so lucky.::Banana::
12-10-2010, 02:31 PM
Titus

Quote:

Originally Posted by sammm

3-on-the-tree was the true manual. That was one of the first things I drove. Grampa M's truck.

Yep... I owned a '56 GMC Suburban Carrier pickup with 3 on the tree. I bought it with my paper route money for when I was 14 hoping to hotrod it but Dad insisted on a stock restoration so I sold it to him. He still has it today.
12-10-2010, 02:59 PM
Keifersmith

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken o

No way a Pinto did 60.

Depends on how hard it got rear-ended.::Drive2::
12-10-2010, 03:15 PM
Robert

Quote:

Originally Posted by sammm

I was driving it like a manual. :burnrubr:

That's how I did it also. Just with a floor mounted shifter. It had a stop but it didn't catch.
12-10-2010, 03:18 PM
onething

Quote:

Originally Posted by CosmosMpower

You all are old :)

::Rant:: With your attitude, you'll never make it to old ::hal::
12-10-2010, 03:45 PM
motorollow

Ha, I thought my daughter was a good driver and then she backed her new car through the neighbor's wood fence!
12-10-2010, 04:49 PM
ckearns

When I was doing Drivers Ed in school, the instructor would have someone drive down to burger king where he'd get a small cup of coffee. Then he'd take the lid off and put it on the dash for the rest of the class. He never drank the damn coffee, but the rule was 'you spill, you fail'. Lesson behind the whole thing was to be smooth and plan way ahead for what you're going to do.

Chris
12-10-2010, 09:13 PM
rpkgmx5

A couple things I learned that are important this time of year: While driving Mom's Pontiac station wagon, slamming it into reverse and mashing the gas while going down a snow-covered hill won't keep you from sliding thru an interection (nothing bad happened) and downshifting a RWD car in the snow will cause you to spin.
12-10-2010, 11:40 PM
motorollow

Quote:

Originally Posted by rpkgmx5

... downshifting a RWD car in the snow will cause you to spin.

I did that when I was 16 while driving a 1968 Pontiac LeMans. I did a complete 360 and kept on going!
12-11-2010, 01:46 AM
MadMonkey

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radio-Active

Sheesh...
What is it with all of these people and slushboxes on a Miata Forum! Bunch of :cat::cat::cat:

I was like 15 at the time :lol:

Half of my vehicles have been autos, but at least I have excuses!
12-11-2010, 05:02 AM
B00t13g

Put her in a manual car, no abs, no traction control in an icey parking lot and hope for the best. I learned to drive in a blizzard in new mexico in a 2wd tahoe. Those were the day.s
12-13-2010, 09:07 AM
POS Racing

Sunday I took the kid to a large high school parking lot (not Pennington) and we set up some cones. Had a uneven staggered slalom and then made a extra long parallel parking spot for her to practice in. All slow speed stuff our primary focus was not to squish defenseless little cones.

We also did a lot of backing up since it was something she was having trouble getting her head around.

For the final lesson of the day I made a Jimmy Jan Spin to Win Autocross finish and then we discussed why Robert is better than Jimmy.

By the end of the day she was more confident in backing up, had a better feel for turning and where the car is because of the slalom work, figured out parallel parking is hard, and started to question Jimmy's course making abilities.

All in all it was a couple of hours well spent, we plan to do more parking lot work (not Pennington) as part of of driving training.
::Banana::
12-13-2010, 10:15 AM
jrj512

That just hurts. ;)
12-13-2010, 11:56 AM
onething

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrj512

That just hurts. ;)

::Rant:: Get your own line ::Rant::

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