18 Year Old Is P.o.ed At Me And I Don't Care!!!

[Oxford]

I could tell a lot of funny stories about some experiences I had while teaching drivers education. However, nobody was hurt, we killed several spring loaded orange colored stanchion poles when they tried to parallel park, one dog had to be reported as killed in action by our car, one mailbox was remodeled, several boxes of kleenex had to be opened to keep the floods down when some girls were overcome with emotion, we got to look at only one ditch up close and personal, but they all finally learned after getting their required hours of behind the wheel, in car driving observation and classroom instruction. It was a fun class for me, too.

[BattleRifleG3]

I got my lisence at 16, and though I was allowed to use my mother's car, I had to pay my own insurance. It was not a bad deal for her because I was always a safe driver, even if I had my speeding stage, going a year without an accident, and that was on Memorial Day weekend in tight traffic. But she's not young, and has her share of physical difficulties, so driving a 1987 Sentra with no power accessories was something she was happy to have me do when possible.

When I got my lisence, I got AAA classes and in car instruction, but that wasn't required, it only helped my insurance. I got my permit at the end of may and had my lisence in early July of that year.

[oneastrix]

Sounds like a typical teenager Papa....but she's your daughter not mine. Therefore I can't say too much......other than....MAKE HER WEAR A HELMET!!!The funniest looking one you can find!!!!! She'll never want to drive a car again.....You win in the end!

[PAPA G]

Originally Posted by Chris

Well.........you guys make me feel like a real young guy now... !



Maybe I can arrange a small driving school with all the daughters of guys on the boards 18+
Come on now, I gotta have joke with you guys sometime or another

yer on!!! i'll put her in a shipping crate, and send her ASAP.

i have the patience of Job, i try to be calm and understanding, but there were times the Screaming Coward surfaced and white knuckled the dashboard!!!

[Gyrene]

Way back when, I was in Northern Montana, working on a farm east of Chinook (East of Havre, Montana), the owner told me to take his D2 Caterpillar down to his East FIeld for some discing. I was 12 years old (6' 2" and 165 lbs), and had never driven anything, much less started a vehicle engine. I figured out that "Little Joe" had to be started first (I had started lawn mowers), and then engage the clutch to start the diesel. Got it running, and the owner came over and said, "Take it easy, I'll see you in about an hour to an hour and a half." I didn't understand, but after driving away on the D2 CAT, I figured out that I wouldn't be going anywhere in a hurry (it would run about 5 to 7 miles an hour flat out, in top gear). That was my first driving experience and it taught me patience.

After getting back from Korea (I had my 13th birthday in Marine Boot Camp) my dad was ticked off about Korea, but I told him skru You, I did it, not you! My older brother had gotten his drivers license, and took the family second car (dad's work car) for a drive to see some of his friends. Well, as expected, he slid around a corner and smashed a burning barrel, bending the left rear fender a little, and headed for home. The Deputy got there first and was talking with my dad when my brother drove up. They talked a little, and my dad spun around, shaking his finger at me, and shouted, "As long as I have to sign for you, you will never get a drivers license!" What I want to know is, WHAT DID I DO? I was not with my brother, and I had nothing to do with the incident except for being there when my brother got home.

When I was 14, my older brother got a 1941 Ford 2 Door Sedan, which had a 1948 Mercury 59AB engine (about 20 more horsepower than the standard 1941 Ford). The first week he had the car, he wanted me to go with him to a model airplane contest where he would fly speed models, Class A (up to .19 cu in), Class B (up to .29 cu in), Class D (which was later combined with Class C, and it was up to .60 Cu in), and Jet which was essentially an unlimited class. Back to the car! We had travelled about 20 miles West of Spokane, headed for Prosser, Washington, and my brother told me he was too sleepy, and he wanted me to drive. I had never driven faster than a farm tractor can go, but I was game. He told me to climb into the back seat. I did and he told me to take the steering wheel, he slid over to the right side, and took the wheel again. He told me to climb into the drivers seat, and I did. He then turned the steering wheel over to me and told me to put my foot on the gas pedal. VOILA!! I was driving at 65 MPH. What a feeling! 5 miles down the road he told me to pass another car (two lane road, one each way), and that was one of the hardest things I ever did in my life! So, I began driving at 65 miles per hour when I was 14.

When I was 15 I took Drivers' Education at the High School, and after 2 minutes behind the wheel, the teacher said, "Enough, you can drive better than I can." The only other time I was behind the wheel of the Drivers' Training car was to park. The teacher taught us to park from beside the car to 50 feet away (parallel to the other car). Back up, turning the steering wheel until your dashboard is even with the rear bumper of the other car, then straighten the front wheels, backing a little until the right front is near the rear of the other car, and then turn the wheels until you are squarely behind the other car. I can still almost do that in my sleep.

I drove as many as 80,000 miles before I turned 21, and got my first drivers' license. No tickets, no accidents! Getting my first drivers license was a kick because I was using a friends 1957 Corvette (it had turned 119 MPH at Pomona Dragstrip on the Sunday before). The Examiner was more than a little uneasy, getting into it, and he only marked off for improper use of the gears. It had a four speed, and the speed limit was 25 MPH. I wanted to leave it in 3rd, so it would idle along, but the Examiner insisted that I put it into 4th, and it would jerk and lurch while I had to hold the brake on to keep it at 25 MPH. I believe that I knew more about driving that the Examiner did, but he had the power!

