Having to Learn to Drive

Cycling Dave

I just felt I had to share my pain.

Due to a recent new project (starting a ceilidh band) and other such things I need to start learning how to drive.

I'm honestly dreading it. After riding for so many years, driving just looks, well, crap.

I won't buy a car, not until I absolutely have to.....but the very thought of being cooped up in a car just turns my stomach.

Do people make bike trailers big enough to take a PA system?

Ach I'm sure it won't be that bad. Has anyone else had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the world of motoring?

David

cee

your not the drummer are you? the unwritten rule is that drummers are always in charge of the van.....

cyberknight

what about a surly bigdummy or a xreacycle conversion?

http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/products. ... 4865&rs=gb

biondino

Driving is brilliant! You'll love it (once you've had to jump through the depressing amount of hoops learner drivers have to do these days - and totally should have to do, I must add!).

tgotb

biondino wrote:

Driving is brilliant! You'll love it (once you've had to jump through the depressing amount of hoops learner drivers have to do these days - and totally should have to do, I must add!).

Drivers should also have to retake their tests every 10 years.

Sorry, totally off-topic...

The road sense you have from cycling will make it far easier for you to learn to drive than it is for most people...

asquithea

TGOTB wrote:

Drivers should also have to retake their tests every 10 years.

:?: Why? The main purpose of the test is to check the driver can control the car; nothing more. The only benefit to a re-test would be to remove those who aren't medically fit to continue to drive -- in which case a 10 yr. span is surely rather long.

Now I come to think of it, we might get a lot more benefit if cyclists were to take a mandatory "driver awareness course", making them more aware of things like:

* vehicle blind-spots (from cars and HGVs)
* effects of rain and cold weather on visibility
* the benefits of hi-vis clothing and proper lights
* stopping distances and realistic reaction times
* the meaning of traffic lights and road signs

(I'm a cyclist and driver)

shouldbeinbed

biondino wrote:

Driving is brilliant! You'll love it (once you've had to jump through the depressing amount of hoops learner drivers have to do these days - and totally should have to do, I must add!).

I've gone the other way, ever more bike time now the kids are gting old enough to fend for themselves and ride safely with me on the roads makes me realise how little I enjoy driving nowadays. I drive when I have no choice and even as a passenger I'd rather be in the back with my eyes shut drifting off in daydreams.

cheaperholidays

I ride a bike and a motorcycle and although i have a car i hate the damn thing especially when stuck in traffic, i keep wanting to filter..

suzyb

I enjoy driving but really wish I didn't have to do it during rush hour. It's only been two days yet I'm already fed up being stuck in traffic light queues and behind doddlers only going a few miles :evil:

mkirby

i hate driving with a passion and only rarely do i do it. Parents forced me to learn with the line 'it will help you get a job'. Bollocks did it, just made me skint. I cycle everywhere including orchestra. That means carrying an oboe and an oboe d'amore, music stand and loads of other paraphernalia.

Get a cargo bike and stick the speakers in that, mind i wouldn't want to go uphill with it.

roger_merriman

Took my car into work wednesday which was great, I work out of rush hour so I missed that and then had a nice drive though north downs, nice pub meal, all paid for by work which is nice!

driving in urban areas is royal pain though.

biondino

an oboe d'amore

Have at it, forum perverts!

biondino

Oops, sorry, I didn't realise we were in Commuting General. I shall flagellate myself.

rjsterry

TGOTB wrote:

biondino wrote:

Driving is brilliant! You'll love it (once you've had to jump through the depressing amount of hoops learner drivers have to do these days - and totally should have to do, I must add!).

Drivers should also have to retake their tests every 10 years.

Sorry, totally off-topic...

The road sense you have from cycling will make it far easier for you to learn to drive than it is for most people...

My brother (31) is currently learning how to drive, having cycled for years. He observed that he didn't have too many problems with road awareness, but did keep approaching junctions too fast.

rick_chasey

Gives you a sense of freedom.

Think of all those places you could never cycle to, but now can drive to!

