Siena:

Turtle? What's a "turtle" doing in a car?

Lol, turtle na common naija term for accelerator. If you notice most manual cars, you'd see that its somewhat shaped like that of the back of a tortoise.
@topic
I've had a driving instructor, mum's colleague and my husband teach me how to drive. I'm still yet to perfect the driving

i dont know how to drive car except bicycle and motorcycle but i strongly believe in myself if am chance to get car key, i will drive car.

My dad...

Nobody taught me how to drive

I only watch them how its being driven

Menh...trust G.R.A boiz.once u knw wia dey do keep da car key,move it n hit off da road.bt whn u bash da car #yawa dey ......U're on ur own bro !

tellwsdom: No1, Even when I got offers. I said NO.

Now, I think I can drive manual with one leg

bros abeg pass me dat weed wey u dey sniff

Went to driving skool, M̶̲̥̅γ̲̣̣̥ thoery teacher was very strict buh d practical guy cool small. Prefer automatic to manual buh dnt ask me why.

sorry, I feel like writing an epistle. Memories of how I started driving just sends some nostalgia and I can only but laugh now when I think of how I started

I initially registered in a driving school adjacent to my street. The grumpy mid-aged man...I suppose from his looks, or perhaps because he had a permanent grimace and hardly ever smiled except you had some money to offer him. he asked for 6000 naira for a 2 weeks (3 sessions of 45 minutes each week) training, after which he said he will evaluate my performance and decide whether I needed top-up lessons. Then he demanded that I pay him 1000 for each lesson. However, as I was eager and enthusiastic about learning, I paid him 4k 'up-front' not knowing what I was in for. I dindt mind the jalopy haggard looking beetle (volkswagen) that sneezed, coughed, jerked and made all sorts of horible noise. Infact you dare not board such vehicle in neat (white) clothings. The seats were darker than coal tar- the dirtiest ever!

then the lessons began. He forgot he was teaching a novice and expected me to perform magic. he complained bitterly about my not being able to change the manual transmission gears, removing my foot from the pedal so fast and so on. He went as far as hitting me while driving (hot knocks). Then I lost my temper. He asked me to come agin the next day for more lessons but I bluntly refused, forfeited my payments and rather, started making enquiries about another driving lesson from a neighbour. I was later told by my neighbour (after I narrated my experience with this grumpy man, that he is actually very impatient with beginners and only interested in money - as a matter of fact, she left after the first day as well. She called a young lad (aged about 25) who had passed driving test and had a driving license to put me thorough. His name - Sly. Sly was amazing with control. He had a perfect touch on every component and in less than 3 lessons, I had started driving. He came every morning to pick me for work. Then one day, he deliberately decided not to come and switched off his phone. I was stranded and desperate to leave the house as I was running late for work. I had no choice but to move the car to his house at least.

Inserted the keys and turned it clockwise, it reeved. heart pumping, beating fast and so nervous. I switched on the AC. I was there for about 30minutes. The Ac was on but I was sweating. I engaged the cluctch, changed the gear and pedaled softly but with so much fear. So many thoughts raved through my mind. What if...I run into someone, all the what if's came racing through my mind. I came out of the street to a T junction and then gradually joined the other cars. Trust Nigerian drivers, it didn't take them split seconds to know I was a learner. I hesistated with every move and the 'horn' from other cars came blarring. Some were spewing expletives...'commot there joor' sweegbe', I became more nervous, this time, sweating through my ears...

tbc

I went to a driving school. The instructor given to me was an a/ss. I hated him. always complaining and nagging. If i mistakenly turn steering badly....na Yawa. If I look gear before changing it....wahala! Kai!


And the car used ehn. To press clutch down na exercise (Very hard to press down) . Steering was not smoothly turning as well. When no be say na truck I wan drive!

..........continued


Then I remembered what Sly advised me - he said "just ignore them, they won't fly over you". He lived only 3 streets away from me but the journey to his house was one dreadful stunt for me - my first in the streets (I had before then, been making attempts only on deserted open fields in a sec school playing ground after their closing hours). As I approached his house, I heaved a heavy sigh of relief. Then I saw him standing at the gate with hands tucked into his pockets. As soon as he sighted me in the car, he jumped and screamed with delight as if he just won a lottery...shouting ..."yeeees yeeees I knew you'll do it, I deliberately switched off my phone so that you wont be able to reach me and only that way, you'll make an attempt to drive yourself a few meters at least". I was fuming with rage.

Me: that's silly, why would you do that? I am not confident yet.
Sly: Well, you have to try (smiling sheepishly )
Me: Now jump into the car and take me to work ( I paid him on a separate arrangement for this till I am able to do so on my own)
Sly: haaa, Nooooooooo oooooo!
Me: What do you mean? you expect me a learner like me to drive through busy third mainland to VI?
Sly: No but just try to get to the expressway junction, then I'll take over from there. In that way, you'll improve your confidence and I'll gradually enlogate the distance with each progress.
Me: ok jump into the car and give me instructions

That was how we continued for about another 2 weeks, untill Sly gradually increased the distance I have to go and then he faded into tin air.

I had no choice, but to move...and I've been moving for years now. never had any issue.

the first longest distance was from Abule-egba to Palmgrove.





To sly, I dedicate this short story of my first driving experince!

.

I was never thought to drive.I learned by observing my dad when he is driving.At 18yrs,I was already perfect. All I did was move the car (504 GR)myself.

