Quote Originally Posted by Logan
OK, Jess. Did you say he is using his left foot in an automatic? Why? Drivers training, at least what I know about, says to use the right foot only on the gas pedal and the brake. Of course, if there is a clutch, then the left foot gets put to work.

I took my 14 year old stepdaughter out on Sunday afternoon, at her request, to begin driving lessons. We found the biggest, emptiest parking lot in town and did a lot of moving the foot back and forth between gas and brake before I ever let her take the car out of drive! LOL! She requested that I teach her to drive, not her dad, not her mom, not her stepdad. I guess I appear to the calmest of the 4! She won't be eligible to have a permit until late April 2008, so we are getting a head start. But I will not be letting her drive on public roads at all.

Logan

Joe has driven before & he had his own car. Only problem is that it was 99% illegal driving & no one taught him... He taught himself. He hasn't driven in a few years now, so breaking his habbits can easly be corrected.

This is why he came to me, becuase he knows I'll teach him properly & I wont get all crazy on him.

He knows the rules of the road fairly well & does stop properly, uses the turn signals & does the shoulder check 80% of the time. So hes not the best, but the areas we are driving have very little to no traffic. I refuse to let him drive where there is a lot of traffic until his jerkiness is gone & that left foot issue is resolved. I know hes trying really hard to break that habbit, as he tells me NO left leg when he uses it. Its cute how he corrects himself before I do hehe So he is learning.

I also think making him drive in a parking lot would do more damage to his confidence then anything. I don't think he'll hit another car or anything, he does the speed limit & doesn't come close to tailgating or anything else bad like that. Hes really good at his distances.

I know his jerkiness is caused by who he is & it'll more then likely always be there. I'm just hoping we can get it more under control, as I think driving with him for an hour or more, will make me car sick.

When I say jerkiness I don't mean hes all over the road, hes never left his lane & hasn't even come close to hitting a curb...Hes VERY hyper active (this is why he cannot put on weight & is a bag of bones.. hes about 6' & weighs 125lb)... He also has Anxiety like me, so he a bundle of nerves trying to be perfect.

When hes finished driving I let him know he did great. He brings up the left foot thing & the jerkiness & I just brush it off, as I don't want him to worry about it. I know he knows its incorrect & I see him changing, so there is no need to rub it in his face more... I tell him he should just be glad that instructors don't use tazers to correct driving errors He loved that comment... we laughed & joked about that hehe