Driving lesson...

So, after 10 months of procrastination, I finally decided to take some driving lessons. I guess, after the vacation I had recently, I felt there was enough motivation to get going to do what needs to be done before the permit expires in May. lol

Anyways, today was my first 2 hours driving lesson. They charge $40 per hour and I used the option of having a female instructor and she picking and dropping me off. First thing I noticed, was that I should have slept much MUCH earlier cause I had trouble concentrating on what the instructor was telling me as I drove due to lack of sleep. Because I had to focus extra attention to what she's saying, I was breaking a lot unnecessarily.

Second thing I noticed was, I should have refreshed my memory THOROUGHLY on the driving rules like the lights, turnings and signs so that most of my time spent with the instructor wouldn't be on explaining them. ^_^"" Oh well....but I will be more prepared next time. I definitely want to have at least one more lesson before I take the test.

There were a lot of adjustments I had to make while I was driving. :P Almost at every street and turning, there were speed limits constantly changing between 25-40 mph. It was eye straining to look out for them. But note to self: after every turn, look out for them. We don't really have such things in Malaysia...

Other adjustments were the stop signs. The "all way" stop sign is pretty understandable. But if there isn't a sign like that below the stop sign, you have to stop before the pedestrian crossing and then inch out for a SECOND stop to see if cars are coming at a blind corner. But if you can see just fine, you don't have to make that second stop.

When making a turn into a lane or changing lanes, one HAS to exagerate when looking to the sides to check whether there's any incoming car or pedestrian.

The two things I was doing wrong, I think even by Malaysian standards, was when turning the wheel, my hand placements/ grabbing of the wheel and letting go were wrong. :P The hands must always go over the wheel not under. I used to grab under because I didn't want the wheel to run away if my hand slipped off. But by grabbing from under, it prevents me from making changes when I need to if in an emergency. I would get a minus point if that happens. :P The other thing I did wrong was not looking at the mirror before slowing down. ^_^""" I always thought that as long as I was still moving even at a slowing speed, the car behind me would still have time to compensate for the change.

A good thing to note is that during the driving test, if you don't look over your shoulder when changing lanes or turning, the examiner will fail you straight-away cause in reality that could have caused an accident and killed someone.

If only I have a program that would run simulations that I could practice. ;D I don't have a car to practice on so that's pretty difficult. During the test, I would have to rent a car from the driving academy and I'm planning to use my instructor's car since I'm learning and adjusting to that car.