In my town, everyone used the vast parking lots of USGS (U.S. Geological Survey), which were deserted on the weekends. Although both my brothers apparently learned to drive by sneaking out at night after my parents were asleep and driving their car up and down the street. My dad was pleased at what "naturals" they were when it came time for their lessons.

I learned when I was about 12. On a stick shift. In the hills of Berkeley (hello, Marin, anyone?). My initial lessons were in the parking lot of Golden Gate Fields. Once I could shift smoothly, we were into the hills. I kinda miss driving a stick shift.

I'm pretty sure I got a couple of parental driving lessons in the mall parking lot, but mostly I learned on the streets with the driver's ed teacher. (But that was an automatic and my parents only had standards.)

First time I drove a car or truck by myself I was about 12, but it was on our property. My had had me drive the pickup truck out to the back 40. I did OK but left it in neutral when I parked it on a hill. (It didn't roll away.) I was driving tractors and a swather before that.

I learned to drive stick on tractors, so when it came time to drive stick in a car, it was very easy, except I was used to tractors so I'd take about two seconds to let up the clutch. I was driving my girfriend's parents' Plymouth Horizon, and she told me not to force the shifter. She said her dad told her to hold the shifter gently like she was holding a guy's cock.

I still don't know how to drive stick, although I would like to. My dad tried to teach me that once, in his new Taurus with a really tight clutch, and it was just bad news all around. I think I was 22 or 23 then.

Cracked a tooth. (A pasta salad made with boneless skinless chicken breast turned out to have a hidden chicken bone.) Pulled. $1000 bucks.

Among the many places I have attempted to learn to drive are: the parking lot at the boarding school where my mother taught; the Pentagon parking lot (huh, I bet you can't do that now); suburban Arlington, VA; the Washington Beltway (not a place I would recommend starting to learn about highway driving); a cul-de-sac development in Connecticut. Teachers included my mother, my friend L., L.'s then boyfriend (who was responsible for the Beltway fiasco, but also discovered I have a bit of a knack for parallel parking), a hire professional, and my husband.

Unfortunately I still don't drive. (I did pass a driving test once and got, and have, a license.)

(not a place I would recommend starting to learn about highway driving)

In the DC area? I'd recommend I-66 beyond -- let's play it safe and say Haymarket. I'm not familiar enough with I-70 to state an opinion, though.

That sucks, Typo Boy. I'm sorry.

I learned to drive automatic, but later on my dad taught me how to drive stick in his old, Ford pickup truck. It had power nothing (no power steering, brakes, etc.), so everything else I've driven since then has seemed like an upgrade. Except for the '76 VW Dasher that I bought for $800 while in grad school, the cars I've bought have had manual transmissions. They're usually cheaper, get better mileage, and manual transmissions tend to last longer than automatics. Since I try to keep my vehicles as long as possible, that's definitely a plus.

hello, Marin, anyone

HAH. That's such a ridiculous street. A friend of mine once told me her son went down Marin on a skateboard. Kid's lucky to have survived.

I learned to drive in the suburbs, and particularly in the development where our summer cottage was. Empty roads, plenty of opportunities to learn to shift the clutch. I still haven't taught my nieces to drive stick because I can't really find a good place to do it around here--there's just too much traffic everywhere.