For those who don’t know, British Columbia has a little thing called the Graduated Licensing Program for new drivers.
You begin by passing a written test for your “L”. Your L is literally a giant red L that has to be displayed on the back of the car. In addition, L drivers must have an adult supervisor. In other words, not only do you have to drive around with your mom, but you need to put a giant magnet on the back of your car that announces to everyone that you’re driving around with your mom.
After a year of driving with an L, a student driver can take their N test. This test is administered by someone at ICBC (the only car insurance option in this province) and, if passed, it’s the ticket to freedom. Kind of. You’re still required to display an N, can have a maximum of one non-family passenger, are not allowed to use hands-free technology, and can’t score anything above 0.00% on a blood-alcohol test. But you can fly solo, and that’s freedom enough.
This is my car with the N proudly displayed:
Ls look the same except red and, obviously, with an “L” instead of an “N”.
So, today, I was waiting to turn left at a major intersection, onto a one-way, when I notice an L a couple cars ahead. Sucks to be you. We were given the green advance and everyone hits the gas. Then, just around the corner, the L driver stops! The car in front of me hits the brakes, and I swerve into the right lane, narrowly avoiding collision. What are you doing?!
Likely scared to death, the L driver barely picks up any more speed and the car behind him honks. And I don’t mean an impatient “wtf” kind of honk. It’s looooong, it’s drawn out, and frankly, it’s unnecessary. It pissed me off more than the near-accident did.
Learning to drive is difficult. It takes time and it takes practice. Pointing out that someone made a mistake is logical. For all we knew, the L didn’t even see the chaos caused behind him. But literally leaning on the horn is hardly productive. It’s upsetting and just stresses out a driver who is obviously already having a fairly rough time.
For all anyone knew, that could have been the kid’s first time behind a wheel, or turning left at an intersection, or struggling to remember whether the approaching school zone is active on Saturdays. Freaking out doesn’t help anyone, and it’s certainly not going to make the kid a better driver.
Relax and have a little patience, so that he’s willing to learn. I think we can all agree that the sooner this kid learns to drive, the better.
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