14 Jan 2021

When we’re talking about Aussie rites of passages, getting your Ls is one of the big ones. You hit the roads armed with your log book, a handful of plastic plates that you’ll wedge behind the number plate on mum’s car every time you go for a drive and your licence with a photo that somehow manages to look worse than all your individual school photos combined.

Whether you’re learning in a manual or auto, in your big sister’s crapbox of a car or your dad’s brand new work car, there’s some things that we all experience while trying to learn to drive.

1. Begging anyone to take you driving

Especially when you realise you’ve had your Ls for six months and only racked up a solid eight hours out of 120, you’ll become accustomed to begging your mum/dad/sister/uncle/neighbour to take you driving.

Trips to the grocery store will become a family outing as you plonk yourself in the driver seat after your mum finally gives in to your incessant nagging and says you can drive.

 

2. Fearing for your life when your mate who just got their Ps gives you a lift

Not only do you have to put up with the teasing that will come if you’re the last in the group to get your Ps, you’ll also have to endure potentially life-threatening trips with your mate who just got their licence.

While we’re pretty good at telling off our driving friends when they don’t use their indicator or when they’re too busy trying to get the sweet & sour sauce to nugget ratio right to focus on the road–we’re pretty bad at calling them out from using their phone (only 35% of us would stop a driver from making a call when driving) which can make some trips with your mates stressful.

3. Dreading & counting down the days until you get your Ps

You can’t wait for the days of late night Kmart runs and driving your whole squad to Maccas for a feed and you have an epic road trip with your best friend planned for after graduation that relies on you getting your Ps on time.

At the same time, the thought of being out on the road all by yourself, without a capable adult who will remind you who has right of way in the confusing intersections or will stop you from accidentally doing illegal stuff, is kinda terrifying.

4. Parents screaming

We’ve all experienced parents who have screamed at us to slow down despite the fact that we’re sitting five kilometres under the limit, or who have dramatically clutched the passenger handle when they think we’ve forgotten how to brake.

You might have experienced your ‘rents screaming at you for things like grinding the gears, riding the clutch or leaving the handbrake on (guilty).

Or maybe you’ve sat through the road rage that happens when another car cuts you off and your dad decides to tell them exactly how he feels about their poor driving.

Whatever the situation is, when you’re on your Ls, you’ll experience a lot more of your parents screaming–at you and everyone else on the road.

5. The manual vs. auto debate

Your best friend who had no choice but to learn to drive in a manual because their family didn’t have an auto will probably argue the case for being able to have full control of the clutch and gears.

Your other mate who couldn’t quite get the hang of having three pedals will vouch for automatic cars all the way, despite disapproving looks from anyone who can drive a manual.

You’ll probably swing one way or the other (there’s no middle ground) and experience the ongoing debate on which one you should learn until everyone in your group has their licence. Our vote? Manual, always.

Year13 is running an online careers exhibition from May 17-19, and it’s gonna be a red hot viiiiibe. With 30+ speakers and over a hundred exhibitors, this expo is designed to help you find your passion and plan your future, whether you have zilch future plans, or wanna learn how to land your dream job.

Not to mention, there are some sweet prizes being given away left right and centre, (like 3 x $10,000 scholarships that you can put towards anything that helps pursue your passions). Madness!