Driving on an Empty Stomach

Yesterday I arrived safely at home without a scratch after having done some tough driving. I was extremely tired as I arrived but was glad that I had finally made it back home safely on that day.

The main issue was that I had two additional short trips to make that day besides the bit longer afternoon drive. What complicated matters a bit further was an additional unplanned trip, which was not very short it actually took some 2 and a half hours or so round trip. The distance was not far, but the traffic was extremely slow in several parts of the way not to mention we did not know the way and like got lost several times! Despite of that, I was satisfied to have done it for it involved some good cause not to mention the lessons learned.

I had done all that on an almost empty stomach for I had just snatched some brief spoons of a sugary snack for a breakfast for I did not have an appetite in the morning. After the long slow drive the time for my evening trip neared. I became short of time, did not have time to lunch so I again snatched a brief two spoons of honey to give me some energy. I needed the energy not just for driving, but mainly to be able to stand and teach for hours in between my final evening trip.

It was clear I did not have enough 'fuel' for my body on that day which caused my driving to be a bit sluggish at times. Although I did not get any scratches on the car yet I received a few honks from other drivers.

I guess one should not have long drives while hungry for this could result in sluggish driving. One should also try to avoid rush hours because this leads to the most tiresome driving for the driver, the car and the passengers. Finally, it's a good idea to check Google Earth or any sure guide to know your way before going.

Lesson: Never drive without enough 'fuel' for your body.

Deep Scratch

Is this a self fulfilling prophesy again? Today is the 13th of the month, almost the middle of the month near which I was trying to be extra careful in order not to make a new accident, bump or scratch for my i10. I had in mind to watch out for the 15th of the month, but hey, it happened today, unfortunately.

I was trying to park at night yet the narrow street I was at was so busy. I usually went to that place on Friday mornings when it was rather uncrowded. Today I went on a Wednesday evening. Not finding a place to park I waited a few moments on one side of the road with my emergency flashers on to allow the traffic in this narrow two-way side street to pass. I then reversed moving backwards and stopped to give more rooms for the rest of the traffic to pass by. After the street was finally empty from any traffic, I attempted to move backwards in search for a place to park in. I heard a load a long bumping sound, it came from my left side. It turned out that I was sharply scratching against a perpendicularly parked car on my left side while I was reversing back. I was shocked and extremely unhappy about that.

Later on when I checked the damage after I had parked I found that the scratch in my car was deeper than anyone I had before, yet thank God its length was not much.

Lesson: No matter what, whenever you are reversing make sure you are at a safe distance from cars parked next to you. Then and only then can you start reversing.

Sharp Braking

Yesterday I was saved from an almost sure accident. I was driving back home on the fast lane and there was that car in front of me going forward with high speed. I was driving behind that car and matching its speed. Never had it crossed my mind that the car in front of me might suddenly make a sharp stop, which it actually did. Seems there was some sort of speed bump or actually low remnants of some sort of 'unofficial' speed bum which the car at my front did not notice until the very last moment causing the driver to take a sudden decision to stop sharply. Me being behind that car and not expecting it to stop sharply I had to hit the brakes even more sharply managing to get my car to a complete stop just a few inches before colliding with it. In my brain, the the last split second I believed I was going to collide with it. Thank God I have not. Anyway, now I have a new lesson to learn, and learn well I should.

Lesson: No matter what, even if you are not expecting the speeding car in front of you to make any sudden sharp stops, keep a good distance between it and your car just in case anything unexpected happens. It's worth it.

Forgetting Parking Lights On

The day before yesterday, which coincided with the last day of 2009, I forgot my parking lights on after parking the car and went upstairs to my house without noticing they were on.

The reason why I forgot them on was that I was driving during the day and normally when I drive during the day I do not turn the parking lights (nor headlights for sure) on. So that is why as I parked the car I left it without noticing that the lights were on, since it was still daylight and I know I do not switch the lights on when during the day.

