The Joys of Driving

I used to love driving and driving long distances. Then I got involved in festivals in Seattle and would drive down every Sunday for three-four months of the year, for many many years. And of course I drove in the city, every day, including two years of going over the Knight St. Bridge in rush hour.

That will cure anyone's love of driving. As I said to one friend, everyone's an asshole in rush hour. Even me. If you follow the rules, people cut you off, they butt in completely refusing to believe there was ever a courtesy of the road. And after a while you start to get tired of it taking forever to get anywhere and you don't let the lane butters in. You speed up to get around the people going below the speed limit. You get away from the tail gaters and the people turning left without signaling till the last minute (if they do at all) and suddenly, you're an asshole too.

I still try to drive by all the rules. Except one. Yes, I speed but I keep it within 10km (or miles) of the speed limit. On long drives on the highway I'll let it get up to 20km but I stay in that range. And I do slow down to 30km in school zones and playgrounds. On my way to New West every morning, just entering the city on 8th St. there's a playground. Ninety percent of the time I am the only one and I mean only one who slows down. It's appalling.

I once was driving along Victoria Dr. which has three playgrounds between Broadway and Venables. A cop had just given someone a ticket for going too fast and was walking back across the street when a car sped by him. He yelled out, SLOW DOWN! I've seen people slow down in Calgary but they don't do it in greater Vancouver. I see single person cars using the HOV lanes as if they have more right than the rest of us who also are solo driver. I've been cut off right in front of my bumper and then had the guy give me the finger. I've stopped for pedestrians in a crosswalk, as is the law and had people swear at me.

And I've seen recently the two different people driving with their dogs on their laps. On their laps. Would they drive with children on their laps? I got to follow a braindead bimbo today who had her rearview mirror turned sideways and was putting on makeup while she was driving. Admittedly I will put on lipstick in the car but when it's stopped, at a light. Not when I'm driving. I'm also not doing my eyelashes, my mascara, my face powder and who knows what else like this idiot was doing. And let's just not get started on the myriad cell phone users. If you're reading this you're probably going, yeah, so what, I drive and talk on the phone, but I pay attention.

I have news for you. You're not paying as much attention as you think you are. People drive slower because they're dialing, they will veer about in the lane, they won't signal, they'll generally drive worse. I've been behind enough of these callers to know. Dialing a number is really a very bad idea because you're looking down and not focusing on driving. Until we get rubber cars or 0 accidents, driving will take 100% of your attention for all those other little human errors that can happen.When I worked for Nokia, they gave everyone a phone during their employment and they gave headsets as they could be libel if someone used a phone in a car while driving and got in an accident. They only way I would take a call was if I had my headset on. The only way I would make a call was if I had my headset on and dialed when stopped at a light.

Let's look at signaling. It isn't an option. It's the law. For a very good reason. It telegraphs what you're planning to do, helping people decide what they're going to do around you, such as slow down so they don't plow into you, or change lanes which keeps the traffic flow going, or not turn or to turn. I signal even if there is no one there because you never know when someone is going to round the corner or suddenly appear. At three in the morning outside my place? Yes I signal as I turn the corner. It's dark and there could be pedestrians too. This way they can see what you're doing.

And I don't change lanes through an intersection, also illegal. And if I can be speeding down the highway and signal then guess what, I'm a better driver than some hotshot zipping in and out and not signaling, because if you have to cut corners and shave off rules to do this it means you're becoming unsafe. And that's why so many of the hotshots end up dead or killing others because they think, oh I'm better than that last guy it happened to. I'm more aware, faster, cooler. They get too cocky and it's true that pride goeth before a fall...or a crash.

Why, you may ask, don't I take the bus. Well let's see, Translink wants to make money, not actually make transportation an efficient and economical alternative. To go to New West five days as week would cost me something like $6/day. Times five and that's $30 a week. I don't spend that much in gas for my car. Sure I have insurance and such but I have my car for other things too. And it takes forever. Oh and women are getting their heads bashed in. So yeah, I'm not going to do that. If the city/Translink ever gets their collect head out of their asses and realizes that public transportation is part of the infrastructure and would save on street maintenance, gridlock, short tempers, pollution, etc. then we might have a viable alternative to driving as lone individuals in our cars.

In the meantime, I'm going to be downsizing and see about a hybrid car if I can afford it for fuel economy and efficiency.