Driving lessons to remember... and forget

http://www.smh.com.au/news/richard-glover/terror-of-learner-drivers/2008/05/09/1210131245980.html

Folks,

When I read this, I had a bellylaugh.. and then the cold sweats from mental flashbacks started.

In Western Australia, L-platers need only do 25 hours of logged driving before sitting for a computer-based test. If they pass that test, then they get their P-plates for 2 years. Personally, I think 50 hours is better.

I can fully sympathise with the writer's strain and fear at having to endure so many hours of playing driving instructor. Every single kerb, car, T junction, set of lights, pedestrian, wall... heck, just leaving the front gate of your house, was a potential crash or bingle waiting to happen. I lost count at the number of times when I yelled: "Stop, stop, STOP!!!"

But then, maybe this time is also one of modern families' rite of passage in much the same way that some families have their man/girl-child go through bar/bat mitzvahs or circumcision ceremonies or joining the army or getting their first slave-wage job.

So, next time you see an L-plater on the road, spare a thought for the chap sitting in the front passenger seat. He or she's either terrified beyond words or quietly proud that their offspring's going through a ritual of impending adulthood.

Yeah, I've got one more Ninjette to go. Hopefully, she'd be more driver savvy by the time she gets her L-plate and spare her old man the white knuckle rides.

Ninja