Driving
Someone was talking about how his brother-in-law and sister cruise the roadways, constantly mumbling to themselves about other drivers, speaking to one another or to the air, “Slow down, crazy person,” “Watch your driving, maniac,” yet are bad drivers themselves.
Exposing our own short-comings and peccadilloes, without even realizing it, is called “projection.”
A “bad driver” is an interesting breed. Bad drivers aren’t even in a position to judge good drivers, because good driving confuses them.
Here’s something interesting: Anyone who is paying inordinate attention to the antics of other drivers is implicitly a bad driver himself or herself.
So, people who constantly call out other drivers for bad driving sorely need to apply mirroring and see if they aren’t reflecting the same bad habits themselves. Here’s a minor peeve for you: Many people come to a jerky stop at a light. I wonder if they even realize they are doing it. Easing off the brake at the last second, as you should, is rare for people to do. It’s a fun exercise to check for this when you’re driving with someone, and helps keep your mind off their driving, ha-ha.
You must pay attention to your driving, and only yours. Now, part of that is paying attention to everyone around you, but not to the extent of bemoaning their driving or over-analyzing it.
Here’s the trick: You assume that everyone else is a bad driver, and that way there are never any surprises. This is beyond so-called “defensive driving,” more like “realistic driving.” I was driving a winding, hilly pass one day with a passenger, and at a blind curve, a semi came whipping around, halfway into my lane, speeding and weaving. I swung the wheel right to avoid a collision, and carried on. I hardly thought more about it, until the passenger, who was quite unsettled, turned and said, “Jesus! You’re a hell of a driver!”
Well, yes and no. I had no special skills, I just always assume that ass’s holes will cross over into my lane, especially around blind curves. I was already pretty much hugging the right shoulder anyway.
Sad to say, it’s not rare, though it’s a little harder to figure out, the “righteous attitude.” I had it myself – my own egregious zone. For a time, I would get indignant at “speeding” drivers, thinking, “They think they can go as fast as they want and endanger me and others.” Strange, since I always speed.
That militancy, though, was not likely something I would have spontaneously started spouting on my own.
We’ve somehow been conditioned to use our cars as an arena to act out our anger. It’s hard to say if this was deliberate or not. Cars and the roads are for transportation, not release from the tensions built up due to a dysfunctional society and dysfunctional mental states.
When I realized that I was giving rein to an egregious zone while driving, it was embarrassing, but the thing to do with revealed egregious zones is not to be embarrassed, at least not for very long, but to stop doing them, and extinguish the source that gives rise to them.
People are, perversely, enjoying the bitching and cursing on the roads, and therefore unconsciously seek chances to do it. But in-car is not the place to be exercising this perversity which can range from mild annoyance to full-on road rage. A righteous attitude afflicts most people. It’s kind of immature, but, fact is, we’re all immature. Part of attaining maturity is finding what things trigger immature behavior, and devising a counter or technique to deal with it. If we don’t find that technique, it hinders further learning or progress in life.
In the case of righteous indignation, it’s important to recognize that it persists since it provides that cheap thrill. That’s what happens in a society with a lot of political and sexual repression. Another pop-psych term: “Acting out.” Well, that’s a mirror of repression, too.
“Defensive Driving”
Yes, they even lie about driving. We’re not being taught how to drive properly, then they gripe and moan about traffic fatalities.
This stuff about “defensive driving,” is, of course, somewhat of a crock. There’s so much missing in our driving education they have to try to paper it over with their authoritarian “rules.”
Characteristic of authoritarian rules, they often sound good on the surface, but they never acknowledge exceptions or the flaws in those rules.
Take their “two second rule.” As soon as you try to leave a two second gap between the car ahead, some ass’s hole is going to plunge into that gap, often slamming on the brakes at the same time! That’s what one of the things that motivates people to pack together. But you can do something. First, let it go! Don’t get mad. But much of the time, you shouldn’t even be in these clots of traffic anyway.
(If such cutting in bothers you, it’s impossible not to get mad, if you’re trying not to get mad. One must make a game of it. “How many bastiches will cut in front of me today?” Guess a number (likely a high one), and count all the affronts.)
Here are some real defensive driving realistic driving rules:
As already mentioned, you assume that everyone is out to bugger you.
If you see someone ahead passing on a two-lane, you move right toward the shoulder, and onto the shoulder if necessary. Don’t blithely bulldoze/push on without acknowledgment. Don’t panic. It’s an imbecilic mindset in those people that try to “punish” the driver for unsafe passing, or for his misjudgment, by not yielding. Funny enough, in Mexico they’re much more practical, therefore often better drivers. They just pass willy-nilly and split the lanes, so two lanes become three, and it seems to be pretty routine, with no horns a-honking or people swerving wildly or anything.
Never stare at an accident, concentrate on your driving. The worst time to gawk is in middle of chaotic area. You’ll probably have plenty of time to gawk when traffic comes to a stop.
Don’t bunch up, get away from traffic — this was known more than 50 years ago, yet it seems the word hasn’t gotten out. The best approach to driving, supported by studies, is very simple: Get away from everyone where you can. That’s a lifesaver on a motorcycle, but also vastly important in a car as well. Not hard to do. Since traffic tends to bundle in “packs,” there are calm zones between those packs, where you find a safe and tranquil place to travel.
Pedestrians are idiots too. At a green light, or pedestrian “walk” signal, do they still check for cross-wise traffic? Often not. Check both ways even when crossing a one-way street, because, it is possible for people to drive the wrong way!
Don’t run over playing kids. Do a quick walk-around the perimeter of a car before getting in.
Breaking Bad (2008-2013) featured a character that ran over his young daughter, playing under the car. He was high, in story, but that story is instructive and it applies to everyone. It’s something that is a risk whether you’re doped-up or not, so it’s important that you make this check before every trip. Not just to check for someone, but to ensure your tires aren’t obviously flat, to check for leaks, and to check for other obstructions.
For cross-country trips, the best is, obviously, to drive only until dark, then bed down early for a very early start.
A big one: if you miss your turn, skip it. Keep driving and hang the next right (left if you're in a country that drives on the left) to backtrack. Any time you can avoid slamming on the brakes is a good time.
As this blog has discussed, we should all take or have taken a high-performance driving course. Also, as mentioned previously, most every driver should have made the progression: bicycle-motorcycle-car-truck. Since we don’t do that as a matter of course, problems on the road will inevitably be greater. But since we’re neglectful, we don’t have any grounds for whining.
“Speed Kills” Malarkey
It’s improper passing, intoxication, etc., that are the culprits in accidents. A large variation in the speed of a driver with respect to the traffic flow speed is a big one (for example, dweebs slow-driving in the passing lane). Rarely is simple speeding the problem. To give a whole new perspective on the matter, someone mentioned that the entire purpose of cars is speed.
But the BS propaganda continues to spread via media, older people (and many brainwashed youth), disinfo agents and government.
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