Do you enjoy driving?
 

I love driving, hate to be driven (unless I'm over the limit) -no surprises there.... As I drive, I see others who clearly love to drive, and some who look like they're gonna shit their pants at any second. I have a friend who grew up in the north but won't drive in the snow AT ALL. (That's 5 months of no driving in MI). She's a PhD biochem who's so smart she leaves me mouthing like a goldfish trying to catch up. But she drives like a granny. AND, she's married to a Japanese guy and bitches up Japanese and Korean drivers. I wonder who they bitch up?

We love to roadtrip, I do most of the driving (again, no surprise), but I hate "just driving" When we go to Florida in a few weeks, we're flying. Many friends are surprised because we have taken 7,000 mile roadtrips in the past. But time is limited and what's to love about a 20 hour race down the Florida corridor?

so which type of driver are you?

(poll coming, be patient...)

I love to drive. Just love it. I dont mind being driven either as long as I thoroughly trust the driver...my Mom makes me crazy.

I drive an Average of 1k a week for work ,
I like driving but some time I wish they would come up with those transport booths

I like driving, and my jeep is fun to drive. I don't like driving when I'm not sure where I'm going and there's a time limit.

60 miles one way every day. that's 120 per day because i have to go home too.

I drive 80 mph on the turnpike on the way in, and then i hit the 'Sure Kill' and it's stop and go for 14 miles ...........that takes 3/4 of an hour. and then once I'm over the bridge, 60 mph into Cherry Hill.

my ride home, now...... at 10 pm, it's usually 60 mph west to the bridge, then 70-75 back out the Schuylkill, and 74 mph on the turnpike.......and off of the Downingtown exit.....up rte 100 at 40-45 mph, and turn left on 401.....now we get to blow off steam.

there are areas where deer are an issue, so I'm careful there....but there are other areas where I get up to 70 and feel like I'm flying. never any cops or traffic.....

I like going fast.

jinx turns the A/C off when she passes people.

I love to drive when the road is clear, but I hate congestion and red lights, and it seems like that's all there is now.

Driving just gets worse and worse. This country is getting over populated.

I don't love driving; I'd rather be the passenger so I can just relax and look around. I have always enjoyed going on long road trips, as the passenger. I will drive long distances if I have to, but reluctantly.

As the passenger I can also read if I want. I know some people get carsick if they try to read, but it's never been a problem for me.

My daughter on the other hand does get motion sickness. Not to the point of puking, fortunately -- she just whines a lot. Responds well to a dose of Dramaqueen -- I mean, Dramamine. :)

But even though I don't enjoy driving, I do enjoy being in control of my own destiny - if I wanna go somewhere, I have to be able to GO, you know? So it would really upset me if I could no longer drive, eyes got too bad or whatever. Even if I have nowhere to go, if my car's in the shop it just makes me crazy!

Around town, I can run errands all day, even so that I'm spending a total of several hours in the car. But trips? Bored bored bored. A lot of that is because just outside of Austin the scenery gets flat and yellow very fast. I don't like car trips at all, but we have to do them so often that I'm used to it for the most part. I've recently started getting audiobooks on my mp3 player, and that has helped tremendously.

I like road trips.

I don't like rush hour traffic. Abhor stop and go.

I sometimes think the street grids of large cities are easier to navigate than the smaller ones.
(makes for getting lost easier to correct)

I have two vehicles and I've always preferred a truck.My dad always had/has trucks.

I don't like being a passenger unless I am really comfortable with the persons driving. People can either be really crappy slow drivers or competent safe fast/average drivers. I prefer the latter.

At best, a chore.

I drive for a living. Before that, I would take long road trips just because I enjoyed it. Many times I drove from Jacksonville, FL to VA beach just to visit friends for the weekend. As a teen, I even drove to take out the trash. Just a short back down the driveway and roll forward again, no gas pedal involved. Not lazy, I just liked the feeling of control over my destiny.

I also fly airplanes and I like that best of all, as I get three-dimensional control. I get a little thrill at liftoff and a letdown when I feel the plane settle back on the runway. I feel sad while I'm tying it down again.

I love it when I have over a thousand miles to go in my truck, the open road before me and a nice sunny day to do it in. Bad weather is only a challenge, not a drudge. I know I can do it and I know my vehicle can do it. My challenge is to get around other drivers whose vehicle or skill level might not be up to the task.

Brian

Did you ever have cars right on your tail so they could draft you to save gas?

Did it piss you off?

Did anyone ever ask first?

Was it OK then?

Yes
Yes
No
No

None of the above.

I enjoy driving but haven't done so for about 6 years now because I can't afford a car.
I am a very patient driver, not phased by jams, lights, queues or anything like that.
I love being a passenger. Even with a car it's my preference, not because I don't like driing, I just like being driven. In fact I even enjoy public transport for this reason - the only stress and hate I get is that it never ever runs on time and I am punctual to the point of depravity.

