And with a smile / I'll take you to the seven seas of Rhye

[ase]

The problem with driving isn't that I'm inexperienced (read: really not that good!), it's when I'm inexperienced and other drivers are bad too. Some day I'm going to startle and slam on my breaks when the car behind me is riding my backside so tight I'm contemplating a harassment and paternity suit, and then there will be busted crumple zones, tears, recriminations, and duelling insurance companies. It's like Mendelian genetics! Two good (dominant) drivers will be okay, a good and a bad driver will be okay, but two bad drivers? Lethal recessive.

Today I gave myself sunburn and a late afternoon victory lap of Eisenhower Ave with norabombay, because I drove myself to her place like a pro, and she's been trying to get me in a car for years. I've got the basic driving toolbox down. At some point I need to refine the tricky parts* but I'm past the beginning of the beginning and into the middle of the beginning of driving. Yay!

*"Tricky": brake or tire crisis management, backing and/or parking in tight spaces, left-hand turns, driving in weather, high-speed driving with rush-hour Beltway lunatics, maneuvering in garages with support pillars in scary and unexpected places, fast short merge lanes, driving with rowdy passengers, mountain-style hairpin curves - seriously, barely at the middle of the beginning. All I can do now is drive uneventfully and in an unflashy way in good weather.

When you have nothing really interesting to say, quote ashcomp on sushi: "it's a delivery mechanism for spicy green stuff."

Comments

[trolleypup.livejournal.com]

Just a note on good/bad...unfortunately it isn't pure mendelian genetics (just like it usually isn't)...a bad enough driver can overpower a good driver under certain conditions.

Tailgaters? Put on your hazards, let off the gas and slow down to well under the speed limit. I've only had to slow to a complete stop once...when I yelled out the window that I'd broken down, he (bet money on it being a man with a small penis) had to back up to be able to go around...in, I kid you not, a legal passing zone!

You have the basic toolbox, and the right attitude for learning and adjusting and assimilating the unconscious skills of driving safely. Keep it up, the (*) will come with time.

[ase.livejournal.com]

Massively stupid drivers are one of life's unfortunate examples of the metaphor breaking down. How well does your tailgater strategy work on two-lane roads? When there's a chance to go around, tailgaters are pretty predictable about revving up and roaring around; it's the roads with no easy passing zones that are a real problem.

I have no doubt the advanced skills will come, but driving while building up to them is, um, exciting. Until then I'm spending a lot of time looking at maps so I can get in the correct lane well in advance.

Passing lane

[ekovar.livejournal.com]

If I have a chance (and it's easy to do) I'll pull over to one side and let them go by. And when there's a passing lane and someone revs up to go past me I let my car slow down so it's easier for them. But I've almost always done this on a long country road; it's harder to find places to do it in the suburbs.

And, of course, if I'm on the highway I put on my turn signal and move to the right. It turns out that it's easier to be polite than not.

BTW, the subject line is the title of a song. Since it came out in 1973 or so I doubt anyone would know:

"Gimme that highway, better go my way
Crank up the big wheels, let'em roll on
I'm moving like a fast train, gimme that passing lane
And I'm gone, I'm packing my load a little further down the road."

I'll add that 'big wheels' doesn't mean driving one, it means hitchhiking with a long-haul driver. For whatever it's worth I've always found truck drivers to be the polite sort.

Re: Passing lane

[ase.livejournal.com]

It's not the areas with a passing lane that are a problem. Morons just cut around you at unsafe speeds when there's two lanes. It's the one lane country roads and 97 during heavy-traffic rush hour that are problematic.