We used to vacation by motorhome a lot and I always thought that on those long cross country trips that "cruise control" meant that my dad turned this on at night so he could go lay down to sleep. I always wondered how the motorhome knew there was a curve coming up? and a McDonalds at the next exit!!!

Am

When our kids were little, I used to drive an old Rover 2600 that had a low-oil warning light on the dashboard. This thing was huge for what it was, about the size of an adult man's thumb nail. The electrics in that old car were pretty bad, and this light stayed half-on all the time in a soft ruddy glow.
We were all returning home one evening and this glow was just becoming visible in the gathering gloom, and one of the kids asked what it was.
Of course, we told them it was the Sunset Meter that told us it was getting dark enough to put the main lights on...

Biggles

As a child (In UK), I believed that all cars had to drive on the left, except cars that were coming the other way. Of course Police cars and Ambulances were allowed to drive down the middle of the road.

Steve

I used to believe that little men with torches ran under the road at night, lighting up the cats' eyes so that Dad could see where we were going.
They were related to the little men who turned on the light in the fridge when I opened the door.

Vikki

A grade-school friend tried to convince me that the chassis of a car was called the "fuel sladge" and it was what made a car go fast. I knew better. I already knew it was the gas pedal!

Rod

One day, when I was litte girl, we went for a family drive. Being at the "what is that-why is that?"age, I asked my Dad what the handles on the roof of the car were for. He replied, in a convining way, that they were for holding the roof on in high winds and when driving down the motorway. From then on there were wry smiles whenever I helpfully offered to 'hold the roof on'..!

Angela.T, London

When I was very young my mother and I would often take a back road to go home. My mom called this "the invisible road" because when we drove on it we became invisible. To prove her point she would tell me to watch as other cars went by. The people in the cars would not look at us. Why? Because we were invisible of course!
To this day when I go home to visit I will often go miles out of my way to drive on the "invisible road".

Joel Harz

I used to believe that when you pressed the red button on the dash board, the car would blow up, i later realised it was the button that activated the hazard lights.

madskills

i used to believe that it was against the law to look out the window at drivers or passengers in other cars on the road

ashley

I used to believe that bits of cloud would hit the car if we drove through a 'Cloudburst'.

I used to believe that my Dad didn't really go to work, but sat in the garage in his car all day.

I used to believe that the world's problems would be solved if everyone prayed for Satan to get converted ('Love your enemies and pray for them that persecute you'.) Like it was a trick question only I had worked out!

There were more, but I've forgotten them. I'll be back!

Gill A.

Okay, a couple car beliefs from me:
*My brother and I tried to make the car fly when we went through a dip. We thought if we flapped our arms, even if fully inside the car, we could make the car fly when it came up from the bottom of the dip. We also got our cousin to do this whenever he was with us
*I was kind of perplexed about hazard lights until I was about 12. My first thought (until about 8) was, How do you turn left and right at the same time, and I thought you'd get pulled over for confusing the traffic. Then later on it was, How do you turn this off. I thought this when they were turned on and I was sitting in the driver's seat fiddling with the indicator control trying to turn it off. The inside indicator lights flashing just annoyed me more because I couldn't control them!
*Another belief I had: How in the world do the indicators no when to go on and off? Off, understandable, they click off when the wheel goes back. On, I just never saw my parents flip it as the turned the wheel.

Anon

Until about the age of 6 or 7, I wondered how you could keep both hands on the wheel, as well as hold on to the key in the ignition. I thought the car wouldn't work unless you held it in there, and turned to the end (ie, the "start engine" position). I guess if I kept a closer eye on my paretns driving I'd have noticed sooner that you can just let the keys hang there.

Anon

Whenever I was in the car at night, and my parents used the high-beam (which was a blue indicator), I always looked for a blue light shining out of the car. After I outgrew this, I wondered why a high-beam indicator was a rock flying through the air or something (that's what it looks like, the rock with the "speed lines" coming out the back). I held this one until I was about then, then saw it another way and realised it was a light with light beams shining out. I think I also thought it was a magnet or something, and they were "suction lines"). The best thing about my personality is that I usually don't reveal these crazy beliefs I have. This was one I didn't reveal.

Anon

I didn't believe this 100% but I thought that when you travel by car the roads moved and the car stayed still. I only ever thought this on long trips (on a highway, when the road doesn't split up as much as in town). The thought never occured to me whenever I was being driven in town.
I was about 3 or 4. Then I realised three things that disproved my theory:
1. It would get confusing when you have to turn off one road and onto another (the road would have to change directions)
2. I was standing outside and saw many cars move along the road
3. How did the road manage to move in two directions at the same time whenever there was oncoming traffic?

As Isaid, I didn't 100% believe this myself, it just made me feel better knowing there was an explanation for how the car moved :)

Anon

We were having new tyres put on our car, when our four year old son pointed to a pile of worn out tyres awaiting their fate, and asked, "Mum what are all those sick and tireds for?"

Anon

I used to believe that freeways never ended, and that if you drove long enough you could go anywhere, even to China!

Amanda

I used to believe that the steering wheels in all cars were made from Impregnable Steel. From then on, i though anything that had that funny plastic/leather feel to it was made from the same stuff.

Ed