> > Don't aim at the center of the road. Aim at
> > the center of your lane. Try thinking of your
> > lane as the only road out there. In the
> > driver's seat, you need to be over the track
> > where the left wheels roll. You can see the
> > track on most roads. Or keep yourself just to
> > the left of the oil streak down the middle of
> > your lane.
>
> Even if I think of my lane as the only road out there, I'll still be too far to the right. Trust me on this; I've tried. I'm just so used to the perspective from the passenger seat that driving in the "right" place simply feels wrong!
>
> 'Twould be nice if most roads had some sort of track/oil streak/whatever that I could follow; it's an actual, *visible* hint I can use to position myself correctly. Is there anything else I can use as a concrete (rather than imaginary) guide as to where I'm supposed to be in the lane? That would *REALLY* help me.
>
> The worst roads by far for me, incidentally, are those where the center line is so faded that it's almost impossible to see. Ugh. Don't even get me *started* on that topic...
>
> -- codeman"a transparent car would also be useful, for that matter"38

OK, since this seems to be the one sticky point, I'll try to offer what I was taught.

Before I do, I want to say that the rest of Howard's advice was perfect; the only thing in there that I didn't use myself was the thing about driving towards a spot in the road, and all the rest of that stuff has helped IMMENSELY for me. I still look at signs and stuff when I am a passenger in a vehicle, and if I am in the passenger seat (I don't do this in the back seat) I shoulder check whenever the driver puts on the turn signal. Practice, practice, practice. The "driving in the boonies" advice is also one of my favorites, and I can't agree enough with both Gahalia and Howard about getting somebody else to drive with. You need someone who can be relaxed. In the last three years, I taught two of my friends how to drive a standard transmission in my own car (my FIRST car) and no matter what they did, I stayed calm and gave gentle advice. One of them took about five minutes to get good, and then about four more hours to believe that he was good. The other took about half an hour to get good. Both of them seemed quite happy, and I think the key was that I stayed relaxed. Anyway, go back and read the entirety of Howard's first post again, and then read it again, and then do everything in it.

My advice for staying centered in your lane. I was taught that on older vehicles that have a hood ornament, the hood ornament was originally intended to help you line up your vehicle on the road. When you have a vehicle with a hood ornament, make sure that the hood ornament lines up with the line on the right hand shoulder while you are driving. If it doesn't have a hood ornament, use a spot in the centre of the hood, at the very front. If necessary, ask the owner of the vehicle if you can put masking tape on that spot or something, to help. If the road you're driving on doesn't have a line on the shoulder, then you're probably not in the boonies. Go find an area with a shoulder line and no/little traffic, and practice until you feel totally comfortable. I probably drove like that for the first year or two that I was driving.

Let me know if you have any other situational problems with this solution--the wrong size of vehicle might make it harder to use, or something. I'm not sure, since I stopped using this trick before I ever drove anything with a weird shape (minivans, pickup trucks, moving trucks.) If you're really unsure about how well this works, take your vehicel to a desrted road, line yourself up like this, come to a complete stop, and get out and look around the vehicle to see how far you are from all the edges. If necessary, adjust.

One more thing: I want to emphasize that thing about getting somebody new to drive with. If I was anywhere within a hundred miles, I would probably volunteer myself, just because it is that important.

Don "That turned out kind of long, didn't it?" Monkey