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15 March 2007
Please pray for me→[More:] Son #2 got his driving permit today after much dragging of feet. The first thing he needs to do is learn the feel of the controls. In other words, it's a car, NOT A FREAKIN VIDEO GAME.
You're not teaching him, are you? My parents refused to do that, and hired me an instructor. It was worth every penny to save my dad's blood pressure. Plus my mum can't tell left from right without significant thought so the few times I went out with her were... interesting.
This dragging of feet - yours or his? My stepdaughter is 17 and has no interest in driving yet, thank heaven. I don't think she's really capable right now, anyway. I never got my license until the week before I turned 19. My first job was a mile from home, so I either walked or rode my bike. I waited until I was ready. One of my friends has a 19 year old son, who doesn't have a license, either. He gets his older brother to drive him places.
Good luck, take it slow, and yeah, I think a driving school is a good idea.
Honestly, I think that being a fan of videogames helped me learn to drive more quickly (the learning was quicker, I mean), and might even be making me a safer/better driver--both because playing games gives people a chance to experience (however vicariously) conditions and situations that would only very rarely come up in real-world driving, and because games are probably good at improving reaction time, making people attentive to things in their peripheral vision, etc. Same kind of stuff that people say about driving off-road or on a track, or about riding a bicycle or motorcycle, I suppose.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go play Grand Theft Auto, or perhaps Burnout Revenge Crash Mode.
Can you imagine how terrifying it must be for parents in India?
(Strangely enough, when I first saw it, I thought it was doctored; I had no idea we were that CRAZY.)
I remember when my son drove the car by himself .... he drove to school .
He rolled the car.
But he wasnt hurt ....so it's just another one of life's little memories to laugh at now. Oh yea ... he said a dog ran in front of his car (I let him know that I used that one myself once).