Gritting gears, reversing headaches

Sheldon Williams, Gleaner Writer

This is the second in a four-part series, taking us on a young man's journey from longing to drive to considering first-car options. Today, the first-lesson experience continues.

There I was behind a steering wheel and driving. Suddenly, a wonderful feeling came over me and lingered as I made my way down Mountain View Avenue. Still, my instructor had to be as alert as ever because I still had not grasped the theory of gear-changing, which he had taught me moments before.

As I basked in the glorious moment of my introductory lesson I received a wake up call - a really loud one.

The deafening horns of impatient motorists who had an overt disdain for the 'L' on the vehicle soon made me edgy, as they made their intentions to overtake known. It was clear that they were in no mood to accommodate a novice travelling at about 30 km/h. My instructor told me not to be daunted, to stand my ground and "mek dem wait", but his motivating words were soon overshadowed by the ensemble of horns.

After I allowed the impatient drivers to overtake my heart rate returned to normal and I was able to concentrate.

changing gears

I proceeded along Mountain View Avenue and onto Arthur Wint Drive. Still, I just could not change the gears properly. Soon, my 45 minutes had expired, bringing the curtains down on my bittersweet first lesson.

As the weeks progressed, I improved gradually, certain instructions becoming entrenched in my brain. Operations like adjusting the mirrors to ensure complete visibility, lowering the handbrake before attempting to move off and allowing sufficient time to indicate before changing lanes, or attempting to turn onto another road, were soon achieved effortlessly.

Following numerous weeks of driving on main roads and suffering a cramped left leg brought on by 'clutching' while driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I was soon introduced to the yard test where I would get my practice in parallel parking, reversing and hill-starting.

For the first, the exercise was reversing through the designated lane, marked by stones, that was a replica of the actual testing lane at all the island's examination depots. At first, it brought on headaches and neckaches as I failed miserably on at least my first 10 attempts. It seemed hopeless, initially, and I felt like giving up.

My frustration was prolonged by the unappreciated behaviour of my instructor who made the mistake of shouting at me, babbling about the potential damage to the van from hitting the stones rather than reversing perfectly through the lane.

However, rather than retaliate I chose to remain calm and ignore him for the rest of the lesson.

Weeks later, under the guidance of a more respectful and professional instructor employed to the same company, I mastered reversing and could do it in my sleep.