Drive as soon as you pass your driving test. That is my advice to my friends. I know many women who do not have the courage to drive alone on the road after passing their driving tests. All of them just renew their licences every year and depend on their husbands, sons, daughters or other relatives to ferry them around. Two women I know only started driving themselves around after their husbands passed away suddenly.
They were forced by circumstances to do so. One of the women decided to drive her own car after she got tired of waiting for her daughter to pick her up after work. My sister-in-law only took the driving test after my younger brother died.
He used to ferry her around and suddenly, there was no one to send her to work anymore. All the people I know learnt how to drive a manual car first before switching to a car with an automatic transmission. Some of the women I know do not know how to drive a manual car after switching to a car with an automatic transmission. My 20-year-old niece was praised by one of her girlfriends recently for being able to drive a manual car around Kuching.
The girlfriend had switched to a car with an automatic transmission soon after passing her driving test and now, cannot drive a manual car. I was also praised by a classmate recently for being able to drive a manual car. My classmate told me that she could only drive a car with an automatic transmission now. “I went for a refresher course on how to drive a manual car but it did not help.
I gave up driving a manual car after my vehicle stalled several times on the road,” she confessed. No doubt, some women who drive manual cars can also drive cars with an automatic transmission.
However, all women (at least the women I know) who drive cars with an automatic transmission cannot drive manual cars. So far, there is no such problem with the male drivers I know. My next advice to women especially, as soon as they pass their driving tests is to practise, practise and practise. Remember practice makes perfect.
I f you have jus t got your driver’s licence, it is good to sit beside an experienced driver. This is my advice straight from the heart. He or she can guide you on the road.
My niece recently began driving my son and I to work. I was surprised to discover that she was still unfamiliar with some of the routes even though she had been living in Kuching almost her entire life. I suppose your view of the roads is different when you are a driver and a passenger. I love visiting the wet market at Taman Samarindah in Kota Samarahan because of the wide varieties of seafood, vegetables and food there.
One day, I decided to drive to the wet market alone without my nephew at the wheel. Believe it or not, I just could not find my way to the market and had to return disappointed to Kuching. With my nephew at the wheel, I had not taken the trouble to remember the way.
The next day, when my nephew drove me to the market again, I took the trouble to memorise the route. Now, I can find my way there easily! I remember the first few times I drove a car alone in Kuching when it was still a town and not a city.
My car kept stalling and stopping because I forgot to engage the first gear each time I stopped. My instructor had not emphasised the need to do so to me. On my first few drives in the city, I was cursed and shouted by a few impatient male drivers. I remember one who shouted rudely,”Is this your father’s road?” I did not get angry.
Instead, I wondered what would my reply be if indeed the road bore my father’s name. I remember the first time my son drove my car after passing his driving test. It was hilarious except all of us inside the car did not dare to laugh. When he turned left, we all swerved left. When he swerved right, we swerved right. When he stopped, we all jerked forward.
In my niece’s case, she reported to me, after spending a long holiday with her parents in Johor Baharu, that her mother trembled in the passenger’s seat everytime she drove her father’s car. Because my niece passed her driving test recently, she is required to display a “P” plate at the front and rear of the vehicle she is driving. Because she is driving my car in Kuching, I let the “P” plates remain on the vehicle even when she is not in it. It has come to my not ice that some male drivers have no respect for those who are driving cars with the “P” plates.
I have been driving for years and I find some of these disrespectful drivers try to over take the car when I am behind the wheel at odd angles. How can they assume that all those driving cars with “P” plates have just passed their driving tests?
Many car owners who share their vehicles with their children and relatives, I think, find it more practical to let the “P” plates remain at the front and rear of the vehicles. Otherwise, we have to bear the inconvenience of putting up the “P” plates when a new driver is behind the wheel and taking them down when an experienced, old driver takes the wheel.
When you live in a city like Kuching, the car is not a luxury but a necessity. Owning your own car means you can go anywhere you want without depending on the public transport or your friends or relatives. Owning your own car can save you valuable time and makes sure you are punctual for work.
But owning your own car will not save you money because of high cost of fuel and maintenance costs you have to fork out.M eanwhile, according to a recent news report, with most people preferring cars; the rate of vehicle ownership in Kuching is 1.4 cars per household. This has led to a large increase in private vehicles and worsened the traffic congestion in the city.
One of the challenges facing the public transportation sector now is how to mitigate the traffic congestion in the city. Although I have been driving for decades, I hate being caught up in traffic jams and try to avoid the rush hour or peak hour jams. Traffic jams test the patience and skills of those who have just passed their driving tests, like my 20-year-old niece.
Some parents, who are overprotective, try to stop their children from taking up driving lessons because they think that the congested roads are not safe for them. My advice to such parents is “Don’t worry unnecessarily. Let your children drive. They need to be mobile. Pray and trust in God. What will be, will be.”
