Instructing first-time drivers is a great way to gain some life experience and shave a few years off your own in the process. Most first-time drivers go about their business without incident and quickly become competent despite their lack of experience behind the wheel. Then, there are those student drivers who scare the living daylights out of instructors and haunt their very dreams.

Getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle for the first time is a rite of passage. Many teenagers look forward to the day they obtain their driver's license and gain a little more freedom to do as they please.

Although they may feel ready, some teenagers meet the road with anxiousness and fear in full swing. Sometimes those feelings can lead to simple mistakes that have disastrous results.

Even though they can be terrifying, some first-time drivers have their moments. Their stories can make us feel better about ourselves or simply give us a good laugh. In short, as long as you weren't in the car with them, these 20 stories of first-time drivers are pretty funny.

20 Panic On the Highway

Taking to the streets of your local neighborhood as a first-time driver is one thing, but tackling the highway is another. Fast-moving traffic, hulking SUVs, and intimidating semi-trucks can make for quite an overwhelming experience. Some first-time drivers are more cautious and drive slower upon merging with highway traffic. Others, on the other hand, let their fear get the better of them.

When the driving instructor tells you to merge into the other lane, odds are you do so by turning on your turn signal and checking your blind spot. This first-time driver forgot to do both things and proceeded to enter a state of panic.

After the instructor reminded him to use his turn signal, the young driver swerved and turned on the windshield wipers. Next, they activated the washer fluid, then turned on the wrong turn signal. As he careened towards another car, the driving instructor finally took control and hit the passenger brake.

It’s a bit odd that the student driver panicked so badly that he forgot where the turn indicators were. To make matters worse, the student and the instructor weren’t the only ones in the car. There was also a second student in the back seat, and it's from that other student whom this story comes from.

19 Distress in the Parking Lot

Mothers being too scared to teach their young teenagers to drive aren’t all that uncommon, but that isn't always a bad thing. Thanks to their fear, we get stories like this one.

Getting behind the wheel for the first time at a drivers’ education class can be intimidating. For most, however, it wouldn’t be particularly overwhelming. For one Reddit user who climbed behind the wheel of the drivers education car for the first time, it most certainly was.

Three student cars were parked outside the facility. This student, a female, was assigned the car in the middle of the three. Due to her instructor’s lack of haste in getting to the vehicle, they were the last one to start their vehicle.

As the others students on both sides of our first-time driver began pulling out, panic set in. Our first-time driver seemed to feel as though the car was rolling backward. Fortunately, she quickly hit the brakes, keeping the stationary car, well, stationary. Then, she screamed, “I CAN’T STOP!” at the top of her lungs.

It took a few seconds for the instructor to inform the student that the car was still in park. Meanwhile, the other two students in the backseat presumably shook their heads in disbelief.

18 Through the Roundabout

Generally, driving instructors are supposed to give simple, easy-to-follow instructions to student drivers. In most cases, this driving practice goes along without any serious problems. As it turns out, some students take the instructions a little too literally.

When one driving instructor told his student to go “straight” over on an upcoming roundabout, things didn’t quite go as planned. To most, it would've been clear that the instructor wanted the student to exit the roundabout straight ahead. Apparently, the student and the driver weren’t on the same page, so to speak.

Upon entering the roundabout, the student attempted to literally go straight through the roundabout. She ramped the student driver car over the curb and into the vegetation-covered center.

Upon jumping the curb, the car collided with a sapling that sent it spinning out. The young driver, unable to regain control, then struck a van on the other side of the roundabout, effectively bringing the car to a stop.

A note to the many young drivers out there: don’t take things too literally, and remember to use common sense behind the wheel.

17 Terrified Screaming

Perhaps one of the more interesting predicaments is when the student’s driving instructor is also his or her father. As some may already know, gravel roads aren’t the best terrain for a first-time driver to get a feel for the car. In this case, it went a little worse than “not well,” though.

The small, winding backroads might've been ideal because there weren’t as many cars on the road. On the other hand, gravel isn’t exactly great for coming to quick stops and maintaining traction.

When this Reddit user saw a car coming in the opposite direction during her first outing behind the wheel, a dozen questions flew through her mind. Is there enough room on the road? Would she need to slow down? Should she move closer to her side of the road?

These are all great questions to consider, especially for a first-time driver. Unfortunately, acting on these questions and feelings is a different story. In this case, the student failed to react at all.

As the car drew nearer, she failed to perform any physical maneuver and only managed to emit a high-pitched scream. The car continued forward, losing momentum the entire way. It finally came to a stop when it ran into a ditch on the side of the road.

The driver in the other car was a little quicker to react and checked to see if the student and her father were okay. Fortunately, there were no lasting injuries, except for the father’s embarrassment and a family story that'll simply never die.

