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

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I brought my first car recently:

A 1987 Pontiac Sunbird with a lot of sun damage to the paint. No rust, 87,000 miles and in good shape. Small car (for americans, anyhow) but I can cram my 6'2 body in it and it gets good milage so I deal with it. It has some other very minor problems (the paint worries me b/c I live in the north and salt pretty much destroys any unprotected metal in winter) and I am happy with it overall.

Now, for my driving experiences

I tend to be in la-la land 95% of the time while I am driving, not in hardcore la-la land but somewhere between that and full conciousness. Things that move catch my eyes so I don't worry about crashing or anything, but very rarely I laspe into "hardcore" la-la land and start to veer off the road, luckly when that has happened I hit the curb and that snapped me out of it, as well as ruining my pants. Music seems to help a little bit but I worry that I won't be able to hear honking or sirens (hearing problems to begin with)

Scares the heck out of my passengers b/c I don't really seem to notice much, although I am paying attention. I haven't had any acidents since I started driving 3 years ago. Then again, I don't drive all that much anyhow.

Oddly enough, when I took some sort of test for my IEP years ago, they found that my eye-hand-feet coorindation was in the lower 10% of the population. That dosen't seem to be much of a factor in my AS driving probs.

I was wondering what your experiences with driving are, if you drive and what do you drive. . .

My first cars were GM Midsize (I cannot remember the exact body name) because they could take the beating I would put them through. They are in this order:

1976 Oldmobile Cutlass (V8 350)
1978 Chevrolet Monte Carlo (V8 305)
1982 Oldmobile Cutlass (V8 305)
1981 Chevrolet Malibu (V6 229)

All except the 1982 Olds were very good cars and I was able to get alot out of them while in college as well as beat their bodies (I hit a tree with the 81 chevy and did more damage to the tree than to the car).

Now I drive a 1995 Dodge Grand Caravan. I have put 130000 miles on it in 5 years and it has treated me very well. I would be willing to purchase another Caravan.

I also drive a 1993 Amtrans Genesis model school bus equipped for special needs students.

I understand what you talk about regarding your mind wandering. That has been the cause of most of my accidents although I have gotten better at keeping my attention on the road. I do have my music on however but I have been told that I do not have any hearing problems.

If I did have any hand/eye coordination problems (and I would like to see what the tests I did while part of the WNYALD suggest), my obsession with driving/travelling via car helped me to overcome the issues.

it took me a long time to learn to drive - i failed 4 road tests and even after i passed, i kept driving around with my head up my ***, driving off the road, into things, etc. time cured me, practice, etc. and a few good hard accidents.

be careful while you're learning and remember it may take you longer to learn than you expect.

also remember, just because nothing's gone wrong so far doesn't mean it won't, so heads up.

good luck!

btw, i've had the safe driver discount on my insurance for the last 5 years, so it's something that can be learned.

ignored the topic of course, sorry.

Honda CRV, 2003.

S/P numerous totalling of prior vehicles, some my fault and one the deer's.

I passed my test 11 years ago, first time. After that, I learned to drive.

The first year, I did quite a lot of stupid things - I was easily distracted, to the point of running a cyclist off the road, driving the wrong way down a one way system (and being chased by an angry trucker, lol). Fortunately I settled down a bit after that - I had three accidents the following year, two involving chunks of debris in the road (not uncommon round here) which damaged the car but nothing else. The third time I hit a dry stone wall at around 50mph and bounced off - the wall and car were a write off.

Other than that (and a slight tendency to tune out) I am now a pretty competent driver - my reactions are good, and my prediction of likely hazards etc. I still have trouble with fixed objects though, but only one more significant accident (tearing a gash in the wing parking in front of a pick up with a large deck)... and that was 3 1/2 years ago, so I think I'm doing ok now.

Oh, cars - mostly family size saloons/hatchbacks. The slightly bigger ones are better for me I find as I don't tend to try to squeeze through such small gaps.

Dunc

I have to take my "focus medicine," i.e. Lemon Balm, before I drive anywhere, otherwise I get lost and I have to double back a lot, even though I have lived her for a total of 15 years! Frustrating.

I drive a BMW 530i (1994) and a VW Jetta (1995). We are going to drive those cars into the ground before we by newer-used cars again. That's just what we do.

Tallgirl.

I didn't drive til I was nineteen due to my parents being the stubborn aholes that they are, and not understanding/being in denial about my disablity. It took me 3 months to get my license, but it took over a year for me to actually learn how to drive. i had one really bad accident a few months after i got my license, I ended up totalling my first car which was a 94 cavalier.

Now I drive a 2002 Nissan Sentra GXE, it's great lil car to kick around in. After the accdient I was very intimidated by driving. However, commuting a half hour between school and work has really sharpened my driving skills, and now Im not least bit intimidated by the road, I don't even have to think about it anymore, everything just comes naturally. however, i still can't parelell park or back in a space to save my life.

I was fortunate enough to learn driving from a very early age. When the time came to get licensed and take the driving test, I had plenty of real experience (although illegal) and had no problems. My family drove automatic transmissions exclusively, so it wasn’t until much later in life that I had to learn to use a clutch. That was a difficult process for me and it took a long time for me to coordinate my hand and foot.

I am a law-abiding and cautious driver and have never been involved in a collision. When I drive, I try to keep a mental picture of nearby vehicles and where I can move to avoid a collision. Sometimes I see this image from a top-down perspective, like the video game "Spy Hunter." I only do that on the highway, not surface streets. Getting from point A to point B safely is my only concern while driving. I never hurry, even when I am late.

