TrueCar Asks How Americans Feel About Learning To Drive
Recently, the researchers at TrueCar took drivers down memory lane to learn their true feelings about the time they spent learning the rules of the road. The study covered details including the learner’s permit process, the common expressions of driver’s ed teachers, what went wrong during instruction, and the vehicle that made the lessons possible.
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The beginning
The learner’s permit is the key to driver’s education because it allows you to practice behind the wheel. Practice, as you’ve heard, makes perfect. A young driver needs to log in many hours before they can apply for a driver’s license, and when asked to reflect on their learner’s permit acquisition, respondents were less than complimentary.
According to the TrueCar researchers, 53 percent of the respondents said they’d “be terrified to get in a vehicle with their 16-year-old selves.”
The teachers
Even if you took formal driving classes, chances are a family member may have supplemented your education. According to TrueCar, almost half of the respondents — 46 percent — credited their dads as being the ones to teach them how to drive.
The researchers also tracked the interactions between student and teacher, revealing commonalities that most likely ring true with drivers and teachers everywhere.
“In the average driving lesson, the teacher will yell ‘brake!’ five times, reach for the steering wheel four times, and attempt to brake with their feet six times,” according to TrueCar.
The lessons
No one is perfect, especially not students learning to drive. TrueCar researchers tallied the top five mistakes of drivers learning to drive. The most common grievance at 32 percent was failing to check mirrors. Not checking all directions before moving into traffic ranked at 25 percent, closely followed by cut tight corners at 24 percent. At 23 percent and 22 percent, were the mistakes of forgetting to signal and being easily distracted, respectively.
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Lasting memories
Learning to drive leaves an indelible impression, not only the lessons but the actual vehicle. According to TrueCar, six out of 10 drivers over the age of 55 haven’t forgotten the car they learned to drive in.
DeAnn Owens is a Dayton transplant by way of the Windy City, yet considers herself to be a California girl at heart even though she’s only visited there once. To get through the dreaded allergy season unique to the Miami Valley, she reads, writes, complains about the weather, and enjoys spending time with her husband, two sons, and their newest addition, a Boston terrier puppy that is now in charge of all their lives. In the future, she hopes to write a novel and travel through time. See more articles by DeAnn.