Man is my driving fairly rusty. I had not driven in like two weeks now. Prior to that I had been driving my truck for close to a month and was used to its handling. So when my dad unexpectedly put me behind the wheel of his 2014 Ford Focus because he felt too tired to drive home from Harbor Freight, I struggled a little. After nearly rear ending another car two months ago, I didn't think I would be given the keys to his car again.

Right away, I start to feel around for a clutch pedal, only to realize there was none because the car was an automatic. So after somewhat shakily putting it into gear due to my nervelessness, I reflexively punched the gas like I would in my truck. Now my accelerator in my truck only moves about an inch or two and I don't actually floor it in my truck until after I fully engage the clutch, so it's not like the car shot forward. Still jerked harder than I wanted though.

For about the first hundred feet getting out of the parking lot, I felt awkward and also a little nerviness. Got into the main road, probably the only time I gave her a lot of gas, and learned the hard way that the steering wheel snaps back to center when you release it, as opposed to the more gradual return that I'm used to in both my uncle's Acura RSX-S and the slower return in my truck.

For those who don't understand why I would be letting go of the wheel, the front wheels will actually return to straight ahead on their own while the car is moving. So during the final stage of making a turn, I release my grip of the steering wheel let it spin back to center. I learned this technique from my uncle. BTW, my truck's steering wheel doesn't return all the way to center so I have to grab the wheel to finish the process, but by then the wheels are only a quarter turn to being straight.

Then I drove on an undivided road for a while in the fast lane and kept finding myself being scared of sideswiping another car. Clearly managed not to sideswipe any cars and I think I actually stayed in my lane quite well and I don't think I made any sudden corrections like my dad was doing on the way out to the store.

The passage through what is often the most congested and unpredictably traffic in my area was relatively uneventful

So overall I did fine, but I'm rusty after not driving for so long. Not exactly what I should be showing a guy proctoring my driver's license test.