Had 5 tickets in my 53 years of driving, and they were all for exceeding the 55 MPH limit. My car, a 1964 Pontiac Tempest 2 door with a 326 cu in V8, would get 25 miles per gallon at 65 to 85 MPH, and at 55 to 65 MPH it would get about 15 miles per gallon. The engine was turning about 1,200 RPM at 55 MPH and about 2,200 at 80 MPH. I had a hard time trying to cut down on gas consumption and stay at least close to the speed limit.

[Oxford]

Your parallel parking technique is exactly how I used to teach those beginners. Today... cities use lots of angle parking...partly because most drivers haven't learned to parallel park.

What color was your 41 Ford...Black...or was it black? They were great running cars with their flathead engines, plus as I remember them, they had running boards as standard equipment.

I was a farm boy, too and we got to have driving experiences at very young ages. My dad had inherited a model T 1 1/2 truck from his dad which we used when rebuilding barbed wire fences. At the age of 9 he would let me drive that machine forward to the next fence post as we worked out in the pasture along the gravel lroad. Later my granddad let me drive his '33 Ford on rural roads when I was 10 yrs old. Later, when I was 14 yrs of age he gave that car to me. At 13 I was driving our Model A John Deer tractor and Fordson tractor doing field work. The Deer required me to turn over a heavy flywheel to get it running. I was almost too light in weight myself to make it turn...but usually got it going.

Yes...farm kids usually had oportunities to drive at a very early age... :nod:

[Gyrene]

Actually I was almost a "Farm Boy", but I had gone to Montana with some friends to work on one friends uncles farm/ranch in early June 1950. a couple of weeks after we got there there was a serious storm including hail stones as big as baseballs and some even larger. It dammed up the river and the hayfields got flooded, after we had mowed the hay, leaving a mess. We helped clean up the mess including a lot of potato cellars (I can still smell the stink of rotting potatoes) that had been flooded.

After that there was no more work, and we headed back to Spokane, riding our thumbs, splitting into 2's because it is easier for 2 young guys to catch a ride than 4. A limo taxi screached to a halt and two retired Marine Master Sgts. with chests covered with ribbons asked Eddie and me to get in and ride with them. Down the road a ways we saw our other 2 buddies, and stopped to pick them up. Further on we came into Great Falls, Montana, and the 2 Marines talked us all into joining up, cause all #&!! had just broken loose in Korea. Around the corner from the Marine Recruiters we got a Drivers License, Birth Certificate, and a couple of other proof of age documents showing all of us to be old enough to join the Marine Corps, for $5.00. I had my 13th birthday in Marine Boot Camp, and we were shipped to Korea as replacement troops for the 1st Marine Division, catching up with them in time to hit the beach at Hungnam. You know the rest of that story.

Oh, the 1941 Ford was a pale blue. We lowered it in the back (that's what kids did then), and put on dual pipes, dual shocks, a stiffer stabilizer bar in the front and a sway bar in the rear, talk about a tight suspension, that Ford had it! As to power, it seemed to be a bit more power than others (remember it had 20 more horsepower than a standard 1941 Ford, with that 59AB flathead Mercury engine). [The Lakewood Muffler Special Dragster in Southern California used a 59AB flathead Mercury engine with the ARDUN overhead valve conversion, with I believe either a GMC 4-71 or 6-71 supercharger using alcohol based nitro fuel, and was the first car of any type to go from a dead stop to 144 MPH in a quarter mile.]

My brothers 1941 Ford would go 35 MPH in first gear, 65 in second gear, and an indicated 95 in third gear. One time my brother drove between two small towns as fast as the car would go, and I never saw more than 92 MPH on the speedometer, but the average speed for the distance was more than 105 MPH! How fast would it go, your guess is as good as mine.

[Red]

My youngest is 28 and all 3 kids survived (barely). I now have grandchildren and I can't begin to imagine them driving.

I agree with your position. Hang in there.

[Mandy]

:nod: :nod: :nod: :nod: :nod:

I got my daughter a beater car last year to go to college, it got robbed in 3 weeks, remember?
Then I got her the 1989 Honda Prelude SI that I was saving for her later and told her that if this one got stolen or wrecked, even if wasn't her fault, she would have to work for it, this was the last one I'm paying for.

After a few months using it as a beater, she managed to hone her skills very much and was driving fairly well.
All of a sudden, she wrecked the car ($2,000.00 to get it running), so now she is learning the hard way what she had and let go by mere negligence.

She would have to work to fix it or make a student loan, I don't care what she does, she has to pay for it !

Maybe when she pays for it she would put more attention to the road, It would hurt her in the worst place, the pocket !

I may end up helping her with part of the bill, but I'm not telling her until she brings some cash in for body parts, I may end up with the labor costs.

Looks like she's going to walk at least until sept. or oct., maybe that way she will learn!

:nod: :nod: :nod: :nod: :nod:

[Despoiler]

Originally Posted by Gyrene

I had my 13th birthday in Marine Boot Camp, and we were shipped to Korea as replacement troops for the 1st Marine Division, catching up with them in time to hit the beach at Hungnam. You know the rest of that story.

I find this part of the story incredible!