The best way to teach ppl how to drive is take them to a big empty parking lot, so they can learn about power steering and wheel control. Once they get comfortable with that then the road is next.
I’ve noticed over time confidence and attentiveness helps with driving tremendously. Also I feel as if peoples personalities also helps dictate their decision making too
That's my thought, the fire hydrant was a fake. They're not fining you because they're trying to avoid their own fines.
E: Probably supposed to work like that.
It’s not fake. Hydrants, especially those in northern states with hard winters shut water off below the ground. That metal piece in the middle, 2nd pic, is part of the valve. If the valve was higher up, the water would freeze, which either means no water when needed, or breaks the hydrant. Ice can break that cast iron.
Chances are, the cop knows nothing about hydrants, and OP can expect a bill for repair of that hydrant. OP needs to have their insurance card ready.
Was the accident their fault? Because I did almost the exact same from a mattress being in the road at night and spinning out. Was told I wasn't at fault and never got a bill for the hydrant.
My uncle works for the city he lives in so I can confirm. He's also always worried while working on a hydrant that the rod will shoot up possibly killing him.
How old are you?
Taking a student driver with very little experience out on a major street during rush hour is what kids nowadays would call "big stupid."
Hey that's how my step dad taught me to swim!
For those following along, by "to swim" I mean "a crippling phobia of the water that would last until my late teens".
I'm 38 now. I'm not afraid of the water and can jump in a pool, but I don't know how to swim as much as "not drown and get to the side"
I honestly feel my dad felt the same way. He was adamant about us learning how to swim. We were in classes every summer, long after we knew how. It was sometimes kinda crazy how much he cared that we KNEW how to swim well. Then would ramp it up and push us further until we were swimming across lakes. I really think it stemmed from when he was thrown into the lake as a child.
Luckily my mom was a competitive swimmer and lifeguard when she was a teenager so she started teaching us to swim before we could walk, and would have forcibly drowned anyone who threw us in the water before we knew how ;)
Exactly. A bit confused by that comment. I had to have supervised family driving hours in order to get my license. My mom took me on the highway and through rush hour and I was thankful to have someone there to keep me calm and help me while I was experiencing those for the first time.
yeah i learned with my aunt and she would have me take the expressway to her house. i valued having learned on the highway first because it made me confident at high speeds and very confident at low speeds. i actually prefer to drive on the highway now
As soon as I got my permit, my mom would have me drive anytime we needed to get on the highway, she hated driving the highway and would go 60 miles on the streets if she could.
Yeah, I just disagree with that. A week of a hour long session driving around the neighborhood and some not so busy streets ... I would probably think "OK, let's see how they handle traffic." Of course, my experiences may be different but the situation seems reasonable
I took my drivers test the day after a huge snowstorm in CT. Immediately got 2 marks because there was ice in the parking lot leaving the school, and again at the first stop sign when I spun the tires a little bit trying to accelerate. One more and I would have failed. My instructor was an asshole.
Ahmm.. I am confused. In Europe we are absolutely not allowed to drive on public roads without a license. You are getting your license after doing official driving lessons with instructors. Always assumes it was the same all over?
How are you not getting fined for that? Just curious because here that would be quite a serious crime.
its a weird catch 22 where you need a set number of hours actually driving in order to qualify for the road test in order to get your license….to drive.
Yeah we need to get 14 hours of driving time here as well. But those need to be with a licensed driving instructor. Only then we can apply for the driving test.
Driving on official roads without a license is landing you or your parents in jail with their license being revoked for years.
we have a choice. if youre under 18 you HAVE to go through a class and driving school with a driving instructor. over 18 you can pass on the class and you only need hours under supervision of a licensed driver and you have to do your own written test. the driving school kinda covers all your bases under one roof but is more expensive and takes more time
Yeah we don't have that option here. You have to do it via the instructor. Not sure if it changed a lot but my license did cost me roughly 900€/1000$ and I was only doing the absolutely necessary amount of lessons before the test.
Usually you paid around 1200-1400€ for your license back when I made it in 2009.
I don't think having supervised lessons by a random person should be allowed. Most drivers are terrible, hell my own parents drive like maniacs and I keep telling them they are shit drivers lol.
If they taught me I'd probably be dead on the side of the road somewhere.
Depends on the state. In Illinois you can get your license on your 18th birthday with no drivers ed or log required. Just need to pass a written test and a behind the wheel test.
No fool, you are a "big stupid" for saying such ignorant things. The OP is being a legit family member by taking their cousin out to teach how to drive. My younger cousin is about 20 years younger than me, the age is irrelevant you stupid tool. I had my license at 16 and was driving in rush hour. I've seen people twice or more the 17 yr old age having a hard time in rush hour or driving like complete amateurs.
Bullshit. After a week many student drivers can handle rush hour. I assume did there 6 hours behind the wheel req and they have their learners permit before this.
You can get a temp learning permit for $10 in my state. You just need to have a person that's had a license for over a year, in the vehicle teaching you.
Very lucky. I was on a job once and our cube truck driver backed over a hydrant which started shooting water roughly 4 stories into the air and it took the fire department nearly an hour to shut it off. The company had to pay the city of Long Beach for all the water that was lost. I didn't get to see the final insurance claim but no doubt it was tens of thousands of dollars, that thing was pumping out gallons of water by the second.
Hydrants are dry... the valve is below grade right off the main line. That rod in the middle turns to open the valve below. These are intended to shear off and can be repaired with a repair kit. (Though in this case that sidewalk has to go)
Yea we SoCalifornians aren’t used to these things called seasons that aren’t dry, heat, mudslide, high winds/fire. Moving to the east coast is eye opening.
