Risk Driving Is A Must

I did my risk driving today as a requirement to get a driving license here. I should say it was a nightmare in a broad daylight. My driving instructor had booked me for today’s risk driving. I thought it was perfect cos I’m getting loose with my workloads. I had nothing to think about but this and oh, how it made me nervous. I had to skip blogging last night cos my mind was preoccupied with this thing. Then I had to wake up early just to get to the place. It took me three buses and had to leave home right before 6am. Geez, that was the earliest time of day I’d ever left home so far. My nervousness rose to the highest level when I reached the place. I didn’t have the faintest idea what I should be doing there. I remember my work colleague who failed the first time she had her risk driving and she had to pay another 1600sek again to do it the second time.

We were 15 student-drivers divided into four groups with one instructor each. My feet were shaking when we were on our way to the parking lot where the cars were waiting for us. I drove a Volvo C30, kind of small and easy to handle. It was bizarre cos the moment I sat in the car, I felt relaxed and the nervousness just faded away. But here comes the nightmare of all nightmares! For more than 2 and a half hours of speed driving, I experienced how the car skidded, spun a couple of times and collided to a fake danger in a form of rubber posts. I felt like I was in a car race when my car turned twice when the instructor asked me to drive and maneuver the car in a 70km/h speed. But perfect driving and control of the car was not the aim of the training; it was to experience the different situations when driving in different speed and most importantly, when and how to use the brake effectively. It was horrible when my turn came to drive in a roundabout with water, as if it was raining. When the instructor asked me to raise the speed in a given sign, my car got into a skid and it was really hard to gain control of the car again. Good thing it stayed within the roundabout.

In one situation, the instructor told me to drive and control the car in a 75km/h and stopped before a curved road. I was shocked when he said the 75 cos we were told beforehand that the speed limit we’d be training would be from 40 to 70 only. Ack! Instead of steering the car to the right, the car went left and almost turned. He said I did a good job on 70 so he gave me 75 to know the difference. The last one was kind of test for us to make use of the brake on a rough road. Again the speed was 70km/h. I did this twice cos my instructor didn’t hear the brakes screeched when I stopped the car.

Way to go for my driving license. I need it badly for my job and this is my goal before the year ends. Crossed fingers!