Among the many lessons my father taught me were certain things about driving. First and foremost that driving was a privilege we should never take for granted. That may seem weird in our modern society when having a car is a given once one reaches a certain age, but it wasn’t then.
My father also taught me some of the basics of maintaining a car – changing the oil, checking the tires, changing a flat tire, replacing spark plugs, and checking all the other fluids. I wasn’t allowed to get my license until I had mastered all that.
However, the most important thing my father taught me was courtesy on the road – also not so common in this modern society.
People seem to have forgotten some of the basic rules and courtesies:
- On the freeway and interstate, the left lane is for passing only
- Allow one car length between you and the car ahead of you for every 10MPH of speed (nothing is worse than looking in your rear-view mirror and not even seeing the grill of the car following)
- An orange light means prepare to stop, not speed up
- A red light means stop, not blast through the intersection
- Don’t pass a car and then slow down (UGH)
- Don’t pull out in front of a car that is passing you (again UGH)
Driving used to be something I really enjoyed, but not so much anymore. People seem to drive without any awareness of the rest of the cars on the road and not only is that frustrating, it is also dangerous.
So what about you? What are some of your pet peeves related to driving?
Well, I’ve spent a lot of time on a small Greek island, my parents live ther, and the roads are narrow. There aren’t any lines dividing the lanes either, so my pet peeve is when tourists come swerving around a bend smack bang in the middle of the road thinking that they are invinsible, when ‘hello’, if I was doing the same thing we would both be off the cliff and in the ocean!
Are you a writer? Then you MUST enter this CONTEST!
My father made me learn to drive a standard shift transmission before I could get my license. I thought I would never learn. All my friends had their licenses way before I had mine. But I’m so glad Dad insisted. I would’ve missed out on a lot of fun had I not known how.
Carol, I learned on a standard shift, too. I also learned how to drive on ice. My dad had us drive on a frozen lake and learn how to correct from a spin out.
Oh my where to start…
Yes it is a privilege and we should all remember that.
My current favorites are the talkers and texters. I have been behind someone doing 20 under the speed limit trying to read a message in the car!!!!!!!!!!
The best question I ever got in drivers ed – how many things can the human brain truly concentrate on at any given time? The answer blew everyone away. Go ahead – guess – you ready – ONE. So driving is already more than your brain can truly concentrate on and some drivers need to read or talk at the same time!!!
My second favorite are those who believe that the road for one car length all around their car is some form of axis that the world turns on. They drive as they want with no regard to anyone else or any other safety concerns – and they truthfully act as though they have done no wrong.
One final note – what are those white lights on the backs of cars about? Most do not know, wish they would teach more common sense in school…
That driving in the left-hand lane makes me crazy. I asked once (to some people that I knew who did it) why. They said, it scares them when someone passes them on the left. Aaakkkkk!
LOL, Helen. So it is better to make someone play leap-frog across the highway. Like that is not scary.
認清問題就等於已經解決了一半的問題。..................................................
My second favorite are those who believe that the road for one car length all around their car is some form of axis that the world turns on. driving lessons manchester