Ha ha ha. I learned to drive in Indonesia, a jeep. There were and are no automatic cars there. But my Dad still did not want me to drive his "sensitive" Fiat 1100, so I never used my driver's license and I used my bicycle for a long long time and later my scooter (Vespa)--only very long. In Germany I was on public transportation.After I immigrated to the US, I wanted to get my MLS when I started working in a library. There was a bus going to George Mason, but no transportation to go home. So I had to learn to drive and buy a car. I bought a VW411 automatic (gee how easy to drive a car!), when I just put on my permanent license plate on the car, I went to mushroom hunting in a park near Triangle with a co-worker. As a new driver, I made sure that I was driving not faster than 55 miles per hour, and driving in the middle lane. A new trailer driver, who just bought his RV in Florida, pulled by his big car was in a hurry, was going to pass me on my left side, then decided that the right side would be better, because it had a bigger shoulder. Because he changed lanes too quickly, his trailer jackknived and he was coming back to me, and in my little experience, instead of going to the right, I went to the left lane, ending driving on the shoulder, but not far enough from his car, he hit me alongside the right part of the car, fortunately not head on, my friend came out of the car and was jumping up and down on the street screaming "stupid idiot"--quite an adventure. I was just trembling! My car was totaled. Bought another car, same VW 411, but 1 year newer. In 1991 I finally had to give up my beloved 411, because oil was leaking and heater did not work. I gave it away to charity so young people could take it apart and put together again (that was what they said) and bought my Volvo manual shift. I got stuck on Leesburg Pike, on a hill, at the light. Terrible. Motor kept dying, because I did not give enough gas----I still have my 25 old car! --unfortunately it has rear-wheel drive, so I do not drive when it snows or icy whether is predicted. I hit black ice once, and I slid to someone's SUV back another time (I was on the first gear!), no damage on the other car, but mime was damaged. So no more driving when the weather forecast is snow or icy.
