Unplanned. ✔️

Chapter 15: Ready Set, Don't Go.

Unplanned.

Chapter 15: Ready Set, Don't Go.

(3 Months, One Week Pregnant– November 1st 2015.)

"Okay, so I am going to go through the basics of a car, the inside section of the car that you will need to know about." He points his fingers to the section of the car, where the different pedals are located. "On the left hand side, you have the clutch. In the middle of the car, there is the brake which helps to stop the car. Then on the far right hand corner you have the gas which helps the car start."

"Firstly, I will speak about the clutch. The clutch helps you start and stop the car. You are going to test it today's lesson, how to do the biting point. The biting point is when you hold down on the clutch (hold your foot down all the way. Then you gradually take your foot away until you reach the half way point.) Next you hold your foot there, while the clutch is half way down. Do you get this so far?" My driving instructor asks me, I blink at him a couple of times, trying to see if I have gotten all the information registered into my brain.

I nod my head in response. "Okay, that's good. So I will move on to speak more about the clutch but first I will tell you more about the biting point. Once you half your foot half way on the clutch, this is where the biting point will happen. Once this has happened, you can lightly press the gas down which will make the car start to go down the road. You can have a chance to test this out in a bit." The last sentence he says makes my stomach turn in a nervous way.

He continues. "It also works when you need to stop or change gears as well. When you stop, you press the clutch down all the way and then lightly press the brake. This will stop the car."

Raising my eyebrows in confused, I ask him, "So the brake is used to stop, start the car and it is also used to change the gears in the car?"

His face breaks out in a grin. "Yes that is right Lacey." He says.

I actually don't know how I am retaining all this information but somehow I am. I am quite proud of myself to be fair as I haven't been in school since last year. Is it too late to throw in a New Year joke?

So I haven't really needed to use my brain since last year.

Anyway he continues to speak about the different pedals. "You don't need to press the pedals down all the way as you can just lightly press the gas down and the car will move. This is the same as the break. In a bit, you will practice the biting point and you will also be getting out and around, making turns and driving down a non-busy road." He states, he doesn't even seem nervous when he says this but I am.

"Okay." I simply reply, placing my hands on the steering wheel.

"Okay, the next task that I am going to ask you to do is go into the first and second gear. You get into the first gear by pressing the clutch, you have to take your foot off the gas and press the clutch down all the way. To go into the first gear, you need to go left with the gear stick and upwards. Then if you want to change it to second gear which you only have to do when speed monitor is at two. This is the same as when you want to change into more gears. For example, if you want to change into the third year then you need to get to two on the speed monitor so the car won't stall. So to get to the second gear, you need to move the gear stick down and down again."

"When you start off your car, you obviously need to press the on button and press down the handbrake. The gear stick needs to be in neutral, the gear stick needs to be in the same position that it is in now." He informs me.

"Okay the last thing I am going to tell you about is the left and right signal. There are two types of signals. The permanent signal or the quick signal. I am going to teach you about the permanent signal today. To go left, you press the leaver which is here down twice. Which will make it a permanent signal. Then to take the signal off, all you need to press is the leaver up once. To do a right signal, you need to press the same leaver up twice. Then to take the signal off you need to press the leaver up." He tells me, pointing to the left and right leaver.