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Sunday, June 17, 2007
3 Stages of Driving
The three stages of driving:
  1. Using the vehicle.
    This is the first stage, and it usually takes about a year to nail down. Most people master the basics in a week (you know - go and stop). But there are more complicated things involved too: parallel parking, knowing how long it takes to stop the car at speed, backing up without hitting anyone or anything. It's best to do this part with people and during the day. Being at this level means you are allowed to be in a car, driving, but shouldn't be trusted to drive alone.

  2. Being aware of your surroundings.
    This is learning to see and know what's going on around you. Otherwise, you'll hit pedestrians crossing in an intersection, crash into people you are tailgating, and run red lights.

    This is where you learn to know how close other cars are to you, and how far away you need to be from the next car in front. It's when you learn to spot sometimes-hidden stop signs, know which way you're facing, and how to avoid getting lost. It will also help you avoid tickets. Here in Tucson, there's about ten zillion cops on Speedway Boulevard on weekend nights. If you speed there, you're begging for a ticket. Also, being aware of your surroundings helps get through traffic. If you see a construction zone coming up, go into the lane farthest from the blocked ones.

  3. Predictive driving.
    Obviously, it's impossible to tell everything about all the vehicles around you, but watching their behaviors, and knowing your environment, will prevent a lot of accidents and get you to wherever you're going much quicker.

    For instance, the car that's been weaving through traffic and is now right behind you? He's looking for a way around you, and may or may not involve you in a wreck to get there. Let him pass you. If you pull up to a light and have to be behind an old station wagon with an old lady at the wheel, or a middle-aged mother driving a coupe, you can bet that the coupe's going to move faster.

    Personally, I like playing little predictive games on the road: who's going to go fastest, when someone will turn (even when there's no signal), all that. It gets me there faster, and I've avoided a LOT of accidents this way.

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posted by Steve @ 5:40 PM   0 comments
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Driving tips
These are a few helpful thoughts that will prevent you from getting killed by an angry driver or killed in an accident. For them to be helpful, you must already know the basics, being the laws of the road and how to move your vehicle.

Thought #1, the most important one:
DRIVING IS EASY. AVOIDING ACCIDENTS IS HARD.

Rule #1, the most important one:
IF YOU ARE AWARE OF YOUR VEHICLE'S CAPABILITIES, AND YOU ARE AWARE OF EVERYTHING AROUND YOU, YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE A VERY CLEAN DRIVING RECORD.

1. If you are going to turn, and there is a turn lane, use it to slow down. Do not slow down in traffic, and then pull in, because people might run into you.

2. You are not allowed to get angry at people going the speed limit, even if everyone else is going above it. You can mutter and such under your breath, but once any driver is driving at the speed limit, they cannot be considered a 'slow' driver. The only exception is if they are in the fast lane (in which case you still can't be angry if they are going 140% of the speed limit - that's 90 in a 65 MPH zone - since if that is 'slow' then you are 'insane'). Plus, they may have seen a radar cop that you didn't.

3. Do not tailgate. Tailgating is defined as the distance that the trailing car needs to avoid the car in front if it suddenly hits the brakes, gets into an accident or explodes for no obvious reason. If you can't do that, you're too close.
EXCEPTION: Sometimes traffic is tight and letting too much room will cause a cavalcade of aggressive drivers to cut in front of you. In this case, drive just close enough to prevent that.
TIP #1: You don't have to be able to stop behind the driver, if you know you have room on the right or left to avoid the accident. This requires constantly knowing if anybody's in your blind spots, even when you have no intention of going there.
TIP #2: A good rule of thumb is to have two seconds between you and the next car - whatever landmark (sign, light, etc) he passes, you should pass two seconds later.
TIP #3: If someone's following too close, tap your brakes (i.e., flash your brake lights) to let them know you think they're too close, and try to let them by. Note that if you're not going the speed limit or going slow relative to traffic, you need to move out of the way. If you're going a decent speed (see #2) and they actually get closer, slow down until they get all pissy and go around you. Remember, if they hit you for any reason, it's their fault. Call 911 and scream bloody murder for the insurance money. Don't take a settlement until you know exactly how much it'll cost to fix up your back bumper (not usually cheap!).