I really ask BrianR, whose vehicle would be large enough to create a tremendous draft effect.

I love driving my corvette...the sense of power beneath my body, the instant responsiveness to my controls, the top notch stereo flooding my tiny space. It's a rolling orgasm.

Now, if I am taking the kids somewhere, the Lincoln is the ticket. I bought it because of it's roominess, ultra comfort, automatic everything, and I can escape from the squabbling.

That said, I don't like driving when I HAVE to do it and with other people. Any forced travel is a chore and burden. I want it over and to be wherever I am going already. Driving is wonderful if I am in control of the speed and direction of, as well as the sounds in, my vehicle.

I have driven long distances in short time spans - 19 hours from Florida to New Jersey straight through. 24 hours from Florida to Mexico with a 1 hr stop. I was fried afterwards, though.

UT - yes, yes, no and no
it is incredibly unsafe.

When a driver drafts my truck, his/her eyes are naturally drawn to my taillights to the exclusion of all else. With their eyes totally focused on my rear lights, drivers tend to miss things like signs, turn signals, exits, even other vehicles.

And the fuel savings aren't enough to matter on a per-tankful basis. I should post a picture of what happens to a car that gets squished under a truck back there, but no one would look at it.

Bottom line, please stay back 50 feet, or one trailer length to give yourself enough time to react to anything that might happen. The air back that far is still disturbed enough to ease the power burden on your engine and fuel economy. Tailgating like that is a primary offense in many jurisdictions so I may also be saving you a traffic ticket. I *am* saving your life!

Brian

Oh, I am reminded that I did do it to a truck once. I did ask permission and kept two-way comms with the driver at all times.

It was an emergency.

I was crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in heavy rain when my wipers quit. There was no place to pull over and no separator back then. It was just two lane-55 mph traffic, wind driven rain, gulls and spray. I was driving blind and couldn't stop. So I called the truck ahead of me and got his permission to get close enough to him that some of the water was blocked and I could see his taillights enough to be sure I was still in my lane. He would let me know if he was about to use his brakes so I could back off. That guy pulled me several miles to the first turn off where I could get off the road and stop and get help. He received profuse thanks.

lesson learned: CBs, not loud pipes, save lives

how do you call the truck in front of you?

License plate numbers should correspond to your cell phone.
Also, drivers licenses should be issued based on ability. "Ma'am do you realize you were going 75mph and passing on the right?" "Oh, never mind, your license indicates that you can handle that no problem, have a nice day."

LJ - nearly all trucks have a name on them. So, hypothetically, I would call the "northbound Schneider at mile marker 109". That is usually sufficient to identify them (if they "have their ears on"). If there are several identical trucks that fit that description, one driver may come back with "which one?", meaning please identify the one you want further, there are several like that.

Used to be ALL truckers had a radio and used it professionally. These days, many don't even bother installing one and rarely use it when they do because of the childish and unprofessional chatter that is endemic. It's much like an IRC chat room, complete with "radio Rambos" (trolls). Radio talk should be much more professional than it is. Listen to an aircraft receiver one day and you'll hear an example of professional talk. Turn on a CB and you'll wince. I do that for all my student drivers. Let them hear what a professional sounds like, set a good example and they will learn good habits. I even provide a list of common (and not so common) CB terms to help them translate at first. Soon, it becomes second nature.

Or so I fervently hope.

Brian

Jinx, I have advocated graduated licenses and mandatory training for years. It disturbs me that a 16 year old who just got his license that morning can jump into a Corvette and go tearing around the town. The same phenomenon can be observed with motorcycles. Any kid can get the license and hop on a superbike capable of 200 mph. And they WILL try to hit that, despite being barely able to get it from point A to point B without crashing it at low speed. Come to think of it, why do we need such motorcycles available to the general public anyway? The highest legal speed in the country is 80 mph (in rural Texas). I can see 100 mph. But 200? And then the owners further modify the bike to go even faster? But that's another rant.

I think drivers should be limited to a class of vehicle consistent with their demonstrated abilities and type rated for certain designated "high performance" vehicles to show that they are able to safely drive and handle that vehicle. Much like pilots are licensed. I can fly certain classes of airplane without restriction. If I want more power, I simply get an instructor to sign off on me. If I want to move up to the next class, I need a checkride from an FAA examiner and a logbook signature. If I want to fly a P-51 Mustang, I need a type rating from a specialist. Just because my license allows me to fly single-engine, land aircraft with engine power over 250 hp and complex systems, does NOT mean that I can handle a 1300 hp thoroughbred with quirks all it's own.

I like driving and do most of it for us as a family. Dazza is a terrible driver and he really only drives if I've been drinking. It's rare for me to get to sit in the passenger seat.

I'm not fond of peak hour traffic and can usually be seen swearing beneath my breath at the stupid things people will do to save 2 seconds in a traffic jam. I'm a safe driver and in my 20 years behind the wheel have only ever had one minor fender bender although I've paid more than my share of speeding fines.