The end of this month will mark my 1 year anniversary as a driver. If you recall, I got my G2 last year, a designation that allows me to drive anywhere I wish, provided I maintain a blood alcohol level of zero whenever driving, and I ensure that the car I am driving has enough working seat belts for the passengers.

The day after I got my license, my parents left for Nigeria. While they were away, they asked me not to drive the car, so of course, while they were away, I did exactly that: not too many times, but certainly more than than zero times they told me I was allowed to drive it. My rationale was that I was a good driver and I would be careful and when they came home a month later I would tell them I drove and Look! I didn’t die or hit anyone! and they would be so proud.

Within an hour of their return, I told them I had driven, and my dad said he knew I would. My mom was not impressed that I took the risk but I am Jummy. My life is about as risk-free and benign as it gets: I don’t do anything without over thinking it (and deciding against it). But this time, I felt like since the province of Ontario had vouched for my ability to drive, my parents had no right to stop me (having never really rebelled as a teenager—though her parents feel different—Jummy feels the need to do so in her late 20s), even though it was their car, and my status of New Driver Who Has No Sense of Direction is not exactly comforting to any of the other drivers on the road (or to the parents of the New Driver).

Although things went smoothly, the more I’ve driven, the more lessons I’ve learned:

Confident/brave drivers are good drivers
In my first months as a driver, I found I had to be brave: I didn’t usually feel confident about my maneuvers but I had to fake it because when you’re driving, you don’t have a lot of time to second guess yourself: if you’re making a left turn and there is a gap in the oncoming traffic, you have to just GO. If you want to change lanes now, do your checks and when all is clear, GO. Yes, now, not in three seconds. That was hard to get used to at first, but I am far more confident now, and am able to better gauge distances and the time I need to do certain things.

Good drivers pay attention
This is a no brainer, but I’m still learning this. I have almost hit more cars than I would have ever thought and every time it almost happens it scares me. I find myself looking at something or someone on the side of the road, not noticing that Um, there is a red light three metres ahead and YOU ARE GOING TO HIT THE CAR IN FRONT OF YOU! I’ve had at least four of those and gosh does that ever get my heart pounding! One time, I couldn’t stop in time without hitting the car in front of me, so I ended swerving and almost hitting a a fire hydrant because I went up on the sidewalk. At least twice, my sister has been in the car with me and she’s been the one who has seen her life flash before her eyes and remained pretty calm, all things considered. Perhaps the fact that I act extremely nonchalant Oh that car exactly 1/8th of an inch in front of me? I wanted to see the length of the hairline fracture I noticed on its bumper, that’s all. Oh, were you scared we were going to hit it? My apologies. helps.

Tired drivers cause accidents, making them bad drivers
Do not drive if you’re tired. If you must drive while you’re tired, get a coffee, roll down the window to shock your system with cold weather, anything to make you stay awake. Driving home from a wedding, I drove slower than usual and actually dozed off at a stoplight! I was lucky that it was so early in the morning that there was nobody around, or I might have caused an accident, or been hit from behind. Despite that, I can’t decide whether I’m more embarrassed that I dozed off 5 minutes away from home or that the friends I was following home saw it and told everyone…oh, who am I kidding, it’s the latter that embarrasses me.

I know now why people get GPS systems. Whenever I’m going anywhere that I haven’t been before, I go faithfully to mapquest and map out the trip. However, if I don’t take the time to read and learn the directions, constantly glancing down to check the directions can lead to accidents. I would love to have someone call out the directions as I drive.

The good news is, I’m still accident free, and I know the areas that I need to work on. As I prepare to go for my final road test in the coming months, it’ll be important to remember all of these tips and more (such as coming to a complete stop, not tailgating, turning into the correct lane when making left turns) so that the first time is the charm for getting my license this time around.

Filed under: Adventure, Mundane by jummy