First time Driving on the Highway Help!?

-Okay so I Am 21 years old I have been driving in the city for 2 years. The farthest I have gone is about 1 hour away on the street..Pretty much I want to visit some HS friends 5 hours from where I live. The trip will be spring break ...March.



My question to you is how can I convince my parents to let me drive there...and second question is any tips when driving on the High way. I think it is a matter of practice and I think in about a month I should be use to it. Issues would be getting lost, getting use to the roads, being extremely nervous, AGGRESSIVE drivers who wont let me into the lane and using gps or map while driving.



I have only gotten 1 ticket in my two year of driving from a speed cam, and no accidents (knock on wood). Thanks in advance.Only way to get used to highway driving in your area is to do some highway driving. Ask your parents if they will take you out and help you. To give you some experience beforehand. That will ease both your minds. You will need the experience eventually. Get some maps, and study the routes at home. Know the different routes you will be taking. In my glove compartment I have a huge stack of maps. They are huge peace of mind. No matter what town or city I pull into I have a map that I can refer to. Now, with GPS taking over I know my glove box will be getting roomier (but you get the idea). I love my maps. I read them over and over and know my routes. Know what the road conditions are too.



I actually have only had my drivers license for a few years, even though I am way older than you. Last year I wanted to take a road trip 6 hours away from me to a very large city and I was nervous driving in that city. I knew what activities I wanted to do. I went online and got exact driving directions to those places (at the time I did not own a GPS unit yet). I had maps for all the communities and highways along the way. I made sure that my car was in good working order. I had emergency supplies, phone numbers of relatives. It was a road trip to Edmonton Alberta in JANUARY! and I was fine! it was really cold but it was all good, and I had a blast visiting my relatives and driving all that way by myself.I know it old fashioned, but a well-made dictaphone tape is a great advantage-and when travelling you can record directions from others. things happen quickly at speed, & you need your eyes on the road. take a good navigator if all else fails. Someone who know how to read a map properly. and gives timely instructions without starting WW3!
practice makes perfect. just give it a try with someone in the passenger seat that has experience on the hwy. try it at a less busy time. maybe at night.
Don't they want to drive with you so they can teach you properly how to drive SAFELY on the highway?
If you're 21, why do you need to convince your parents?
Driving on the highway is no more dangerous that driving in the city. It is simply that the dangers are different. On the highway, as you said, you have to look out for the lane changer and the tailgater. You have to be aware of conditions far ahead of you like is there an accident, are there curves coming up. But, if you are careful in the city where idiots can pull out of parking spaces with no notice or blow through red lights or pedestrians thinking God is watching over them when they J-walk after church, you will be a good driver on the highway too.



You should ask your insurance agent to talk to your parents about statistics about careful drivers.



You really should drive a short distance on a highway before you take a 300 mile trip, too.