Driving Lesson

Since Ali passed her classroom portion of driver's ed over the summer, I thought it was probably time to take her out for a driving lesson.  She actually can't get her learner's permit until February, and every time I have asked her if she wanted to go out driving in the past she had said no.  She did her "classroom" work online, and actually when it comes time to get her temp license she'll have to retake the written test she already passed in August (I have no idea why).  Hopefully she will still remember everything she learned, or maybe there is a refresher that she can go over before going to take it.  

Anyway, I figured it was about time to let her get behind the wheel of a car and get the feel of it at least.  So we drove over the the high school into the empty parking lot at the football stadium and I had her drive up and down the rows to get the hang of the gas pedal, braking, turning the wheel and staying in your own lane, and getting a feel for how fast the car feels.  There is a big difference between riding and actually being in charge of the throttle.  She thought she was going really fast and at most we were doing 20 mph.

I let her go in circles for about a half an hour, and she didn't do too bad for her first time.  I think the biggest thing she needs to work on is controlling her speed and how to turn smoothly.  It was a good thing we were in a parking lot, but when it comes time to finally get out on the road, I think she is going to be surprised at how fast 30 mph feels.  Plus, if she drives like she did in the parking lot today, we'll be getting horns blown at us left and right.