It was not until I looked at the car from the window as the night approached that I observed my front lights were not dim but were shining. At first I believed it was the reflection of the street lights next to the car that made them shine. Yet observing that all the cars parked next to mine had their front lights so dim I realized that indeed my parking lights were on. I thought of getting down and switching them off but was a bit lazy to do so. I was planning to go out in an hour or so anyway so I postponed switching them off right then. As the night approached more, it was so clear my parking lights were on for they shone brightly in the darkening street.

Although I was about to change my mind about going out yet the state of my parking lights being left on encouraged me to go out. I waited till the time came and went down stairs to shut the parking lights off. I then went to the place I was going to, it was close by my house so I went walking.

Lesson: Remember to make sure that your parking lights (and headlights) are turned off as you take your keys out and get out of the car. This can be easily checked from the dashboard which is lit up when the parking lights (or headlights) are still on.

Speeding Bump

Seems like it's a self-fulfilling prophesy. Upon looking back at the posts in this blog that included bumps I noticed that the last couple of bumps happened at the 'corners' of a month or at its middle, that is near the 30th or 15th of the month! Today I had a new bump, and hey, today is the 29th of the month!

Okay, this time the bump was really my mistake. I'm even ashamed to disclose completely what happened. But let's just say I was driving in the middle lane and wanted to turn right. I signaled right to move to the right lane first before the right turn came. There was a car in the right lane from behind which did not want me to move to the right lane and kept honking. So I let that car move ahead of me then moved to the right lane behind it. I speeded ahead to catch up with it, and yes that was my mistake, I admit it with a bit of shame. The right turn approached and I did not know if that care in front of me was turning right or going straight, I guess he signaled right but I can't remember now. Anyway, when I got right next to the right turn I discovered he was not turning right and he was going straight. Now here was my real mistake: I speeded ahead turning right yet something I was not expected happened, the car in front of me which did not turn right and was moving straight ahead stopped! That car stopped I guess due to traffic in front of it. I was honking all my way behind that car even before the right turn. I honked, moved forward and turned right bumping the car from its right side rear and my car from its front left side! It was my first time (and hopefully last) to bump my car from the front left side. Now I have my car bumped and scratched from the four corners (funny, but true).

Lesson: Never speed behind a car no matter how much it honked or annoyed you. This is childish behavior. I repeat, this is childish behavior and could cause your car to be scratched or worse yet might result in a serous accident. Don't go crazy when driving. Safety first.

Night Bump while Turning

Yesternight I bumped the car, lightly thank God, while relatively slowly turning right. I bumped into a parked car. It was a considerably soundy bump. It's been a long time (two months exactly) since I last bumped my car.

I'm writing this now so it can be a lesson learnt for me. I was moving off in a side street and about to turn right. I car was coming from the opposite direction. The two mistakes I did were:

1. Turning my lights off!
2. Focusing too much attention on the opposite car approaching while giving less attention to the parked car on my right side.

I thus heard a soundy bumping sound upon my turning to the right. I was unable to notice the car parked at the corner of the road due to my putting the lights off (courtesy to the opposite car approaching) and focusing too much on that approaching car.

Lesson: When turning to the right side always pay attention to any cars parked at the corner of the street. Always keep the lights on at night even if a car is approaching from the opposite direction.

Without Changing Lanes

Was going back home from Resala a few hours ago when I had to make a U-turn in Abbas El Akkad street. I was in the left most lane moving forward in preparation for the U-turn I was about to make a short distance ahead to my left side. I suddenly heard a sharp scratching sound from my right side. I stopped at once just to find a car approaching me from the right side and scratching against the body of my dear i10. I car coming from my right side was attempting to overtake me from my right side in order to move to the left most lane in preparation for turning left.

We both stood still for a few moments not wanting to move. The car on my right side was slightly ahead of me. Both of us did not know what to do. We both wanted to prevent any possible further damage to our cars. He then moved slowly away from my car, I can't remember backwards or forwards, probably he moved forward and away from my car towards the right side. He then took to the left lane like he intended from the start. I was in deep worry what the scratch would look like on the right side of my car.

