[Lynn]

Sooo.....

Took my daughter for a driving lesson in her manual car today, got almost to the top of a VERY steep hill.... and she stalled the car and needed me to do a hill start and get her going again.

Managed to start the car first go without any drama, but my left leg was jumping like a puppy having its tummy scratched for the next half hour (not the smoothest clutch manoeuvre either). As a matter of fact, everything was shaking from the inside out.

No, I am not a nervous driver, and I wasn't scared to do it, but now I have the strength of a wet noodle all down my left side - leg and arm - and still very shaky.

Did have to pull over and laugh though - so glad I have an automatic - I haven't done a hill start like that one in fifteen years (and that was with two working legs).

Won't go that way again

[Kitty]

Lynn, my DH used to have a manual transmission car and even when my legs were strong I remember how my left calf would ache after driving his car.

I'm glad you were able to get it going even on a hill. My legs shake like that if they're over-tired or have been still for too long. My son witnessed it when I was in the hospital after surgery and I had to convince him that it wasn't anything new to me and that it would eventually stop. It's pretty bizarre when it happens, though.

[NurseNancy]

when i got my 1st car my dad taught me how to drive. i got in a slow car accident and just couldn't see what i did wrong. when i went to court the judge explained it and i finally got it.

my sentence? driving school which i hadn't done. best thing i ever did.
would that work for you and your dd?

[SallyC]

Good idea Judy. I went to DE, after I had been driving for
awhile. It's amazing how much I learned.

[Lynn]

Absolutely, we intend for her to have professional driving lessons, but in the state where I live, my girl has to have 120 hours of instruction (from us, or by a professional) - and it costs around $60/hour for a proper driving lesson.

She is very good in an automatic vehicle - only that she has just bought a manual and it is a whole different thing.

It was just the whole twitching and shaking thing that made me laugh - and panic at the same time. Shakes have happened before, but never to this extreme.

[Erin524]

I just gave up my stick shift, but whenever I was on a steep hill, I'd pull up the emergency brake, keep my foot on the clutch and the accelerator (and in gear) and then start moving slowly before letting the emergency brake down. Usually worked and I don't think I ever had a problem after the first time I'd attempted it.

[chaos]

It's good to learn how to really drive in a stick when one is learning how to drive. My dad made me and I'm really glad (I had a 74 super beetle). There are some people I know who still can't drive sticks and they're in their 30's and 40's. Yes, I laugh at them, but at least to their face.

We have a stick now, it's a 99 4Runner. Thankfully my town is flatish, and I work really close to home. DH drives most of the time, and we only have one car, so during the school year he drops me off at work and picks me up. When I can get a car for me I'm going to make it super easy to drive because I hate driving the stick even to the market.

There are cars that can make it up huge hills and there are some that can't. I got stuck in a small car on a hill in San Francisco, I had to turn around and go a different way. In our truck, we can barrel over just about anything, but I still won't go up that same hill ever again. And just like parallel parking, it takes time and practice, most people can't perfect the clutch and parallel parking for many, many years.

[Erin524]

I gave my 5speed 99 RAV4 to my sister, which really means that I gave it to my brother-in-law, since he can drive a stick and she can't. I miss that car a lot. It was really really really fun to drive in snow. Like a little tank.

I haven't driven my new car in a month. My dad's been doing all the driving in that car. (2010 automatic RAV4). Starting to get discouraged that I won't ever drive again. Trying to talk my dad into getting that car set up with hand controls.

[Lynn]

I don't believe that you really can drive, unless you can drive a manual - otherwise - in my daughter's words 'you have it easy, you are only steering and braking.'

I drove a manual car for nearly 20 years, and while they are much more fun to drive than an automatic, it is so much easier to get into strife in a manual (as demonstrated with my hill start - but I still did it).

Since this episode, her dad has taken her out driving and made her do at least a dozen successful hill starts - not at quite the extreme gradient that I had to do, but working towards.

It's all about her learning, and me rediscovering skills and confidence I guess.

[SallyC]

You done good Lyn..