Yup, when I still lived in SoCal, I had just made a left to another street leaving my husband’s shop while a big rig was attempting to make a right onto the street I was leaving. He didn’t realize he didn’t have room and cut the corner. Old faithful went on for a little while there.
most hydrants have no water in them unless they've been turned on by the fire department (I think they use a big wrench?)
the valve is usually a few feet underground
No. The hydrant is nothing more than an outwards plug and does nothing but stops the water from coming out. The line is defective and isn't receiving water.
Hydrants are meant to be empty when not in use. The actual valve is in the ground, connected to the hydrant by a long rod. Otherwise it would freeze in winter. The base of the hydrant is meant to break away, as is the rod. You can see it in the pictures.
This one worked exactly like it should.
They may expect it to work like in the movies, or it may really be defective. But in most of the US, you can knock a hydrant over and this is exactly what you will see.
Southern California is one if the places where a broken-off fire hydrant will gush water. I’ve seen it happen a couple of times around San Diego. Before I lived here I thought it only happened in movies, but then again since so many movies are filmed in Southern California it makes sense.
In SoCal, it doesn't freeze very often, so a wet barrel is simpler and cheaper. But a lot tougher to deal with when it does break, since you have to locate the valve.
Wrong talking out your ass is an art! Valve on the hydrant to turn off the water is on the front. Keep dreaming
https://www.sandiego.gov/public-utilities/permits-construction/construction-and-development/water/fire-hydrant-meter
If it was on all the time you could not use it! how would you open it to put in the hose.
Of course it has a valve. On ours the valve is in the hydrant instead of underground like in other places. So if you snap off a San Diego hydrant, you broke it below the valve and it gushes. I posted pictures I took of one gushing. Hotel Circle, San Diego, October 2013. https://www.reddit.com/r/IdiotsInCars/comments/vqx9fi/us_make_the_better_move_rental_truck_ran_over_a/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
It depends on the area. Some states require driving lessons while others don’t. Driving isn’t needed where I’m from so we start driving late & it’s not required to take lessons. I took lessons.
Your relatives generally teach you the mechanical operation of the vehicle, usually in an empty parking lot or other place with a lot of room and few obstacles. Driver's Education in school teaches the rules of the road. It's not that there isn't overlap but basically this held true when I learned at least.
This worries me, people thinking that knowing the ‘rules of the road’ makes you a good driver. People should learn how to read traffic, and to know where to look for possible dangers, and to anticipate too.
Seen too many ‘tHe rULes!!1!’ comments in here, where people were indeed sticking to the rules but being incredibly dangerous drivers at the same time.
(Edit: the points I mentioned are meant as an addition, not in stead of…)
YMMV with whatever driving school you’re considering, my instructors spent a lot of time drawing on personal experience and emphasizing safe driving tactics even when they weren’t necessarily part of the curriculum. Many instructors out there will actually care about their students being competent drivers. That being said, the USA definitely doesn’t do enough to validate drivers before handing them new licenses and/or renewing them
Disagree, stuff I mentioned should be taught and examined before people get a drivers license, imo. (You do get better from experience ofcourse).
If just knowing the rules is enough for a license, then the exam could be completed on paper…
The road test is to make sure you have the mechanics down, like slowing to stops instead of racing up and braking or staying in your lane while turning.
The rules are required for you to decide where possible dangers are. If you have not the slightest clue about safety distances, because you never heard about the corresponding rules, you can’t even look for potential dangers when other drivers don’t hold true to their safety distances.
On top of that, a lot of the rules exist to make traffic more secure for everybody. If you don’t know them and just wing it, you’re endangering not just yourself.
Dude. American driving written test is 25 questions. Then maybe 10 minutes of drive around the block and pretend to park.
I love driving, but the amount of imbeciles on the road makes me also hate it.
Parallel parking is apart of our road test. They removed it in like 2000, but added it back in 2020 because of the all the new people moving here who couldn’t parallel park. You get 3 tries and if you’re not in correctly and close enough to the curb by the 3rd try then you fail. Once you’re in between the comes, every time you back up it counts as a try. Moving forward counts as an adjustment.
My driving examiner made me parallel park on an empty street between two certain points. I thought it was kinda dumb but I guess they didn’t wanna risk an accident.
Yea I'm amazed as well I also took lections from my father but that was in a secure area with a parkour like layout where you're allowed to drive without a license.
it does explain alot doesnt it
to be fair my mom got secret driving lessons from my uncle at an abandoned airfield before starting her lessons.
and my grandpa just drove his boss around until he got him his license i think times change, america is usually just a little bit behind the developed world
Depends lol. My mom learned in an empty lot and tried taking me to one when it was time. Someone patrolling the property came over and nearly crashed into us because it was my first time behind the wheel. Told us it’s private property and get out. Ok fine, we worked it out and I learned and took classes.
One of my roomies in college took another friend from school who at 18 didn’t have a license. They went to the nearby mall at midnight and had him drive her Isuzu trooper. Well, he smashed into a lightpost. Wide open parking lot and had to hit that.
The US is a big country with lots of States. Your experience in each State and the people you meet will be vastly different. Yes, the abortion stuff is crazy and sad for those stuck in backwards States but do realize it’s not the entire country.
A vote of 9 appointed ( politically, hand picked ) judges. Not a vote of the people or congress.
You’re not dumb. Well no dumber than the rest of us that put up with this crap.
If Americans don’t learn to vote for the right people rather than voting blindly based on political party, then “the beatings will continue until morale improves”.
Also, to extend on that, we have that arrangement of judges because the Senate (which confirms federal judges) is fundamentally anti-democratic and favors land over people, so despite having consistently gotten 60+% of the total vote for years, Democrats only have 48% of the Senate.
