Driving Lessons

Today, I had driving lessons. Not full fledged driving lessons, but a refresher course on how to drive on British roads. If all goes well, I will be driving on a regular basis in the near future!

The instructor drove to my flat to pick me up, a nice service by the driving school. After a short orientation by my instructor on the rules of the road, he handed over the reins to me. At first, it was strange sitting in the ride side of the car with a steering wheel in front of me and the gear knob on the left. Fortunately, the gas, brake, and clutch were still in the same layout. Some of the other controls such as the headlights were in reverse position as well, but those were minor compared to the ones 'essential' for driving.

The first thing I had to adjust to was the fact that I felt so far from the left side of the car. There were times when I felt so close to the curb that I thought I was going to scrape it when in fact I was a safe distance away, and there were also times when I misjudged my distance and ended up scraping the curb! But after awhile, I got used to it. The second thing I had to learn quickly was how to change gears using my left hand. Shifting up was easy enough, but when shifting down, especially when going into turns, was a challenge. I never seemed to push the knob away from me far enough. Hence, shifts to 1st gear went to 3rd, and shifts to 2nd went to 4th. I stalled the car more than once this way. Fortunately, it was in quiet, neighborhood roads where mistakes were allowed.

Now used to the nuances of actually being in a right hand drive car, it was time to turn to the road rules. Sitting and driving on the left side of the road wasn't so hard at all... as long as you're going in a straight line. Stoplights and junctions were easy enough, as were the motorways. Roundabouts, on the other hand, were a different story altogether. A roundabout (or rotonda) is logical in theory, a little confusing in reality. My mistake was always in the approach. Roundabouts were created to keep traffic flowing as much as possible, so if there are no cars in the roundabout impeding your way, it is your duty to keep going. I, however, treat roundabouts like regular intersections. I slow to a stop before entering the roundabout, therefore disrupting the potential flow of traffic behind me. Good thing I do know what to do when I'm actually in the roundabout, or I would literally be going in circles!

But by the end of the lesson, I was driving smoothly. I had gotten the hang of almost everything, and I felt confident enough to drive on my own. Of course, that's what I'm telling myself now, but I know it will be a different story in a few weeks time if I do get a car here in England... I hope these lessons weren't in vain!

Life is Beautiful!