Poll of the Day > I have trouble turning right/left out of a driveway onto a street.

(+) Yeah! (+)

My driving instructor has always told me not to panic or to over-react while driving in potentially dangerous environments.

And yet, I cannot seem to follow his advice all that well whenever attempting to turn right or left in the presence of oncoming traffic. One example of my inability to master my nerves in traffic includes situations when I must make an unprotected left turn in an intersection that also grants the right-of-way to cars who must drive straight across my path of travel. I just panic, worry that there will not be an opening in oncoming traffic and that I will get stuck in the intersection, and accelerate through my turn even if there were a car driving in the opposite direction that would have been a few seconds from hitting me if the other driver did not have the sense to brake properly.

Similarly, when making left or right turns out of some driveway into some two-way street, I am always worrying about the front of my car impeding traffic driving on the right side of the road. For future reference, I live in America, so the right side of the road is closest to the driveway I am exiting. I am not sure if I am explaining myself clearly. Anyway, I am always panicking about impeding others while moving up the street in order to see if my path is clear, and usually just turn even if there were a car coming up fast on the lane I was turning into. If I am turning right, I am worried about the other driver having to swerve to avoid me. If I am turning left, I am worried about having a very slim opening or that another opening will come up and I will not even realize it, which is why I accelerate in these type of turns. This seems to me like a serious shortcoming that will hurt my chances of successfully obtaining my driver's license and in driving safely, in general.

Does this board have any tips for me?

I must have these answers.
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Just keep driving. It gets easier over time. Everyone is nervous when the start.

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give up on your dreams of becoming a motorist

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I hate turning right onto a two-lane street, when there's cars parked alongside the curb. In my truck, I fear I'm going to crash into the cars so I drive slightly into the other lane (when it's safe to do so) and then get back into my lane.

Same with driving on a two-lane street in general. Spatial awareness is a bitch.

OniRonin posted...

give up on your dreams of becoming a motorist

LOL, that's not nice!

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Next time imagine you're flying a plane out from your driveway.

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I started driving when I was 16 and never found anything to be hard or difficult? Sry can't help you. GL.