4. Use your turn signal, always. The more everyone knows, the less likely accidents happen.

5. If you are moving over into a lane, and another person is also moving into the same lane from the opposite side, whoever is in the blind spot gives up the lane and waits their turn. If both cars are even, give it up. Don't be the jerk and live to drive again.

6. When an outside lane is closed (left or right), don't be the jerk that tries to get all the way to the front of the line and then merge. Play the good driver and pull in after a reasonable time and then wait. If you happen to see one of these guys, don't let them in. It makes them think they can always do it.

7. Whenever possible, stay out of people's blind spots. Obviously, this isn't possible in medium to heavy traffic, but when traffic's relatively light, avoid that spot.

8. Find out where you're going before you go. No one wants to see you driving 15 miles per hour looking for a sign.

9. Don't do your makeup or talk on your cell phone when piloting a death machine. For that matter, don't do anything other than talk to friends, or listen to the radio, and drive.

10. If someone has done something bad, you may honk, but do not lean out and shout or throw something. You aren't paying attention anymore and YOU are now the jerk.

11. Never listen to music so loud that you can't hear sirens, squealing tires, etc. "Stop! My child is attached to your bumper!" is something nobody wants to hear, but nobody ought to have that cry unheeded, either.

12. You may dance to the radio only at stoplights. Singing is OK if you are still paying attention and still are obeying #11.

13. People may go under the speed limit in the slow lane, down to 2/3rds of the speed limit without penalty. Below that, pull over and figure out where you're going or turn on your emergency flashers if your car's broken and that's as fast as it goes.

14. LEFT LANE IS FOR FAST PEOPLE, RIGHT LANE IS FOR SLOW PEOPLE. If you're in a hurry, don't be angry at the slow person in the right lane (see #13). Conversely, don't go anything less than the speed limit in the fast lane.

15. Give very large vehicles room. They swing wide, can't dodge or slow quickly and they will probably kill you without remorse if you do something stupid.

16. Give motorcyclists lots of room. They have no metal around them. Give them even more room than cars (see #3, tip 2), so that they have a fighting chance of dodging or surviving an accident.

17. It's OK to slow down well before a red light so that you can go through the green upcoming light without coming to a complete stop, but you may not go less than 1/2 the speed limit to do so.

18. Regardless of the expiration date of your license (AZ licenses last roughly forever), get your eyes checked regularly if you are over 60. If you find people honking at you a lot, do not drive. Bug your kids, friends, home, etc. to do it for you or just use the public bus system.

19. TURN OFF YOUR STUPID FOG LIGHTS. They are designed to aim up in order to aid visibility in heavy fog. This means you are blinding everyone in front of you, and that is dangerous. If you want your car to look cool, give it a better paint job. Besides, I can't tell if you have a cool car if all I can see is spots.

20. That horrible squeaking sound that seems to emanate from so many vehicles is a loose belt. It's easily replaced. Please go do that.

21. If your stereo system makes your car rattle, you've probably spent more on the stereo than on the car, and that makes you an imbecile.

22. If you spot someone pulled over by the side of the road (especially a freeway) and can't be the good guy to offer help, at least try to put one lane between you and them. It's bad enough that they're stuck on the side of a road without people going 90 MPH about 3 feet away. This is also true of anyone who has been pulled over by a cop.

23. If you have kids in your car, you must be able to deal with them without looking at them. If you cannot, pull over. If you are a halfway decent parent, you will be able to do this. If you're still a pretty bad parent, I'm pretty sure the fact that you pulled over just to yell at them will get the kids' attention. If that still doesn't help, consider adoption. Also (from Drivl): If you have kids in the car, and are smoking, I may follow you home to beat the addiction out of you.

24. Don't block side streets when there's 1 or 2 lanes. For example, if traffic's backed up a few blocks on a stop light, don't pull your car in front of a residential lane and let people come in and out. If there's more than 2 lanes, though, it's not really safe to try to cross 3+ lanes, so no worries.

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posted by Steve @ 7:09 PM   0 comments
Saturday, September 10, 2005
True Story no. 2: Ridiculous Thoughts

I have a lot of stories and I like to tell them, but any story needs background. Here's the background on this one:

I work at Maloney's on Fourth, a bar, as a DJ. To avoid traffic and pedestrians I go around the back in my '62 baja Beetle. It's loud, but not annoyingly loud, and very bright red with the engine hanging out the back (like most bajas).