View Larger Map

Although upon analysis of the situation we find that it was his mistake not mine since he is the once who was attempting to change lanes and he got too close to my car while I had nothing but the pavement on my left side and could not move any more to the left, yet I did want to look at it as being my mistake. I guess I could have avoided such a hazard had I looked to my right side before going forward. Yes it is not my problem to look to my right when I am just moving forward and not changing lanes, yet as a defensive driving technique I should have done so. I guess the guy expected me to stop moving forward upon his approaching me and cutting the way ahead of me. Yes his mistake, but once should train for avoiding the mistakes of others. We do not live in a perfect world after all.

Lesson: Even if you are just moving forward and not changing lanes, make sure to keep an eye on cars coming from the lane adjacent to yours just in case any of them wanted to suddenly overtake you and expected you to stop sharply upon their attempt to cut you off.

Three-Point Turn

Yesterday while I was driving nearby my house at some close by street searching for a shop I learned sold plastic containers I figured out I had made the wrong turn and had to reverse my direction in the street so I attempted a 3-point turn.

I turned left at first trying to change direction in one go without reversing (like in a U-turn). back while turning but the street turned out to be too narrow and the parked cars on the other side of the street were in the way so I stopped after turning left then reversed back to straighten out the car a bit in the new direction. As I attempted to go forward once more I noticed a had approached from the opposite direction. Not wanting to keep that other car waiting and having my car not yet fully straightened up I quickly attempted to go forward (since the other car facing me had stopped and was waiting for me to pass). I attempted this action in a haste while I focused all my attention on the car opposite me and to my left side. I noticed that the look in that car's face was a look of unrest while I headed forward making way for that car to pass. While I thought that that look of unrest and slight annoyance in that driver's face was due to being in a hurry and me taking so long to give way to the car I was not aware of the real meaning of that look until I move forward with confidence just to find another car swiftly moving from behind me and overtaking me from the right side while I focused my attention undivided on the car at my left side! It was then and only then that I realized the real meaning of the look in the first driver's face: she was feeling uneasy of my rapid movement forward without taking the slightest notice of the car approaching from behind me and swiftly overtaking me from the right.

Lesson: When making a 3-point turn, make sure you look at both sides and to your back for any approaching cars before making the final push forward after having reversed.

Trip Rehersal

Heliopolis Trip

Having become better in driving I decided yesterday to go to my destination in Helopolis by car. My original trip to Heliopolis was supposed to take place somewhere before noon yet I woke up early in the morning and made the drive to Heliopolis right after sunrise. I arrived to my destination their, did not even park and came back home once again. It was merely a rehearsal for the real thing!

The reason why I went through this early-in-the-day rehearsal was that the streets had very low traffic in the morning, specially on a Friday (which is a holiday in Egypt). I was able to take my time, learn the road well and practice the different maneuvers needed to complete the trip. When the time came later in the day to make the real trip I found myself driving with confidence and ease most of the way despite the slightly heavier traffic that was present around noon.

Lesson: If you are planning to make a new trip that you have not done before it is a good idea to make a rehearsal first by driving all the way to your planned destination and back during a time when the streets have low traffic. This exercise will make you drive more confidently when you make the trip again while the streets are busy.

Mohandeseen Trip

Today I though of making my (much farther) trip to Mohandeseen by car instead of taking the ACT bus. I remembered the successful trip I made the day before to Heliopolis and how rehearsal had played a great role in that so I decided to try and do the same for the Mohandeseen trip. I woke up very early in the morning and headed to Mohandiseen at around 5:30 AM which is before sunrise. Having checked the road through Google Maps and finding that the 6th of October Bridge was a good way to go I took the bridge all the way to there from Nasr City to Mohandeseen.

The round trip was around 33 km. It took me around an hour to reach Mustafa Mahmoud Mosque in Mohandeseen around 40 minutes to reach my destination and just above 20 minutes on my way back. I kept looking at the signs to know my way as I headed to Mohandeseen which slowed me down while I came with a much higher speed on my way back.

It's really interesting to make such road rehearsals. Perhaps I should try that again with other roads and tips in the future God willing.

