The cardio health stress test continues apace, as Abby has decided she likes driving my car more than Tash's car, so I've been with her for the majority of her practices.
Today she drove to her high school, which is and will be the man reason for her getting a driver's license in the first place. We made it there no problem, not too much traffic on a Sunday aside from a bit of a jam near a church, and iut got her on some main roads and doing left turns in traffic and changing multiple lanes.
Thence we took an alternate route home so she could try merging onto a highway. Yes, my circulatory system is strong.
She did fine, traffic was light enough, and I was able to talk her through it ok. Lots of neck cranking on my part during the merge and lane changes. No permanent indentations in the armrests.
Then down to Best Buy to pickup an SD card that I had a rewards coupon for, so a 64GB SanDisk Pro card instead of costing $28 cost only $10, which is a nice bargain for a very nice and fast memory card for the camera.
She did good and parked reasonably well by the store.
Then back in the car and thence up and through a roundabout that is ranked the 2nd most dangerous intersection in the entire state, because roundabout plus traffic light - yes, really.
She did fine but did need some help on getting into the roundabout safely as it was kinda hair-raising. Again, I passed this stress test with flying colors and did not even try to curl into a ball and drop onto the floorboards, as tempting as that was.
It's interesting the things she doesn't know that she doesn't know.
For example, she was getting set in the car and I was still in the house with the keys. She got her seat adjusted, mirrors set and had the headlights full on without the car running.
I explained that wasn't a good habit to get into as it drains the battery when you leave the lights on with the car off. She didn't know that, but does now.
Other things included how far should you get over when the police have a car stopped on a road that is one lane in each direction, and traffic lights that are only flashing yellow.
I talked her through these and she did just fine. She's certainly coming along as a driver and getting smoother and more confident, which is a good thing. We spent over an hour on the road, and then to top it off, she drove herself to a friend's house in some heavy rain, which was good experience, so she definitely got her practice in today.
I figure the next driving mission will be to have her drive the gas station to teach her how to fill the car up.
7 comments:
And change a tire. Just in case.
It is amazing how many young people, not just women, don't know.
Point out the lights on the dash that mean she should pull over and stop and shut off the car *immediately*...might save you some money.
Hey Aaron;
Yep I have one of those "teenage" drivers...and he is fixing to graduate to his license. I have taught Harry how to change a tire and car maintenance also. He keeps wanting my F150 and I keep telling him "no, you ain't getting my truck." I did see a magnetic sign on a Hyundai cube "Please be patient..Student Driver and screaming Parent". I should have had one of those for the spousal units car, LOL
Aaron,
One of the things I did when my son was learning was to have him close his eyes, point to a spot on an area map, and then drive me there. Really opened his eyes to the myriad things involved in driving.
I've taught both my granddaughters to change a tire and check fluids.
B: All excellent ideas, thanks, will implement the lights check on the next runabout. Tire change lesson will be later.
Mr.Garabaldi: I need one of those signs, badly.
Flugelman: Good suggestion, fluid check before departing on next hop, map test might be fun to do in the future as well.
I sometimes forget how much things have changed. When I learned to drive, putting gas in the car meant telling the young man with a chamois in his pocket to "fill 'er up" or if cash was tight "put two bucks worth in it."
P.S. I did know how to use a gas pump and change a tire, but many of my contemporaries didn't.
Don't forget to teach her to change a tire, use jumper cables and not scream when Tash drives (I have not forgotten those days in Haslett...) Kudos to both of you.
Might I add using a tire air pressure gauge and how to top off that soft tire to the list of necessary car skills? No, smiling coyly at the Belle Tire clerk doesn't count!
When Alison got her car I bought her a 24-inch breaker bar the appropriate sized lug nut socket so she didn't have to try and crank off those nuts with the little tire iron in her car.
Post a Comment