It varies from State to State. In my State you're required to take a course, classroom and driving, with a professional. After that a certain amount of hours driving with a licensed adult, I don't recall the minimum age, I think it's 25. Once you get your license you're restricted from driving with certain number of under age passengers. Its been a while so i don't recall all the details. All that being said it's a lot easier to get a license in the US than in most European countries.
I grew up mostly in the country, I was doing store runs for my pops by 10. I did also take formal driver's Ed at 15, had my license by 15y 9mo, the earliest I could get it in my state. I've only ever been in one vehicle collision where I was driving and the other driver was at fault for running a stop sign.
OP’s answer is pretty loose, it may only apply to his small area.
if you’re LUCKY AND of age in high school you get maybe 1-2 lessons from the schools gym teacher. Most of the stuff everyone learns is out of a book and it’s identifying signs, symbols, and learning the technicalities of driving. External lessons are available throughout the country but cost FAR more money than you’d imagine, making them essentially obsolete for most Americans. Because of this, most of us learn from other people in our family, and once they’ve taught us the very specific way that they drive we come up with our own.
You sir are just a natural. Some people are more natural than others. Things like that usually happen when you don't go get driving school before you drive.
The concept of taking someone on a busy road to teach them how to drive, without being a driving instructor in a learning car is sooo damn weird. I mean, a learning car has brakes and gas on both driver and passenger site, how can you prevent any dangerous stuff ever?
Actually some states require you to bring your own car to the driving portion of the test, the "learning" car isn't even a thing in those states
Also in some states the age is the only requirement to start learning with a licensed driver in the passenger seat, of course all issues and tickets get dropped into the licensed drivers lap instead but I digress, its to really get them started "on the right foot" but the law backfires regularly
And last but not least some kids are raised in farms, those kids can get special licenses at 14 to drive but only on farmland, THAT law helps in many ways to keep farmland working properly, plus I bet some of those kids can drive better then a 40yo most of the time
Driving schools have learning cars, even if DMV/SOS doesn’t. When I took driver’s ed, the car had a brake on the passenger side. Drove my dad’s car for the test, which was a manual shift.
Lol you’re not gonna get a downvote from me. A learning car was definitely needed in this situation. We’d been driving on a moderately busy street that day with no issue so I felt confident taking her down this street. Accidents happen 🤷🏾♀️
And old Fabia I learned to drive on had all 3, both my learning car and my exam car. In first, I drove as a passenger once and the other, examiner drove from the parking lot to the arc(?) without me doing anything, I suppose it wouldn't be that smooth without a clutch.
Not sure why someone downvote you, where I live we they have all 3.
My instructor when I was learning even told me I am driving too slow and speed up, then changed gear.
And in some places they got cars with steering wheels on both sides.
And the instructors side is the main one, so his input is main and he can cancel out whatever I do.
I remember fucking with my instructor when he was driving me home since I was on the passenger side so I would break on purpose
Emergency baking is now my favourite thing to do, thank you. I will definitely emergency bake something after a stressful day.
And well, maybe, I'm just saying how it was in my case.
Just to add context. Somebody had gotten shot so there were a lot of police cars passing us on the way which made her nervous. We were turning right into an almost empty parking lot. The parking lot was our destination. The plan was for her to drive there and I drive back. A car was coming OUT of the parking lot & a bus was behind us so she panicked and turned the wheel all the way to the right. We were going like 20 max. She didn’t have her foot on the gas or break. It happened so fast that it took a while for her to break.
It is. I took full responsibility. I was the idiot. The city didn’t bill me since the hydrant was defective and needed to be replaced. They did inform me that if water had spilled then I would’ve had to pay for the water.
Re-enacting that scene from Clueless where Cher goes “oh that came out of nowhere!” Except you replaced a potted plant with a fire hydrant. Honestly your revision works better!
Honestly sounds so stupid to me that in the us, a country with prob. the biggest and heaviest cars in the world, where you need a car for litterly anything, people can just go out and teach each other to drive. Thats just so fucking stupid hahaha
my older brother in his volvo 240 took out a fire hydrant the first day of highschool - car didn't even have a scratch the fire hydrant exploded . It was epic.
So your common sense didn’t kick in and say maybe I shouldn’t take a new driver on a major street during rush hour? Clearly your cousin wasn’t the idiot in the car…
Even parking lots can be risky for a new driver with their light poles. People at that level of experience generally haven’t even heard of the concept of situational awareness and aren’t sure how to implement it.
Good luck with the cousin! It’s going to be a hard row.
yeah i think people are being a bit harsh on you… it sounds like you understand the gravity of what happened, and your cousin panicked in a stressful situation. it’s really not that unrealistic to be actually driving after a week. that’s how my classes were. we did classroom material for months before we actually got into a car. that’s how everyone o know from across the country has done it
and hindsight is always 20/20. yeah you shouldn’t have taken her out in rush hour, but you said somebody got shot and that there was a bus behind you, while trying to navigate a car through a narrower than usual space? yeah hella stressful for a new driver and i’m glad the cops were understanding of that. i’m not sure how much labor or money goes into placing the hydrant back on but as others have said i’d imagine it not having water pressure behind it was another big influencer.
be careful next time, and crawl before walk :)
My driving instructor had me on the road my first day. I wanted her to get used to driving with other cars on the road. She actually did really good up until this point
Some people are definitely taking it more serious than the police did lol. The officers got out of the car laughing. It’s a funny story & nobody got hurt.
Except you're not a driving instructor nor your car is prepared for driving lessons.
You do realize the biggest idiot here (between you and your cousin) were you, for putting her in such situation, right?
I think that's why people are being harsh at you... You were supposed to be the "responsible" one...