Keys Locked Inside Car

Driving License

Today was my second time to have my key locked inside the car except that this time the car was not parked in front of my home like the first time, instead, it was parked some 30 km away from home in front of the Nasr City Traffic Office located in New Cairo! I went there today in an attempt to get my driving license.

Spare Key

To make a long story short, I finally reached a friend who was available and ready to help. He went to my home, got the spare key and brought it to me in New Cairo. By then it was too late for me to apply for the driving licence which we were informed is applied for from 9 - 11 AM. We drove back home (me and my cousin who accompanied me during this 'trip') a bit unhappy because I did not get the driving licence nor even take the test or apply for the licence yet I was satisfied that my friend had indeed brought me the key. I'll take that as a big learning lesson.

Rear Light Hit

I've also noticed today a small broken piece of glass at my right rear lights. I don't know when that happened and if it had taken place days before without me observing it. Yet I guess the car was hit while parked because that was the light facing the street while the car was parked during the last few days. Yet the rear lights are elevated and are not low enough for a car to come crashing from behind not to mention that I had been parking it too close to the pavement particularly compared to the car parked behind it which makes it unlikely for another car in the street to bump into it. Probably it was someone carrying something heavy accidentally hitting the right side rear light as we had some neighbors moving from their apartment yesterday and taking their furniture with them. I felt sad to see the small crushed glass at the rear light, yet I quickly recovered since I had already went through car scratches twice before.

Lesson: Never lock the car and forget your keys inside. Always take the keys out and put them in your pocked as soon as you turn the car off. Keep a second spare key in your pocket at all times.

Second Accident

Busy Streets

Today was my fourth day in a 5-day driving course. I've finally managed to go for a longer trip, with my driving trainer, around 1 PM when the streets are fairly busy.

Scratch

Apart from the minor scratches I had caused by the end of our trip back home today, I was driving fairly OK. The problem was that he was on the cell phone at the time of this accident which did not give him a chance to provide me with early warning to avoid bumping into the car on my left side having gotten too close to it.

Damage

The external bumpers of the car on my left were detached from the car from the right side all the way till the other side except for a part that was hanging from the far left. This caused the bump or friction to make a great sound. I was a bit shocked and wanted to stop on the right side of the road having though I caused the guy on my left great damage. The trainer told me not to stop and that it was the mistake of the one on my left because he came to close to me from the back. I was relieved, yet perhaps not completely convinced, that it was the other drivers mistake and not mine. Perhaps I should learn and practice defensive driving in the future to avoid accidents in such situations.

Trainer

Despite what happened, I believe that this has been the best driving trainer I had ever had and I did have many (maybe 7 or more, at least 5 of which were paid driving trainers). He is highly experienced in both driving and in teaching others how to drive. I have learnt a lot from him and I'm glad I got to know about him and actually took the course. He is a bit more expensive than the other driving schools but he's worth every penny. Just considering that proper driving training could help you avoid some serious accident in the future which would have costed you a lot of money will make you realize the value of investing in such driving lessons.

Lesson

Thank God today's 'accident' was nothing but a minor scratch at the back left side of the car. Perhaps I can take today's incident as a further learning lesson to avoid serious accidents in the future. I should practice more to avoid the mistakes of others and to maintain a distance at all times from cars at my left and at my right sides at the same time. Yes I should have learnt from my first accident, yet I still do believe today was a considerable improvement. I just need to work on it a bit further and be a bit more careful when driving.

My First Accident!

Thank God only minor scratches at the front right-side bumper were the results of this minor bumping accident the day before yesterday.

False Start

I took the car for a short ride early in the morning as usual for driving practice. As usual, I confined myself to the close by streets which are relatively empty in the early morning (around 6 AM). There were a few cars however on that day since students have been back to school.

Right Side Mirror Closed

Oh, sorry, the above paragraph was not correct. It seems my memory has been failing me ever since this minor accident. Now I remember. I went out at noon the other day and was in a big hurry. I forgot to open the side mirrors because of my haste. After starting to move I realized the mirror were closed. I opened the left-side mirror while I was driving. I did not open the right side mirror however as the trip was short (less than 1 km) and I thought I'd never need them so why stop the car and open them when I was already late and in a hurry plus the trip was a short one. I discovered later that I was wrong later on and that I should have indeed opened the right side mirror.

