Getting used to a new car

This week we have a new car. We sold our old Ford Focus which was getting a little creaky (and which I had unfortunately managed to put a hole in the front) and we now have a new Skoda Karoq. When we first started looking at Skodas I must admit that I found it difficult to forget the Skoda jokes I remember from school, but it turns out that Skokas have massively improved their reputation over the last couple of decades, and when my friend told me that her Skoda was still going strong after 17 years I was more convinced!

I was a little worried as it's quite different to our last car - I'm a nervous driver and I don't like change. The Focus was a reliable car, and we've only ever had Fords. Our other car is a little Ford Fiesta which is small, easy to park and quite nippy. The Karoq seemed huge to me when I saw it in the showroom, and when I sat inside I felt very small. I wasn't even convinced when Ram told me that it was shorter than the Focus and only 2cm wider - it seemed enormous!

We needed a quick turnaround so we went for a basic model. It doesn't have all the fancy new features, but it does have a few extras that I've not had before - front sensors in particular are going to be very helpful! It has cruise control which adjusts your speed to keep a safe distance from the car in front, and an automatic braking system if you get too close. It's going to take a little while to get used to as there is no handbrake and you need to push down various pedals to get it to start - it's a bit different from the more basic cars that I'm used to!

The new features have been making me think about how different learning to drive will be in the future as technology improves. I remember learning stopping distances for my theory test, but now you can rely on the car to calculate it for you. I used to use marks on the window of the car to help me with angles for reverse parking, but with front and rear sensors you can rely on those instead - and many cars are even able to park themselves. I'm not sure I can fully trust the car yet, but if it's all that you've ever known then I can see how you would. Perhaps by the time my children have lessons the cars will pretty much drive themselves!