> > Short story long, that was the toughest part of learning to drive, and it's not really what I would have expected to be the primary challenge.
> >
> > S "this learning-to-drive story brought to you by" am
>
> I had an easy time with this -- the tip I was given was that in a car with a hood ornament, you could line up the hood ornament with the line on the right side of the road, and you'd be positioned nicely in the lane. With our lanes being so wide everywhere, this rule of thumb worked well with pretty much any vehicle, and if it didn't have a hood ornament, you could just line up the center of the front of the hood with the line on the side. This worked beautifully for me, and I recommend it as a technique to anyone learning to drive. If you don't trust that it'll work in your particular vehicle (because of a short front end or something) just go out on an empty stretch of road somewhere, get the car positioned nicely in the lane (ideally getting someone more comfortable with driving to do it) and then find something that lines up with the line. Heck, mark a point on the hood with a piece of tape or something, if you must. Makes for a very smooth drive when you do something like this, too.
>
> Don Monkey

I betcha you have a few whippersnappers wondering what a hood ornament is. There are people around now who have never seen a bumper jack, a car with tail fins, a gas cap hidden behind the license plate, a continetal kit, a Burmuda bell, a wrap-around windshield, or a hood ornament.
Howard