tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post2610969500529543248..comments2024-03-12T22:31:46.500-04:00Comments on What Would Phoebe Do?: Driving, Identity, and ResistancePhoebe Maltz Bovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-46469739278624064642013-10-27T11:18:47.516-04:002013-10-27T11:18:47.516-04:00"Many places, you need a car, as in there isn...<i>"Many places, you need a car, as in there isn't a bus or subway (or sidewalks!), and things are too far/roads too busy for biking to be a sufficient alternative."</i><br /><br />This is completely untrue. As you can see from <a href="http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/newyorker2.JPG" rel="nofollow">this map</a>, in <b>most</b> places in the world, you certainly do not need a car.<br /><br /><i>"On a personal note, while I remain on team prefer not to drive, I'm glad to have been compelled to learn how."</i><br /><br />Agreed on both points. Learning to drive, and then driving, is glorious. <b>And</b> living within human civilization, where you absolutely don't to own a car, is also glorious.Peteynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-86426828484589623212013-10-27T10:33:50.811-04:002013-10-27T10:33:50.811-04:00Caryatis,
It just depends where you live. Many pl...Caryatis,<br /><br />It just depends where you live. Many places, you need a car, as in there isn't a bus or subway (or sidewalks!), and things are too far/roads too busy for biking to be a sufficient alternative. The annoyances of driving don't disappear, but it's that much more of a problem not to be able to go anywhere. <br /><br />As for "FOREVER," yes, this is a thing worth considering if you're settling somewhere permanently, but it's possible to lease/sell a car. Given how much many people move these days, sometimes maybe you'll need one, other times you won't.<br /><br />On a personal note, while I remain on team prefer not to drive, I'm glad to have been compelled to learn how. And I doubt if that would have happened without my living somewhere like this. If there were a bus or subway option, believe me, I'd have taken it.Phoebe Maltz Bovyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-13811184244036780772013-10-26T20:31:44.761-04:002013-10-26T20:31:44.761-04:00As a non-driver, I tend to notice the hassles of d...As a non-driver, I tend to notice the hassles of driving much more than drivers. Driving around 5 minutes to look for a parking space is intolerable, but spending 25 minutes walking to the metro is fine. And the very idea of paying for a car and then having to continue paying for insurance, parking, parking tickets, and gas FOREVER seems terrible.caryatisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-71528775460356560192013-10-25T12:06:50.104-04:002013-10-25T12:06:50.104-04:00"I'm going along and knowing intellectual...<i>"I'm going along and knowing intellectually that this process would have not long ago struck me as magic, akin to being an Olympic gymnast as far as I was concerned."</i><br /><br />Of course, the trick here is that you don't have to be an Olympic-competitive driver. You just need to be a <b>competent</b> driver. And that indeed does get accomplished remarkably quickly.<br /><br />-----<br /><br />The next step is moving from competent driver to excellent driver. In my case, it took about 18 months of constant driving before I felt confident to start driving what is officially considered as 'reckless' while still being safe. (Perhaps it's something like the 10,000 hour 'rule'.)<br /><br />After 18 months, I could comfortably drive while buzzed on alcohol, with my headlights off on rural roads at night, at triple digits speeds on highways, treating red lights like stop signs, and (my personal favorite), reading the newspaper on my morning commute while steering with my knees.<br /><br />The one traffic regulation I've always respected, however, is the one you reference in your Einstein house post. When the speed limit drops as you enter a populated area, I always drop my speed. Not only is that because it's a popular (and good policy) place for speed traps, but also because if you ignore it, you're bound to run over a bunch of happy Roma and Irish children playing tee ball in the street. And if you do that, the paperwork you need to fill out is onerous.Peteynoreply@blogger.com