16 Higher Power

Some of the funniest stories of first-time drivers are short and concise. They don’t even necessarily come from driving instructors but from the student drivers themselves. According to one Reddit commenter, the student’s mother was willing to put her life in the hands of a higher power.

“Jesus Take the Wheel” is a fairly popular song, and it’s perfect for situations like this one. During one student’s first time behind the wheel, her mother asked her to pull over.

There wasn’t anything wrong with the car; nor was there trouble on the road ahead. No, the companion mother simply wanted to say a prayer. Unfortunately for the student, this happened not once but twice in the same driving session.

The student in question didn’t provide much more information, but it’s fairly easy to guess as to why her mother wanted to stop and pray twice in one go. That’s got to sting a little.

15 A Troublesome Turn

Leaving the DMV after accomplishing everything you went there to take care of is a joyous feeling. Primarily, you’ve taken care of what was likely something important. Second, you’re no longer stuck at the DMV! Fortunately for one Reddit commenter, leaving the DMV also included a show.

As the commenter was pulling away from the DMV, a student taking her driving test turned right. The student appeared to have accidentally turned the wheel too far, and the right turn quickly became a U-turn. That led to her ramping over a curb and crashing into the DMV building.

First responders were on the scene shortly after, but it didn’t appear anyone was injured in the crash. As firefighters handled the aftermath of the accident, the student driver sat on the curb crying. Fortunately for us, this Reddit commenter was more than happy to share the story.

No one goes without a mistake when learning to drive, but it isn’t often that the mistake leads to putting a car through a building. On the bright side (for the student), she’ll have a funny story to tell at parties and family gatherings—as soon as her pride recovers, anyway.

14 "Pass"

Most first-time drivers have some instruction on the basics of their vehicle before taking to the open winds of the highway. That doesn’t appear to be the case for one student who, according to the owner of the driving school one Reddit commenter attended, didn’t quite understand the basic functions of the gear shift.

After successfully merging onto the highway and following a semi-truck for a little while, the student asked if she could pass. The instructor indicated that would be fine, obviously expecting her to simply accelerate above 60 mph. In an odd turn of events, the student didn’t hit the gas but reached for the gear shift instead.

Fortunately, the instructor was quick enough to grab her hand and prevent her from shifting gears. He asked what she thought she was doing, and she "smartly" responded that she was “putting it in ‘P’ for ‘Pass.'”

Perhaps it was simply a story the owner of the driving school used to scare students into paying attention. We can only hope…

13 A Practical Lesson

The best lessons are always practical and can be applied to real-world situations. Driving instructors are supposed to prepare young drivers for most situations that the road may hold in store once they’re on their own. Sometimes those practical lessons can induce a little panic. That was exactly the case for one Reddit user who shared the practical lesson their driving instructor threw on his students.

Venturing down a straightaway full of other vehicles can be stressful for experienced drivers. In that sense, it might not be the best place for a practical lesson. Apparently, one driving instructor didn’t agree with that sentiment.

As the student was traveling down the straightaway, the instructor shifted into ‘Neutral’ and asked what the student should do then. With the car's speed dramatically decreasing and speeding traffic in every direction, we can’t imagine it was an ideal situation for a driver of any age.

Typically, this kind of practical lesson is reserved for aircraft pilots. At least the student wasn’t blindfolded as some pilots are, though.

The commenter didn’t tell us whether she was able to rectify the situation, but we can only guess that she did. On the bright side, the instructor treated her to Dunkin Donuts, presumably as an apology.

12 Trouble In the Bronx

Tight city streets and large trucks don’t mix very well, but things aren’t always what they seem. That was the case when one Jalopnik reader responded to a call for student driver stories. The commenter, who works on a construction crew in the Bronx, often sees vehicles damaged by passing trucks, so it was easy to assume who or what damaged one of his coworkers' cars.

Fleeing the scene of an accident is a major ordeal that can lead to trouble with police and insurance companies. Fortunately for this co-worker, the building he parked near had security cameras that caught the entire incident on tape. As it turns out, the damage wasn’t caused by an 18-wheeler truck navigating along tight city streets.

The vehicle caught on tape fleeing the scene of the accident belonged to the local commercial driving school. The commenter reportedly saw this truck struggling to make turns on that street fairly often.

In the end, the coworker took the tapes to the school, which quickly denied any wrongdoing on their part. They finally gave in after the victim showed them two more tapes of the same incident from different angles.

This commenter does have a piece of advice for driving students, though. If the instructor tells you to flee the scene after hitting another vehicle, find another driving school.

11 Family Tradition

It isn’t often that an entire family has the same driving instructor, but that was the case for one Jalopnik commenter. The instructor apparently taught the commenter’s father and mother before teaching her to drive as well. It’s a somewhat odd family tradition, to say the least.

Well, it turns out that our commenter wasn’t the only one learning as she went. The instructor was apparently improving his technique with each passing student. It took the commenter’s father and mother three and two tries respectively to pass their driving tests.

