Do you drive? What do you drive? What are your experiences?

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I failed my first drivers test because I missed a stop sign. Oh well.

Generally, as long as no one else is in the car with me to distract me, I do fine with driving (if there is someone else in the car, I tend to drive slower to the point I have people up my butt and the passenger usually has to remind me to do the speed limit at least). I have been in a couple accidents-- the biggest one was not my fault. My list of accidents: 1. car totaled, 2. hit someone's side after pulling out of the yellow lane and not seeing them, and 3/4. two fender benders.

I can be in la-la land many times, but I have good reaction time and don't space out for long. Mostly, I just get REALLY angry at the idiots that drive on the road, who ride my tail, who speed recklessly-- not just speed but swerving in and out of lanes, etc.-- who don't use their turn signals, people talking on their cell phones, and the list goes on. I am usually fairly grumpy off by the time I have arrived at my destination. I enjoy driving, but I wish I had the roads mostly to myself. I hate people when they are on the roads with me, arssholes mostly the lot of them. Tailgaiters are my biggest pet peeve.

I drive a Ford Winstar. I hate driving, but if I have to drive, it will be something big enough to make me feel protected. I drove my son's Toyota Paseo once. ONCE. It was terrifying, being so close to the road and driving down the street looking up at the door handles on the parked cars.

I only drive when my husband is not home to do the driving. He LOVES to drive - he's a professional truck driver and drives 53' rigs every day, up to 3000 miles a week.

Oh yes, and my list of cars:

1. 1994 Toyota Camry (the one that got totaled)
2. 1996 Ford Explorer Sport (sold to mother)
3. 2001 Hyundai Accent (repossessed)
4. 1992 Jeep Cherokee Laredo (all paid off )

I don't drive. Too many rules and stuff... the man is always trying to bring us down!

I would probably be a very dangerous driver, but I make a good navigator: I can find my way around just about anywhere. The trouble is that with perceptual issues (including not always seeing moving cars) and motor issues (including sometimes freezing in place without warning) I would be a hazard on the road.

I don't drive. I need a lot of practice.

I've already ranted about this in two other threads...

http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php? ... pic&t=1846
http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php? ... pic&t=1462

However, it seems that things may be improving. I've gotten tinted lenses that help a lot with my depth perception, which was one of the biggest things that was holding me back... hey, when you can't tell how far away any of the other cars on the road are, driving is always nerve-wracking! But yeah, the few times I practiced with the new glasses, things went extremely well in comparison... the stop signs and lights were much more clearly delineated from the background, I could actually feel how close cars were and how quickly they were approaching, and I didn't feel nearly as nervous.

Now if only I could find something resembling a sense of direction... I guess I need to just buy a GPS unit or something. Even with maps, I have to 'translate' them into either a 'web' of landmarks and accompanying directions or at least a linear series of directions-- I can't just connect the map to the 3D world like a lot of people seem to do.

the most helpful thing i did with driving is i learned to look up. i used to look right in front of the car, which made it impossible to drive straight, keep the car in the lines, etc. but as soon as i started looking up, to the horizon in front of me, my sense of space and my place in it improved.

i had to forget about directional sense, tho. i've driven around here almost 20 years and i can still get lost trying to take a shortcut to work. or i sort of wake up from a daze and don't know where i am or where i'm going.

My first car was a BRIGHT yellow Pacer.

Looked like an upside down salad bowl but it ran nicely for years.

BeeBee

Red Honda Civic.

Started driving at 15.

Would never like to not have a car. Freedom.

I passed my test first time in 1996 aged 23.

I bought a Volvo 360 and the alternator died the day I bought it.

3 months later I had a grand-mal seizure in public and got banned. Ban still stands today.

But I admit that I was one of the worst drivers in the entire world, a cross between Speedy Gonzales and Stevie Wonder, with an unhealthy dose of road rage thrown in.

Ooh. Torak. Glad you're in the UK and I'm in the US. Wouldn't wanna run into you.

Semi-topic:
Question for you UKers: is that show Driving School still on? We had a network that ran a few episodes of it here and it was as scary as it was funny. Although I do have to sympathize the the drivers in the show.

I think Driving School is on satellite tv at the moment.

I'm not sure as don't watch much tv.

Some really bad drivers on that program, even worse than me. I feel sorry for them being a public laughing stock though.

Edited: I should say that when I said 'road rage' earlier, I mean swearing rather loudly and offensively, not confrontational style road rage (not my style at all).

Deleted

Correction - I was driving a 1993 Amtrans Genesis bus until the transmission gave out today. Looks like I will be driving either a 1995 Amtrans Genesis or a 1996 Ward for the rest of the school year.

I drive this-



There isn't a bolt on it left untouched- This is pretty close to the current configuration-

350 Roller Cam block .030 over (355ci)
Nodular Iron Crank .010 under
Clevite main, rod and cam bearings
X casting truck rods
TRW forged pistons (10:1 compression)
Melling high volume oil pump
Hastings moly rings
LT4 production cam/springs
Port Matched lower intake
Port Matched SLP runners
1.6 ratio roller rockers
Fully ported Plenum
Smog pump removal
Throttle body coolant Bypass
MSD6AL ignition
Blaster 2 coil
Gutted Airbox
N20 Fogger Nitrous system, 225 HP jetting

Transmission Modifications
4l60 4 Speed automatic transmission
Corvette servo
Heavy duty front pump
Full kevlar bands
Stage 1 shift kit
Lockup 2400 stall converter
Selectable manual operation valvebody

Exhaust Modifactions
Hedman Shorty 1 5/8" headers
Hedman Y pipe
Catco 3" inlet/outlet cat
3" exhaust cutout
Flowmaster catback with 4th Gen Camaro Tailpipes

Rearend/Suspension/Tire Modifications
3.73 Gears
Torsen Torque Sensing rear differential
Aluminum rear drum brakes
Poly swaybar bushings
Lakewood LCA's with poly bushings
Poly Transmission mount
Kumho 712 Z rated 255/50-16 tires
BFG 255/50-16 Drag Radials for dragstrip use
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Cras really used to be my thing. Not so much any more. I've never been in an accident.

I love driving- I much prefer travelling by car rather than travelling by plane.