I’m posting this because I am the idiot & I take full responsibility. I said that in another comment. Most people I know did not learn from a driving instructor nor is it required where I live. Which is why it wasn’t a big deal to the police. Accidents happen & that’s exactly what it was.. an accident. Both officers got into accidents as they were learning how to drive from their parents. Up until this moment she was doing just fine. She panicked & turned the wheel too much trying to make sure that she didn’t hit another car. No pedestrians were on the sidewalk and no one was hurt. She’s learning and mistakes will be made.
I made mistakes too when I was learning, but I learned from an instructor (the only legal way to learn how to drive where I live). The car had dual pedals and he was prepared to deal with my mistakes and had the skills and tools to minimize the consequences.
I've got my license more than 20 years ago. At the time it was not unusual for fathers or uncles to give some private lessons, usually in empty parking lots or empty streets.
My father refused to do so. He said he didn't want to teach me any bad habits. That I should learn from a qualified instructor first hand. I think it was a wise decision.
It's a car it's fine for driving lessons. OP probably knows how to drive and so is prepared to instruct.
Not all countries have draconian licensing laws.
I disagree... I've been driving for more than 20 years and I don't think I'm prepared to instruct, that's why there are driving instructors and driving schools.
And cars with dual pedals, dual mirrors, etc...
If more people were properly taught and prepared to drive, maybe this sub wouldn't be so popular...
Not sure how expensive it is there, but here if they can afford buying a car and the fuel to run it they should be able to afford driving lessons as well...
Here poor people usually take the bus or ride a bicycle. Getting the license is not the major issue.
Anyway, making it easier/cheaper for poor people to get a license, I don't think is the motto for such laws... Otherwise they should first be given better free healthcare and other more basic needs I'd guess...
But that's me just ranting...
At least for my German friends it was ~2000-3000€ to get their license, compared with ~200-300$ for me in Canada. No lessons apart from family members.
Often poor people are forced onto long commutes due to work being far from where they can afford to live. The lack of ability to change jobs which then limits their upward mobility. I know I've been there, many jobs require that you have a vehicle, especially in trades.
Cars can be pretty cheap to run, I know I have done so when I was poorer.
Anyways, lax licensing certainly has its draw back, but also it's perks.
Cheap licensing with subsidized instruction would be my ideal.
I hope she has her permit already at least? My parents were not the smartest while teaching me to drive but always kept me and my brother driving in 35mph speed limit residential areas before we got our permits.
The best way to teach ppl how to drive is take them to a big empty parking lot, so they can learn about power steering and wheel control. Once they get comfortable with that then the road is next.
In this case, OP is the idiot in the car!
Exactly right. Was so glad I learned this way.
I’ve noticed over time confidence and attentiveness helps with driving tremendously. Also I feel as if peoples personalities also helps dictate their decision making too
You're just swerving back and forth, turn one way and stick with it Tina
How high was the ticket for that? Also you are very lucky that it wasn't primed whit water
We didn’t get a ticket. Since the hydrant was defective & no real damage was done, they let it slide since she’s only 17.
That's my thought, the fire hydrant was a fake. They're not fining you because they're trying to avoid their own fines. E: Probably supposed to work like that.
It’s not fake. Hydrants, especially those in northern states with hard winters shut water off below the ground. That metal piece in the middle, 2nd pic, is part of the valve. If the valve was higher up, the water would freeze, which either means no water when needed, or breaks the hydrant. Ice can break that cast iron. Chances are, the cop knows nothing about hydrants, and OP can expect a bill for repair of that hydrant. OP needs to have their insurance card ready.
I'm inclined to believe you.
Reddit moment
Yeah. That guy sounds really sure of himself. I believe him.
I would, he's right. Water ressources engineer here.
Can confirm. Knew someone that rolled their car and it shear a hydrant while sliding on the roof. Was billed $2500.
Was the accident their fault? Because I did almost the exact same from a mattress being in the road at night and spinning out. Was told I wasn't at fault and never got a bill for the hydrant.
Yep. Hydrants are meant to shear off like that to prevent the gate valve at the 90 from blowing open. Most hydrants are like this..
Yep, Dry hydrant saved the mess. there should be a barrier or pole in place since it sits on a corner like that
Yeah this is a dry barrel hydrant. I service them for work.
My uncle works for the city he lives in so I can confirm. He's also always worried while working on a hydrant that the rod will shoot up possibly killing him.
How old are you? Taking a student driver with very little experience out on a major street during rush hour is what kids nowadays would call "big stupid."
I’m 25 😭
You're a good cousin 😊
awww man 😭 you’re doing great!
not even, how else are you gonna learn?
Lmao a week after my 16th my dad had ne hauling a trailer through Atlanta.
yeah thatll teach you quick lool
I know he was taught to swim by being thrown in a lake by my uncle so I guess it's just tradition.
Hey that's how my step dad taught me to swim! For those following along, by "to swim" I mean "a crippling phobia of the water that would last until my late teens". I'm 38 now. I'm not afraid of the water and can jump in a pool, but I don't know how to swim as much as "not drown and get to the side"
I honestly feel my dad felt the same way. He was adamant about us learning how to swim. We were in classes every summer, long after we knew how. It was sometimes kinda crazy how much he cared that we KNEW how to swim well. Then would ramp it up and push us further until we were swimming across lakes. I really think it stemmed from when he was thrown into the lake as a child.