I arrive at 9 in the evening and pull around the turn around the back. I'm going a good 25 miles an hour but it's a very broad turn at about a 60 (as opposed to 90) degree angle, plus, since I'm turning left, I'm on the outside of the turn. And I down shifted into second gear, creating a wonderful roar from my, er, 40-horsepower engine.

As I pull in, the other doormen are hanging out behind the bar, and I hear whoops as a police car's lights turn on. I figure they're stopping a drunk guy. I pull into a spot and get out. And then I hear it:

"Stay in the car!" I look around. The spotlight on the cop car is on me. "Get in the car!" I'm a bit bewildered, and look behind me. No, he's definitely talking to me. I get back in my car. I hope this doesn't make me late. This is stupid. Maybe I've got a tail-light out and the cop is bored. Either way, the doormen who are waiting for the shift to start are now watching.

And I wait. Get my license and registration. And wait.

Couple minutes later, cop walks up and says, "well somebody's dumb tonight." I just look at him. I'm floored. I wonder if my engine is on fire and I just didn't notice. All I can manage is, "What?"

"License and registration." I already have it in his hands before the sentence is out of his mouth. "Hmph. How old are you?" I tell him. He walks away without comment, with my license and registration. Probably checking it against their little database. I know I'm clean ... I've never had a moving violation ticket, and only once had an equipment violation (for a tail-light, 'natch). The doormen would like them to have me arrested, judging from the catcalls.

A different cop comes up. Unable to suppress my curiosity I turn around to see the other cop leaning against the car I'm assuming is both of theirs. "OK, what's your deal, man?" he asks me. I stare blankly. "I work here?" Hey, it's the truth. Maloney's must have me trained well to be still thinking of getting to work in time. "My buddy here said that when he asked you how old you are, you said, 'old enough'." Which of course is fine, except for the fact that it's a total lie. But now I'm not sure what the hell's going on. "I didn't. I said I was twenty-four." He scoffs. I hate scoffs.

"You know, you need to learn how to talk to cops better - I mean, I could give you five tickets right now."

Right. Try and I'll see you in court. Now I'm getting a little pissed. He continues.

"You came around that turn real fast, didn't you? Do you know what the speed limit is here?" It's 25 miles per hour. I told him so. He seems disappointed. Jeez, what kind of idiot wouldn't know that the street - which is essentially an industrial alley - would have that limit?

"I saw you coming around that turn at 45 miles an hour."

Ok, wait a second. There's a lot of problems with this. First, I am not a good enough driver to get around that corner that fast - with the gravel that inhabits the corner, I'm not sure Mario Andretti could do it. Second, I was in second gear coming around that turn. I'd have to be in my top gear to do that - that's 4th gear in my little bug. (Yes, I realize that it's sad that 45 MPH is my top gear.) Going 45 in second gear would make my engine go kablooey. Seriously - my 0-60 with those huge back tires, is about 4 minutes. The car had a top speed of about 65 miles per hour - 75 with a good wind and a flat road. And third, why on Earth would I want to go that freaking fast in a blind turn back alley when I know there's several hundred people milling about, possibly including my boss?

Thankfully, my head was filling with reasons to tell this guy what an ass he was so fast none of them came out of my mouth. And he keeps going.

"You know, if you're going to have a car build for speed..." - my eyes bulged in an effort to control my laughter - "... you better learn how to drive it. Here." He hands me my neat little wallet of registration and my license. "I'm letting you off but if I see you go just one mile an hour over the limit, I'll bust you for everything I can."

It's about this time I realized that he probably thought I was speeding because I downshifted and the engine revved. Still - "Built for speed" .. my ass. I am not in a Ferrari. It's a VW Beetle. Seriously, guys like him give decent cops a bad name and explain why I mutter when I see cops. I was not late.

Currently listening :
Happy Songs for Happy People
By Mogwai

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posted by Steve @ 3:17 AM   0 comments
 
About Me


Name: Steve
Home: Tucson, Arizona, United States
About Me: I like to think about things, and I occasionally like to write what I think.
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