How I Became A Better Driver Without Practice

I've posted on here before about being a terrible driver. A week after getting my first car, I totaled it on the freeway. That was about seven years ago, and between then and September of this year, I think I was behind the wheel something like four times.

The first time I drove a car again after the accident was when I was working at the group home for kids with emotional and behavioral issues. It was supposed to be that if we had two or more kids, there had to be two or more staff present. But that day the other person scheduled wasn't able to make it in or something, so I had to drive three kids by myself to their summer day camp. And mind you, any person driving alone with three of those kids in the backseat was not the safest thing.

I was lucky that very little violence erupted; the kids probably realized they shouldn't distract me, since they were pretty worried themselves, having noticed I was nervous. They asked me if I knew how to drive, and I told them yes, but I hadn't driven a car in a long time. As our SUV swerved crazily out onto the street, they squealed hysterically, "We're all gonna die!" I irritably reassured them, "We're probably not going to die." They screamed again when I grazed some garbage cans beside the curb.

Anyway, I was a bit nervous about moving to an area where driving a car is an absolute necessity. But I hoped that with practice I could become a better a driver.

So imagine the pleasant surprise it was to find when I got behind the wheel that I had already become a much better driver without even practicing. How did this happen, you may ask. I think mostly it's that I became a more emotionally stable and mature person. In large part, what made me such a horrible driver earlier on is that I was so anxious and unsure of myself. But now I'm more confident and relaxed and can drive almost like a normal person!

Actually, around here, I may even be better than average(!). I regulary see people doing all kinds of crazy, illegal stuff. Like driving over the median and stopping on railroad tracks ... Oh, Florida ...