Thursday, September 10, 2009

The Drivers View

I had recently started taking driving lessons and learning how to drive. Up until that point I have always been the passenger and never understood what backseat driving was. I also didn’t realize what it was like to view pedestrians from the drivers seat.

Now that I am driving I notice how many people start walking in middle of the street when it’s not their light. It really bothers me, because it’s as though they are “asking for it”. People seem to have no patience. How much longer is it going to take for them to wait for the light? 10 seconds? why can’t they just wait?

I hadn’t revealed this piece of person information when I talked about my Seudat Hodah, because I figured it’s too personal. But perhaps if I talk about it then people will learn from it, and perhaps it will cause people to think before they cross when it’s not their light, I know it made me think!

When I was 12 years old, 7th grade, I had to go to school by city bus. The bus stop was across an avenue with no light. For 8 months I had no problem crossing that street. Then one day BOOM, a van turned in and hit me. To make a long story short, ever since that day I have been more careful when crossing streets, if there’s no light, I wait till it’s totally clear and then cross. And when there is a light I wait for the “walk” even if there’s no cars there! But especially if there are cars and if it says “don’t walk”.

Another thing that bothers me as a driver is when people start honking behind me. If I’m in a position where I can’t move, it doesn’t help for people to honk, it won’t cause traffic to go by faster. So I don’t understand why people do it. It just may cause me to want to “please them” and move when I’m not supposed to.

Now I have also officially been able to experience what it is like to be a back seat driver, I notice when people go to fast and then come to a short stop. I used to feel safe in any car, now I feel as though if I were driving, I would drive differently, but I still trust other people’s driving.

Today I got to drive on a high way, it was kind of scary to go so fast, especially being on the right side. But it was lots of fun and I did a “very good job” according to my driving instructor. She asked if it was better or worse than I expected it to be. I wasn’t sure since I never pictured what it would be like, so I guess that makes it better. I think I would be able to drive on the high way in the future too, so long as I know which exits to take etc.

But overall driving has been really fun, and my road test is on Tuesday! The next step will be to drive on my own, without anyone in the car to be my “extra pair of eyes”.

11 comments:

lvnsm said...

That's one difference between Ny and La, the rushing. It's funny, when people come to La, they say it's so mellow and slow lol

In regards to safty, it's like the saying goes, 'Better to be safe than sorry'

I don't understand the honking either. I think people just want to do something.

The nice thing about the highway is that you just drive straight. Changing lanes though is tricky for me.

Anyway, hatzlacha with the driving test



Recent blog:=- Sukkos in Israel

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

I think I would like the Mellow driving. :-)

Exactly.

yea, could be, very true.

Right the straight drive is nice, though there's lots of curves, and curving around the left side can be tricky because the corner of the car window blocks the view of the ground where you want to go around. Switching lanes was actually fun for me, though I sometimes forget to check my blind spot, so I have to work on that.

Thanks! :-)

Recent blog:=- The Drivers View

harryer-than-them-all said...

Im in the middle of reading a book on traffic and how it works. It seems that humans were never meant to interact with each other viewing them from behind (re: the cars rear bumper)

Traffic flows using many different variables such as fluid dynamics, psychology, architecture, and many other defined and not yet defined principles. this is why robots will "never" be good drivers, they cannot take into account the human condition, and the slight nuances which become second-nature to experienced drivers

Recent blog:=- Kraus, Women, and Protests

FrumCurious said...

I'll spare you the "from behind" comment, since I have a gutter mouth.

But anyways, I grew up in a suburban/rural part of PA so traffic is not NEARLY as a hectic as it is in brooklyn for you, dear JS, but fear not - for driving is truly a sport...aaand it's terrifying in New York (for me, at least).

Philly is a lot easier to navigate and there aren't QUITE as many psycho drivers. Good luck on tuesday, though.

Recent undefined:=- Oh no! Comluv had an error with your feed, see message below!

Moshe said...

What I really hate, the idiots who stand a foot away from the curb waiting for the light.

We went to check out the new Tea For Two that's on the cursed corner on M. Interesting menu, if a bit pricey. What really pissed me off was the constant honking and the morons who kept blocking the intersection.

Jessica said...

Tag. You're it! Check out the meme here.

Recent blog:=- Pretending I'm a Superman

Dude with Hat (aka BTS) said...

You were memed

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

yea, that gets at me too.

I like when they have areas that give a fine for honking.

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

Thanks for the tag, I will check it out.

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

Thanks! Gonna check it out!

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

Update: just in case you haven't heard the news yet via facebook/twitter, I passed the road test with no points off! Yay me! :-)

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