Transport Story Time

My driving instructor David shook my hand as I took the keys and entered the car. He adjusted his instructor's mirror on the far right hand side of the windshield and handed me a progress card.

"Alright, Sean," my driving instructor said, "This is the course we'll be on; essentially practicing observation of road signs, stopping behind the stop line and just ultimately staying aware of your surroundings. I know you'll want to be motoring down sixteenth and you can give yourself a little more leeway in the real world but this is textbook driving so listen to my every instruction and you'll learn what your examiner expects. I can guarantee your examiner is going to be a former driving instructor and they're trained professionals so they know what to look for."

I nodded and started up the car. The driving instructor looked straight ahead and said, "Do you notice any potential sight hazards?"

I scanned the area in front of my driveway and said, "Lots. A big one for me personally is if an animal were to run out in front of the car seeing as I nearly ran over a squirrel once. God... My heart was POUNDING."

"Yup," David agreed, "What else?"

"Well, this damn bush in front of my yard," I said as I pointed to a tree next to the driveway, "Pedestrians could walk out from behind it."

"Good start," David responded, "Also keep your ears open for approaching cars. Now, put it in gear and let's get on the road."

I shifted the car into drive and rolled out to the end of the driveway, scanning left, middle and right over and over again.

"You'll want to turn right here," David instructed.

I willingly obliged and turned right out of the driveway, heading down the short, winding street to the stop sign. The lesson would continue on as we canvased much of White Rock, my observation being tested time and time again. I learned a few valuable lessons, simple rules of thumb that helped me measure distance and depth. Once the lesson was over I went inside and my dad had a talk with my driving instructor. As luck would have it, he previously knew David from the mornings when he would come to my dad's gas station for coffee, claiming it was high in quality and reasonably priced. My dad returned to the house only a few short minutes later and notified me that David said I would stand a good chance at passing my novice driver's test. I would say my confidence level rose but it was impossible to top that which I already possessed.