Our commenter appears to have gotten all the driving skills in the family. She passed her driving test on her first attempt. Unlike other entries on this list, there weren’t any accidents, troubles with parking, or tagging pedestrians. All in all, it appears to have been a positive experience.

Learning as you go is what learning to drive is all about. With experience comes improvement, after all. The United Kingdom has different laws and test requirements for their student drivers compared to what we have here in the United States. Regardless, the basic idea is the same.

10 Accidental Drifting

Making mistakes is expected of most student drivers, but sometimes, those mistakes end up being pretty awesome. One United Kingdom driving instructor quickly learned just that when he was traveling with a student who was trying to shift gears.

The student driver and the instructor were traveling along a divided highway at around 50 mph. Everything was going according to plan, and the student was keeping the ride smooth.

Suddenly, the car swerved sideways as though it was taking part in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Needless to say, the instructor and the student were both left aghast. Fortunately, it didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out what had happened.

As it turns out, the student had tried to shift gears, but accidentally pulled the handbrake up instead. The sudden change caused the car to swing around unexpectedly. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the student presumably finished the lesson.

Even so, the heart-pounding experience is likely one that neither the student nor the instructor will soon forget.

9 End of Lesson

It’s a little worrisome when two students are taking turns learning to drive. A mistake by one student can leave the other one out in the cold after all. That’s exactly what happened in the story one driving instructor shared with a Reddit commenter.

According to the instructor, the student driver managed to flip the car with another student in the backseat. That’s no easy task and could've resulted in serious injuries. So, how did this happen?

Well, this young lady was traveling over a low-rise bridge when she struck the guardrail. That was it all it took for the car to flip over and land on its roof. Fortunately, it doesn’t appear anyone was seriously injured, and the students went on to learn from her mistakes.

If anything is for certain, it’s that both students will travel over low-rise bridges with caution in the future. It isn’t all bad, though. To top it off with a little humor, the first thing the student in the backseat said was, “Well, I guess I’m not driving today.”

Next time, maybe he'll go first.

8 Self-Aware

Most drivers aren’t too self-aware as to what their weaknesses are behind the wheel. That might just put this student driver on another level. Not only was she exceptionally self-aware, but she was more than happy to forego getting a license in lieu of it.

This Reddit comment comes from the student herself, who willingly calls herself one of the worst students her driving instructor likely ever had. They didn’t tear through a crowded mall or slam into a building. In fact, this student did quite the opposite.

This student was hesitant, often remaining at a stop to wait for a car 300 meters away to pass. When her instructor questioned why she didn’t go, she proposed that the car could potentially speed up without warning.

In short, this driver lived in a state of fear that may have made her more of a risk on the road. Her crippling fear was enough to put her instructor off anyway.

When the instructor informed her she would never pass the driving test with her driving habits, she had the perfect reply. “Thank God! Because if people like me do pass the test, then I am right to fear the other drivers.”

This former student driver is presumably still riding shotgun.

7 Two-For-One

Some students are unlucky. Then, there are others who seem to be plagued by a string of unfortunate events. That appears to be the case for Krista, a high school student who caused significant damage to a drivers’ education vehicle, not once but twice.

With the driving lesson over, one might think that a student is out of the woods, so to speak. Well, you’d be wrong. This high school student managed to park, then open the driver’s door without checking for traffic. It only took that one mistake for the door to get torn clean off the car.

The following week, this same student managed to damage the second drivers’ education car. According to the Reddit commenter, she failed to brake and took a corner too quickly. The car rolled over and needed major repairs before it could return to the road, much to the displeasure of her fellow students.

Whether Krista simply wasn’t aware of her surroundings or is plain, old unlucky is up for debate. Due to the damage she caused to the vehicle, the entire class had to wait weeks for the cars to get fixed. That certainly caused some anger among everyone involved.

On the bright side, the driving school's insurance covered the cost of the repairs.

6 Double Fault

Students are clearly learning the rules of the road when they enroll in drivers’ education. The instructors are supposed to be the experts, but sometimes, even they make mistakes when educating. It’s at these times that common sense needs to reign supreme.

Students aren’t perfect, so it makes sense that they’ll make mistakes. When one student tried to turn left at a green light but lacked a green arrow, the instructor kept his foot firmly on the brake. He told her to think about what she would do next, to which she responded by making sure the car was in drive, then hitting the gas again.

Thanks to the teacher’s brake, the student was prevented from pulling the car in front of oncoming traffic. As it turns out, the instructor in this situation wasn’t exactly all-seeing, though.

According to one Reddit commenter who was a passenger at the time, the instructor told the student driver to make a turn onto a one-way street not long after the left-turn incident. The only problem with that instruction is that the student would've turned into oncoming traffic. Fortunately, she refused to follow the instructor’s command.