SmellTheGlove

Don't be too downhearted; driving definitely has its benefits. Makes us that bit more adaptable.
I think you've hinted at something important though - depending on where you live, car ownership can stink to the heavens. It seems a lot of people end up being owned by their cars instead of t'other way about. I'm starting to feel that way, with my old buggy nearing the end of an eventful life I'm seriously considering not replacing it.
With Streetcar, Zipcar, Liftshare etc I can afford to drive a better car (or make that range of cars) than I'd ever want to pay for outright.

Good luck with lessons and here's to a speedy pass.

davmaggs

Driving is a life skill and to be without it does mean that you are limiting yourself or worse leeching off others if you are cadging lifts all the time. I've done a few trips to mountains or other rural places with friends who refuse to learn and drone on about not needing to even learn whilst sitting in the passenger seat. They never seem to get the irony of them spouting on about this as we drive to a place they could never reach by themselves.

Once you've got a year or two's experience and the skill is inbedded then you don't need to own a car.

Sirius631

Just remember that the car is significantly wider than your bike. It took me quite some time to stop driving with my left wheels in the gutter. You will probably be shocked by just how little you can see from the driver's seat due to the blind spots created by the pillars of the car's structure. Keep checking and make a mental map of what's around you, that way you will not be caught out by vehicles in you blind spots.

nwallace

Cycling Dave wrote:

I just felt I had to share my pain.

Due to a recent new project (starting a ceilidh band) and other such things I need to start learning how to drive.

I'm honestly dreading it. After riding for so many years, driving just looks, well, crap.

I won't buy a car, not until I absolutely have to.....but the very thought of being cooped up in a car just turns my stomach.

Do people make bike trailers big enough to take a PA system?

Ach I'm sure it won't be that bad. Has anyone else had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the world of motoring?

David

You're in the Weej aye?
What's the furthest out of Weegieland you have been? There's an awful lot of places to go cycling in Scotland where having a car is essential if you want to get there in a sensible time span.

mikeyboy12345

Here's a tip: don't pass your driving test before your mates do. I did, and I was forever the taxi service on a night out. No fun at all!

bails87

Your cycling might improve because of the driver's perspective you get on things too.

I'm lucky to have a fun (to drive) commute along 15 miles of open country roads. I used to hate going the other way into congestion.

Hrun

bails87 wrote:

Your cycling might improve because of the driver's perspective you get on things too.

I'm lucky to have a fun (to drive) commute along 15 miles of open country roads. I used to hate going the other way into congestion.

+1 I am a better rider because I drive and a better driver because I ride.

Next you should get is a motorbike licence as I am better at both the above with this.

Headhuunter

I passed my test when I was 18, in 1990. My parents said I should do it but I never bought a car and usually ended up driving other people's back from the pub when they were wasted... I haven't driven a car since 1996 and have still never owned a car an now I'm 37. I've lost my licence (it's probably in a drawer somewhere at my parents place) so need to dig that out again an keep meaning to tak some refresher lessons but never quite get round to it.

wgwarburton

Headhuunter wrote:

... I haven't driven a car since 1996 and have still never owned a car an now I'm 37. ....

You do live in London, though... It's a lot easier to do without there than in most of the UK- it can take hours just to drive out of the centre of London.
The OP is from Glasgow.. you can get by, but your horizons are wider if you have access to a car...

Cheers,
W.

Headhuunter

WGWarburton wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

... I haven't driven a car since 1996 and have still never owned a car an now I'm 37. ....

You do live in London, though... It's a lot easier to do without there than in most of the UK- it can take hours just to drive out of the centre of London.
The OP is from Glasgow.. you can get by, but your horizons are wider if you have access to a car...

Cheers,
W.

I've only lived in London since 2000, but you're right, I'm sure if I lived outside London I would have a car. Before London I lived in Osaka, Japan which has a fantastically efficient and cheap tube system and the over land trains in Japan are also amazingly efficient, clean and frequent so I didn't need a car there either. To be honest, owning a car in cities like London and Osaka is more of an expensive hindrance than a benefit