The Accident

Upon turning right and moving for a short distance I found a few cars coming from behind me. I wanted to turn left. Instead of actually continuing my way forward and turning left I decided to play it 'safe' and make room for the cars behind me to bypass me. My plan was to wait until the pool of cars has finished then turn to the left safely having the street all for myself. That was not exactly what took place. While trying to move to the right in order to make way for the cars behind me to overtake me from the left I actually moved way too much to the right side. A few seconds after hearing the car right behind me honking I bumped into one of the cars parked on my right side. I quickly turned left to lessen the impact of the bump. I heard it well and clear. I still hoped that perhaps nothing happened to the car and moved in my way normally. Having reached my destination, which was not far from the place of the accident, I got out of the car still hoping that nothing has happened. I inspected the car from the right to find, to my dismay, a few minor scratches on the front right-side bumper which had taken the thin blue polish away exposing the grayish color beneath. I was horrified. Well, not actually horrified but was very sad, not that the scratches were severe, but it was because the car was new, only two weeks have passed since I bought it.

Learning Lesson

Although I was unhappy yet I instantly thanked God considering I was lucky to have the accident be a minor one with only minor surface scratches and no real harm to the car. It was just a psychological thing since that car was new and I was, I believed, taking extra care not to bump or scratch it. I looked at the positive point however and took it as a strong learning lesson. Now I need to practice and take extra care not to bump my car from the right side (or the left side for that matter). Perhaps that learning lesson would help me avoid a major accident in the future. I tried to think positively to reduce my deep negative feelings.

Right Side Mirror Open

During the week before the accident I did have this problem of getting too close to the cars parked on the right while I was trying to make way for the cars behind me to overtake me from the left. The thing was that I did have my right side mirror open during those times which acted as a sort of early warning system preventing me to bump the car itself onto the parked cars on the right-side as the back of the mirror did the bumping effectively half closing during the first incident and completely closing during the second one. Perhaps I should take care to open the right side mirror before starting to drive in the future. Better yet, I should practice keeping a distance from the parked cars on the right when trying to make room to the left for cars behind me. I have already started to practice this since yesterday.

Going Uphill from a Standstill

I've been practicing going uphill from a standstill during the past few days after last Friday's incident of having the car stopping in front of a growing, and continually honking, pool of cars. The day before yesterday and the day before that I practiced moving forward uphill from a standstill and became better at it yet had not perfected it still. I was not using the hand brake while attempting to press the gas to move forward.

Today I tried going up hill again but used a different technique. I pulled up the hand brake a little (two clicks or so out a maximum of seven) then started releasing the clutch till the catch point then and only then have I released the hand brake and continued the release the clutch. I then pressed the gas gently. The care moved forward and uphill with relative ease.

I also tried the previous procedure but attempted to press the gas before completely releasing the clutch. I tried this method several times but the car always stopped (the engine died) and it proved unsuccessful. The successful process I found was the one I have mentioned above.

As a side note, I noticed that as I pressed the brakes, no matter how gently, on my way uphill, I heard a bit louder-than-usual sound of the brakes engaging down the car. I am not sure if that is normal when in an uphill position. I hope this is not a result of my earlier mistake of driving with the hand brakes on for a few kilometers.

Moving Uphill from Rest

1. Pull up the hand brake for 3 or 4 clicks.
2. Release the clutch till the catch point.
3. Release the hand brake.
4. Continue releasing the clutch (after the catch point).
5. Press the gas.

Perpendicular Parking

Sure it was not my first time to perpendicular park my car today, but day marked my first perpendicular parking bump. Having found my parking place taken, I scanned the sidewalks quickly with my eyes for an empty space without success. Upon a deeper look, I found a single perpendicular slot empty not far away. It was a bit narrow but thanks to the small size of the i10 I was able to delve into it very slowly and smoothly. Yet it seems I just went forward too much that I hit the pavement with the bottom tip of the car front. I heard its sound scratching against the pavement. I backed a little and everything was okay. I came out of the car to have a look and no real damage took place, I guess.

