16 & Driving - What To Expect

I was one of those people who didn't get up and run at the chance to take my driver’s test the day I turned 16. (Full license at 22 babyyy!)

I was still living at home, going to high school, and didn’t have a job yet; I was also lucky to have a mom who was up for driving me to most places, I’ll be it, as I wasn’t the partying type, there weren’t many other places to go, but nevertheless, I was set.

When I turned 18 and graduated high school, I began thinking and came to the realization that driving to University might be best - gain some independence; have freedom to come and go as I wanted. (Plus, waiting around outside the central cafeteria everyday wasn't too appealing.)

During that 1^st year of University, I was so glad I decided to start learning over the summer, because I couldn't wait to be able to drive on my own. Where I live, the first step to getting your full license is having what’s called an “L” – it means that you have restrictions to how and when you can drive, the main restriction being that you have to drive with a fully licensed driver over the age of 25 at all times for one year. 

I'm coming up on 4.5 years of driving now (woo!!), and although I'm THRILLED that I can drive and have a car of my own, I've adopted certain habits, and, noticed a lot of "goings-on" out on the open road, so I thought I'd mention a couple here:

(via Catrific)

What To Expect:

1. That thing in the middle of the wheel. It's loud.

Generally, I’m not a person who likes everyone’s attention all at once on me, and apparently this also carries over into my driving habits. Who knew? So, when it comes to someone cutting me off, I typically yell angrily and give them a piece of my mind... in my car. With the windows up.

I usually immediately regret not doing anything about it, but do the same every time. Obviously, if something serious was happening I'd use it, but in everyday life I use it so cautiously that I literally make the horn stutter. Yes, stutter... I'm working on that.

2. Buses will run you over.

Maybe it's just the public transit where I live, but those buses pull out of their bus stops and will squash you. They'll squash you and carry on driving.
Yes they put their turn signal on, but when they're ready, they're ready, and your little SUV isn't gonna stand in their way of that blacktop. Advice: just, let them go...

3. Bikes can't run you over.

If you’re a biker yourself, good for you! I'd like to bike more myself this year! It's great exercise, free to do, and there's tons of trails and parks to ride through.
My biggest plea to on-road bicyclists is to just please, please ride in the bike lane in one straight line. You will see at least once in your lifetime the 20-biker mob where they ride 3 side-by-side, and you will find it frustrating as you know what. The last thing a driver wants to do is hit a biker or pedestrian - in comparison to a car, they're so small and unprotected - so if we all try and move through traffic as safely as possible, everybody wins!

4. Cars cost money. And lots of it.

If you own a car, the 3 most expensive things are: Insurance, gas, and service checks.

Insurance is the biggest, but, the most necessary. If you don’t have it, you won’t be allowed on the road.

Gas is probably the most unexpected. It’s not necessarily the first thing you think of when you get your first car, but $20 a week can add up!

And service checks: If it were up to me, I don’t know if I would get my car its semi-annual check up, only because it’s one of those things that you don’t really notice a difference from on the whole afterwards; But, you would notice if you let it slide, so it’s probably a good idea to stick to it.

5. One of the best things.

Ahhh, music. If I have a good bunch of songs on my iPhone, I could drive all day, no problem. You might also notice that for some reason, the new "singing in the shower" is "singing in the car" when you have one. I smile whenever I see a fellow car-singer stopped at a red light, shamelessly yelling at the top of their lungs (that'd be me). But if that's not you, the nice thing is is that you still have that window of time to listen to whatever you want: iPod, radio show, audiobook, or even peace & quiet. 

One thing with listening to music though: Hearing sirens in songs - I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that... I always think a cop car is going to pull me over for no known reason when it comes on. *cringe*

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I ♥ my car, and after being out there for a while you're intuition gets better and you gradually get more comfortable, but practice & common sense really are huge parts of that! :)
If you've been driving for a while, maybe you have certain ways of doing things or have seen some questionable things out there that make you say: "Huh. Interesting..."
I for instance saw someone rollerblading along the side of the highway, in the bike lane, in the rain, going against the traffic the other day. Oh dear.

Drive safe guys!! :)
(Aaand Day 3 is in the bag!)


ღ CachooJoo

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