Omaresh: Well mine was out of frustration,after begging my dad and my bro to teach me they refused and i got angry one day i finished my chores took the car and drove a very long distance in a major road,i came back home without a scratch on the car and since then i've driven a Toyota Avalon,highlander,sienna,4runner and the list is just endless... Hoping to drive a range rover before i turn 18....

Before 18?? That's illegal you know...

The truth is that













Ehm













I can't drive

My elder bro & dat 1 na fire,he jst want u 2 perform magic by drivin perfectly on d 1st day..I rememba a day he got pissed off,he asked me 2 pack,he droped,took a bike & left..mehn,had 2 call my frnd 2 come help me drive home.my bro is a horrible teacher :-

My mum. Hmm...It was hell!

No one taught me......

No one taught me how to drive. I was always sitting in front and watching the pedals,gear,etc and gradually i started applying the same atimes when washing the car(i will start the ignition and move the car back and front). Gradually i entered the road not minding the intimidation from other cars,buses,trucks etc.

After a year i drove from Lagos to Akwa-Ibom state and that was it.

N/B1) I didn't use the L(learner)sign (2) My driving started with a peugeot 504 Station wagon from there to Toyota Hilux

prsn no teach me oh..... i jus carry ashawo key entre street and sped off with one of the parked vehicles.... armed robber tinz in my mind

9ice 1 (paul walker) ;D9ice 1 (paul walker)

My cousin Terry taught me how to drive and that is one thing i will hardly forget about him. He wasn't strict.

Our driver(Mr steve) willingly tot me hw 2 drive with a Toyota corolla back in 2001. I learnt it once & d@ was all..He was so impressed.

too many liars on this thread... it seems 80% of NLers were not taught how to drive.. Y'all just entered your papa cars and started driving manual cars....
My own story.. a driver taught me how to drive.. he came on day 1 and taught me on a field and then he stopped coming...
the following week a friend of mine came to visit me and I wanted to show off so I told him I'l drop him at home with the car.. a voxwagen beetle... I got in the car and drove to the highway, it was when I got to his junction that all hell broke loose.. I was trying to turn into his junction, didnt know that I was supposed to change from gear 3 to 2 before turning.. so I turned on speed... that was whn I saw two pry schl boys crossing the road.. ages 7 and 4.. the older one managed to escape but I hit the younger one. I was too confused and inexperienced to match the brake... I ran over the boy. it was the pillar of the street gate that stopped the car. I could hear my friend scream... I looked back and saw the boy lying still in the middle of the road.. I was so scared.. I got out of the car and walked towards the boy.. suddenly the boy got up. It was a miracle. the boy had been hit and had laid postrate on the floor. Thank God he didnt try to get up when the car was running over him.. thank God none of d tires ran over him... I can nevet forget that day.. I repaired the car the following day and by the following week I was drivin again...

As a kid, my dad loved to toss me in the car whenever he is going to visit his friends and then while he drives he used to explain to me the driving principles and the connection between the clutch and the gear vs the function of accelerator and the brake. Little did he know that I was soon going to put the theory into practice.

He used to warm his car while he dresses up for work every morning and 1st I started helping him to turn the ignition off , then I started to do basic car checks like help him gauge the oil, top the radiator, clean the battery and oil the terminals. My dad was impressed and he became relaxed and allowed me to do it.

One morning he was busy dressing up, I moved the car out of the garage gently and drove it down 2 streets and back, my dad was already standing in front of the house scared to death. But the rest became history. And this wasn't automatic, I mean how many automatics were there back in '94?

And peugeot 504 for that matter.

Coldplay007: too many liars on this thread... it seems 80% of NLers were not taught how to drive.. Y'all just entered your papa cars and started driving manual cars....
...

Coldplay, u see some ppl might be lying, that's their problem but I can tell u, driving a car is not a big deal for some ppl. I had about 5 close friends as a teenager and believe me, only one out of us could not learn to drive by himself because his parent didnt have a car. The rest picked their parents car and started driving. So it is not difficult for me to believe anyone that claims to have learnt how to drive by him/herself. All my brothers drove a car by themselves. The best time to learn a car is when u are young, u are not afraid of anything, and u want impress ur friends and the girls next door and down the street that u are now driving a car. So it was then a big deal and u really want to drive a car as if it means success.

Harsh wen I paid him? "Your clutch n ur brake" n later I burnt our clutch pad

My friend taught me,he wasn't strict wit me,that's why i learned it with a day,he was just afraid i would crash his car

A friend taught me how to drive. He was not strict.

Anvaller:

Coldplay, u see some ppl might be lying, that's their problem but I can tell u, driving a car is not a big deal for some ppl. I had about 5 close friends as a teenager and believe me, only one out of us could not learn to drive by himself because his parent didnt have a car. The rest picked their parents car and started driving. So it is not difficult for me to believe anyone that claims to have learnt how to drive by him/herself. All my brothers drove a car by themselves. The best time to learn a car is when u are young, u are not afraid of anything, and u want impress ur friends and the girls next door and down the street that u are now driving a car. So it was then a big deal and u really want to drive a car as if it means success.

kk.. but it sounds too good to be true...

Lol u just reminded me of something. My late fiancé , he was more than very strict. He would call me all sorts of names if I did anything wrong, my laughter even annoyed him more. He wanted me to learn everything in one day,how is dat possible na. I couldn't continue after his death sha, God rest his soul.