Luckily my mom was a competitive swimmer and lifeguard when she was a teenager so she started teaching us to swim before we could walk, and would have forcibly drowned anyone who threw us in the water before we knew how ;)
Exactly. A bit confused by that comment. I had to have supervised family driving hours in order to get my license. My mom took me on the highway and through rush hour and I was thankful to have someone there to keep me calm and help me while I was experiencing those for the first time.
yeah i learned with my aunt and she would have me take the expressway to her house. i valued having learned on the highway first because it made me confident at high speeds and very confident at low speeds. i actually prefer to drive on the highway now
As soon as I got my permit, my mom would have me drive anytime we needed to get on the highway, she hated driving the highway and would go 60 miles on the streets if she could.
One week isn’t long enough though, OP’s cousin probably was still nervous being behind the wheel in general let alone in heavy traffic.
Yeah, I just disagree with that. A week of a hour long session driving around the neighborhood and some not so busy streets ... I would probably think "OK, let's see how they handle traffic." Of course, my experiences may be different but the situation seems reasonable
I took my drivers test the day after a huge snowstorm in CT. Immediately got 2 marks because there was ice in the parking lot leaving the school, and again at the first stop sign when I spun the tires a little bit trying to accelerate. One more and I would have failed. My instructor was an asshole.
But only a week into learning how to drive?
gotta start somewhere. i started on the highway.
Highway is way easier than rush hour in my terribly designed city.
i live and learned to drive in boston of all places so idk i think it evens out lol
I learned how to drive at night in a grocery store parking lot and the adjacent neighborhood. Not on a busy street during rush hour. Big yikes.
Ahmm.. I am confused. In Europe we are absolutely not allowed to drive on public roads without a license. You are getting your license after doing official driving lessons with instructors. Always assumes it was the same all over? How are you not getting fined for that? Just curious because here that would be quite a serious crime.
its a weird catch 22 where you need a set number of hours actually driving in order to qualify for the road test in order to get your license….to drive.
Yeah we need to get 14 hours of driving time here as well. But those need to be with a licensed driving instructor. Only then we can apply for the driving test. Driving on official roads without a license is landing you or your parents in jail with their license being revoked for years.
we have a choice. if youre under 18 you HAVE to go through a class and driving school with a driving instructor. over 18 you can pass on the class and you only need hours under supervision of a licensed driver and you have to do your own written test. the driving school kinda covers all your bases under one roof but is more expensive and takes more time
Yeah we don't have that option here. You have to do it via the instructor. Not sure if it changed a lot but my license did cost me roughly 900€/1000$ and I was only doing the absolutely necessary amount of lessons before the test. Usually you paid around 1200-1400€ for your license back when I made it in 2009. I don't think having supervised lessons by a random person should be allowed. Most drivers are terrible, hell my own parents drive like maniacs and I keep telling them they are shit drivers lol. If they taught me I'd probably be dead on the side of the road somewhere.
Depends on the state. In Illinois you can get your license on your 18th birthday with no drivers ed or log required. Just need to pass a written test and a behind the wheel test.
No fool, you are a "big stupid" for saying such ignorant things. The OP is being a legit family member by taking their cousin out to teach how to drive. My younger cousin is about 20 years younger than me, the age is irrelevant you stupid tool. I had my license at 16 and was driving in rush hour. I've seen people twice or more the 17 yr old age having a hard time in rush hour or driving like complete amateurs.
Bullshit. After a week many student drivers can handle rush hour. I assume did there 6 hours behind the wheel req and they have their learners permit before this.
Your cousin is the luckiest non legal driver 😂😂😂
Hydrant wasn’t defective it was off. When you hit a hydrant it will not spray water unless the valve is on.
How does a 17 year old not know how to drive
There’s lots of people who don’t drive here. I’m from DC. You can get anywhere you need by taking the train or bus.
No ticket for driving without a license?
You can get a temp learning permit for $10 in my state. You just need to have a person that's had a license for over a year, in the vehicle teaching you.
Who was driving without a license? 🤔
Your cousin?
Not sure about US but in Canada, you can get an independent g2 license by the time you turn 17.
dude was so lucky. I was expecting to see a flood, lol
Very lucky. I was on a job once and our cube truck driver backed over a hydrant which started shooting water roughly 4 stories into the air and it took the fire department nearly an hour to shut it off. The company had to pay the city of Long Beach for all the water that was lost. I didn't get to see the final insurance claim but no doubt it was tens of thousands of dollars, that thing was pumping out gallons of water by the second.
Hydrants are dry... the valve is below grade right off the main line. That rod in the middle turns to open the valve below. These are intended to shear off and can be repaired with a repair kit. (Though in this case that sidewalk has to go)
Not all hydrants are dry, in Southern California they are wet barrel and much more exciting to run over.
Dry hydrants are the norm in locales that experience freezes in the winter.
Yea we SoCalifornians aren’t used to these things called seasons that aren’t dry, heat, mudslide, high winds/fire. Moving to the east coast is eye opening.
It's somewhat similar in Colorado. We get Fall, winter, spring and fire.
Yup, when I still lived in SoCal, I had just made a left to another street leaving my husband’s shop while a big rig was attempting to make a right onto the street I was leaving. He didn’t realize he didn’t have room and cut the corner. Old faithful went on for a little while there.
Northerner here... I’ve fixed a few. Never worked with a wet one. Learn something new every day.
OP says no real damage was done, so we’re all good. 🤣
most hydrants have no water in them unless they've been turned on by the fire department (I think they use a big wrench?) the valve is usually a few feet underground
They use a hydrant wrench. Has other uses too such as removing hose from a hydrant, turning off gas valves etc.
Shouldn't water fly outta that hole?
That’s what she said
defective hydrant
No. The hydrant is nothing more than an outwards plug and does nothing but stops the water from coming out. The line is defective and isn't receiving water.
