I had been raised in a family without a car. Imagine that. no car until I started going with my husband.
One day he decided to give me a lesson sans permit. We were in an empty parking lot and he put me behind the wheel. Well, needless to say, when he told me to’step on the break’. I yelled’What’s that’? He couldn’t believe I didn’t know what the brake or clutch was. That ended my driving lessons for several years.
After my second child was born, my husband decided to, once again, teach me how to drive. Well, that experience was much better. It turned out that I was’a natural’ behind the wheel. After a few lessons, I took the driving test and passed. Then and only then did my husband raise his voice to me while driving. It seems he grew nervous to think I would be driving around with our two kids.
The week I got my drivers license I decided to go into New Jersey from New York. This necessitated my going over a bridge and through a tunnel. That trip was successful and uneventful. When it was time to go home. that’s when the real fun started. In Newark, New Jersey, there had been a blackout and all the street and traffic lights were out. I had to drive home without the benefit of street lights or traffic lights. I can’t believe today, 47 years later, that I actually did that. I should have stayed over but, being young and foolish, I drove home.
My husband had a fit when he heard about my return trip. That’s the trouble with youth driving.no common sense. It takes years of driving to really appreciate the hazards of driving and years to develop the expertise.
The angels were certainly watching over us that night.
I believe new drivers should be limited to driving short distances and only during the day until they acquire the necessary experience.
Claire