Dad had a spare 20 minutes between lessons so he took me for an introductory drive. I was so excited to be driving the family’s big rig…finally, and my concentration level was at its best!
There was so much to take in at the start it was scary, clutch in, clutch out, flick a switch, indicate, watch for traffic, brake harder because it’s a 10t truck not a 4 cylinder lancer, watchrevs, turn a corner…phew so much to learn, but surprisingly I got the hang of it quite quickly during those first 20 minutes.
It was 6pm and time to start my full hour drive and guess what? Dad threw me the keys and said “Off you go…get yourself sorted with your seat, mirrors and steering wheel”, and yes that’s right, after only a short 20 minute introductory lesson I was heading out straight in amongst the traffic, which showed me that dad had a lot of confidence in me.
The lesson consisted of me travelling the streets of Biloela and making mistakes like any student would on their first full drive. I crunched gears, I clutch coasted which I found out is a no no, I struggled with remembering to apply revs when going down gears but fixed it all with dads coaching. Oh and once and only once I didn't stop 1m behind the line at an intersection…I stopped 2m past the line…whoops lucky there was no traffic.Aside from that I am really looking forward to my next drive which could be this coming Sunday in Gladstone which means heavier traffic and more concentration.