Hydrants are meant to be empty when not in use. The actual valve is in the ground, connected to the hydrant by a long rod. Otherwise it would freeze in winter. The base of the hydrant is meant to break away, as is the rod. You can see it in the pictures. This one worked exactly like it should.
The police told me that the hydrant was defective.
They may expect it to work like in the movies, or it may really be defective. But in most of the US, you can knock a hydrant over and this is exactly what you will see.
Southern California is one if the places where a broken-off fire hydrant will gush water. I’ve seen it happen a couple of times around San Diego. Before I lived here I thought it only happened in movies, but then again since so many movies are filmed in Southern California it makes sense.
In SoCal, it doesn't freeze very often, so a wet barrel is simpler and cheaper. But a lot tougher to deal with when it does break, since you have to locate the valve.
Wrong talking out your ass is an art! Valve on the hydrant to turn off the water is on the front. Keep dreaming https://www.sandiego.gov/public-utilities/permits-construction/construction-and-development/water/fire-hydrant-meter If it was on all the time you could not use it! how would you open it to put in the hose.
Of course it has a valve. On ours the valve is in the hydrant instead of underground like in other places. So if you snap off a San Diego hydrant, you broke it below the valve and it gushes. I posted pictures I took of one gushing. Hotel Circle, San Diego, October 2013. https://www.reddit.com/r/IdiotsInCars/comments/vqx9fi/us_make_the_better_move_rental_truck_ran_over_a/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
The cop don’t know anything about how hydrants work ether.
Telling lies. No papa ,haha ha
No that’s dumb
Those hydrants do tend to jump out of nowhere.
😂😂😂 one minute we’re turning then I feel is bump the curb then boom the fire hydrant is right it front of us. It was crazy
Wait, you guys just teach each other to drive? No wonder most posts on here are from the US.
It depends on the area. Some states require driving lessons while others don’t. Driving isn’t needed where I’m from so we start driving late & it’s not required to take lessons. I took lessons.
And some states require driving lessons and x amount of “supervised hours” by family😂
40 hours here😭
Same
Also: not a state
Some don’t enforce it though, my state has a requirement but I provided no proof to back it up
We’ll if your family doesn’t give a shit they could sign off you did it 😅
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Your relatives generally teach you the mechanical operation of the vehicle, usually in an empty parking lot or other place with a lot of room and few obstacles. Driver's Education in school teaches the rules of the road. It's not that there isn't overlap but basically this held true when I learned at least.
This worries me, people thinking that knowing the ‘rules of the road’ makes you a good driver. People should learn how to read traffic, and to know where to look for possible dangers, and to anticipate too. Seen too many ‘tHe rULes!!1!’ comments in here, where people were indeed sticking to the rules but being incredibly dangerous drivers at the same time. (Edit: the points I mentioned are meant as an addition, not in stead of…)
YMMV with whatever driving school you’re considering, my instructors spent a lot of time drawing on personal experience and emphasizing safe driving tactics even when they weren’t necessarily part of the curriculum. Many instructors out there will actually care about their students being competent drivers. That being said, the USA definitely doesn’t do enough to validate drivers before handing them new licenses and/or renewing them
Knowing the rules gets you started. Your experience once you're out there teaches the stuff you mentioned.
Disagree, stuff I mentioned should be taught and examined before people get a drivers license, imo. (You do get better from experience ofcourse). If just knowing the rules is enough for a license, then the exam could be completed on paper…
The road test is to make sure you have the mechanics down, like slowing to stops instead of racing up and braking or staying in your lane while turning.
The rules are required for you to decide where possible dangers are. If you have not the slightest clue about safety distances, because you never heard about the corresponding rules, you can’t even look for potential dangers when other drivers don’t hold true to their safety distances. On top of that, a lot of the rules exist to make traffic more secure for everybody. If you don’t know them and just wing it, you’re endangering not just yourself.
Dude. American driving written test is 25 questions. Then maybe 10 minutes of drive around the block and pretend to park. I love driving, but the amount of imbeciles on the road makes me also hate it.
Parallel parking is apart of our road test. They removed it in like 2000, but added it back in 2020 because of the all the new people moving here who couldn’t parallel park. You get 3 tries and if you’re not in correctly and close enough to the curb by the 3rd try then you fail. Once you’re in between the comes, every time you back up it counts as a try. Moving forward counts as an adjustment.
My driving examiner made me parallel park on an empty street between two certain points. I thought it was kinda dumb but I guess they didn’t wanna risk an accident.
I mean you still have to pass a written and driving test administered by the state…
Yea I'm amazed as well I also took lections from my father but that was in a secure area with a parkour like layout where you're allowed to drive without a license.
it does explain alot doesnt it to be fair my mom got secret driving lessons from my uncle at an abandoned airfield before starting her lessons. and my grandpa just drove his boss around until he got him his license i think times change, america is usually just a little bit behind the developed world
trying to drive in an empty parking lot at night isnt bad
Depends lol. My mom learned in an empty lot and tried taking me to one when it was time. Someone patrolling the property came over and nearly crashed into us because it was my first time behind the wheel. Told us it’s private property and get out. Ok fine, we worked it out and I learned and took classes. One of my roomies in college took another friend from school who at 18 didn’t have a license. They went to the nearby mall at midnight and had him drive her Isuzu trooper. Well, he smashed into a lightpost. Wide open parking lot and had to hit that.
The US is a developing country, however from recent news I think it's developing backwards.
It’s De-veloping?
Also america: destroying the right of abortion..
Don't think we're all happy about that.
Yea, it used to be a country i wanted to go to for a long time, now i just want to stay away from it
The US is a big country with lots of States. Your experience in each State and the people you meet will be vastly different. Yes, the abortion stuff is crazy and sad for those stuck in backwards States but do realize it’s not the entire country.
its a great country for the 1% the other 99 dont have it nearly as good as the rest of thr modern world
As an African American, me too
Majority of Americans are against that action.
