How old were you when you first drove?

[kphoger]

First time I 'drove' before getting my permit was on the AC Expressway, when my dad allowed me to touch the steering wheel while he grabbed something out of his wallet (his other hand was probably on the wheel the whole time anyway).  I remember being all excited about this, until my mom and grandmother tried telling me how dangerous it was, deflating any excitement I had.  The only time I actually drove the car under my own power was moving it about 10 feet in the driveway, again with a nervous mother telling me to adjust all the mirrors, seats, no radio, etc.  And yes, I literally went 10 feet.

Oh, shoot, I never considered grabbing the wheel from the passenger seat.  I don't even remember when my dad first asked me to do that, probably in junior high.

A good friend of ours recently asked his young son to put the van in neutral (without cranking the engine) and roll down the driveway a bit, out of the way.  What he didn't count on was the car not having power brakes, and then couldn't jump in through the open door fast enough to prevent it from hitting their other car.