Heavy traffic bothers me significantly and living in Los Angeles County I have had plenty of opportunity to see the worst of it. A couple hours of driving in traffic exhausts me to the point where I become numb and very tired. I can do a twelve-mile day hike and feel much less tired than I would if I were to spend two hours driving in traffic. Driving in traffic has a lingering fatigue effect on me that lasts for hours after the driving is done. Because of this, I have sworn to avoid long commutes and will only work locally.

The only problems I encounter with driving are distractions. If I have a talkative passenger, I will forget where I am going and pass up my required turns. I also have a problem map reading while driving. This is odd for me, because I am heavily interested in maps. But, reading a map while driving is not possible for me, so I try to always prepare written directions beforehand. If I have to read a map, I will stop the car to do so. Even with written directions, I may still be distracted by a chatty passenger (or talking to myself about something serious) and I will forget where I am to turn next and can sometimes travel quite a ways before I realize I have made an error.

The worst driving problem I experienced was a brief, one-week stint as a truck driver. I was required to map read while driving a 35’ foot moving van. I wanted to make written directions for each stop, but since there was a minimum of thirty stops each day, this was impractical. I had enormous problems remembering directions from the map and would constantly forget where to turn. I was so stressed out, that even remembering one street name, my next turn, would be forgotten. So, I had to keep checking the map while driving and spent an abundance of time turning my truck around on narrow residential streets when I would pass a turn.

My problem with cars is they tend to be annoyingly slow and don't handle well, or else the sportier models scream "LOOK AT ME!! I WANT ATTENTION!!". That's why I drive a Lincoln Mark VIII. It looks like something my grandparents would drive, but it handles quite well and has a 280hp V8. It's a pretty decent compromise.

I've never been in an at-fault accident, although I have been rear-ended a few times at stoplights by inattentive drivers. I also have a major problem with talkative passengers pretty much obliterating my navigational skills. I moved to a new town recently and I know several people here. I could not figure out the layout of the town at all for the first several days because I always had someone with me. The first day I was able to drive around alone, all of a sudden I was able to map out the area.

2000 Audi A6 - The first car I've ever been comfortable in (being a big bugger as I am). I've been cogitating over getting something flasher for a while, but my recent (expensive) house move, plus the grand I just had to spend on getting the gearbox sorted put paid to that for another year or so at least....

My driving problems all happened with my first vehicle, a 1965 Chevy Van. It took me a few months to get them all out of my system, but once I did, my vehicle became almost an extension of me, rather than something separate. Now, I can settle into a car or truck, give it a turn or two around the neighborhood, and it's like settling into a favorite old tshirt.

In fact, the only problem I have with vehicles these days is maintenance expenses. sigh I have to spend about $800 on my suspension before October, or I won't be able to renew my plates. And with disability being my only income, that $800 is going to be fun trying to find.

Happy to say I only have one accident on my record - well, did. It's been 3 years so it's coming off my insurance next policy. Had to hurry from one job directly to another and crunched my fender into some Jeep that didn't go before I did. No problems otherwise, but what they say about "the other guy" is true.

Just got a new Chevy Cobalt last month. HUGE difference in refinement from the Cavalier I traded from. I have XM radio, OnStar and heated leather. Life is soooooo good...until I make the payments.

When I was in high school, I was so busy with band that I didn't bother learning to drive until the end of my senior year. I ended up crashing due to my CP (AS was not a factor). I should have known not being able to fee the pedals was going to be a problem. It took me 5 years to get all the financial and logistical problems of driving again sorted out and I was able to get a special gas pedal put on the left side so I can feel it now. It only took me three weeks of cram-session pracice to get my license. I have a 1993 Jeep Cherokee that I really like. It has great low-end power and can push you into your seat pretty hard due to the straight 6 engine. The only downdside is the gas mileage isn't that great.

Last edited by Sean on 23 May 2005, 10:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

i drive a black Nissan pathfinder i've had for the last 9 yrs..most people who drive with me, think i drive crazy, that i make sharp turns, and go too fast..but i don't think i do..i haven't got a ticket in 4 yrs., and as far as crazy steering, i think i drive just fine..i'm a pro at expressway and street driving..i never try to make lights or tailgate people

I hate driving, but in this area, public transportation is practically nonexistent. My wife and I both have Fords (2000 Escort and 1995 Escort Hatchback), simple cars with no frills.

Cars never really mattered to me. I drive them badly and cannot understand the orgasmic thrill some get from them.

Is it really all about the new car smell?

I've never had any major problems driving. When I was in my teens I was insane behind the wheel. I think I had that whole teenagers think they are indestructible thing going on. I also learned to drive in Southern California

My last moving violation was in 1994. That year I got my first, and only, speeding ticket. The funny thing is that by that time I didn't really speed anymore. I honestly thought the road was a 35MPH zone, but it was only 25. I was also involved in a minor fender bender. There were 3 cars involved, but I was the only one that got a ticket. hhmmmmm

Now I am a school bus driver. My biggest distraction is the radio to our dispatch. I'm afraid to tune it out because I might not hear them call me, then they'll get mad. So instead I find myself listening to it, which is really distracting, since people are constantly talking. I had a stereo installed in my bus, and that doesn't bother me at all. As a amtter of fact, it's a sanity saver much of the time.

My cars in order (some were co-owned with my ex)
1989 Ford Escort
1994 Ford Escort Wagon
1993 Ford Taurus Wagon
2000 Saturn SL1
1992 Nissan Pick-up
1994 Dodge Grand Caravan
2001 Nissan Sentra

My school bus is a 1995 International. It is a 65 capacity regular ed bus. This is my 3rd bus since I've been driving, but the first one I've LOVED. It would be nice if it had an air door, but I'll live. I LOVE my bus, and I told them I don't want an upgrade til I get a brand new one. Which will be quite a few years from now.

Donna