Let me take this as one additional learning lesson: Never move forward too much when parking perpendicular to the pavement, specially when the pavement is high enough to scratch against the front of your car.

Spare Key

I'd like to announce that today was my first time to forget the car key inside the car with all the car doors locked! Thank God this happened as I parked in front of my home wherein my spare key was. Seems I was perplexed with so many things as I got out of the car, having parked in a different location than my usual (finding someone unexpectedly parking in my place) and having scratched the bottom of the cars front against the pavement. I always take great care to make sure I do not lock the car while the key is inside and to take the key with me before locking it. I guess this could be a learning lesson to make me avoid such incident happening again.

Parking Lessons

Car from Behind

Yesterday I was attempting parallel park behind a parked car. I did the drill of looking in the mirror to see if any car was coming from behind, finding the road to be clear I started backing slowly. I reversed very slowly and I guess paused a while in the middle before backing again when I was suddenly alerted by sharp honks coming from a car behind me or actually at my side!

I realized that it was not enough to check the street behind when one starts to park but that the street behind should be checked constantly during backing up while parking, specially when the parking is done slowly which gives time for new cars to emerge from behind.

Extreme Cornering

Another lesson I learnt also yesterday still related to parking was not to back until the wheels almost touch the sidewalk. While attempting to park parallel in front of my house I went backwards too close the the sidewalk that the wheels skweeked touching the sidewalk. After getting out of the car, I found my i10 extremely close to the sidewalk. The left hind wheel also had some marks on it from its forceful touching of the sidewalk.

Steering Wheel Locking

Steering Locking Up

Yesterday as I came back home with my i10 I parked it parallel in front of my house. After getting out of the car, I found that my parking was not perfect. I entered the car once again and I made the parking right. As I went out of the car once again after switching it off I found that the front wheels were tilted to the left. I wanted to straighten them up so they can be pointed in the right direction when I move the car once again. I did not start the car again but just moved the steering wheel while the car was turned off, the power steering was thus not assisting me in moving the wheels. Moving the steering wheel was thus not as easy as usual and that was OK for me. What was not OK was that after turning the steering to the right I reached a point where the steering wheel locked up and did not want to turn any more to the right although the wheels were not even straight yet!

Anti Theft

Although I found this to be strange, yet in my mind I thought maybe the hyundai i10 was designed to lock up the steering wheel when it was turned manually while the car was turned off in order to avoid car theft. (Yet upon rethinking about this again now, I find the idea to be absurd as how would locking the steering wheel help avoid theft when the thief is unable to start the car in the first place!)

Key Jamming!

Until then, I was not alarmed. It was not until today morning that I was really alarmed. As I entered the car and tried to turn the key in to start the car the key simply did not want to turn even the first turn! I tried to push harder yet not too hard as I was afraid it could break inside. The key still did not want to move an inch. The train of thoughts which rushed in my mind was that there was something really wrong with the steering system of my i10. I realized, unhappily, that I had to bring it to the agent to check this issue. Now the car will be parked for a couple of days without moving I started to think.

I tried to turn the key a bit harder, yet still afraid to press too hard and break the key inside. The key finally turned in and a big relief downed upon me. The steering wheel locking disappeared instantly as the power steering engaged. I then shed the worrying out of my mind and drove peacefully.

Faulty Steering?

It was not until later in the day as I check the Internet for "hyundai i10" "steering locking" that I started to worry once again. I found reviews and comments mentioning that the i10 had problems with its power steering system which sometimes caused locking while the car was in motion! This post about hyundai i10 steering locking is what really caused me to get worried again. I still puzzled a bit and not sure if that was the same case as mine as in my case the locking took place while the car was at a stand still and turned off. I'll try to follow up on this carefully to see where it goes. Perhaps I should mention this issue to the agency as they service my car after the first 1000 miles (or first month of driving it).