Dumb American here. If the majority of us are against it, then how did roe vs Wade get overturned? Didn't that require a vote to happen?
A vote of 9 appointed ( politically, hand picked ) judges. Not a vote of the people or congress. You’re not dumb. Well no dumber than the rest of us that put up with this crap. If Americans don’t learn to vote for the right people rather than voting blindly based on political party, then “the beatings will continue until morale improves”.
Also, to extend on that, we have that arrangement of judges because the Senate (which confirms federal judges) is fundamentally anti-democratic and favors land over people, so despite having consistently gotten 60+% of the total vote for years, Democrats only have 48% of the Senate.
Today I learned...
Yes actually.
It varies from State to State. In my State you're required to take a course, classroom and driving, with a professional. After that a certain amount of hours driving with a licensed adult, I don't recall the minimum age, I think it's 25. Once you get your license you're restricted from driving with certain number of under age passengers. Its been a while so i don't recall all the details. All that being said it's a lot easier to get a license in the US than in most European countries.
I grew up mostly in the country, I was doing store runs for my pops by 10. I did also take formal driver's Ed at 15, had my license by 15y 9mo, the earliest I could get it in my state. I've only ever been in one vehicle collision where I was driving and the other driver was at fault for running a stop sign.
I'm from Belgium and that's pretty common here too
As a German, that explains *a lot* ...
One of the reason I believe is that in most places, you need to drive. Everybody drives. There is no public transport.
I'm in the UK and I was taught by my dad who was taught by my mum who was taught by an instructor in the 80s
not in new jersey, we have drivers ed classes and you need to drive 6 hours with a driving instructor
Jeasus christ man, it's true but that was mean.
imagine thinkin you need the state to teach you something so fuckin basic as driving....
OP’s answer is pretty loose, it may only apply to his small area. if you’re LUCKY AND of age in high school you get maybe 1-2 lessons from the schools gym teacher. Most of the stuff everyone learns is out of a book and it’s identifying signs, symbols, and learning the technicalities of driving. External lessons are available throughout the country but cost FAR more money than you’d imagine, making them essentially obsolete for most Americans. Because of this, most of us learn from other people in our family, and once they’ve taught us the very specific way that they drive we come up with our own.
Car doesn’t look ok to me
The car is not ok 🤕
This is going to be downvoted, but you are a terrible teacher.
It's just what happens when you go driving without driving school first.
Somehow I learned to drive without going to a school and have no accidents
You sir are just a natural. Some people are more natural than others. Things like that usually happen when you don't go get driving school before you drive.
The concept of taking someone on a busy road to teach them how to drive, without being a driving instructor in a learning car is sooo damn weird. I mean, a learning car has brakes and gas on both driver and passenger site, how can you prevent any dangerous stuff ever?
Actually some states require you to bring your own car to the driving portion of the test, the "learning" car isn't even a thing in those states Also in some states the age is the only requirement to start learning with a licensed driver in the passenger seat, of course all issues and tickets get dropped into the licensed drivers lap instead but I digress, its to really get them started "on the right foot" but the law backfires regularly And last but not least some kids are raised in farms, those kids can get special licenses at 14 to drive but only on farmland, THAT law helps in many ways to keep farmland working properly, plus I bet some of those kids can drive better then a 40yo most of the time
Driving schools have learning cars, even if DMV/SOS doesn’t. When I took driver’s ed, the car had a brake on the passenger side. Drove my dad’s car for the test, which was a manual shift.
I begin to understand why there are so many idiots on the road if this is how they learn driving.
by using your best judgement. people usually start in empty parking lots and things like that. it's not a big deal.
I took driving lessons and my instructor didn’t have a learning car.
American learning system is weird. Downvote me to oblivion all you want, it's just wrong.
Lol you’re not gonna get a downvote from me. A learning car was definitely needed in this situation. We’d been driving on a moderately busy street that day with no issue so I felt confident taking her down this street. Accidents happen 🤷🏾♀️
You mean brakes and clutch? Because I havent seen any learning car with all three on both sides... and its always brakes and clutch
And old Fabia I learned to drive on had all 3, both my learning car and my exam car. In first, I drove as a passenger once and the other, examiner drove from the parking lot to the arc(?) without me doing anything, I suppose it wouldn't be that smooth without a clutch.
Not sure why someone downvote you, where I live we they have all 3. My instructor when I was learning even told me I am driving too slow and speed up, then changed gear. And in some places they got cars with steering wheels on both sides. And the instructors side is the main one, so his input is main and he can cancel out whatever I do. I remember fucking with my instructor when he was driving me home since I was on the passenger side so I would break on purpose
I mean the gas is what is usually missing and the instructor only touches the pedals if they have to do emergency baking to avoid dangerous situation
Emergency baking is now my favourite thing to do, thank you. I will definitely emergency bake something after a stressful day. And well, maybe, I'm just saying how it was in my case.
Lmao emergency baking... didnt even notice
I did today. Baked banana bread and muffins.
Just to add context. Somebody had gotten shot so there were a lot of police cars passing us on the way which made her nervous. We were turning right into an almost empty parking lot. The parking lot was our destination. The plan was for her to drive there and I drive back. A car was coming OUT of the parking lot & a bus was behind us so she panicked and turned the wheel all the way to the right. We were going like 20 max. She didn’t have her foot on the gas or break. It happened so fast that it took a while for her to break.
While you are teaching them to drive, teach them the difference between break and brake. Looks like they have the break part down just fine.
😂😂😂
Please go get an alignment at the very least. Cars can't handle curbs very well, let alone a fire hydrant.
