Horns blaring, tail-gating, angry waving arms. We've copped it all.
No, it's not because I'm a particularly bad driver, but rather my partner and I have been teaching his 16-year-old daughter to drive (and no, she's not bad either!).
I went into the experience safe in the knowledge that L Plates were the widely accepted symbol of "give this person space, they are just learning and will make mistakes".
They demanded thoughtfulness for your fellow driver. Care.
A shuffling of the normal road rage onto the backburner.
But boy, oh boy, was I wrong.
There's not a bit of grace for stalling at a red light. For travelling slightly below the speed limit.
Not a care as she tackles head-checks, mirror checks, shifts gear - all with traffic blaring everywhere.
She had to do a hill-start at a set of lights with a car almost directly on her bumper - I say proudly that she nailed it (her dad's hand hovering to apply a hard yank to the handbrake) - but still the pressure!
You'd think the big L plate on the back of the early 90s Corolla would perhaps give the other driver pause for stopping so close - if for no other reason than the safety of their own bumper on their rather new SUV. But alas.
To the 16-year-old's credit, she's handled it all with a state of calm - or maybe it's just that teenage "meh-ness" doesn't get shaken for anything.
But me - I'm raging.
"How dare they!" I seethe inside. "It's only her first (second/third etc) drive. Don't they know!"
As if a few second delay while she tries to find that gear, or waits for a bigger gap to turn, makes that bit of a difference in the grand scheme of things.
But alas, the horns sound on.
So next time you see an L plate take a deep breath. Remember, you were also once a learner after all.
In case you are interested in filtering all the latest down to just one late afternoon read, why not sign up for The Informer newsletter?
MORE STUFF HAPPENING AROUND AUSTRALIA:
Kim Chappell
As Senior Producer - Digital for ACM's regional titles I assist newsrooms in digital best practice. Before this role, I was the digital journalist with ACM's national team and prior to that, the digital specialist with ACM's Agricultural division. I started as a general rounds journalist with The Land in 2006, moving up to hold the title of chief of staff before switching to digital reporting in 2015.
As Senior Producer - Digital for ACM's regional titles I assist newsrooms in digital best practice. Before this role, I was the digital journalist with ACM's national team and prior to that, the digital specialist with ACM's Agricultural division. I started as a general rounds journalist with The Land in 2006, moving up to hold the title of chief of staff before switching to digital reporting in 2015.
