Two weeks ago I joined the rank and file of car owners once again. After almost seven years of trying to convince myself and the world that you don't need a car to survive, I gave up and became one of the polluting, non-renewable-resource-consuming road-raged masses (as opposed to the polluting jetsetting holiday- and conference-going masses, who naturally are totally above blame in all matters environmental).
I'm not especially green, but it did always bug me that the UK was losing good local stores in favour of out-of-town malls and supermarkets. Mind you, those same supermarkets provided damned handy online shopping, something I might well continue with, since plodding round the actual supermarket is a time-consuming experience (and as I've already discovered this week, I'm prone to forget the two or three things I specifically go to the store to buy).
Having only been an occasional car driver over the last few years, I have noticed a few interesting changes. This obviously entitles me to rant about cars and their idiot owners, so here goes.
- There's some much faster cars on the road. I mean, scary fast. I normally drive quickly, so I'm quite surprised when I get overtaken on the motorways. I'm shocked when I'm overtaken by cars moving significantly (like 20+ MPH) faster than me. This happened a couple of times on my drive from Cornwall to Norfolk, once on a slip road by some nut doing something like 110 whilst merging into traffic. So it seems not only are cars getting faster, but the fast drivers are getting stupider and not realising when it is and isn't appropriate to drive quickly. I expect Darwin will take care of this over time.
- Drivers seem to be stupider in general - or maybe I just got more belligerent and intolerant. Or more likely, both. I'm starting to believe that mandatory re-tests should be given every five or ten years, and I can't wait for them to introduce motorway driving as a component of testing. So many examples of stupidity, so little time.
- There seems to be more cars than ever on the roads, and the roads uniformly seem to be in a poorer state.
- Parking seems to be a lost art. Perhaps there should be a component in driving tests: "parking in a car park without taking up three spaces". Oh, and how about "opening the car door without hitting the car next to you".
- Motivation. I was amazed at the difference in motivation a car makes. Consider these two scenarios:
Yup, having a car makes it much easier to get to work, and not in a transportation sense.
- Geek toys. Now I have a car I have a strange longing for a TomTom. I don't need one - I have Google Maps, the RAC, and a perfectly decent road atlas. But I just feel like, you know, I should have one. Just in case I do go somewhere that's not covered by internet mapping and common sense.
Right, I have to go scrape 3 tons of ice off the car now in arctic temperatures. Clearly much easier than cycling to work. Ah, the joys of a car.
Posted by savs at January 23, 2007 8:06 AMSo, you miss out on the joy of the bike. I'm just back from a fantastic afternoon ride on Dartmoor. You won't catch me giving that up for any metal cage:-)
Posted by: niq at January 23, 2007 6:28 PMSo - what kind of car did you buy?!?
Posted by: Shane Curcuru at January 24, 2007 1:37 AMNick: I still get the joy of the bike - but now it's a luxury and a pleasure rather than an obligation and a chore, which makes it even more enjoyable. I can cope with cycling in the rain, but sitting at work in soggy clothes is another matter entirely ;-)
Shane: it's an awfully sensible Vauxhall Vectra, which I picked mainly because I knew the full history of the car (it belonged to a family member) and it was in excellent condition. I'm waiting for my midlife crisis before I buy a hot hatch!
Posted by: Andrew Savory at January 24, 2007 12:14 PM