DATE: Friday, August 8, 1997                TAG: 9708080087

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E13  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY RACHAEL WAGNER, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   62 lines

DON'T STARE AT THE CHEESEMOBILE

HAVE YOU EVER seen a car with a big yellow cheese-wedge-shaped sign on its roof that reads, ``Driver's Education - Student Driver''? What did you do when you saw the car? Did you stop and look to see what a student driver looks like?

I always looked into the passing driver's education car - which I fondly titled the cheesemobile - to see what the goof driving it looked like. Then I became the goof.

I'm 15, the law requires that I take a classroom driver's education course and a weeklong behind-the-wheel course. I have to have my learner's permit for six months before I can get my license when I am 16. The good thing about taking the classes is that I won't have to take the driving test at the DMV when I turn 16. What a relief!

I took my driving lessons with two friends, Mandi Warren and Brian Fry, both 15. They are relatively experienced drivers, so I figured I was safe. Fortunately, they both did wonderfully, though there were a few times when our instructor, Roxanne Gallaher (aka Ms. G), 39, had to use the extra brake.

The tables turned completely when I was behind the wheel. My heart was racing when I sat in the driver's seat, and my palms were a little moist. I had trouble getting used to the car, which kept pulling to the right. Not only did I worry about making my turns at the right speed and stopping correctly but I also had to consciously keep the car from hitting the curb.

The first six days of the course were fine. I didn't hit any other cars or pedestrians, so I figured I was doing well. If only I had known what was in store for me on the last day. I was so close to passing that I could smell the lamination on my license. One last obstacle stood between me and my plastic passport to independence: parallel parking.

The parking test was held in Cox High School's deserted parking lot. I remembered the directions for parallel parking from my driver's ed book. Unfortunately, it looked easier in the book!

On my first try, I bumped the curb. The second time went well, though not perfectly. I hit the curb again, but I passed anyhow. When Ms. G. told me I passed, I thought to myself, ``Great! Only nine months and six days until I can drive alone!'' I've already started crossing days off on my calendar.

The weirdest thing about driving a driver's ed car was not having your every move judged by the instructor or the threat that she might use the extra brake, which is humiliating, but the way people react to the cheesemobile.

It's easy to forget that the yellow sign is on top when you are driving, but other drivers always seem to notice. I was honked at, swerved at, stared at and laughed at. Other drivers assume that because you don't have a license, you don't know the rules of driving. Many think the yellow sign gives them the right of way.

I was fed up with all the stares I received by the second day of the seven-day course. My instructor has been through five years of being stared at, laughed at, shot at with Nerf balls and even mooned. She's even seen another driver wave his license in a student's face.

All of these irritations from other drivers combined with the pressure of driving under observation make taking a driver's education course nerve-wracking.

So, if you happen to see a driver's ed car on the road, take pity on those goofs stuck driving the cheesemobile. I know I will. ILLUSTRATION: Rachael Wagner is a rising at sophomore at Cape Henry

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