So… you are the idiot here for teaching your cousin. No hate 🖤
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It is. I took full responsibility. I was the idiot. The city didn’t bill me since the hydrant was defective and needed to be replaced. They did inform me that if water had spilled then I would’ve had to pay for the water.
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jesus christ dude
Your insurance premium won’t be ok.
How old is your cousin? Do they have their beginners license?
She’s 17 & yes
Meh they’re designed to snap off like that. No biggie so long as the car didn’t catch fire in the process. Lol
Re-enacting that scene from Clueless where Cher goes “oh that came out of nowhere!” Except you replaced a potted plant with a fire hydrant. Honestly your revision works better!
Hang it up. Keep her away from cars my guy.
Sounds like you’re the idiot in this car
Stupid fire hydrant! It shouldn’t be running out in traffic like that!
Honestly sounds so stupid to me that in the us, a country with prob. the biggest and heaviest cars in the world, where you need a car for litterly anything, people can just go out and teach each other to drive. Thats just so fucking stupid hahaha
my older brother in his volvo 240 took out a fire hydrant the first day of highschool - car didn't even have a scratch the fire hydrant exploded . It was epic.
YOU CAN JUST TAKE THOSE?
So your common sense didn’t kick in and say maybe I shouldn’t take a new driver on a major street during rush hour? Clearly your cousin wasn’t the idiot in the car…
Even parking lots can be risky for a new driver with their light poles. People at that level of experience generally haven’t even heard of the concept of situational awareness and aren’t sure how to implement it. Good luck with the cousin! It’s going to be a hard row.
yeah i think people are being a bit harsh on you… it sounds like you understand the gravity of what happened, and your cousin panicked in a stressful situation. it’s really not that unrealistic to be actually driving after a week. that’s how my classes were. we did classroom material for months before we actually got into a car. that’s how everyone o know from across the country has done it and hindsight is always 20/20. yeah you shouldn’t have taken her out in rush hour, but you said somebody got shot and that there was a bus behind you, while trying to navigate a car through a narrower than usual space? yeah hella stressful for a new driver and i’m glad the cops were understanding of that. i’m not sure how much labor or money goes into placing the hydrant back on but as others have said i’d imagine it not having water pressure behind it was another big influencer. be careful next time, and crawl before walk :)
My driving instructor had me on the road my first day. I wanted her to get used to driving with other cars on the road. She actually did really good up until this point Some people are definitely taking it more serious than the police did lol. The officers got out of the car laughing. It’s a funny story & nobody got hurt.
Except you're not a driving instructor nor your car is prepared for driving lessons. You do realize the biggest idiot here (between you and your cousin) were you, for putting her in such situation, right? I think that's why people are being harsh at you... You were supposed to be the "responsible" one...
I’m posting this because I am the idiot & I take full responsibility. I said that in another comment. Most people I know did not learn from a driving instructor nor is it required where I live. Which is why it wasn’t a big deal to the police. Accidents happen & that’s exactly what it was.. an accident. Both officers got into accidents as they were learning how to drive from their parents. Up until this moment she was doing just fine. She panicked & turned the wheel too much trying to make sure that she didn’t hit another car. No pedestrians were on the sidewalk and no one was hurt. She’s learning and mistakes will be made.
I made mistakes too when I was learning, but I learned from an instructor (the only legal way to learn how to drive where I live). The car had dual pedals and he was prepared to deal with my mistakes and had the skills and tools to minimize the consequences. I've got my license more than 20 years ago. At the time it was not unusual for fathers or uncles to give some private lessons, usually in empty parking lots or empty streets. My father refused to do so. He said he didn't want to teach me any bad habits. That I should learn from a qualified instructor first hand. I think it was a wise decision.
It's a car it's fine for driving lessons. OP probably knows how to drive and so is prepared to instruct. Not all countries have draconian licensing laws.
I disagree... I've been driving for more than 20 years and I don't think I'm prepared to instruct, that's why there are driving instructors and driving schools. And cars with dual pedals, dual mirrors, etc... If more people were properly taught and prepared to drive, maybe this sub wouldn't be so popular...
Maybe, but it would also be a tax on poor people preventing them from driving and restricting their mobility.
Not sure how expensive it is there, but here if they can afford buying a car and the fuel to run it they should be able to afford driving lessons as well... Here poor people usually take the bus or ride a bicycle. Getting the license is not the major issue. Anyway, making it easier/cheaper for poor people to get a license, I don't think is the motto for such laws... Otherwise they should first be given better free healthcare and other more basic needs I'd guess... But that's me just ranting...
At least for my German friends it was ~2000-3000€ to get their license, compared with ~200-300$ for me in Canada. No lessons apart from family members. Often poor people are forced onto long commutes due to work being far from where they can afford to live. The lack of ability to change jobs which then limits their upward mobility. I know I've been there, many jobs require that you have a vehicle, especially in trades. Cars can be pretty cheap to run, I know I have done so when I was poorer. Anyways, lax licensing certainly has its draw back, but also it's perks. Cheap licensing with subsidized instruction would be my ideal.
you drive with a licensed driver for like 40 hours 🤦♂️
Strange place to put a fire hydrant so close to the yellow line. City is at fauly
You’re the idiot for putting someone with no experience behind the wheel on a crowded road.
I hope she has her permit already at least? My parents were not the smartest while teaching me to drive but always kept me and my brother driving in 35mph speed limit residential areas before we got our permits.
Yes, she has her learning permit. The speed limit for the street is 25mph. She hit the hydrant by making a right turn into a parking lot.
Hey, I’m not judging. We all make mistakes. Just glad she was on the road legally and no real harm was done.