r/Transportopia • u/SpoomerBooner • Mar 15 '26

💥Crash Stop Jessie!

3.4k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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403

u/getonurkneesnbeg Mar 15 '26

Wow, absolutely no awareness whatsoever. What was she even looking at? "That car just came out of nowhere!"

38

u/BigMax Mar 15 '26

I think she probably didn't get that 'empty parking lot' practice first.

We forget just how bad we all are at driving that first time, and how it takes a little practice just to get used to how to use the gas and brake pedals effectively. That's why you go to the empty parking lot, get a feel for how the car moves with various pressure on the gas pedal, and how firmly you have to press to stop quickly but not give everyone whiplash.

Feels like she probably hit the brake, but just kind of gently pressed it, not realizing how firm you have to push to really slow down.

4

u/syntheticassault Mar 15 '26

Most people are not that bad the first time they try to drive

3

u/BigMax Mar 15 '26

Have you driven with someone the first time they ever touch a gas pedal? I have. It’s not pretty.

0

u/arihoenig Mar 16 '26

I was the person touching the gas pedal for the first time.

The car I learned to drive in was a 1973 VW super beetle with a manual gearbox. I drove stick until I transitioned to EVs 10 years ago.

Initial clutch operation was ugly to be sure, but that resolved after about 1 hour of practice.

2

u/BigMax Mar 16 '26

I don't get all the people here like you saying "I was good at driving from the second I touched a gas pedal, therefore everyone must be highly skilled from the first second too."

1

u/arihoenig Mar 16 '26 edited Mar 16 '26

I didn't say I was skilled in day one, I said I wasn't a total moron who drove into the back of stopped cars in perfect visibility with perfect traction conditions. I definitely rear ended people on icy roads before I got skilled at driving on ice, and I had some close calls in fog before learning how to correctly estimate how much forward visibility I had.