Update: After describing the problem on an Arabic cars forum I learned that nothing was wrong with my i10. The steering locking was normal since I tried to move the steering too much while the car was turned off. As for the key not turning in with ease, the reason was that I must have moved the steering slightly after inserting the key and before turning the key. This is the method used for turning the key whenever the steering has locked. Man, I just love those forums and i LOVE the Internet.

Persistent Flashers

Signaling Left

Yesterday I had a funny thing happen to me. After arriving at my destination with my i10, I parked and attempted to get out of it. I then discovered that the the left turn signal was still flashing on. I realized that I had signaled left but have not actually turned left so I move the turn signals handle down. Surprisingly, the flashers kept flashing! I then tried to turn the turn signal to the right and then back again but they persisted on flashing. I was in kind of a hurry, so I decided to turn the car off and deal with the issue after I came back. But guess what, even after turning the car completely off and even taking the key out, the flashing lights still kept going on and on.

Solution?

I went out of the car and looked at the left side of the car, the flashing lights were flashing from the front and from the back. For a moment I thought of just leaving the car and trying to deal with the situation when I came back. The thought of something being wrong with my new car's lighting system was strongly haunting my mind by then. Suddenly, a half-crazy thought occurred to me. Why not just start the car again, move forward and turn left then go round and come back to my parking place once again. The reasoning behind my rather weired thought was that this could help the 'stuck' turn signals return to their normal condition. I decided to do exactly this. I started the car and turned left. But guess what? The flashing lights just kept flashing on!

Hazard Flashers

It was not until I moved a bit forward after turning left that I realized it was the hazard flashers that were actually flickering. I had turned them on as I started to park and forgot all about them after I did the 'successful' park. Well, thank God I realized at the end what was going on. I was relieved to finally realize there was nothing wrong with the car. It was me again who was ignorant. Well, not bad for a beginner. At least now I know where to press when the 'turn signals' (emergency flashers) are on!

Bumping and Stopping

Bumping

Today, Friday, I went out with the car around noon. I parked fine. Yet on my way back, there were too many cars getting out at once and I kept bumping the right mirror at the cars parked on my right side! I kept hearing the bumps, it was not until later that I realized the right mirror was half folded inward which brought me a lot of relief knowing that the bump sounds were those of the side mirror, and not the side of my car, touching the cars parked on my right.

Starting Uphill

As I completed this short row of bumps I wanted to turn right at the next street which was a bit of hill climb. I slowed down as there were cars in front of me till I stopped the car completely. I had a very tough time trying to start the car and make it move once more and ascend and turn right. There was a pool of cars behind me honking, and the street was closed from the other side by cars coming in the opposite direction. The pool of cars behind me kept increasing and the cars kept honking, I was practically closing the street up. I kept trying and trying to start the care and move upwards yet I failed each time. Finally the honks from the cars behind were too much they did not realized I had a problem moving the car forward on that hill-like road. I finally got out of the car and pushed it, at least they will realize like that that the I was unable to move the car forward by driving. Three pedestrians instantly joined me and pushed the car safely out of the way. I then started the car once again taking the advice of a fourth pedestrian on how to move it. I was at last able to make the car move forward safely. I guess I need to practice more how to do a hill climb.

The minor mirror bumps and the stopping motionless upon the hill-like road were two great learning lessons today.

Driving with the Hand Brake ON!

Tonight I drove a couple of kilometers (maybe 3 km or so) with my hand brake on! It's funny the passenger next to me said there was a strong burning smell but I insisted it was from other cars around us. Our windows were open. The signals in the car show that the hand brake was on while we moved but I was absorbed by to many other things around me which made me not notice the warning signal in the dashboard! Altough I felt so bad about that as I finally discovered I was driving with the hand brake on since I did not want to wear out my new car, yet I looked at it as a strong learning lesson. I guess I'd, probably, always remember to put the hand brake down before moving on.

All the way I was wondering why the car was not moving as fast as it should when I was at second and even third gear. Thank God the drive with the hand brake on was not too long.