driving -- and my car accident
I enjoy driving. It is pretty bad to live in LA and not enjoy it. I always say it isn't traffic until you've stopped. I didn't get my liscence right away; I actually got it the week before I went to Berkeley. I have never owned a car, and since my future plans are to live in New York, travel the world, then live in Boston, I probably won't own a car until I'm 30. Sometimes I feel a little warm inside that no car has ever been manufactured for my consumption.
I got into a pretty bad car accident one summer when I was home from college. I was pulling out to make a left hand turn. I was stopped when he came around the corner, and I watched him drive right into the driver's side door of my car (my mother's minivan). They said it was my fault. They said he was going 43 mph; the speed limit was 45. The plastic part under the steering wheel cracked and cut up my legs pretty badly. When the parametics arrived, they asked me if my back or neck hurt. When I said no, they left; they didn't even give me a band-aid for my bleeding legs. One guy stopped and took pictures of the minivan (both cars were totalled). He said they were for a brochure for his company. I asked for one of his business cards, but he left without giving me one. Another guy stopped and sat with me. He later asked me for my phone number. I was 19; he was balding. I think he said he was an ex-firefighter. It's funny how little of that I can remember now. I was scared for a long time afterward. When I pull up to red lights I still sometimes envision the car in back of me plowing into me. But I've been pretty good about not being scared lately.
I drove back to Matthew's house yesterday in rush hour traffic. I always say, "It isn't traffic in LA until you stop moving." To hold true to my belief, I made attempts not to be in traffic. I would slow about a car length in back of the vehicle in front of me, and then I would slowly roll forward until traffic picked up again. I never came to a complete stop, and I amused myself imensely.
When I drive, I try to use as little gas as possible; specifically, I never accelerate when I know I will just have to put on the brakes. I drive a pinch slower, and I roll up to lights hoping they will change and I won't have to use as much gas to get up to my normal speed as if I had come to a full stop.
There are other games that I play with myself as I drive, but they all escape me now. I am always in search of divertisement.
created Friday, 16 July 1999
updated Wednesday, 12 January 2000
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