5 Take Six!

Some people manage to pass their driving tests on their first attempt. For others, it takes a few more tries. In some cases, it can take a student six attempts or more to finally pass the test. That’s the case for a Ms. Park from Guildford.

After arriving for her fifth attempt at the driving test, Ms. Park didn’t get off to the best start. In fact, it almost couldn’t have gone any worse. It appears the only thing she did properly was start the car and put it in gear, believe it or not.

According to 1stdrive.come, Ms. Park put the car in drive, then proceeded to accelerate straight into the River Wye. She quickly exited the vehicle and swam to shore, but that isn’t the end of this tale. Her driving examiner couldn’t swim and was stuck stranded on the roof calling for help.

Even after putting the car in the river, Ms. Park still had the nerve to ask if she had passed the test. Other instructors informed her that she would have to wait for her examiner to recover from shock to make the decision.

We’re going to go with a firm ‘No’ on that one, although we have little doubt Ms. Park returned for a sixth attempt soon after.

4 Bonus Points

Some people are willing to do crazy things to get money off of their insurance, but this entry just proves that you shouldn’t believe everything you hear. This interaction comes from a driving instructor in the United Kingdom.

The student accelerated through lights with speed cameras. Yes, those same speed cameras that local police departments use to catch speeders and issue them tickets. Even after several warnings to slow down, the student continued to floor it past the cameras.

Finally, the instructor, who gave a report to 1stdrive.com, pulled the car over and asked him why he had kept speeding past the cameras.

According to the student, who heard it from a friend, speeding through the cameras allows the police to send you photos of how fast you’re traveling at the time. Those photos can then be redeemed for “bonus points” that can be used to get discounts on car insurance.

Needless to say, the driving instructor set the student straight, and she (hopefully) is no longer flooring it past speed cameras. There’s no indication on whether or not the student decided to share this information with her friend.

3 A Truly Epic Fail

It takes a pretty major infraction to immediately fail your driving test, and sending your instructor to the hospital is probably one of them. Drivers of all ages can make the simple mistake of stepping on the wrong pedal, but it doesn’t often lead to the disaster that this young driver experienced.

The 17-year-old teenager was in the process of taking her driver’s test in Buffalo, Minnesota. According to the Buffalo Police Department, the young lady put the vehicle in drive instead of reverse. When she attempted to back up, the SUV lurched forward and ran straight through a brick wall.

The report doesn’t go into great detail, but we do know that the instructor had to go to the hospital for some minor injuries. Fortunately for the driver, no one is pressing charges, although she probably failed her driving test and won’t earn her driver’s license for a little while longer.

Simple mistakes can turn into much more serious incidents when vehicles and young drivers are involved. The building and the car can both be fixed. The driver’s pride, on the other hand, will take some time to mend.

2 Roadkill

It’s pretty common knowledge that you should never swerve for animals, but no one told one Reddit commenter that rule only applies to living animals. Live animals can move unexpectedly and cause drivers to put themselves or others in danger. Dead animals, on the other hand, are almost harmless. Almost.

There are a number of ways to fail a driving test, ranging from running a stop sign to careening into a river. Of all the ways to fail, smashing into road kill probably isn’t very high on the list.

While taking her driving test, this student spotted a recently deceased raccoon in her path. Putting her knowledge to use, she stayed her course, unaware that it’s okay to swerve slightly to avoid dead, stationary animals. Needless to say, the results were disastrous.

Upon hitting the raccoon carcass head-on, the body exploded, getting some of the guts stuck on the windshield wipers and all over the car. The student found herself blinded and unable to do anything other than scream. After narrowly avoiding several accidents, the instructor decided to drive back to the DMV.

Hopefully, this student’s second attempt didn’t involve any more roadkill…

1 Never Too Old…

Sometimes, student drivers aren’t young nor inexperienced. One woman from Waterbury Connecticut proved that just recently when she arrived at the local DMV to take her driving test. Unfortunately, she appeared to be too eager to take her driving test.

The 46-year-old woman reportedly got behind the wheel of her Toyota Prius for her driving test and proceeded to get the brake and gas pedals mixed up. She put the car in reverse, then backed into a parking sign and some plants before finally crashing into the building itself.

On the bright side, only two people received minor injuries in the accident. According to Motor1, neither the driver nor the instructor was hurt in the crash. Even better, there’s a pretty clear video of what happened via the DMV’s camera for our viewing pleasure.

In the end, the driver received a citation from responding police officers. Fortunately for her, the Prius doesn’t appear to have suffered major damage. It won’t be easy for her to return to retake her driving test, though.

Fortunately for those already waiting to take care of their business, the DMV remained open and operational. After all, no car accident can cause a breakdown in day-to-day bureaucracy!

Sources: reddit.com; jalopnik.com; brainjet.com